One of Birmingham’s most iconic buildings, The Grand Hotel, is set to be redeveloped in a multi-million refurbishment. The Grade II Listed building on Colmore Row is moving into the final stages of its refurbishment, with works comprising the design and fit out of approximately 15,254 sq m internal floor
The #iBuiltThis2019 competition is open for entries. The competition, run by FIS, now in its third year, is a visual campaign that draws on the pride construction workers take when they see finished projects that they have worked on – harnessing the “I Built This” feeling to promote construction as
School and community leaders have come together to mark the official start of building works for the new purpose-built special education needs facilities at Highfield Ely Academy with a groundbreaking ceremony. The special school, which is part of The Active Learning Trust, is the first school in the county to
ceda SAFE is a health and safety accreditation available to any company working in the sector that achieve the necessary Health & Safety levels and covers both Design and Installation businesses. It has been devised as a result of discussions with the Health & Safety Executive who have highlighted a
Benefits include improved image and hygiene, lower costs and easier cleaning There are various benefits to improving your washroom facilities, so when planning a revamp consider the following: Image The washroom may be one of the first areas of your premises a visitor experiences, and for your staff an important
One of Birmingham’s most iconic buildings, The Grand Hotel, is set to be redeveloped in a multi-million refurbishment. The Grade II Listed building on Colmore Row is moving into the final stages of its refurbishment, with works comprising the design and fit out of approximately 15,254 sq m internal floor space to create a 185-bedroom luxury hotel. GRAHAM has been appointed to deliver the final works for the historic building, which was originally built in 1879 by Isaac Horton, whose family still owns it today. Along with accommodation, the iconic building project will add a lounge, destination restaurant and bars, gym facilities, conference and meeting rooms, commercial kitchens, and an external feature terrace. GRAHAM will also carry out the sensitive restoration of the prestigious Grosvenor ballroom. “The Grand Hotel is a symbol of Birmingham’s rich history. We are pleased to be working with the Hortons’ Estate and Starwood Capital Group to restore the building to its former glory. The sympathetic refurbishment will provide the historic building with a new lease of life and offer Birmingham’s prestigious Colmore Row a luxury venue for overnight stays and parties once again,” said John Maguire, Regional Business Development Director for GRAHAM’s Birmingham office. The project is expected to be completed in Q2 2020.
The #iBuiltThis2019 competition is open for entries. The competition, run by FIS, now in its third year, is a visual campaign that draws on the pride construction workers take when they see finished projects that they have worked on – harnessing the “I Built This” feeling to promote construction as a career choice. The competition platform goes live on 13 June and entries will close on 15 September with the winners announced at the awards ceremony at UK Construction Week on 8 October 2019. FIS CEO, Iain McIlwee stated, “The construction industry employs around 3.1 million people, that equates to one in ten people working in the UK. #iBuiltThis is about celebrating this through social media. It is something that everyone in construction can get behind. We’ve focussed on making it simple. This launch is a call to action to individuals and companies to take #iBuiltThis and make it your own, use it to highlight excellent work one of your new starters or apprentices has done, as an initiative to help engage with your local school, college or even Scout group, make entering an activity for a young person on work experience or encourage your own children to enter – use it to help those around you to understand the joy that can be found in making and building, making a mark on the future landscape of the UK.” To encourage young people to get involved, the competition has been divided into three age groups with some fabulous prizes to be won: 13 and under (family trip to Legoland with an overnight stay at Castle Hotel, 14-18 (an iPhone XR) and 19 plus (a getaway for two adults in one of Canopy & Stars exclusive properties in the UK). We would like entrants to share a photo of themselves (selfie) with the image of a completed project they have built, or helped to build and enter on the competition platform when it opens on 13 June. FIS is encouraging schools and colleges to get fully engaged with and run their own mini #iBuiltThis competitions and enter the finalists and winners via a secure platform. A special prize for the most engaged school or college will be awarded to the institution that makes the most entries. The competition is open to everyone who has a passion for building, construction, design, fit-out, interiors and more. Entrants are encouraged to be as creative as possible, whether it’s a model, a physical structure, building, drawing or even a digital design using software. They are free to use any material for their build. This year’s competition sponsors include, UK Construction Week, Silver Trowel Ltd, Building Heroes, CSCS, Astins Ltd and Michel Mersh Brick Holdings Plc. We also have an exclusive line-up on the judging panel consisting of industry leaders, advocates and educators who are backing this competition. The diversity the judging panel bring demonstrate how collaboration across the industry can help us to reach out to a wider audience and present construction as an attractive industry, full of opportunity and diversity of careers for young people and new entrants. This year’s judging panel: • Alison Watson MBE – Founder and chief executive of Class of Your Own • Brendan Williams – CEO of Building Heroes • Fred Mills – Co-Founder and managing director of The B1M channel • Kathryn Lennon-Johnson – Founder and director of Built Environment Skills in Schools (BESS) • Mark Farmer – industry advocate and Founding director and CEO of Cast Consultancy • Naomi Hamilton – winner of IBT2018 – 14-18 age category contest – will be in attendance • Rebecca Lovelace – Founder of Building People • Steve Coley – FIS immediate past president and FIS Skills Board member The competition will be judged on the best creative picture and best response to the question asked within each age category. The public vote will make up 50% of the overall scores. The remaining 50% of the scores will be ranked in order by the judging panel. Alison Watson MBE, Founder and chief executive of Class of Your Own said “I am thrilled to be involved in #iBuiltThis 2019 competition, it’s a great way to engage with people of all ages, especially young people and inspire them to use their skills in building and showcasing the projects they are proud of. I would encourage everybody to enter, especially schools and colleges. I am looking forward to seeing all the brilliant entries for this competition”. For more information about #iBuiltThis2019 competition, sponsorship or you would like to get involved and become Competition Ambassadors: email yasminkauser@thefis.org or visit our website page on: www.thefis.org/skills-hub/i-built-this-2019-competition/
