The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has welcomed new commitments from the UK government to accelerate building safety improvements – and calls for “visible and tangible action” to now be taken. This week Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick announced new measures to improve building safety in the UK. The
Morgan Sindall Construction has been appointed by Arc Partnership, on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council, to build a new primary school near Edwalton, Nottingham. The £8 million project to provide 315 new pupil places for the area, together with a 26-place nursery, is being undertaken on a challenging site and
A planning application has now been submitted for The Wall of Answered Prayer, a national landmark to sit at the heart of the nation on land in Coleshill near Birmingham. The monumental piece of public art to consist of one million bricks, with each brick representing an answered prayer, was
Network Rail has announced that it will be completing maintenance and renewal work on the West Coast Mainline over 10 weekends between April and June in 2020. Engineers will refurbish or renew more than 17 kilometres of the track at 20 locations along the line, between Carstairs and the Scottish
Sector authority, Chuck J. Lewis, has joined multi award winning Smoke & Fire Curtains Ltd as their new CEO. Mr Lewis, who took up the position within the Fire Curtains Group in early November brings with him an abundance of more than three decades of direct experience from the smoke
The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) has welcomed new commitments from the UK government to accelerate building safety improvements – and calls for “visible and tangible action” to now be taken. This week Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick announced new measures to improve building safety in the UK. The announcement includes the immediate establishment of a new Building Safety Regulator within the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as well as a proposal to extend the existing combustible cladding ban and accelerate its removal from buildings across the country. Richard Jones, Head of Policy and Regulatory Engagement at IOSH, said: “While it’s positive to hear the new government declare it won’t tolerate the slow pace of improvement to building safety in the UK, which IOSH and others have raised concern over, we now need to see visible and tangible action, with these announcements just the start of an extensive and active delivery-programme. “Working with the HSE will be reassuring for many, given it’s a world-class regulator that secures near universal praise nationally. It has successful experience of co-regulation, as well as of operating permissioning and safety-case regimes and enforcing the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations, so should be ideally placed for such a role. However, it will be vital that it’s properly resourced for taking on this substantial additional responsibility and workload for this new regime, which we understand will be fully chargeable. “In IOSH’s response to the combustible cladding ban consultation, we emphasised the need to remove it from all high-rises in both residential and non-residential buildings. We are pleased that the government is now reconsidering its position and have clarified its guidance for building-owners. “We also look forward to further government action on sprinkler requirements and to the Fire Safety Bill and its clarification of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.” Last month, IOSH urged the government to “get health and safety done” and pushed for urgent progress on all the key occupational safety and health public-policy areas, including national ‘post-Grenfell’ reforms on building regulation and fire safety. Last month, IOSH urged the government to “get health and safety done” and pushed for urgent progress on all the key occupational safety and health public-policy areas, including national ‘post-Grenfell’ reforms on building regulation and fire safety.
Morgan Sindall Construction has been appointed by Arc Partnership, on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council, to build a new primary school near Edwalton, Nottingham. The £8 million project to provide 315 new pupil places for the area, together with a 26-place nursery, is being undertaken on a challenging site and includes the provision of a temporary mobile village, to enable the school to open in September 2020. The contract was procured through the four-year Scape Regional Construction Framework (RCF), through which £1.1 billion of work is expected to be tenured. Morgan Sindall Construction will celebrate two years on the framework in February 2020. Following enabling works, which have taken place over the last two months, construction is now underway on the main building. The site is near to existing housing development projects currently being built as part of the Edwalton Strategic Development Allocation. A two-storey, 22,066 square foot main building is at the heart of the plan. Inside will be nine general purpose classrooms, offices, a hall and a kitchen. There will also be a library and a nurture room, which provides alternate learning space for children with specific needs. Four outdoor sports pitches will feature alongside a soft play area, tarmac playground, and a garden for nursery pupils. Parents and staff will also benefit from a new car park with 35 spaces; including two for disabled usage and two for electric vehicle charging. Construction is expected to complete by late 2020. In order for the school to open in September, at the start of the academic year, steel framed modular units will be used as temporary accommodation until construction is completed. Rob Cant, framework director at Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “We are incredibly pleased to have begun work with Arc Partnership on the new primary school, delivering a modern learning environment to Edwalton that is fit for 21st century education. “We are also proud to be celebrating nearly two years on Scape’s Regional Construction Framework, which has proved many times over that cost-efficient procurement and early contractor engagement can produce great results.” “Temporary modular units are a great interim solution to allow the school to start teaching on the site before the main building is completed, allowing students to continue their education without disruption.” Mark Robinson, Scape Group chief executive, commented: “As our communities grow, it is vital that they are provided with enough school places to ensure that education standards do not drop. It is reassuring that Nottingham County Council, in their planning of the Edwalton Strategic Development Allocation are not only planning for infrastructure, homes and facilities but also for the education of the new residents. Nottingham County Council can be confident that by procuring Rosecliffe Spencer Academy via the Regional Construction framework the project will be delivered with efficiency and socio-economic benefits at heart.” Daniel Maher, Arc Partnership Managing Director, commented, “I am proud to have Morgan Sindall Construction delivering this project on behalf of Arc Partnership. Through early and continuing contractor engagement we have created a truly collaborative working partnership.”
