Bespoke homes developer Artisan Real Estate is joining forces with Casa by Moda, the single-family housing division of Yorkshire-based Moda Living to market its flagship new homes development in Kirkstall, Leeds. Artisan is currently delivering 263 low carbon and low energy homes at the six-acre Headingley site, providing a
Manchester City Council is on course to reach an important milestone this year as part of its drive to become zero-carbon by 2038. By the end of 2023 the Council aims to have installed almost 10,000 new solar panels on its buildings across the city – 9,859 in total. Reducing
Tritax Symmetry has announced it is to speculatively develop a new 500,000 sq ft cross dock logistics facility at Symmetry Park, Kettering: Kettering 500. Main contractor Buckingham Group has been appointed to deliver the building which will be built to Net Zero Carbon in Construction and target a minimum BREEAM
Salboy, the nationwide property development and funding company, has formally completed development of its flagship London scheme, One Cluny Mews. With a £40 million GDV, One Cluny Mews is Salboy’s first residential development in London. The development is located in the popular and affluent area of Earl’s Court, a part
Civils & Lintels, the UK’s largest steel lintel distributor, has completed a major investment programme to increase its capacity and enhance its service levels to the UK residential sector. The business has committed more than £5 million to create four regional distribution hubs for the lintels division of the company
Hotel fitout specialist, Polcom Furniture by Volumetric Building Companies, has been awarded contracts worth more than £2m to provide bespoke fitted bedroom and bathroom furniture for four Premier Inn hotels and one hub by Premier Inn. Working with Whitbread’s main contractor for each scheme – Gilbert Ash, Carter Lauren and
Following the Climate Change Committee (CCC)’s latest Progress Report to Parliament stating the UK is falling behind on its building decarbonisation goals, Elta Fans is calling on the building solutions supply chain to utilise available resources, such as TM65 reports and take measures to decarbonise current construction processes. The committee
Turner & Townsend, the global professional services firm, has strengthened its leadership team in Hong Kong and Macau with multiple senior appointments. Oliver Sneath takes on the role as Head of Real Estate for Hong Kong and Macau, while Helen Cheng assumes the role of Director for Sustainability and Net
Bespoke homes developer Artisan Real Estate is joining forces with Casa by Moda, the single-family housing division of Yorkshire-based Moda Living to market its flagship new homes development in Kirkstall, Leeds. Artisan is currently delivering 263 low carbon and low energy homes at the six-acre Headingley site, providing a mix of one to four-bedroom apartments and town houses, with the first completions expected in 2024. Casa by Moda will now take ownership and market all 223 homes which were available for sale, with the remaining 40 providing affordable housing, to be managed by 54North Homes. The new neighbourhood, now called Casa, Abbey Court, will offer residents deposit-free, pet friendly living as part of an industry-leading inclusive offer which places service, technology, wellbeing and sustainability at the forefront of the rental community. Situated just a two-minute walk from Headingley Station, Casa, Abbey Court offers the ideal location for high quality rental accommodation, combing the latest state-of-the art technology promoting sustainable living and low energy costs with easy and accessible transport links to the city centre. Welcoming the partnership, James Bulmer, Regional Director for Leeds-based Artisan North said: “The collaboration with Casa provides a significant opportunity to deliver much needed new homes for rent in one of Leeds’ most desirable suburb. There is a growing demand for high-quality family rental properties with easy access to city centres providing the perfect blend of town and country living. Casa is a proven operational model designed specifically to meet the needs of today’s rental market.” He added: “From our head-office in Leeds, Artisan North is developing an exciting pipeline of future homes-led regeneration projects across the region. Collaborative schemes with successful rental platforms such as Casa will form the perfect development model to provide the mix of tenure that is required by today’s housing market.” Casa by Moda will continue to work with Artisan to complete the delivery of the new homes to the high standard expected by the brand and its residents. This includes embedding Moda’s technology partner Utopi’s smart environmental sensors into the homes, which enable residents to monitor everything from room temperature to air quality and light pollution. And, consistent with Artisan’s award-winning sustainability credentials, the development features electric Air Source Heat Pumps as part of its specification which also assists Casa by Moda’s commitment to sustainable development and its journey to net zero. Matt Townson, Director of Development and Projects at Casa by Moda added: “We’re entering an exciting phase with the delivery of our first neighbourhoods, and