Everton Stadium is set to enter a transformative phase in 2023, with work ramping up on the internal works. As the external appearance continues to develop, the race is on to make the build watertight to allow tradesmen to begin work in installing hundreds of miles of piping, wiring and
Leicestershire architects launch ground breaking new technology – The Digital Twin… IMA Architects (IMA) has unveiled a successful test prototype of a new technology that will create an exact digital replica of a building. Known as ‘The Digital Twin’, the technology will help companies gain more data about a building’s performance
McLaren Construction’s Midlands and North arm is reflecting on a year of record turnover and growth, with ambitions plans set for 2023 and beyond. Alongside achieving £142m turnover for the financial year ending July 2022, the company has achieved 75 percent repeat business, winning multiple awards for its developments and
The latest industry index on property fall throughs by property purchasing specialist, House Buyer Bureau, has revealed that there has been a sharp increase in both the number of property transactions falling through in Q3 of 2022, as well as the cost associated with these fall throughs. House Buyer Bureau
Terry Stocks, a director at Faithful+Gould, part of the SNC-Lavalin Group, has become a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), in the New Year Honours list for his pioneering work as one of the UK’s leading experts on building information modelling (BIM). A chartered structural and civil
LEADING sustainability and M&E firm CPW has solidified its presence in Nottingham with its recent relocation to a new city centre office space. Having been located on Stoney Street within the Lace Market area of Nottingham since 2008, the move to a 3500 sq. ft space in the Imperial Buildings
Both CaberMDF Pro and CaberMDF Pro MR from timber product specialist, West Fraser, are premium grade Medium Density Fibreboards developed for interior joinery: their uniform consistency offering all the benefits of timber, but without the natural defects. Due to their construction and smooth surfaces, CaberMDF Pro and Pro MR are
Everton Stadium is set to enter a transformative phase in 2023, with work ramping up on the internal works. As the external appearance continues to develop, the race is on to make the build watertight to allow tradesmen to begin work in installing hundreds of miles of piping, wiring and the internal fittings. “I think we should just warn spectators that in 2023 it will look like things are slowing down from an external perspective,” said Chief Stadium Development Officer Colin Chong. “A big milestone that people will want to see is the east stand steelwork that will fill in the gap between the north and south steelwork. “However, it will slow down externally, although internally it’s going to be a hive of activity. “In real terms, the fit-out is starting in January, when we will start putting all the wires and piping in. “People won’t notice it as much, as it’s internal, but it’s equally as important to the stadium development as the roof going up.” As with the external concrete and steel components, much of the internal walls are pre-manufactured in factory conditions and transported to site in just-in-time slots for installation. All mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems in the stadium will be manufactured off-site in the Oldbury (West Midlands) factory of Laing O’Rourke’s specialist MEP business, Crown House Manufacturing. The six-foot high modules and an innovative product called Techwall, will be delivered to site, lifted into place, connected and commissioned, in an approach that helps save time and energy. “There are life-safe systems, resilience to be planned, and all the toilets on the concourses will be coming in in modules, pre-manufactured,” explained Chong, in a special Club podcast on the stadium build. “The pipework will arrive pre-manufactured, tested in the factory, and be offered up and connected, so there are less connections throughout the whole building. There’s less welding, so less risk of fire and it’s the modern way of building things. “Again, we’ll be working on all four concourses simultaneously, along with the hospitality lounges starting, probably in March. “The skeleton of the dressing rooms is already in place (in the west stand). We’ve got the pit for the hydrotherapy pools and all the apertures for all the incoming services. “There are hundreds of miles of beer pythons that have to go in at some point and they’ll all start to go in next year. “We ramp up with people and we’ll end up with 1,000 people there next year and probably up to around 1,400 on site the year after. “There’s a whole host of things going to happen next year, but not a lot of people are going to notice it because it’s going to be hidden.” Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Leicestershire architects launch ground breaking new technology – The Digital Twin… IMA Architects (IMA) has unveiled a successful test prototype of a new technology that will create an exact digital replica of a building. Known as ‘The Digital Twin’, the technology will help companies gain more data about a building’s performance in real time, helping them to save money by monitoring and reducing a building’s energy use. The company has transformed two former shipping containers at its head office in Blaby, Leicestershire into the ‘IMA Digital Pods’. The two structures are now a staff gym and a coffee bar – but with a difference. The pods have been equipped with a wide range of sensors to create a ‘Digital Twin’. Believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, IMA’s ‘Digital Twin’ prototype has been designed – and successfully tested – to accurately represent a physical space within a virtual model. In this instance, the