Construction work is under way at the new £16 million marine science centre in Lowestoft, which will see new headquarters built for the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) at its site on Pakefield Cliffs. The ground-breaking ceremony was attended by funding supporters from Defra and the New
Boulting Ltd, Warrington-based engineering solutions provider, has promoted human resources (HR) manager, Michelle Stott, to the position of HR director. With over 20 years HR experience, Stott will take up the role to reinforce the organisation’s commitment to its staff across the country. “Boulting Ltd is committed to its employees,”
Armstrong Ceiling Solutions provided the award-winning refurbishment plan of the Grade II listed Hackney Town Hall with customised wall panels. The folded bronze anodised aluminium panels were selected by regular Armstrong specifiers HawkinsBrown architects for the end walls of two underused interior service courtyards that have been transformed into full-height
Construction Technology has received £420 million cash to speed up property building. This is the biggest public and private investment into construction for at least a decade and the strategy aims to boost the government’s ambitions of building 1.5 million new homes by 2022. The money will help the current
The increasing demand for modular construction solutions in the UK has prompted Seven Oaks Timber Frame, part of construction company JG Hale Construction, to be turned into a separate limited company and rebranded as Seven Oaks Modular. The new company will be managed by Charlotte Hale, with Jonathan Hale, chairman
Martin Pease has been appointed by WATG, one of the world’s leading integrated architectural design firms, as Managing Director of the firm’s practice in London. Pease brings 25 years of design and commercial business experience to WATG, with deep expertise across the United Kingdom, United States and the Middle East.
A Central Amsterdam asset – Ring Park – has been acquired by Round Hill Capital, a leading real estate investment, development and asset management firm, and Boelens de Gruyter, a real estate developer, for potential refurbishment and expansion. The acquisition also represents an opportunity for significant residential redevelopment. Located near
The Glebelands Park development is a new Morris Homes site in Leicester, featuring a collection of detached and semi-detached three, four and five bedroom properties. They were all designed to offer stylish homes that blend in to the surrounding countryside. In order to achieve this, Morris Homes chose Freefoam Building
Nilorn, a Sweden-headquartered branding and design firm is setting up a 15,000 sq ft North Yorkshire base, which will serve as the company’s UK head office. Signing the deal to bring Nilorn to the mixed-use Motor Works scheme in Cononley was property developer Candelisa. “We are delighted to have concluded
Makita has introduced the first tool of the ever expanding and popular CXT cordless range – Makita 12v TW140D impact wrench. Its impressively small size allows easy access in tight locations and underlies its powerful performance, delivery and speed. Weighing only 1.2kg, including a Li-Ion CXT battery, and measuring just
Construction work is under way at the new £16 million marine science centre in Lowestoft, which will see new headquarters built for the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) at its site on Pakefield Cliffs. The ground-breaking ceremony was attended by funding supporters from Defra and the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, alongside local councillors, residents, staff and contractors. To commemorate the occasion, a time capsule containing recent Cefas scientific papers, letters to the future from young Cefas apprentices, a reusable water bottle – reflecting organisational commitments to reducing marine plastics, and other artefacts were buried. “I thank Defra, New Anglia LEP, local councillor and the many others for their support for our exciting new Lowestoft headquarters development,” said CEO Tom Karsten. “This will be a vital step in realising our vision of a new era of Cefas and Defra leadership in providing world class science to manage the marine and freshwater environment.” “Cefas has played a leading role in the UK and Lowestoft’s marine history over the past 116 years. The renewal of our Lowestoft headquarters represents an important chapter in this history and future opportunities for our continued development,” he added. Cefas secured the final piece of funding in January 2018 and with the new centre on the way, the firm could save up to £2 million a year in running costs and would safeguard 440 jobs at the Pakefield Road site as well as enabling it to employ 12 to 15 apprentices a year. “We are pleased to be officially marking the start of construction on this important development, which will provide Cefas with outstanding facilities to support their globally-relevant research and anchor our region as a centre for marine science excellence in the UK,” said Saul Humphrey, managing director of Morgan Singall’s East region. “Our team is already making good progress and we look forward to working closely with Cefas and the wider project team as we deliver this landmark centre,” he continued. Building work on the new office is due to begin shortly, with the completion date set for May 2020.