as a business headquartered in Yorkshire, Casa, Abbey Court is special for us, as it marks our first neighbourhood that will open in our home region. With demand for rental accommodation remaining high, our approach as a long-term owner and operator is to create not only high quality, sustainable homes, but new communities that go beyond bricks and mortar and actively support the wellbeing of our residents. “Casa, Abbey Court marks a step change in single family rental in Leeds, not only in quality but also being able to offer residents leases of up to three years – something unheard of in the traditional rental market. During the current periods of economic uncertainty, we believe it’s important to be able to provide our residents a security of tenancy that can only come from our long-term approach.Looking ahead we have ambitious plans for the future and are looking forward to collaborating with sustainable housebuilders like Artisan, as well as local authorities and landowners to deliver more new homes across the UK, as we progress towards our target of securing 5,000 new homes by 2025.” Ahead of welcoming its first residents next year, Casa by Moda is accepting pre-registrations of interest for homes at Casa, Abbey Court via its website. To find out more visit: www.casa.moda Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Manchester City Council is on course to reach an important milestone this year as part of its drive to become zero-carbon by 2038. By the end of 2023 the Council aims to have installed almost 10,000 new solar panels on its buildings across the city – 9,859 in total. Reducing carbon emissions from council buildings by using renewable energy and energy efficiency measures is a key part of the Council’s Climate Change Action Plan 2020-25. Since 2022 a total of 6,897 panels have been installed across City Council-run sites, this includes Hough End Leisure Centre, the Wythenshawe Forum and Moss Side Leisure Centre. An additional 2,962 panels have been commissioned or are in the pipeline to be delivered this year at locations such as Didsbury Library, and the Manchester Aquatic Centre. As part of this project work has taken place at the National Cycling Centre in a bid to turn pedal power into solar power. As part of the Unlocking Clean Energy in Greater Manchester project, The Council, working in partnership with Energy Systems Catapult and the European Regional Development Fund recently completed a £2.9m project to install solar car ports at the site. These car ports will provide shelter for vehicles, whilst generating power from solar panels installed on top. As one of the most energy-dependent buildings within the Council’s estate, working to reduce the building’s overall consumption forms an important pillar of the Council’s overall carbon reduction plan. It is estimated that the 1,005 m2 site – equivalent to around the size of four tennis courts – will generate roughly 172MWh of electricity annually. In the eight weeks since the solar panels at the Velodrome went live, they have generated more than 47MWh of electricity, saving an estimated nine tonnes of carbon. Councillor Tracey Rawlins, Executive Member for Environment and Transport said: “This work shows that tangible progress is being made as the Council works to become a zero-carbon organisation. “Renewables such as solar power, even in rainy Manchester, provide a viable and unlimited source of energy for buildings across the city. “Looking at the National Cycling Centre, we have shown that we are able to seamlessly incorporate the use of renewable energy into the existing infrastructure, setting a clear example of how this approach can be replicated across the city.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Tritax Symmetry has announced it is to speculatively develop a new 500,000 sq ft cross dock logistics facility at Symmetry Park, Kettering: Kettering 500. Main contractor Buckingham Group has been appointed to deliver the building which will be built to Net Zero Carbon in Construction and target a minimum BREEAM Excellent and EPC A rating. Work will commence on site in July with practical completion scheduled for April 2024. This facility marks the second unit to be brought forward at Symmetry Park, Kettering. In February 2023 a facility of 312,875 sq ft was completed and pre-let on a 15-year lease. Speaking about the decision, Jonathan Wallis, Development Director and Head of Tritax Symmetry’s Northampton office, said: “Our decision to speculatively develop Kettering 500 is a direct response to extensive research into the occupational market which highlighted a supply vs demand imbalance in the 500,000 sq ft size bracket. Kettering 500 will showcase a best-in-class institutional specification, together with Tritax Symmetry’s own high design and sustainability standards. “Symmetry Park, Kettering represents a new era of logistics development, with wellbeing, sustainability and power security playing a fundamental role in the design. It is this customer and employee-based approach that has helped us attract multi-national organisations whose ESG values very much mirror our own and give us the confidence to commit to further speculative development.” James Harrison, International Partner, at Cushman & Wakefield, commented: “This bold decision from Tritax Symmetry demonstrates its confidence in the UK logistics market and the strength of the A14 corridor as a logistics warehouse location. This facility is being built to meet the demand of businesses looking to occupy a building with the very best ESG credentials in an established logistics hot spot.” Symmetry Park, Kettering is located on a 136-acre site alongside Junction 9 on the A41 and has outline planning consent for 2,310,000 sq ft of logistics floor space. Cushman and Wakefield and BNP Paribas Real Estate are joint letting agents for Symmetry Park, Kettering. The project team includes Stephen George + Partners (architect), Trinity Property Consultants (project manager), Buckingham Group Contracting (construction), Feasibility (quantity surveyor), Framptons Town Planning (planning consultants), WSP (Highways and Structural Engineers), EDP (landscape and ecology) and Hannan Associates (Mechanical Engineers). Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Salboy, the nationwide property development and funding company, has formally completed development of its flagship London scheme, One Cluny Mews. With a £40 million GDV, One Cluny Mews is Salboy’s first residential development in London. The development is located in the popular and affluent area of Earl’s Court, a part of Kensington in west London that has experienced significant investment and regeneration in recent years, yet offers limited new build opportunities. The development comprises 35 high quality 1, 2 & 3 bedroom apartments, including 8 duplex penthouses. After receiving high demand from buyers for pre-sales reservations, Salboy has celebrated the completion of the development with the majority of the individual properties sold and reserved and only a limited number of resident and commercial units remaining. By July 2022 with still 12 months’ development time to go, 50% of units had been reserved by individual buyers, demonstrating the persistent high demand for quality, prime homes in central London. Consequently, One Cluny Mews becomes the first of several London schemes Salboy has in development with a combined GDV of over £85 million. Residents at One Cluny Mews will enjoy spacious, bright living with a private garden that provides sanctuary from the surrounding city. Along with the latest security systems and concierge services, the property has a private courtyard offering residents homes they can truly relax in. Residents may also choose to buy a small number of home offices that open out onto the courtyard. Simon Ismail, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Salboy, comments: “Completing our scheme at One Cluny Mews puts Salboy firmly on the London map as a developer and funder of high quality housing in sought-after places. We’re delighted to deliver such a high quality scheme that’s attracted such a high level of buyer commitment, and look forward to welcoming the first residents as they begin to move in.” One Cluny Mews was designed in collaboration with architects, Studio Power, and built by Salboy’s dedicated construction partner, DOMIS Construction. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Civils & Lintels, the UK’s largest steel lintel distributor, has completed a major investment programme to increase its capacity and enhance its service levels to the UK residential sector. The business has committed more than £5 million to create four regional distribution hubs for the lintels division of the company – including new facilities in Nottinghamshire and the South East. A new facility has been set up at Kirkby-in-Ashfield and a further site in Erith converted solely to a Lintels platform alongside further investment in sites at Bolton and Westbury in Wiltshire with all sites offering an impressive range of stock from all key manufacturers. Civils & Lintels works with its many regional and national housebuilder customers to develop tailored delivery schedules and can also offer help and advice on the selection of the best lintels for each development. The lintels hubs can also offer plot-banded deliveries if requested. In addition to the technical knowledge that the teams have, Civils & Lintels can also offer bespoke fabrication services through its sister company: Harvey Steel Lintels. So, if the customers need something unique or extra heavy duty, Civils & Lintels can also manufacture it for them. This fresh investment ensures that the business always has £30m plus of stock available to meet any needs customers may have.* As a specialist lintels supplier, the Civils & Lintels teams are focussed on delivering not only excellent customer service, but the broadest depth of products from all key manufacturers so can assure our customers that the products will be delivered on time and in full. Phil Sheldon, Head of Residential from Civils & Lintels, said: “This investment reflects the ambition that Civils & Lintels has as a business in the UK housing sector. “We are already the largest distributor of steel lintels in the country and this investment will not only mean that we can continue to offer the best products, but we can also be even more efficient and flexible with our service proposition.” Civils & Lintels is dedicated to servicing the construction industry and are proud partners of all the major manufacturers including Birtley, Catnic, IG, Keystone & Naylor. To view all Civils & Lintels products see https://www.civilsandlintels.co.uk/lintels. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Hotel fitout specialist, Polcom Furniture by Volumetric Building Companies, has been awarded contracts worth more than £2m to provide bespoke fitted bedroom and bathroom furniture for four Premier Inn hotels and one hub by Premier Inn. Working with Whitbread’s main contractor for each scheme – Gilbert Ash, Carter Lauren and CLC Group – Polcom is manufacturing furniture for nearly 1,400 guest rooms for new hotels in Swindon, Cardiff, and London Paddington and for hotels undergoing refurbishment in Belfast and Dublin. Two other furniture projects for Whitbread have recently been handed over to Gilbert Ash – hubs by Premier Inn at Clerkenwell and London Camden. Polcom is manufacturing and installing a range of bespoke fitted furniture for the bedrooms, including a closet with mirror, desk, bedside tables, headboards, coat panels, coffee tables, and pelmets. A vanity unit for the ensuite bathrooms will also be provided by Polcom for each scheme, as well as bath panels for the Premier Inn projects. Commenting on Polcom’s partnership with Whitbread, Wojciech Chyrek, Commercial Director – Hotels at Volumetric Building Companies Europe, said, “We have a longstanding relationship with Whitbread and their contractors for the hub by Premier Inn hotels brand. Our team’s performance overall and interaction with Whitbread has been consistently good. We provide valuable input to our hotel clients on how we can continually improve efficiency in cost and installation such as looking at weights and loadings, and how we can adapt non-standard rooms to optimise the space available.” “We have developed a genuine partnership with Whitbread and our approach is one of close collaboration on every project. We have manufactured and installed the furniture on every hub hotel project since 2014 in addition to our fitout work on other Whitbread hotel schemes and it is great to be working on this latest batch of projects.” Joanna Szwochert, Furniture Director at Polcom Furniture, said, “We have been manufacturing furniture for Whitbread for more than a decade, working on both new build and refurbishment projects across the UK and as far afield as Doha and Dubai.” “We are really proud to have furnished well over 10,000 guest rooms for Whitbread to date. This level of repeat business is testament to the high level of service we offer – from the preparation of technical drawings by our in-house technologists, to the quality of our furniture manufacturing and strong aftersales service for maintenance or product replacement when needed.” Acquired by Volumetric Building Companies in 2022, Polcom Furniture has more than 20 years’ experience in the hotel sector and has delivered bespoke furniture and fitout contracts across the globe for a wide range of hospitality brands including Premier Inn, Holiday Inn, citizenM, and Marriott International. Polcom offers high quality and flexible furniture solutions for bedrooms and ensuites which are manufactured in Europe and can meet any brand specification for hotel customers across the globe. This gives operators in the hospitality space the benefits of shorter lead times, greater certainty of supply, and stringent quality standards – from materials sourcing to production and installation. Polcom Furniture also has strong logistics and project management to meet contractors’ scheduling and programmes, particularly on constrained city centre sites. For further information, visit www.vbc.co/polcomfurniture. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Following the Climate Change Committee (CCC)’s latest Progress Report to Parliament stating the UK is falling behind on its building decarbonisation goals, Elta Fans is calling on the building solutions supply chain to utilise available resources, such as TM65 reports and take measures to decarbonise current construction processes. The committee states the industry lacks urgency in its pace of reaching 2050 targets and needs more help to decarbonise its operations. It stresses the importance of establishing UK Environmental Reporting Guidelines and the Net Zero Transition Plan Standard, both of which will set it as a requirement for businesses to disclose the use of carbon credits1. On top of that, the industry is being encouraged to take action in decarbonising building solutions to futureproof construction for future generations. David Millward, the Group Product Manager at Elta Fans, highlights the importance of collaboration in the supply chain within the construction industry. “The CCC’s latest report is quite damning in that we’ve lost our global leadership position on climate matters. The report show that planning policies need radical reform, and all decisions must be taken with full regard to the imperative of hitting net zero. “Given this, all parties need to come together in order to ensure environmentally responsible choices are being made across all operations. From a ventilation and air movement perspective, carbon emissions can be easily minimalised if specifiers, contractors and