staff gym and coffee area are replicated exactly, digitally. Linked to Building Information Modelling (BIM), sensors in the physical building feed data back to the virtual model, showing how even the slightest change could impact performance in the real world. This grants the building owner or manager access to real-time data with an in-depth analysis of a building’s performance. This is significant as it means that simulations can also be run in the virtual space, allowing users to gain information on important metrics such as energy consumption to carbon emissions, informing decisions that are made in the real world. The IMA Digital Pods use Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to collect real-time data from the relevant spaces and feed it back “through a cloud platform” into a 3D model that has accurate information about the pods’ structure and assets installed within. This data is then analysed and visualised virtually within the Digital Model and can be stored in the cloud for further analysis. Commands can also be sent from the Digital Model to activate or deactivate devices in the Pods as well as monitoring performance. Anthony Day, Managing Director of IMA Architects comments: “The creation of the IMA Digital Pods has enabled us to develop our knowledge within this emerging area. We are putting the theory into practice so that we can implement this technology on our client projects. We believe that the successful use of BIM and the ‘Digital Twin’ is the future of building design, and having more buildings with this level of information and intelligence will play a huge part in helping the UK meet its Net Zero targets, reducing costs for businesses along the way.” “Amongst other things, it has the potential to lower construction costs by 33%, increase delivery speed by 50%, and lower emissions by 50%, the latter of which is incredibly important as the Government continues to set out plans to decarbonise all sectors of the UK economy. And with increasing energy costs, the Digital Twin will be an incredibly valuable cost-saving tool, leading the way to a better, greener, future.” IMA unveiled the Digital Pods at a launch event with staff and clients at its Blaby HQ on Friday 2 December 2022. IMA is an award-winning firm of architects based in Blaby, Leicestershire. The firm has grown from a two-person team to now employ 20 members of staff and work with a range of FTSE 100 companies, such as Marks and Spencer, and global brands including an international discount retailer. The company is a proud Community Partner of Leicester City Football Club and a sponsorship partner of both Leicester Tigers RFC and Leicestershire County Cricket Club. Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
McLaren Construction’s Midlands and North arm is reflecting on a year of record turnover and growth, with ambitions plans set for 2023 and beyond. Alongside achieving £142m turnover for the financial year ending July 2022, the company has achieved 75 percent repeat business, winning multiple awards for its developments and expanding its team and portfolio into new sectors. Projected turnover for the present financial year is £258m, an increase of 80 percent on 2022, and the Midlands and North division has already secured projects exceeding £100m into 2024. McLaren’s strategy in 2022 was to focus on nurturing key client relationships, supporting valued customers through the delivery of quality developments, whilst enhancing social value through its sustainability and charitable efforts. Notable projects delivered this year include the West Midlands Ambulance Service site – home of the UK’s first electric ambulance fleet, as well as the Cadent Ansty development – which won commercial development of the year at the Insider West Midlands Property Awards. The Midlands and North team also received the prestigious UKREiiF Contractor of the Year award this spring. Working towards the company’s sustainability targets to reach net zero Scope 1 and 2 by 2025, and Scope 3 by 2045, the team have worked to ensure projects in the region are meeting government green targets through the reduction of embodied carbon in construction. With many construction firm’s removing diesel generators from sites in a bid to hit net zero targets, the West Midlands Ambulance Service site was the first McLaren Construction site of its kind to use hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), an industry-leading sustainable fuel alternative. The build of a logistics development in Sherburn, Leeds for the Firethorn Trust, was also the first net zero carbon industrial and logistics project for the Midlands and North region. Giving back to the communities in which its developments are based, the division has also concentrated its charitable efforts on a wide range of causes this year, including theorganisation of raffles for the Ukraine Appeal and the Lighthouse Construction Charity, regular donations to the St Helen’s Food Bank and assistance with hosting a Christmas party with the Children’s Adventure Farm Trust (CAFT), to create magical memories for terminally ill and disadvantaged children in Cheshire. McLaren Construction as a whole, finished its financial year on 31 July 2022 with a turnover for the previous 12 months of £726.2m, exceeding pre-pandemic levels with an increase of £184.1m on the previous year. Turnover for the year ending July 2023 is currently forecast at over £850m, with 80 percent business already secured. Reflecting on a year of exceptional growth for the Midlands and North division, Gary Cramp, managing director, said: “We are extremely proud of our success in the last year, and this is all down to the amazing work of our team and our consistent approach to planning. “The challenges following Covid have presented themselves during a busy construction market in 2022, and the industry has been presented with inflationary pressure on materials and labour resource to carry out projects. “Despite these pressures, our solid preparation has allowed us to secure early procurement to mitigate risks to the business and we are excited by the value and rich variety of projects we have in the pipeline next year, and into 2024. “While there are lots of positives to look forward to in 2023, we are prepared for the emergence of a tougher market, but our focus will remain on key relationships and supporting our valued customers, whilst investing centrally to enhance our social value, diversity and sustainability offering.” Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
