The £80 million National Grid contract that will help restore views of the Dorset landscape has been offered to Morgan Sindall. The 400kV electricity cable project has been awarded as part of the four year Engineer, Procure and Construct (EPC) framework. This is the first scheme delivered as part of
Construction work is underway on a new mixed-use scheme at Tottenham Court Road Crossrail Station in London. Built by Laing O’Rourke, the Soho Place development will include a 10-storey building with retail and office space, coupled with a nine storey building split into three office floors above a 600 seat theatre. Contracts of
A solar energy park is due to be developed by Audi in partnership with energy firm E.ON on the roofs of two logistics centres of its plant in Győr in Hungary, which covers about 160,000 square meters. The construction of the roof system will start in August 2019, while the renewable
Housing associations and tenants are due to build stronger relationships between each other with the help of a new programme. The National Housing Federation (NHF) is to introduce the project called Together with Tenants, which will set out a plan of action to ensure boards are always properly connected and
Building work on new council homes in Manchester has been completed by Willmott Dixon. A total of 40 new council homes in north Manchester have been handed over to tenants, while a further 20 new shared ownership homes were bought by the City Council to help residents on to the
Tim Beale has been promoted to the position of Chief Executive Officer by housebuilder Keepmoat Homes, after previously serving as Deputy Chief Executive since February 2018. He joined the firm in 2007 as Chief Operating Officer. He succeeds James Thomson, who stepped down as Chief Executive following seven years in the
Dulux Trade has assembled a panel of leading industry experts to share their design insights and initiatives under the theme, ‘Future Proofing Design’ at RIBA London later this month. The event, on February 26, will incorporate a presentation revealing the insights underpinning the ColourFutures™ 2019 palettes – the annual AkzoNobel
Advances in AI applications are already causing revolutionary changes in the commercial real estate field, and we’ll continue to see a shift in the way real estate professionals do business in the years to come. With PropTech start-ups increasingly offering technologically innovative products and business strategies for the real estate
Swansea Council has selected Buckingham Group Contracting as the principal contractor to help deliver the £120 million Swansea Central Phase One transformation under a pre-construction services agreement (PCSA). The contract was awarded after a competitive tender process. The transformation will bring a 3,500-capacity digital indoor arena, a coastal park, digital plaza, landmark
Construction work is due to be carried out by Huyton Asphalt to upgrade an arterial route in Liverpool. Improvement works along Prescot Road (A57) began on Monday, 18 February, and will run from Low Hill, near the Royal Liverpool Hospital, to Newton Road by Newsham Park. The first phase will
The £80 million National Grid contract that will help restore views of the Dorset landscape has been offered to Morgan Sindall. The 400kV electricity cable project has been awarded as part of the four year Engineer, Procure and Construct (EPC) framework. This is the first scheme delivered as part of National Grid’s Visual Impact Provision (VIP) programme, which aims to reduce the visual impact of existing electricity transmission infrastructure in some of the most precious landscapes throughout England and Wales. “We are delighted to have been awarded the first of National Grid’s VIP projects. This award further strengthens our high voltage underground electricity cabling capability which has grown significantly over the past few years. We look forward to further enhancing our long term relationship with National Grid and delivering this complex and important scheme,” said Simon Smith, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure managing director. A new 8 kilometre 400kV double circuit underground cable system will be designed, built, tested and commissioned as part of the £80 million construction contract, which also includes other associated works in the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). In addition, the project will involve the removal of the existing overhead line and 22 pylons that form part of the existing landscape in the AONB. Construction work is expected to begin in early 2019. “This contract marks a major step forward in a unique opportunity to restore views from the Hardy Monument across Dorset AONB,” added Michelle Clark, senior manager VIP projects, from National Grid. “The project has been driven by local and national organisations dedicated to conserving the landscape and countryside throughout England and Wales. We welcome Morgan Sindall Infrastructure on board and are looking forward to working with them as our delivery partner to turn the plans into a reality.”
