Young people are already enjoying the state-of-the-art facilities that include an indoor climbing wall, 3G pitch and dance studio Caddick Construction has completed on the state-of-the-art Warrington Youth Zone which is offering a huge range of sports, arts and social facilities to the town’s young people. Construction began on the
The Leader & Deputy Leader of Barnet, Cllr Barry Rawlings & Cllr Ross Houston, and Cllr Claire Farrier joined Pocket Living’s Chief Commercial Officer, Nick Cuff, to lay the first ceremonial brick at the innovative housing developer’s first scheme in the borough. The visit represents a significant milestone in the
Eight of the 14 health boards in Scotland have asbestos in over 50% of their buildings. The figure rises as high as 92% of buildings for the NHS Lothian health board. Asbestos takes around 5,000 lives every year in the UK, with around 20 tradesmen dying each week from past exposure.
Work is now underway on creating a vast outdoor plaza at the heart of Sheffield’s Pennine Five – one of the UK’s largest office renovations outside of London. Work to date on Pennine Five, the former HSBC headquarters located on Tenter Street in the city centre, has seen the exterior
Mobile Mini UK, one of the leading worldwide providers of portable accommodation and secure storage containers, flew the flag for the construction industry last night at the prestigious 2022 UK Customer Experience Awards (UK CXA®22) held at Wembley Stadium. The company headquartered in Stockton-on-Tees, scooped the award for Best Customer
If you’ve already made steps towards becoming more sustainable as a business by going paperless or recycling more, you might be wondering what more you can do. One of the most important areas to focus on is energy usage, as this can significantly increase your carbon footprint if you’re not
Consulting civil and structural engineering company Will Rudd has completed the latest project from a series of long-term collaboration with PureMalt Haddington. The project involved the complete refurbishment of the Maltings Building, which laid in a state of near ruin for over 25 years. Will Rudd provided scope of work
Equans has announced its partnership with Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council to deliver important decarbonisation measures across the housing market in Maltby. For this project, the council has secured £1.5 million from the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF), which will serve as a pilot to retrofit other homes in the
Young people are already enjoying the state-of-the-art facilities that include an indoor climbing wall, 3G pitch and dance studio Caddick Construction has completed on the state-of-the-art Warrington Youth Zone which is offering a huge range of sports, arts and social facilities to the town’s young people. Construction began on the £7million centre in 2020, on behalf of the national charity OnSide. Located in the stadium quarter next to the University Technical College (UTC) off Dallam Lane, Warrington Youth Zone boasts an indoor climbing wall, 3G rooftop kick pitch, four court sports hall, dance and drama studio, training kitchen, arts and crafts space, fully equipped gym, music room with recording studio and enterprise suite. OnSide now has a network of 14 Youth Zones across the country including similar centres in Wigan, Chorley, Bolton, Manchester, Oldham, London and Birkenhead. For just 50p per visit, they offer young people a space to enjoy a wide variety of sports, arts, learn new skills, or just socialise and have support from trained and dedicated youth workers. Warrington Youth Zone, which has become home to the well-established Warrington Youth Club charity, is now open seven days a week with over 2,000 members registered. More than 20 activities are on offer for up to 250 young people, aged between seven and 19 or up to 25 for those with additional needs, every day. Adam Poyner, Head of Construction for OnSide, said: “The Youth Zone looks absolutely amazing both inside and out. I would like to thank Caddick Construction for taking our designs and vision to the next level and skilfully brought this building to life.” David McNicholl, CEO of Warrington Youth Zone, added: “It has been an exciting journey to get Warrington Youth Zone up and running, and to see the young people already in and using the facilities make it all worthwhile. We’ve been open for a few weeks now and to see it packed out every evening really is a dream come true – it’s the building and the place they deserve. I’d like to thank all our supporters, particularly Warrington Borough Council, who have made this facility possible which will undoubtedly help improve the opportunities and life experiences of young people from across the district.” Ian Threadgold, Managing Director of Caddick Construction NW, said: “It has been a privilege to work on this project with Onside Youth Zones. Not only is it an eye-catching landmark that has been designed to really make a statement, the facilities are just awesome and will inspire young people to try new activities that just weren’t possible before. He added: “And this Youth Zone couldn’t have come at a better time for Warrington and its youngsters when so many hard-working families are feeling a real cost of living squeeze.” The project team consisted of Seven Architecture, HL Engineers, Hurstwood Environmental Consulting and Walker Sime.
