The new £98 million Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot has officially received green light and construction work is on its way. The project leader is Kier, aiming to replace the ageing Heatherwood Hospital with a new state of the art facility, located in woodland behind the current site. “We are delighted that
A £2 million funding boost has been offered to a number of energy projects in the South West. Bristol City, Devon and Plymouth Councils secured a grant from the European Investment Bank and the European Commission to fund new energy efficiency, renewable, sustainable transport and heat networks projects across the region
The first tower crane has arrived at Euston Station, marking a major step forward for the transformation project. The project, which will be completed as part of the HS2 project, will deliver extra capacity to the station. HS2 will now progress with the demolition of One Euston Square and Grant Thornton
Stephen George + Partners LLP (SGP) is celebrating planning success for its new build 91,000 sqft retail park in Ashford, Kent. The impressive development consists of two retail terraces split into six units and connected by an outdoor garden centre, additionally there are a 2,000 sq.ft. standalone retail unit and
The new £98 million Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot has officially received green light and construction work is on its way. The project leader is Kier, aiming to replace the ageing Heatherwood Hospital with a new state of the art facility, located in woodland behind the current site. “We are delighted that work to build a new hospital can now begin on the Heatherwood site. This will be a fantastic hospital fit for the 21st century, offering state-of the-art care for our patients and a first class working environment for our staff,” said Dr Tim Ho, medical director at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust. Specialising in planned, non-emergency procedures such as orthopaedics, general surgery, urology, gynaecology and endoscopy, the new facility will have six operating theatres and 48 inpatient beds, plus 22 day case cubicles. Moreover, it will also include space for the Trust’s private patient unit. In addition, the facility will offer a range of outpatient and diagnostic facilities, including cardiology, radiology, lithotripsy, children’s clinic, physiotherapy and orthodontics and space for a primary care hub with GPs, community nurses and other healthcare specialists. “We are delighted that we can now deliver our vision for the Heatherwood site. The new hospital will ensure we can offer local patients the best care in the best environment and it is a key part of our strategy to remain an innovative and outstanding trust well into the future. We can’t wait to get started,” commented Frimley Health chief executive Neil Dardis. The new Heatherwood Hospital is the latest major development in Frimley Health’s £200 million capital investment programme, expected to be complete by late 2021.
A £2 million funding boost has been offered to a number of energy projects in the South West. Bristol City, Devon and Plymouth Councils secured a grant from the European Investment Bank and the European Commission to fund new energy efficiency, renewable, sustainable transport and heat networks projects across the region over the next three years. “This is yet another really exciting step towards carbon reduction in Bristol. The scale of sustainable development generated by the last ELENA grant made an enormously positive impact on our ability to deliver clean energy for the city, so we have high hopes for the opportunities that come with this latest round of European funding,” said Cabinet Member for Energy, Waste and Regulatory Services, Councillor Kye Dudd. “It’s great that Bristol has once again been recognised as a national leader in the field of sustainability as our goal to become a carbon neutral city by 2050 moves a step closer. It’s even more exciting now that we are in a position to share our knowledge and expertise with other parts of the region, helping them to reduce carbon and provide clean energy to towns and cities across the South West,” Cllr Kye added. Bristol City Council is the lead organisation, therefore it will manage the projects with its central delivery team. Councillor Roger Croad, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, also commented: “The funding will help us to kick start a range of projects which will support the council in delivering its target of reducing the Devon region’s carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. These projects will also give us more control over energy use, will reduce air pollution from transport and generate energy which will improve the quality of life for Devon’s residents.” “We anticipate that this funding will stimulate Devon’s renewable energy sector and lead to at least £16 million being invested into low carbon projects in the county,” Cllr Roger concluded.
The first tower crane has arrived at Euston Station, marking a major step forward for the transformation project. The project, which will be completed as part of the HS2 project, will deliver extra capacity to the station. HS2 will now progress with the demolition of One Euston Square and Grant Thornton House, which stand above the entrance and exit to Euston’s old underground taxi rank. It is expected to take 10 months to complete. “HS2 will transform Euston, delivering much-needed extra capacity and better journeys for the 44 million people who use the station every year. We are already hard at work, delivering essential pre-construction work, including archaeology, utility diversions and of course, the demolition of the two Euston towers. The opening of the new taxi rank and the delivery of the project’s first tower crane is a significant milestone for HS2 and I would like to thank everyone involved in making it happen,” said HS2’s London Programme Director, Rob Carr. Early works contractor, a Costain and Skanska joint venture (CSjv), is currently working with expert subcontractors McGee, stripping out the interiors and erecting the scaffolding that will support acoustic screening around the buildings. “Costain and Skanska have successfully delivered many major infrastructure projects and are pleased to be delivering the HS2 enabling works programme in London. Our work continues to gather pace and constructing this temporary taxi rank to replace the underground taxi rank is vital to allow us to demolish the two large office towers at Euston,” commented CSjv’s Programe Director, Peter Jones. These landmark steps come after the station’s new taxi rank was opened to the public on Sunday 06 January. The new rank, delivered alongside TfL and Network Rail, has capacity for around 40 vehicles and has been designed to incorporate as many of the existing trees as possible.
Stephen George + Partners LLP (SGP) is celebrating planning success for its new build 91,000 sqft retail park in Ashford, Kent. The impressive development consists of two retail terraces split into six units and connected by an outdoor garden centre, additionally there are a 2,000 sq.ft. standalone retail unit and a 2,200 sq.ft. café unit. Says Stuart Hancox, Director of SGP: “Our client Castle City Estates and Ashford Borough Council wanted a quality development that met their high design standards. Having undertaken previous schemes in the Ashford area, SGP was chosen to bring a new approach to the park; still functional and honest but without the normal metal clad box like forms opting instead for a softer more natural feel.” SGP’s design reflects the surrounding woodlands and natural landscape, using a modern minimal aesthetic and clever detailing in a more natural form for the prominent front aspect. A wavelike timber façade with integrated timber screen brise soleil, undulates across the elevation, echoing the surrounding tree line. A solid base of local field stone filled gabions provides an aesthetic durability with a grounded feel. Adopting a more elemental approach, the architects have used local natural materials in their ‘raw’ state – bare wood, local field stone, and galvanised metal finishes – to be sympathetic to their context and blend with the natural backdrop. Landscaping and environmental concerns were another key element of the overall design. The site wide SUDS strategy incorporates water attenuation ponds and swales, along with new trees and shrub planting that will create a transition from the site to the surrounding natural woodlands, boosting biodiversity. Concludes Stuart: “It was a pleasure to design such a good-looking retail park. Having a client and local authority actively pushing up the quality bar was stimulating and ultimately created a retail park that was able to deliver commercial requirements with a high end sensitive design.” The buildings have good environmental credentials and aim to achieve BREEAM ‘very good’. Work is planned to start in February 2019. Project Team Client: Castle City Estates Planning: Ashford Borough Council Architect:Stephen George + Partners Landscape Architects:Munro + Whitten Engineer:Pinnacle Consulting Engineers Project Manager: Cube