Construction work is underway on a new mixed-use scheme at Tottenham Court Road Crossrail Station in London. Built by Laing O’Rourke, the Soho Place development will include a 10-storey building with retail and office space, coupled with a nine storey building split into three office floors above a 600 seat theatre. Contracts of £195 million have been exchanged between Derwent London and Laing O’Rourke for the development. “We look forward to delivering Soho Place, further strengthening our partnership with Derwent London. This will be a landmark project, sitting at 1 Oxford Street, and interconnected with the Crossrail upgrades to Tottenham Court Road, which we are also delivering,” said Liam Cummins, Head of UK Building for Laing O’Rourke. “Laing O’Rourke has the ability to drive certainty into the delivery programme through our in-house capabilities along with a fully integrated supply chain and advanced digital engineering and offsite manufacturing. The project is in total alignment with our 2025 mission to be the recognised leader of innovation and excellence in the construction industry,” he added. The construction team will concentrate on some challenging piling above and around the web of services and tube lines that sit below the site, with the who;e project due for completion in November 2021. “We are very excited about the prospects for Soho Place, which will be a great building in one of the best locations in London. We are also very pleased to be working with Laing O’Rourke, who we believe have the capabilities to deal with the complexity of the site,” commented Richard Baldwin, Head of Development of Derwent London.
A solar energy park is due to be developed by Audi in partnership with energy firm E.ON on the roofs of two logistics centres of its plant in Győr in Hungary, which covers about 160,000 square meters. The construction of the roof system will start in August 2019, while the renewable energy generation will start at the beginning of next year. “We are committed to the economical use of resources and therefore want to keep the environmental impact of our production as low as possible. Approximately 70 percent of Audi Hungaria’s heat requirements are already covered by climate-neutral, geothermal energy. Our goal is to have completely CO2-neutral plant operation in the future. With the construction of the solar-cell park, we are now taking a further step to achieve this in terms of power supply,” said Achim Heinfling, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi Hungaria. Audi will be providing the roof areas of the two 80,000 square meters logistics centers for the construction of the solar energy park, as part of the joint project with E.ON Hungaria. From its part E.ON will build and put the park into operation, consisting of 35,000 solar cells, and will continue to operate it, with an annual output of more than 9.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity. This corresponds to the annual energy requirements of 5,000 households. Thanks to green electricity from regenerative sources, about 6,000 tons less carbon dioxide will be released into the air. “Our company is committed to solutions supporting a sustainable future. The widespread use of solar energy is an integral part of this endeavor. We are pleased that E.ON has gained Audi Hungaria’s trust and a new, nearly 25-year partnership has started between the two companies,” added Zsolt Jamniczky, E.ON Hungaria’s Board member.
Housing associations and tenants are due to build stronger relationships between each other with the help of a new programme. The National Housing Federation (NHF) is to introduce the project called Together with Tenants, which will set out a plan of action to ensure boards are always properly connected and accountable to the people they house, whilst also giving tenants and residents a strong role in scrutiny. At the heart of the proposal are the housing association residents are firmly at the heart of the proposal, with the NHF asking tenants and residents from across the country to share their thoughts on it. Tenants and residents are being asked to join a new independent Tenant Advisory Panel and complete a questionnaire on the plan. The programme proposes four actions: • A new requirement in the National Housing Federation Code of Governance for boards to be accountable to their tenants and residents. • A new ‘Together with Tenants’ Charter setting out what tenants and residents can expect from their housing association landlord. • Tenant and resident oversight and scrutiny of the Charter with a report on how their landlord is doing against the Charter commitments. •A closer link with regulation. In total, 43 housing associations have already signed up to be early adopters of the proposals. “I am proud to launch Together with Tenants today. It is a demonstration of the fact that as a sector we are addressing one of the most pressing challenges facing the country. How we rebuild trust between people and institutions. This is a challenge that is of course particularly pertinent for our sector, after the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower exposed feelings of powerlessness, distrust and disconnection,” said Kate Henderson, Chief Executive of the NHF. “This plan builds on good practice in the sector, and must also be the first steps towards meaningful change. I am delighted that as of today 43 housing associations have already signed up to test the commitments and I hope that many more will follow suit. We know that for this plan to work we need to design it with tenants and residents. This is why we’ve been working closely with them throughout the process, and are now urging tenants to share their thoughts on these proposals,” she concluded.