School and community leaders have come together to mark the official start of building works for the new purpose-built special education needs facilities at Highfield Ely Academy with a groundbreaking ceremony. The special school, which is part of The Active Learning Trust, is the first school in the county to provide specialist and dedicated support and facilities for SEN students aged 2 to 25. A dedicated wing for younger children in Early Years and Key Stage 1 will be created, and the former Early Years area will be refurbished to provide improved facilities for staff. This will bring the campus in line with the required standards. A new block will house a new hydrotherapy pool, sports hall and fitness suite, as well as independent teaching and social areas to meet the needs of young adults with Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties. A new provision for Cambridgeshire, LINC 19-25 (Learning, Independence, Needs and Care), will offer accredited courses and specialist therapy services to meet the personal, daily and medical needs of up to ten young people from September 2020. Cambridgeshire County Council’s education capital team are leading the £6.7million build project on behalf of the school. Enabling works have already begun with R G Carter officially starting on 1st July, led by designs from Atkins. The facilities are expected to be completed during the summer term 2020, ready for the academy to start using by September 2020. Simon Bainbridge, Executive Headteacher at Highfield Ely Academy said: “Today is a monumental moment for us and we are thrilled that work has begun on our new facilities. It will provide our students with a fantastic array of new experiences to help support and stimulate them as well as build their independence. We look forward to watching the building progress, and to sharing the results with everyone.” Simon Bywater, Chairman of the Cambridgeshire County Council’s Children and Young People Committee said: “It is great to see work starting at Highfield School. The facilities for young adults aged 18-25 is a first for Cambridgeshire and enables support and care to be provided in a dedicated space designed for young adults with profound and multiple learning difficulties. The extension will also provide new classrooms for younger children, as well as brand new sports and therapy facilities for all the children and young adults at the school to enjoy.” Paul Hutchinson, Framework Director for R G Carter who are undertaking the building work added: “R G Carter is delighted to have been given the opportunity to collaborate with Cambridgeshire County Council and The Active Learning Trust on this much-needed development. “Our focus is on delivering this unique project and providing a quality teaching facility that will serve the local community for many years to come.” Mr Bainbridge was joined by representatives from Cambridgeshire County Council and constructors RG Carter to mark the occasion. The guests included: Simon Bywater, Chairman of Cambridgeshire County Council’s Children and Young People Committee Councillor Lis Every, Cambridgeshire County Councillor for Ely North Paul Hutchinson, Framework Director for R G Carter Ben Garside, Client Manager for R G Carter Will Robinson, Project Manager for R G Carter
ceda SAFE is a health and safety accreditation available to any company working in the sector that achieve the necessary Health & Safety levels and covers both Design and Installation businesses. It has been devised as a result of discussions with the Health & Safety Executive who have highlighted a need to reduce bureaucracy and the cost of the various pre-qualification assessments, by establishing a single assessment standard for our Industry. It is the most efficient accreditation to attain in terms of the paperwork required and it is the most cost-effective scheme to achieve. Yet, crucially, it achieves the same level of core criteria as all of the other schemes that are in the marketplace at the moment. It requires the absolute necessary information but no more, so it is in no way diluted in order to make its’ attainment easy or cheap. If you are a company that offers Design and Installation services, you can achieve the ceda SAFE accreditation in order to promote your business as operating to the highest levels of independently verified Health & Safety, hitting all of the core criteria as required by the HSE If you sub-contract elements of the project installation, you can assess your sub-contractors by insisting that they have ceda SAFE accreditation. If you are a supplier or manufacturer of equipment that use sub-contractors for installation and maintenance, you can assess those sub-contractors by insisting they have ceda SAFE accreditation. So, there is no need to create your own assessment documents to send out to your entire supply-chain to then verify and administer. If you are a sub-contractor company then you should not need to complete form after form for company after company that you want to work with. If you already hold any of the following certifications – CHAS, Exor, SMAS, NHBC Safemark, Altius, Eurosafe, APS, Alcumus, Safe-T-Cert, MSL Safepartner, Greenlight, CQMS, HSAS, Acclaim, Avetta, ARB, FASET, PASS, PQS, NASC, IPAF, Achilles or ACDC – then you are required to complete a form giving your company details and submit along with your valid certificate and supporting documents and pay a fee of £120 plus VAT annually. If you do not already hold any of these certifications then you are required to complete a 28 page document and submit along with the necessary supporting documentation, pay a fee of £250 plus VAT in the first year and then £150 annually thereafter. Commenting on the new initiative ceda Director General Adam Mason said: “I’m delighted to bring this initiative to the Industry after several months of development work. It will save companies time, money and enable them to promote themselves as attaining a credible accreditation having been independently assessed by an expert, independent third-party. ceda SAFE will add further value to Members, Partners and the wider Industry.”