A planning application has now been submitted for The Wall of Answered Prayer, a national landmark to sit at the heart of the nation on land in Coleshill near Birmingham. The monumental piece of public art to consist of one million bricks, with each brick representing an answered prayer, was designed by Southampton-based architectural practice Snug Architects. Their interpretation of The Wall depicted as a Mobius strip (a non-orientable surface which seemingly has no beginning and no end) won top spot in a global competition launched by the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2016. Beating a field of 133 entries from 25 countries, the Snug winning concept was first finalised in a field of five, before being selected as the stand-out design in May 2019 by a judging panel of industry experts and national influencers. Application for the huge landmark structure was submitted to North Warwickshire Borough Council which validated the submission in early January. The documents outline the project’s associated visitor centre and public open space, including a car park and landscaped gardens, where visitors will be welcome to relax and reflect on the relevance and power of prayer. With construction due to be complete in 2022, The Wall of Answered Prayer will sit close to both the M6 and M42 and rise 50 metres into the skyline, to be seen by an estimated 500,000 journeys each week across the two motorways, the new HS2, and flight paths in and out of Birmingham airport. The massive architectural sculpture will celebrate and preserve the UK’s rich Christian heritage and be a holding home for testimonies of answered prayers not only submitted by people from around the country, but also discovered by historians, highlighting answered prayer going back as far as thirteen centuries ago in 600 AD. CEO Richard Gamble, who first had the idea for The Wall in 2004 is absolutely thrilled with the design and how the project has progressed to this next stage: “This building has been my dream for many years,” he says. “It’s phenomenal to see it all finally fleshed out by Snug in such a beautiful and elegant design. “We want to celebrate and remember all the prayers that God has answered for individuals throughout our nation’s history. Our hope is that this will be a piece of art that provokes discussion, and that when people visit The Wall of Answered Prayer and interact with the one million testimonies, they will see a small glimpse of God’s character. We expect that this will have a significant impact on our nation. “Since the RIBA competition ended, I’ve been able to work more closely with Snug on a more detailed brief, and the team has taken the design to the next level. I couldn’t be more pleased.” Paul Bulkeley is Head Architect for The Wall of Answered Prayer and is founding director of Snug Architects. He says: “We are all very excited to see this impressive project a step closer to reality. It’s a structure of national significance and we are honoured to have played a part in the vision and the team that brings such a large-scale monument to the heart of the UK.” Carl Brookes, Director – Engineering Simulation at Ramboll says: “It is not often that opportunities to work on such ground-breaking architecture occur, and so we are absolutely delighted to be working with Snug and The Wall of Answered Prayer team on delivering this national monument. To develop the engineering required to make the truly radical and gravity defying form of the Mobius strip reality will be both challenging and thrilling. Undoubtedly this will be an inspirational, thought-provoking and iconic structure for generations to see and visit.” Renato Benedetti, Director of Benedetti Architects was the Chair of the RIBA judging panel, and comments: “It was clear to me from the beginning that this was the stand-out proposal. It’s soaring sculptural form, meaningful elegant variety of spaces and clever use of the site, had the inspiring wow-factor to engage and enthral visitors. “It’s a privilege to be involved throughout and a joy to see the design mature and progress to the planning application. Well done everyone!” Construction for The Wall of Answered Prayer is due to start in December 2020. The link to the planning application submitted to North Warwickshire Borough Council can be found here:
Network Rail has announced that it will be completing maintenance and renewal work on the West Coast Mainline over 10 weekends between April and June in 2020. Engineers will refurbish or renew more than 17 kilometres of the track at 20 locations along the line, between Carstairs and the Scottish border. A bridge near Beattock will also be replaced. Due to the amount of engineering work taking place, this will mean the short term closure of the railway. Buses will replace trains between Carlisle and both Glasgow and Edinburgh on weekends between Saturday, April 4, and Sunday, June 7. On most weekends, the closures will affect trains from mid-morning on Saturdays until the start of service on the following Monday. Over Easter and some weekends in May the closures will extend for longer, with buses replacing trains on Monday, April 13 and Mondays May 4 and 25.
Sector authority, Chuck J. Lewis, has joined multi award winning Smoke & Fire Curtains Ltd as their new CEO. Mr Lewis, who took up the position within the Fire Curtains Group in early November brings with him an abundance of more than three decades of direct experience from the smoke and fire curtain sector having previously worked with Coopers Fire and latterly the IFC Group at both Management and Director level. Mr Lewis was a co-author of both PAS 121:2007 and BS 8524:2013 series, and became the recipient of UK’s prestigious inaugural Passive Fire Protection Award for Member Contribution in 2018, awarded by the Association for Specialist Fire Protection who cited ‘consistently excelling in his chairmanship of Technical Task Group 7 (Active Fire Curtains) and going over and above the normal duties required for this role’. Speaking on his appointment Mr Lewis said, “I have watched the Fire Curtains Group and, in particular, Smoke & Fire Curtains Ltd with interest. Their Managing Director, Simona Pillay, represented on Technical Task Group 7, introduced me to Arthur Calow, Chairman of the Group, where they discussed their growth and development ambitions for their Group and, specifically, Smoke & Fire Curtains Ltd. “I’m excited for this new challenge in my career and the plans set in motion that Simona and Arthur shared with me over the course of our discussions, which were interesting and come at an extremely important time for the sector. “I’m very much looking forward to leading Smoke & Fire Ltd into this new decade and contributing to the growth and development of the company and, indeed, the Group as a whole.” This news follows on from the purchase of Intumescent Chemicals – a specialist in indicative fire-resistant testing and the research and development of intumescent liquid flame retardants (LFRs) – by Fire Curtains Group at the end of 2019.