Building work on new council homes in Manchester has been completed by Willmott Dixon. A total of 40 new council homes in north Manchester have been handed over to tenants, while a further 20 new shared ownership homes were bought by the City Council to help residents on to the property ladder. Northwards Housing, the council’s housing management organisation, will be managing the 40, two-bed homes located across six sites in north Manchester. Developed by Willmott Dixon with support from Homes England of a £1.4 million grant funding, the rental properties will all be affordable. “The positivity and community spirit surrounding the delivery of these highly-anticipated homes is inspiring. This project represents a truly positive legacy far beyond just bricks and mortar. Throughout this project we have been focused on helping to raise the aspirations and opportunities available to the north Manchester community, providing a range of jobs and training on our sites, and we are delighted to be able to see the fantastic reactions of those moving into their new homes,” said Anthony Dillon, Managing Director of Willmott Dixon in the North. The City Council has also purchased 20 new, high-quality family homes in partnership with Taylor Wimpey at Booth Hall in Charlestown, north Manchester, that will be re-purposed to support its people onto the property ladder through affordable shared-ownership. The next phase of the North Manchester new homes project is due to be announced later this year and it will include a further 150 new homes. The affordable homes projects represent the first phase of an ambitious affordable housing investment programme that will see 6,400 genuinely affordable homes built up to 2025.
Tim Beale has been promoted to the position of Chief Executive Officer by housebuilder Keepmoat Homes, after previously serving as Deputy Chief Executive since February 2018. He joined the firm in 2007 as Chief Operating Officer. He succeeds James Thomson, who stepped down as Chief Executive following seven years in the role but remains on the board as a non-executive director. “After seven years with the Keepmoat Homes I have taken the decision to step down as Chief Executive. I will remain involved with the business on the board as a non-executive director and am delighted that Tim will be stepping up as the Chief Executive Officer. I am fully confident that under Tim’s leadership the business will continue to go from strength to strength,” said Mr Thomson. Speaking of his appointment Mr Beale said: “I’m pleased to be taking over the role of Chief Executive Officer at Keepmoat Homes and thank James and the Board Members for this opportunity. Over the last 12 months I’ve worked closely with James and the wider management team to ensure we are consistently delivering quality new homes in the places where people need them. “Over the next year we are focusing on our operations and plan to deliver over 4,000 new homes utilising both traditional and modular construction to help meet the country’s housing needs. We will also start on site on a number of transformational projects such as Sighthill in Glasgow, Ebbsfleet in Kent and the Waterside in Leicester. These developments are long term commitments to the regeneration of key UK cities and towns which embrace their heritage but build for their future – building communities and transforming lives,” he added.