The latest industry index on property fall throughs by property purchasing specialist, House Buyer Bureau, has revealed that there has been a sharp increase in both the number of property transactions falling through in Q3 of 2022, as well as the cost associated with these fall throughs. House Buyer Bureau analyses the number of transaction fall throughs across the UK property market, what this means in terms of the average cost of a fall through and what the total cost to the property market is as a result. The latest index shows that in Q3 of last year, 90,188 transactions are estimated to have fallen through, a 15.6% increase on a quarterly basis and a 3.6% uplift versus this time last year. This is also the highest quarterly number of fall throughs recorded over the last five years. What’s more, a combination of runaway inflation and increasing house prices have pushed the average cost of a property transaction collapse to £3,337. As a result, House Buyer Bureau estimates that homebuyers and sellers were hit by a total estimated cost of almost £301m as a result of their transactions falling through in Q3 2022. This total cost is not only 18.7% up on the previous quarter, but also 16.3% on an annual basis. There is one silver lining for the nation’s buyers and sellers, as House Buyer Bureau estimates that the total number of fall throughs seen in 2022 will still sit some -6.7% below the total seen in 2021. However, this is largely down to the fact that the first two quarters of the year saw a far lower level of transactions falling through, with the latest quarterly spike suggesting that the property market could be in for a rougher ride in 2023. Managing Director of House Buyer Bureau, Chris Hodgkinson, commented: “We’ve seen a consistent increase in the number of property transactions falling through in recent years and despite a fairly settled start to 2022, the latest data shows that the number of sales collapsing hit a five year high in the third quarter of 2022. This is almost certainly due to the turbulence that came via the mortgage sector in September, as lenders pulled a raft of products and increased mortgage fees in reaction to the Bank of England’s aggressive attempts to curb inflation via a string of consecutive interest rate increases. As a result, many buyers found that they could no longer afford the cost of borrowing which has led to swathes of property sales falling by the wayside during the second half of last year. Unfortunately, we saw a further hike to the base rate come in December and so the likelihood is that this increased level of property fall throughs will not only be apparent within the final quarter of 2022, but it’s likely to be maintained into 2023. Data tables Data tables and sources can be viewed online, here.
Terry Stocks, a director at Faithful+Gould, part of the SNC-Lavalin Group, has become a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), in the New Year Honours list for his pioneering work as one of the UK’s leading experts on building information modelling (BIM). A chartered structural and civil engineer with more than 40 years’ experience in the construction industry, Terry has been recognised with the honour for his services to construction innovation in both the public and private sectors. Terry, from London, joined the Faithful+Gould team in 2015 where he has been at the forefront of delivering innovation across a number of key government accounts, including Dept. for Education, the Ministry of Justice and the Dept. for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Previously he was at the Ministry of Justice for 24 years, where he led on the UK Government’s first BIM projects (HMP Cookham Wood) and the cross-government departmental delivery of the UK BIM Mandate, as part of the UK BIM Task Force. He has also chaired both the Government BIM Working Group attended by Govt Depts, large UK infrastructure providers and local government representatives, as well as the UK Cabinet Office New Forms of Construction Procurement Group, developing and implementing collaborative procurement models across UK Government departments. Following the announcement Terry, who is married with three children, said it was a real privilege to be awarded with the MBE. He adds: “I have been lucky to work for some great organisations, such as the MoJ, and Faithful+Gould/ Atkins, along with some great people as well – too many to mention! “I have always worked to try to make a difference, so to be recognised in this way is a real high point. But I fully intend to carry on, with more of the same. Working with excellent people to deliver excellent outcomes is extremely motivating.” James Butler, UK and Europe managing director at Faithful+Gould said: “All of us at Faithful+Gould offer our congratulations to Terry for this thoroughly deserved award. “He has been integral in delivering innovation and efficiencies for our clients in a crucial sector for our organisation, drawing on a huge amount of experience from a career spanning over 40 years. It’s a great start to the year to see that body of work being recognised in this way.” Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