Boulting Ltd, Warrington-based engineering solutions provider, has promoted human resources (HR) manager, Michelle Stott, to the position of HR director. With over 20 years HR experience, Stott will take up the role to reinforce the organisation’s commitment to its staff across the country. “Boulting Ltd is committed to its employees,” said Josh Groake, deputy managing director at Boulting. “By promoting Michelle into the role of HR director, she will lead a dedicated human resources team that will work to support and guide our staff across the UK and beyond. Michelle will provide a wealth of knowledge and experience to our directorial board and some of the ideas and plans she has moving forward will continue to set Boulting apart as a dedicated and valuable employer.” Michelle joined Boulting Ltd in 2013 as HR and resourcing manager, supporting the organisation with employee relations and ongoing recruitment requirements. She is Charted Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) qualified and also holds numerous employee management accreditations, including Myers & Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and 16 personality factors (16pf). “In the five years that I have worked for Boulting, I have always been impressed with the future prospects of not only the company, but the organisation’s employee skills set too,” said Michelle Stott. “As HR director I will look to reaffirm the company’s people management processes as well as solidify new schemes, such as a formal mentorship programme and increased school liaison work.” “Government studies report that the engineering sector is facing a skills crisis like never before,” she continued. “The industry needs around 186,000 skilled recruits each year, until 2024, to help bridge the gap. At Boulting we understand the need to develop our current staff as well as consider new ways to tackle the skills gap and improve diversity across the engineering sector as a whole.” “Our dedication to our employees continuous p95rofessional development (CPD) and our ongoing apprenticeship scheme is just the starting point of our investment in engineering careers and the evolving industry in which we work,” Stott concluded.
Armstrong Ceiling Solutions provided the award-winning refurbishment plan of the Grade II listed Hackney Town Hall with customised wall panels. The folded bronze anodised aluminium panels were selected by regular Armstrong specifiers HawkinsBrown architects for the end walls of two underused interior service courtyards that have been transformed into full-height multi-functional atria as part of the redevelopment. The wall panels mimic the original walls behind, including aged brickwork, Crittall windows, drain pipes and services. Their purpose is to conceal new ducts linked to the smoke ventilation system, featuring an acoustic fleece behind the panels to absorb sound. Specialist Omega sub-contractor Roskel Contracts installed some 110m2 of the 1.5mm WH-1000 2m x 1m panels, for contractor Osborne onto a lightweight steel framing system on the walls at the eastern ends of the north and south atria. These were then complemented by anodised trough boxes containing continuous strips of LED lights at the top of each three-storey wall. “We wanted to choose a standard proprietary acoustic wall cladding system for which we could customise the perforation pattern and selected the W-H 1000 Armstrong product after advice from the representative that this would meet our performance requirements and design intent,” said Chloe Marshall, HawkinsBrown associate director. “It was important to us that the perforation pattern could be customised to create a new feature within the rooms rather than a dominating plain rear wall. A bronzed finish was selected to link to the historic building materials of the 1930s interior and to interface well with the London Stock brickwork and painted steel structure of the new ETFE roof,” she added. Hackney Town Hall was built in 1937 by architects Lanchester and Lodge in an Art Deco-style design and for 12 years it has been subjected to an exhaustive 12 year and 12,500m2 restoration and refurbishment programme throughout which it has remained fully open. As well as creating 66% more office space, the refurbishment of Hackney Town Hall is part of a wider masterplan for the London Borough of Hackney, which has made the building more energy efficient. During the programme, 97% of waste was diverted from landfill.
Construction Technology has received £420 million cash to speed up property building. This is the biggest public and private investment into construction for at least a decade and the strategy aims to boost the government’s ambitions of building 1.5 million new homes by 2022. The money will help the current housing supply shortage by developing new, innovative construction materials and techniques. The government has contributed with £170 million, while the rest of £250 million came from industry investment. “The construction industry is fundamental to growing our economy as we build to invest in our future. Major infrastructure projects like HS2 and the commitment to deliver 1.5 million homes by 2022 mean that we need a construction sector that can drive innovation, delivering homes and infrastructure quicker,” said Greg Clark, business secretary in a speech to the Northern Powerhouse Summit. “As buildings account for around 30 per cent of total emissions, we also want to ensure that we are at the global forefront in designing and building smart, energy efficient and affordable homes and buildings through the Clean Growth Grand Challenge, saving families money on their bills,” Clark added.