Dulux Trade has assembled a panel of leading industry experts to share their design insights and initiatives under the theme, ‘Future Proofing Design’ at RIBA London later this month. The event, on February 26, will incorporate a presentation revealing the insights underpinning the ColourFutures™ 2019 palettes – the annual AkzoNobel snapshot of global current affairs and emerging macro design trends, distilled into separate and distinct colour palettes to inspire specifiers. Joining the discussion at RIBA HQ in Portland Place will be Rosemary Jenssen from Jenssen Architecture Ltd representing the ProCure 22 Framework; Louise Tod, independent colourist; Ted Szuman, head of innovation at AkzoNobel; Jim Ashley-Down, managing director at Waldmann Lighting plus Flavie Lowres and Mindy Hadi, Associate Director and Head of Social Research at BRE. The panel will discuss themes around the topic of future proofing design and incorporate the exploration of initiatives that put the occupants at the heart of the design brief. The discussion will highlight how, in a world dominated by new technology, design professionals can cultivate positive connections, wellbeing and productivity in the built environment. Against a backdrop of increasing budget constraints, this event will explore ways in which designers can deliver greater value for their clients. Capturing the emerging movement to optimize building design through enhanced occupant outcomes, this forum will enable design professionals to understand the significance of introducing a biophilic design application into office spaces as part of the BRE’s ground breaking research initiative. This discussion will also explain how the panel are harnessing and acting on research regarding the benefits of an occupant-centric approach to colour and design. Marking this as the base foundation for all future interior design briefs, they will uncover under-deployed innovations in lighting, surface materials and smart coatings that support ambitions for more sustainable buildings that enable us all to be more productive and to thrive at every stage of life – whether in education, pursuing careers or using the healthcare system. Attendees will then be given the opportunity to take part in an open question and answer session. Places are extremely limited, but accredited specifiers, designers and architects can book their place by emailing futureproofingdesign@democracypr.com by 22nd February. Now in its 16th year, the Dulux Trade ColourFutures™ palettes are selected to help professionals make choices for a wide variety of buildings with more confidence, providing support on all steps from inspiration through visualisation, product choice and application. Central to this is the Dulux Colour of the Year 2019, Spiced Honey™, a neutral shade that struck a chord with the experts during the forecasting workshop. Honey is associated with nourishment and energy and the imagery of bees themselves perfectly captured the idea of a caring, thriving community. The event is at RIBA, Portland Place, London, on February 26 from 9am-11am.
Advances in AI applications are already causing revolutionary changes in the commercial real estate field, and we’ll continue to see a shift in the way real estate professionals do business in the years to come. With PropTech start-ups increasingly offering technologically innovative products and business strategies for the real estate market, Instant Offices looks at some of the top predicted AI trends that PropTech companies will be bringing into the real estate market in the next two years: Augmented and virtual reality · Applications: VR can be used to provide customers with virtual tours, allowing prospective tenants and buyers to view properties on the other side of the globe, or even to get a look inside properties that haven’t been built yet. Augmented reality, which overlays virtual objects on top of a real-world environment, can help agents to enrich their in-person property tours. · Benefits: This technology makes it easier for agents to sell to clients anywhere in the world and gives clients confidenceto make a decision knowing exactly what they are buying or letting. · Insight: According to a 2018 VR survey, real estate will be one of the top drivers of investment in virtual and augmented reality technologies in the coming year. Biometrics · Applications: Technologies like voice commands and facial recognition are being used to improve the security in commercial buildings. · Benefits: Biometric technologies offer better safety and security for clients, which is especially useful for those who work with sensitive information. Bots · Applications: AI applications like chatbots can be made available to customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This helps commercial real estate agencies to provide clients around the world with readily available support, any time of the day or night. · Benefits: Using bots helps agents to provide customers with better accessibility, irrespective of their schedule or the customer’s time zone. Cryptocurrency and blockchain · Applications: Blockchain-based smart contracts are set to become more widely used in the world of commercial real estate. · Benefits: Blockchain can negate the need for any third-parties in a real estate transaction, while cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are also gaining traction, reducing the need for notaries, lawyers and title holders. Data analysis · Applications: AI can analyse huge amounts of data to help agents match the right properties to the right customers in a short space of time. · Benefits: Data analysis helps providers offer more targeted marketing and tailored solutions to their customers. · Insight: According to a 2016 