The Leader & Deputy Leader of Barnet, Cllr Barry Rawlings & Cllr Ross Houston, and Cllr Claire Farrier joined Pocket Living’s Chief Commercial Officer, Nick Cuff, to lay the first ceremonial brick at the innovative housing developer’s first scheme in the borough. The visit represents a significant milestone in the delivery of this 100% affordable housing scheme, which is expected to complete by summer 2023. All 86 one-bedroom homes at Woodside Park will be sold to Barnet’s first-time buyers at a 20% discount to the local market, pricing those who either live or work in the area into home ownership. The forward-thinking scheme will be car-free, contributing to the Council’s wider sustainability ambitions to be Carbon Net Zero by 2030, with everyone living at Woodside Park also benefitting from access to two rooftop gardens with lush planting, allotment beds and dedicated wellness space. Pocket Living’s database already has registered approximately 1,000 local people who live or work in the Borough who are interested in buying a home at Woodside Park, with a third of those registered working in the public sector. This includes roles within the Metropolitan Police, Barnet General Hospital, local primary schools, Middlesex University Business School and Barnet Council. With building starts in London expected to be at a 10-year low and in light of the growing challenge of rising build costs, with cost inflation, according to the Office for National Statistics, increasing by 22% since 2021, Pocket still remains committed to delivering affordable homes. This year will represent the most productive year in Pocket’s history, with 480 homes starting on site across four London boroughs: Barnet, Waltham Forest, Harrow and Greenwich. Pocket Living is also expected to go to planning committee in late October for their Dolman Close application in West Finchley, which could deliver a further 60 homes to local people in the Borough. Nick Cuff, Chief Commercial Officer at Pocket Living, comments: “As the cost of living continues to rise, the need to deliver affordable homes in the capital has never been greater. It is clear from the significant number of people who have already registered their interest for this scheme that there is significant demand for high-quality but affordable homes in this area of Barnet and we are delighted that Barnet Council is proactively working with us to deliver schemes such as Woodside Park”. Cllr Barry Rawlings, Leader of Barnet Council, added: “This is an exciting and innovative new development which will help us deliver on our commitment to build more genuinely affordable homes in Barnet and contribute to our sustainability goals. We’re delighted to welcome Pocket Living to the borough and look forward to working with them on other schemes in the future.”
Eight of the 14 health boards in Scotland have asbestos in over 50% of their buildings. The figure rises as high as 92% of buildings for the NHS Lothian health board. Asbestos takes around 5,000 lives every year in the UK, with around 20 tradesmen dying each week from past exposure. Tim Turney, Global Marketing Manager at industrial hygiene and workplace hazard monitoring expert, Casella, comments “Despite being banned in the UK, asbestos can still be found in older homes and properties, posing a threat to anyone who disturbs the dangerous material. Left alone, the material is not harmful, but once disturbed or disintegrating, it can release asbestos fibres that infiltrate and progressively damage the lungs. The damage results in multiple health defects, such as the lung disease mesothelioma — a cancer that can take up to 20 years to develop, often proving fatal within five years or less. Whenever asbestos is removed, it is a legal requirement to use licenced contractors and to ensure strict regulations and guidance are followed to limit the potential release of dangerous, airborne fibres. The guidance, depending on national practice, typically includes personal air sampling and/or static air sampling, to ensure that there is no exposure during remediation work or during the cleaning and clearance processes at a removal site. In the UK, a four-stage clearance process is used, involving a preliminary check of the site condition and job completeness, a thorough visual inspection inside the enclosure or work area, air monitoring and a final assessment of the post-enclosure or work area following dismantling. Licenced contractors may also take air samples before work is undertaken to establish a background level measurement. Conducting a test before disturbing any materials could save thousands of pounds on decontamination and environmental cleaning fees and help to avoid exposure. Additionally, trained professionals may take air samples during work on or near asbestos to confirm that there is no leakage from the enclosure. Using air sampling pumps with remote connectivity, such as Bluetooth and a mobile ‘phone app, can help while gathering the necessary measurements. For example, the Casella Airwave App works with the ‘Pro’ version of its Vortex3 high flow pump to enable users to remotely start, pause or stop a measurement run, monitor battery life and memory capacity and check measurement progress direct from a mobile device. Ultimately, asbestos monitoring has the power to save lives, and innovations in technology can make this process easier and faster than ever before.”