The increasing demand for modular construction solutions in the UK has prompted Seven Oaks Timber Frame, part of construction company JG Hale Construction, to be turned into a separate limited company and rebranded as Seven Oaks Modular. The new company will be managed by Charlotte Hale, with Jonathan Hale, chairman of JG Hale Construction, becoming its chairman. Seven Oaks has an order book in excess of £10.5 million with tier one contractors and large property developers, anticipating year-on-year growth of more than 15%. This growth is partly driven by government initiatives to build more homes quickly. Modular construction cuts time on site to almost half, meaning that even though components and materials are more expensive than traditional ones, the overall cost is the same, if not cheaper. It also incorporates greater quality and precision from the factory installed components and material, matching customer expectations, end user and market requirements. Seven Oaks Modular is extending its product offering to incorporate windows, doors and external cladding into its prefabricated timber frame panels, with a plan to offer fully modular volumetric buildings in the future. It has also invested in research into developing bathroom and kitchen pods, CLT and other modular renewable products and solutions. Moreover, the company will also invest £2 million in expanding its production facilities and increasing the size of its workforce. Its plans include moving into new premises, increasing the company’s capacity threefold from 1,000 homes per year to 3,000 per year. “We’ve listened to our customers and, with an evidently increased demand for offsite manufacturing, we’ve decided to introduce a more modular approach to our product offerings. There is a big housing shortage in the UK and this approach has the potential to help solve that in a quicker and more efficient way,” said Charlotte Hale, manager of Seven Oaks Modular.
Martin Pease has been appointed by WATG, one of the world’s leading integrated architectural design firms, as Managing Director of the firm’s practice in London. Pease brings 25 years of design and commercial business experience to WATG, with deep expertise across the United Kingdom, United States and the Middle East. “I am delighted to welcome Martin to the firm. His commercial savvy, design talent and leadership skills will enable WATG to significantly scale our UK operations with a continued focus on delighting our clients and delivering excellent design. His experience with large-scale project delivery will bring a unique perspective to our London operations and our global team at large,” commented Anthony Mallows, President and CEO. Martin’s previous role was as Head of Architecture and Building Engineering at Atkins North America, where he stayed from 2014 until 2018. During his time there he grew the firm’s business by 40% across six offices. Prior to his tenure with Atkins North America, Pease was Head of Architecture for Dubai-based Damac, the largest privately-owned property developer in the Middle East. “I have always admired WATG’s reputation for design excellence and the firm’s incredible portfolio of work from the past 70+ years. I’m incredibly excited to contribute to the firm’s vision for growth and honoured to join such a highly talented and passionate design team,” said Martin Pease. Throughout his career, Pease has acquired a vast portfolio of work, including large scale mixed use projects alongside work in aviation, rail, residential, commercial and public architecture. Notable projects include the Getty Centre in Los Angeles, the Glyndebourne Opera House in the UK, the Navy Museum in Washington D.C., Glasgow College in Scotland, a new terminal at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and the Trump Golf Course Clubhouse in Dubai. Originally from the UK, Pease worked there for several notable firms, such as Richard Meier, Michael Hopkins, Stride Treglown Architects and Atkins UK. At the moment, Martin is writing a book on ‘How to Present’ for architects, done in conjunction with the University of the West of England.
A Central Amsterdam asset – Ring Park – has been acquired by Round Hill Capital, a leading real estate investment, development and asset management firm, and Boelens de Gruyter, a real estate developer, for potential refurbishment and expansion. The acquisition also represents an opportunity for significant residential redevelopment. Located near the A10 ring-road in Central Amsterdam, the 11,804 m2 site is in a ‘residential acceleration area’ designed by the Municipality for potential residential (re)zoning, in order to meet the strong and increasing demand for housing in Amsterdam. “The local Municipality recognises the need for the development of more residential accommodation to meet the persisting supply/demand fundamentals in Amsterdam and this asset is right in the middle of a site already set aside as a potential new urban housing neighbourhood just 10 minutes by bike or tram to the city centre,” said Maarten de Gruyter, director of Boelens de Gruyter. This acquisition reflects the continuing expansion of Round Hill’s urban regeneration and development strategy in the Netherlands. Back in February of this year, the firm, together with Boelens de Gruyter and G&S Vastgoed, bought approximately 4.5 ha (43,000 m²) in Merwede Canal Zone in Utrecht to be developed into a new urban neighbourhood. “Round Hill has a well-established and successful investment and development track record and asset management expertise across Europe, and this acquisition site further enhances our platform in the Netherlands, which remains a key focus for our strategy. The asset has significant asset management opportunities and potential residential redevelopment and we believe that it provides an exceptional opportunity to provide additional housing which is required to support continued population growth in Amsterdam,” said Michael Bickford, founder and CEO of Round Hill Capital. Over the past four years, Round Hill has successfully established its residential investment and asset management platform in the Netherlands and has acquired more than 10,000 Dutch residential units throughout this period. Across Europe, Round Hill has acquired and managed more than 100,000 residential units and has a significant and growing development pipeline.