manufacturers work together. At Elta Fans, we’re making this one of our critical priorities, and have already moved to release TM65 Embodied Carbon reports, aligned to CIBSE’s methodology, to help specifiers and contractors better compare construction components and opt for most sustainable solutions.” Elta Fans is pioneering the industry toward Net Zero as it becomes one of the first to offer TM65 Embodied Carbon reports for its fans and building services products. Created by CIBSE (the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers) in 2021, it is a calculation methodology that helps assess how much embodied carbon is associated with products. “The reports are calculated through a number of variables such as material weight and assesses the embodied carbon generated at each stage of a products’ lifecycle,” said David. “This includes going from production to manufacturing, through to transportation, maintenance while in-use, and end-of-life recyclability potential. A key benefit is it helps make it easier to compare products against each other based on the amount of carbon they release in their production through to end-of-life,” “The working model of TM65 Embodied Carbon reports supplies the construction chain with carbon credit insight to follow regulations and minimise negative environmental impacts, leading the industry towards opting for more eco-friendly design solutions.” “It is of the highest importance for the supply chain to utilise the available resources to adequately specify building and ventilation solutions. Collaboration is key to meet the urgent decarbonising responsibilities towards net zero targets.” concludes David Millward. For more information about Elta Fans, please visit www.eltafans.co.uk. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Turner & Townsend, the global professional services firm, has strengthened its leadership team in Hong Kong and Macau with multiple senior appointments. Oliver Sneath takes on the role as Head of Real Estate for Hong Kong and Macau, while Helen Cheng assumes the role of Director for Sustainability and Net Zero Advisory for Northeast Asia. Sabrina Li also joins Turner & Townsend as a Project Director, with significant programme management experience in real estate across the banking and finance sector. The new leadership appointees form an important part of the firm’s market management team for Hong Kong and Macau, further expanding its capabilities in delivering major projects, programmes, and portfolios for global corporate and public sector clients. They also enhance the firm’s sector-specific decarbonisation and digital advisory services that are integral in their industry-leading programme, project and cost management service. Oliver Sneath joins from Turner & Townsend’s London office where he served as Head of London Occupier, transforming performance of major projects and programmes across the UK and EMEA. Oliver will bring his deep expertise in servicing global corporate occupier clients to Asia, together with experience in public sector and industrials, science and technology (IST). Helen Cheng has also relocated to Hong Kong from Turner & Townsend’s Singapore office. She brings more than 25 years of architectural and construction delivery experience in Australia and Singapore to the role, having worked on complex construction projects across Australia, Singapore, China, India and Bangladesh. Sabrina Li also joins the Turner & Townsend Hong Kong team this month, taking on the role of Project Director focused on delivering regional portfolios in the financial services sector. She brings close to two decades of programme management experience in delivering real estate projects for global corporations including Abbott, Microsoft, Macquarie and MasterCard. Oliver, Helen and Sabrina will be joined by Daniel Cheung, Director of Infrastructure, Northeast Asia, who will chair the new Hong Kong and Macau market management team. The team will report to Brian Shuptrine, who was appointed Regional Managing Director of Turner & Townsend’s Asia business based in Hong Kong on 1 May, this year. Turner & Townsend has been operating across Asia for more than 30 years. Working across infrastructure, real estate and natural resources, the business helps clients maximise their investments in the transportation, housing, health, education, commercial and industrial sectors, as well as supporting government, developers, corporate occupiers and retailers to achieve their outcomes. Brian Shuptrine, Regional Managing Director, Asia for Turner & Townsend comments: “We are charting a bold path for our Hong Kong and Macau business to further position ourselves for exceptional growth in Greater China. These strategic appointments to our senior leadership team ensure that our clients, and our growing pool of talent, have access to the very best industry expertise. “Consolidating our sectorial specialisations, particularly for global corporates and public sector clients, and strengthening our market-relevant technical capabilities in areas like programme management, sustainability and net zero enables us to meet the changing demands of the industry ahead, while retaining a focus on transforming performance.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