Work is now underway on creating a vast outdoor plaza at the heart of Sheffield’s Pennine Five – one of the UK’s largest office renovations outside of London. Work to date on Pennine Five, the former HSBC headquarters located on Tenter Street in the city centre, has seen the exterior of the site’s five office blocks given a stylish dark makeover. The buildings interiors have also been updated to deliver over 230,000 sq ft of contemporary and multifunctional office space – suitable for up to 3,500 workers. Creating a central plaza at Pennine Five has long been seen as a key element in unlocking the potential of the campus, but in also acting as a catalyst for growth in this area of the city centre. With attractive green planting and plenty of accessible seating areas, the £1.5 million plaza at the heart of Pennine Five is designed to offer people a place to relax, socialise and collaborate. Chloe Brook, Director at RBH Properties, said: “We’re very excited to see work on the new plaza get underway. This office campus has always been very private and disconnected from the rest of the city centre, and our plans for Pennine Five are all about opening it up to wider business and local residential communities as well. “The plaza will be an inclusive and welcoming focal point. It will of course provide great outdoor space to support the wellbeing and creative thinking of our on-site businesses, but more than that, we believe that through regular art installations and event opportunities, it can help bring a new sense of place and identity to the whole area.” Leasing at Pennine Five has started strongly, with three occupiers – First Intuition, Department for Work and Pensions and Sheffield College – already taking space. Several other businesses are currently in negotiations, including one of UK’s largest co-working companies looking to occupy over 30,000 sq ft. “Interest in the campus has been strong, with lots of businesses supporting our bold and climate-conscious decision to renew the buildings rather than demolishing them and starting again,” added Chloe. “We believe that Pennine Five can act as a blueprint for how urban regeneration projects can be done in a way that is far more environmentally friendly today, and not decades down the line.” The final phase of the Pennine Five modernisation, which also includes modernising the 400 underground parking spaces, adding EV charging facilities and creating a cycle hub with over 280 spaces, will be completed within the next 12 months. The plaza expected to open in Spring 2023.
Mobile Mini UK, one of the leading worldwide providers of portable accommodation and secure storage containers, flew the flag for the construction industry last night at the prestigious 2022 UK Customer Experience Awards (UK CXA®22) held at Wembley Stadium. The company headquartered in Stockton-on-Tees, scooped the award for Best Customer Experience for SMEs alongside their partner ThinkWow. Mobile Mini competed with iconic companies including Sky, BT, Octopus Energy and Virgin Media on awards night and in addition to the SME victory, were also named runners-up to Sky in the Best Employee Driven CX category. Over the past 18 months, Mobile Mini – which has a fleet of over 40,000 portable units for a variety of storage solutions and 16 strategically placed sites throughout England, Scotland and Wales – has worked in partnership with ThinkWow to enhance its customer experience strategy and training. This has resulted in an increase in average Net Promoter Scores (NPS) from 71 to 80+, increased revenue (aiming for a third record-breaking year) and higher volumes of customer feedback. After a deep dive into Mobile Mini’s operations, the team were able to fulfill an end goal of achieving a positive future strategy. The focus of the new vision is to empower all staff and customers to both provide and receive the best possible experiences. Over 90% of Mobile Mini employees attended launch calls for the CX Project and almost 70 team members were interviewed about their experience of working with their customers. In addition, many customers also provided external views to help build insightful and accurate improvement objectives. Simon Gray, Regional Director North & CX Project Lead commented, “It is fantastic news winning this award at a prestigious UK-wide Customer Experience event and is great recognition of what our UK teams do each and every day to make sure that we provide a World Class Customer Experience. What really stands out for me is that we already achieve world-class NPS scores and yet our teams are constantly striving to improve how we look after our wonderful customers. Well done to all our teams across the UK.” Chris Fay, Commercial Director at Mobile Mini UK added, “We are delighted that Mobile Mini UK has been recognised in this way and we are very proud of all our team who have contributed to our ongoing award-winning Customer Experience strategy. The win has been a collaborative effort in every sense. It is truly employee-driven, with everyone from branch managers to HGV drivers having their say and playing their part in shaping innovative new approaches and solutions to our customer experience.” This success builds on the Mobile Mini and ThinkWow’s joint GOLD award win earlier this year in the Customer Experience category at the 2022 UK Business and Innovation Awards (UK B&IA) and another win this month at the 2022 Speedy Expo for Partner of the Year – Customer Solutions.
If you’ve already made steps towards becoming more sustainable as a business by going paperless or recycling more, you might be wondering what more you can do. One of the most important areas to focus on is energy usage, as this can significantly increase your carbon footprint if you’re not careful. But because energy is taken for granted, it can be hard to be mindful of the way we use it. This blog has some great tips on how you can change your business’s relationship with energy for good. Invest in renewable energy Investing in renewable energy will not only help the planet, but your finances as well. Whether you decide to install solar panels on the roof of your office or set up your very own wind turbine, the energy these greener alternatives produce will definitely lower your energy bills. If you don’t want to install your own solar panels, you may be able to benefit financially from a PPA or power purchase agreement. PPAs in renewable energy projects may mean that you’ll receive your green energy at a lower rate for a fixed amount of time. Be open to remote working Businesses with large offices consume a lot of energy. Allowing your staff to work from home some of the time or even all of the time can reduce your energy consumption a lot. While it’s true that employees will still be using energy at home, this is likely to be a lot less depending on the size of your office and how full it is. Heating a small room at home uses a lot less energy than a huge space. Just think about all those corridors and store rooms you may be heating when nobody even uses them. If a completely remote setup isn’t for you, consider downsizing your office if it isn’t even half full most of the time. Unplug and turn off Appliances use a lot of energy when they’re on standby. Go around your office and make sure equipment like printers and photocopiers are switched off and unplugged before leaving for the night or closing up for the weekend. You could also leave lights on a timer or have a sensor installed so that you’re not using energy when there’s nobody in the room. Busy employees often forget to turn off the lights, which could result in higher energy bills and a larger carbon footprint. Conduct an energy audit Sometimes it can be really hard to judge where you’re using the most energy and assumptions can easily land you in hot water. While you might think making the switch to LED bulbs will solve all your problems, you could have a very inefficient coffee maker or be using a lot more heating than is strictly necessary. Hiring a specialist to conduct your energy audit can help you to find sore spots more quickly. Becoming more sustainable with your energy won’t happen overnight, but you can make a commitment to change right now.