The Glebelands Park development is a new Morris Homes site in Leicester, featuring a collection of detached and semi-detached three, four and five bedroom properties. They were all designed to offer stylish homes that blend in to the surrounding countryside. In order to achieve this, Morris Homes chose Freefoam Building Products’ Dark Grey Fascia, which ideally complements the grey window frames, Juliet balconies and garage doors, achieving a coordinated, contemporary look. “We’re often driven by planning guidelines and pride ourselves on being able to offer Local Authorities a ‘non-standard’ look that will enhance the local area. One of the ways we achieve this is by using colour instead of white. It immediately raises the profile of a house design and gives instant kerb appeal,” said Phil Shaw, Procurement Manager at Morris Homes. Manufactured using Freefoam’s patented ColormaxTM technology – an advanced master-batching process with a blend of natural PVC and pigments that are simultaneously co-extruded – colour fascia, soffit and guttering are produced with built-in colour fastness, colour variety, and reliable colour matching, all with a ten year guarantee. Eight roofline colours are all available straight from stock, ranging from subtle Pale Gold and Sand to more dramatic Black and Grey. “With 100 homes planned for the development we needed to be confident that the roofline materials would be consistent and available when needed,” said Richard Watson, Site Manager. “We don’t have the facilities to store large quantities on site so I order on a plot specific basis at the same time as the roof trusses. Our local Freefoam Supplier ensures that all-grey fascia is available and arranges delivery to site. The quality of the product is excellent and the whole process is working really well for us.” As colour has become one of the major design changes in both new house building and retrofit, house builders such as Morris Homes are increasingly using colour to bring style and definition to new development.
Nilorn, a Sweden-headquartered branding and design firm is setting up a 15,000 sq ft North Yorkshire base, which will serve as the company’s UK head office. Signing the deal to bring Nilorn to the mixed-use Motor Works scheme in Cononley was property developer Candelisa. “We are delighted to have concluded this deal with Nilorn which will provide a major boost to the local economy and create potential employment opportunities,” said Guy Taylor, Candelisa Managing Director. The new site is being built specifically for Nilorn and is part of the wider £30 million Motor Works development, which also includes the conversion of the former Green’s Mill into 51 apartments and the construction of 46 homes on brownfield land. Moreover, the Motor Works project also includes the proposed Anley Crag Business Park, which could go before local planners as early as August. If approved, the Business Park will deliver 137,000 sq ft of commercial space and a further 19 residential units. “We have evidence that the creation of an environmentally conscious, sophisticated business park at Anley Crag will attract similar professional businesses, making it a great working environment and offering a fantastic work life balance,” said Guy. “The scheme is also critical to Craven’s commitment to provide opportunities for talented professionals to live, work, and remain in the rural North and help retain the vibrancy of the Yorkshire Dales National Park,” he added. The office for Nilorn is due to be completed in early 2019. Nilorn is a unique global company with expertise in adding value to brands in the world of labels, packaging, and accessories. The firm offers complete, creative and tailor-made concepts in the areas of branding, design, product development and logistic solutions. Its offices and manufacturing bases are located in: Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Portugal, Turkey, Hong Kong, China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Makita has introduced the first tool of the ever expanding and popular CXT cordless range – Makita 12v TW140D impact wrench. Its impressively small size allows easy access in tight locations and underlies its powerful performance, delivery and speed. Weighing only 1.2kg, including a Li-Ion CXT battery, and measuring just 161mm in overall body length, the TW140D impact wrench will deliver 140Nm of fastening torque and 270Nm of nut busting blitz, will run up to 2,600rpm and will deliver up to 3,200ipm. This model features an electric brake and variable speed trigger; forward and reverse rotation and an LED job light. It also has an ergonomic soft grip handle for operator comfort and a convenient belt clip. The TW140D CXT impact wrench is available with two 2.0Ah Li-Ion CXT slide batteries and DC10WD charger (offering a 60 minute charge time), or as a body only machine. Moreover, Makita’s new, premium quality, 3/8” drive CR-MO impact sockets, made from high strength chrome Molybdenum alloy steel, offer a combination of durability and impact resistance and for best results are recommended for use with the TW140D. Makita also launched its 12v-MAX SDS-Plus HR140D cordless rotary hammer drill that generates one joule of impact energy and up to 4,900ipm. Weighing just 2.6kg, this model will run up to 850rpm. It features two operating modes – rotary only and rotation with hammering – and a vibration absorbing grip handle assembly, which cuts drilling vibration transmission to protect the operator for up to six hours use. The HR140D 12v CXT rotary hammer is currently available with a 65 piece accessory kit containing wood and metal bits, a tape measure, two 2.0Ah CXT Li-Ion batteries and a charger, all packaged in a convenient and protective carrying case. Makita is a leading world class brand of professional power tools, accessories and workwear known for quality, performance and durability in rigorous industrial use. Operating for 45 years, it is Britain’s number one professional power tool manufacturer, offering an extensive inventory of over 620 products and accessories.