Gartner report, at least 30% of companies globally will be using AI in at least part of their sales processes by 2020. Data visual tech · Applications: Drones can be used to capture footage of properties and their surroundings for use in virtual tours, and to produce videos of areas that are undergoing development or upgrades. · Benefits: Using visual data technologies, agents can provide customers with an in-depth look at potential properties and locations. Geolocation tech · Applications: AI draws critical data about properties from maps of their location. This data can be analysed and used to predict future changes and trends. For example, AI can use data about development plans in a geographical area to predict the price of property in that area. · Benefits: Geolocation tech can give agencies valuable insights into up-and-coming areas as well as trends in their prospective clients’ preferences. Internet of Things · Applications: IoT is everywhere, with more and more real-world items being equipped with sensors that can be read by Internet applications and translated into data. This applies to buildings too. · Benefits: IoT makes it possible to build “smarter” properties, which are tailored to the needs of those occupying them. · Insight: The Edge in Amsterdam is a 15-storey office building embedded with 28,000 sensors. It is widely regarded as the smartest building in the world. In a nutshell, AI helps to make real estate sales and rentals quicker and easier for customers and providers. The right AI application can save a lot of time and hassle all around by making the process more targeted and efficient, and by providing virtual support. Real-World Examples Here are some examples of how some companies around the world are using AI to transform commercial real estate: CityBldr, Seattle: CityBldr uses an AI platform to locate deals and rank properties based on their development potential. The AI can also estimate the anticipated return on investment of each property. BioConnect, Toronto: This company uses biometrics to improve and personalise building security. The platform identifies users based on unique physical qualities such as their face, eyes, heartbeat and fingerprints. It also offers a product that combines a dual-factor fingerprint and card lock system for data centre server cabinets. Skyline AI, Tel Aviv: Skyline is partnering with Greystone Labs to analyse key industry insights, which they plan to use to improve deal performance and the loan underwriting process. According to Research and Markets, AI revenue will reach $38.8 billion by the year 2025. With so many innovative applications helping to improve, customise and automate everyday business processes, it’s no wonder AI in real estate will continue to grow by leaps and bounds.
Swansea Council has selected Buckingham Group Contracting as the principal contractor to help deliver the £120 million Swansea Central Phase One transformation under a pre-construction services agreement (PCSA). The contract was awarded after a competitive tender process. The transformation will bring a 3,500-capacity digital indoor arena, a coastal park, digital plaza, landmark pedestrian bridge, new car parking and new homes and premises for retail, food and drink. Buckingham Group will undertake pre-construction services including detailed design, costings and essential preparatory work on the expansive city centre site over six months period. “Buckingham Group Contracting have an outstanding record in successfully delivering major high-profile schemes. Having a company of this calibre working in collaboration with us is another statement of intent; this will be a world-class transformational scheme that will be a catalyst to making Swansea a great 21st century city,” said Rob Stewart, leader of Swansea Council. “Swansea Central Phase One will bring a bright new modern focus to our city; it will mean new opportunities for local people, businesses and major investors. Other regeneration will follow. We have developed a strategy with Buckingham to offer packages of work to sub contractors and trades, many of whom we hop will be local so the benefits of this significant investment will stay within the local economy,” Rob added. The early work will prepare the project and site for the main build phase due to start in late summer this year, with the transformation due to be completed in 2021.
Construction work is due to be carried out by Huyton Asphalt to upgrade an arterial route in Liverpool. Improvement works along Prescot Road (A57) began on Monday, 18 February, and will run from Low Hill, near the Royal Liverpool Hospital, to Newton Road by Newsham Park. The first phase will start between Shiel Road and Laurel Road. Running until Autumn, the £3.5 million scheme will include the replacement of the existing road surface, which has deteriorated over the years, and the upgrade of the highway drainage, pedestrian facilities, footways and traffic signals. The work forms part of Liverpool City Council’s £500 million highway investment programme – Better Roads – in conjunction with the council’s commitment “to deliver a strong and growing city” and provide a “connected and accessible city with quality infrastructure”, as set out in the Inclusive Growth Plan. Diversion routes will be in place and road users are advise that delays will be likely and to explore alternative journeys for those travelling to and from the Islington, Fairfield and Kensington and Old Swan areas. The A57 programme has received £2.7 million from the Local Growth Fund (LGF). LGF funding is awarded to the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and invested through the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority through its Strategic Investment Fund.