LEADING sustainability and M&E firm CPW has solidified its presence in Nottingham with its recent relocation to a new city centre office space. Having been located on Stoney Street within the Lace Market area of Nottingham since 2008, the move to a 3500 sq. ft space in the Imperial Buildings on Victoria Street marks a new chapter for the firm, aligning with the firm’s consistent growth and success in Nottingham and the surrounding areas since joining the region’s business community in 2003. Rising staff levels, flexible ways of working and the resurgence of client facing activity were key drivers in the decision to relocate CPW’s Nottingham team. The leadership team was compelled to create a space that was adaptable and complimentary of the energy, drive and passion that the CPW team embodies. Carl Humpage, director and Nottingham office lead at CPW, said: “We wanted to create a space that enables us to produce the best possible work for our clients, while also achieving a flexible office setting for our 26 staff with all the modern facilities and intricacies needed for growth in the sector. “Larger screens for building information modelling (BIM) capability, a boardroom with the ability to cater for larger meetings, a virtual reality room to bring our projects to life and the sustainability of air source heat pumps are just a few of the ways the new space is optimal for our line of work.” Craig Waldron, director at CPW, added: “The new office has provided us with an opportunity to re-invest. It’s an exciting and creative workspace that our colleagues are already loving. It’s brilliant how the new environment has reinvigorated the team and really enhanced the energy, drive and passion for what we do. “The location also provides us with easier access to the city centre and all its amenities, with a close tram stop improving connectivity for commuters and promoting more sustainable transport options.” The fully refurbished office includes facilities to promote staff capacity and wellbeing, including larger spaces for social evenings, breakout spaces for varied meeting environments and a pool table for friendly competition. The firm’s new fit-for-purpose space provides the opportunity for CPW’s already strong presence in the region to grow further. Carl Hubbard, director and Nottingham office co-lead at CPW, said: “Our work in the East Midlands is something we are really proud of and the mission to deliver low or zero carbon design solutions is never ending. Projects with the University of Nottingham and our involvement in The Island Quarter scheme are examples of the significant work we are involved in with local stakeholders. “Looking ahead to our 20th year in Nottingham, we are excited to build further on our current client base and our new office plays a vital role in our position as a leading business in the regional construction community.” CPW is an international M&E consultancy with more than 250 staff based across 12 offices. The firm – which works across a wide range of sectors including healthcare, residential, education and more – has sustainability at its core and specialises in designing and integrating a full range of MEP solutions into existing and new buildings. For further information visit www.cpwp.com or follow @CPWengineering on social media. Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Both CaberMDF Pro and CaberMDF Pro MR from timber product specialist, West Fraser, are premium grade Medium Density Fibreboards developed for interior joinery: their uniform consistency offering all the benefits of timber, but without the natural defects. Due to their construction and smooth surfaces, CaberMDF Pro and Pro MR are ideal for use where intricate detailing is required; plus, the boards are ideally suited to machining and surface finishing, as well as being able to accept high quality paint finishes. Both are easy to saw, drill and rout cleanly without chipping or splintering. Therefore, elaborate detailing is possible, while for the most artistic of interior designers, developers or builders, the boards will even accept foils and ornate veneers. The versatile panels are suited to shop fitting, general purpose joinery and furniture making, as well as wall panelling, architectural mouldings, and the production of doors. They are also frequently specified for exhibition stands, staircases and even fire surrounds, as well as in public buildings, banks and hotels. Then in terms of the product designation, the MR refers to the moisture resisting treatment and conditioning given to the CaberMDF Pro MR boards during their production, making them suitable for use in kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms or other situations where the environment is prone to high humidity. Ruggedness as well as accuracy of manufacture is also enhanced by the industrial grade’s superior screw and fastener holding over other types of panel product, thanks to the board’s carefully selected, high quality fibres and internal bond strength. At 1220mm wide, both boards are available in lengths of 2440 or 3050mm; and in thicknesses of 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 22, 25 and 30mm. For CaberMDF Pro, extra options include sizes of 1525 and 1830mm, plus 2745 x 1220mm with the longest board measuring 3660 x 1220 mm. For peace of mind, the boards also conform to European E1 emission standard, comply with BS EN 622: Parts 1 and 5, and carry the CE mark. To find out more about West Fraser’s products for housebuilders, get in touch with Dan Clarke – email Daniel.Clarke@westfraser.com or download product brochures from the housebuilder page of the West Fraser website https://uk.westfraser.com/housebuilders/ For further information, call 01786 812 921 or visit https://uk.westfraser.com/ Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