Consulting civil and structural engineering company Will Rudd has completed the latest project from a series of long-term collaboration with PureMalt Haddington. The project involved the complete refurbishment of the Maltings Building, which laid in a state of near ruin for over 25 years. Will Rudd provided scope of work for much-needed essential repairs and to provide temporary stability, including removing and replacing original concrete flooring, installing new steelwork and a new roof. The project was delivered in partnership with design team Unum Architecture, PMC Commercial Ltd Contractors, M&E consultant Hawthorne Boyle Ltd and surveyors Neilson Partnership. Following years of housing germinating malt, the atmosphere slowly eroded the original building’s floors and structure. This required careful, complex and systematic thinking and action to ensure a robust structural solution which maintained the integrity of the building. Contractor PMCC began refurbishment work on the Maltings Building in December 2019. Phase one, comprising essential repairs, structural work and new flooring, was completed in the summer of 2021. Phase two, internal fit outs, installing the new staircase, lift and finishing touches, concluded in July 2022. “We have enjoyed a fantastic working relationship with Pure Malt Haddington for eight years and delivered over 30 projects, from the installation of elements to aid the company’s business such as new tanks with associated structural supports to highly complex projects like the Maltings Building,” said Stephen Rudd, Technical Director at Will Rudd Glasgow. “This particular project presented some highly complex challenges which required us to work closely with the wider design team to solve. The building itself was not in good condition, having been in a severe state of disrepair for a number of years. This presented an immediate need to ensure we could make the building safe and start a programme of essential repairs. With much of the original walls and flooring unsalvageable due to deterioration over time, we had to work very strategically to ‘design out’ any risk of collapse and maintain temporary stability holistically with the contractor,” he added. The project was also reviewed continuously from a Conservation Engineering perspective and whilst maintaining the structural integrity of the building, the designs were able to include retaining of the existing cast iron internal columns and external walls as well as the majority of the steel support beams above the first-floor level. These elements were able to be treated in-situ with new paintwork to the steel, extensive stonework repairs and repointing to the building’s façade to extend their lifespan in line with the project’s requirements and restore the building to its former glory. It was announced in September that the Maltings Building is shortlisted in the ‘Refurbishment of an Historic Building’ category of the inaugural Institution of Structural Engineers Scottish Structural Awards. Winners will be announced on 27 October. Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Home of Construction and Property News
Equans has announced its partnership with Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council to deliver important decarbonisation measures across the housing market in Maltby. For this project, the council has secured £1.5 million from the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF), which will serve as a pilot to retrofit other homes in the region. Known as a former mining town with some of the UK’s highest levels of fuel poverty, Maltby would benefit immensely from this project. Unfortunately, the town is currently in top 10% most fuel-poor areas in the UK, and current EPC ratings on the selected properties range from C to G. “We’re delighted to be working with Rotherham Council on this vital energy efficiency and decarbonisation project in Maltby. With energy bills set to continue rising for the foreseeable future, pushing more and more people into fuel poverty, it’s more important than ever that the private and public sectors work together on projects like this,” commented Steve Batty, Head of Sustainability at Equans UK & Ireland. The 141 homes due to benefit from the Equans measures are traditional cavity brick-built, which is typical of the housing stock in Rotherham and can therefore help to shape the future borough-wide net zero carbon specification. As well as fabric improvements, including external wall and loft insulation, triple-glazed windows and energy efficient doors, the scope of work also be combined with a previously-planned re-roofing programme, in order to minimise disruption for residents. “Initiatives like this are a crucial part of the Council’s housing strategy. The efficiencies that will be saved through schemes like this one will make a huge difference to people’s lives. We are now looking at how we can extend this good practice in other parts of the borough,” added Paul Walsh, Assistant Director for Housing at Rotherham Council. Rotherham Council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and has pledged to cut carbon emissions in the borough to net zero by 2040. This scheme in Maltby is expected to save more than 96,000kg of CO2 per year, while also helping residents reduce their energy bills. Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Home of Construction and Property News