Benefits include improved image and hygiene, lower costs and easier cleaning There are various benefits to improving your washroom facilities, so when planning a revamp consider the following: Image The washroom may be one of the first areas of your premises a visitor experiences, and for your staff an important company facility they’ll constantly make use of. Modern washroom design means you can create not only an attractive and even stylish environment, but perhaps one that reinforces your company branding such as certain colour schemes. That said, be careful of colour choice – more neutral or timeless colours are usually the best. Some colours – such as certain brighter shades – may be ‘in’ for a while but may eventually lose their appeal. Pleasant, stylish, clean odour free washroom areas using modern washroom technology such as high-speed air hand dryers, and the latest ‘touchless’ tech for hand washing and drying, present a positive company image to staff, clients and other visitors. Cost savings If your washroom facilities are several years old, the chances are you’re spending more money on day to day running costs than you might if more modern equipment was installed. Water use can be drastically reduced with modern toilets and hand washing facilities that use less water. Indirectly, further costs can be saved in reduced staff absences through contaminations and infections due to poor washroom hygiene thanks to the improvements that new washroom tech offers. Installing more modern facilities such as the latest air hand dryers and soap dispensers is more efficient and saves money; it’s also worth reviewing your washroom services arrangements as part of the revamp. Health and safety Ensuring high standards of health and safety are met is paramount since your washroom is likely used by all types of people including your staff, clients, and likely various other visitors. For example, some modern washroom design features elements such as doors with anti-finger trap locks, cubicle doors that can be lifted off their hinges incorporating emergency release locks if access is required; for instance, if someone is taken ill. Capacity Do your current washroom facilities meet your company’s needs in terms of capacity? If the washroom, or a specific washroom in a larger commercial building where there are multiple washrooms, struggles to cope with demand – for example, at work breaks or the beginning of the lunch hour or similar – then a revamp may include increasing capacity such as more cubicles and sinks. Calling in specialist washroom planners and fitters might be the best course of action to make the most of existing space. Efficiency and cleanliness More modern washrooms are easier to keep clean than some older designs with more tiling and grouting, nooks and crannies and maybe more exposed pipework that can attract dirt and contaminants. Modern washroom design often features more flat and smooth surfaces that are easier to clean, less likely to become overly contaminated, can conceal pipework, and feature more ‘touchless’ facilities such as hand washers and dryers operated by motion detection. Budgeting Unless your washroom revamp merely consists of a lick of paint, a more comprehensive upgrade represents a significant investment in your company’s facilities so requires careful budgeting. Decide your priorities and talk to experienced washroom design specialists to see what’s possible for your planned expenditure. A sound investment Upgrading your washroom facilities is a major investment that will offer many benefits – but it’s important to plan and execute it efficiently. Description: What to consider when undertaking a washroom revamp on a business premises including improved image, cost savings, cleanliness and higher standards of hygiene. Websites: https://www.buildings.com/article-details/articleid/20406/title/5-tips-for-refreshing-restroom-renovations http://www.interplanpanelsystems.com/news/interplans-guide-to-washroom-health-safety/ http://www.interplanpanelsystems.com/news/planning-a-commercial-washroom-refurbishment/ https://www.facilitiesnet.com/plumbingrestrooms/article/Restroom-Renovations-Big-Benefits–2782
