A new community energy initiative focused on farm-scale wind turbines has been launched by Sharenergy and will combine projects in Scotland and Wales. Small Wind Cooperative is first to combine projects in different countries within the UK and will allow members to use the energy generated in
Manchester’s historic Grade II listed Corn Exchange is being converted into a four-star hotel. Above: Manchester Corn Exchange ISG has been awarded a £13m contract by Queensberry Real Estate to refurbish levels two to five of the building, to create a 114-bedroom ‘aparthotel’ for operator Roomzzz. The scheme is the
Hanergy has warned bondholders that it will miss payment on a bond issued by its hydropower subsidiary, a first indicator of pain for mainland lenders after its Hong Kong stock was suspended 10 months ago. The rise and abrupt fall of Hanergy’s stock has become a symbol for the excess
Leading aluminium systems manufacturer continues to strengthen its sales and marketing team. Leading architectural aluminium systems manufacturer Kawneer UK has announced the appointment of Mark Hanson as marketing manager with additional responsibility for the development of products and services for the low-rise residential sector. Mark Hanson comes with a wealth of
The Waterman Group has been celebrating the completion of the IFC1 building. This building is the first to be completed at the International Finance Centre in Jersey. The IFC 1 building is part of the master plan that will deliver 470,000 sq. ft. of office buildings over six different buildings.
Telling Architectural is a developer and distributor of advanced building facades based in the West Midlands. The company has announced that it has agreed with Aldermore a new financial facility that will be worth £1 million. The developer and distributor has been in operation since it was established in 2002.
The Considerate Constructors Scheme has announced the winners of their National Site Awards. It has been revealed that the winner of the Most Considerate site this year is the Graham-BAM Healthcare Partnership. This partnership has been formed by Graham Construction and BAM Construction in order to complete work on Ulster
The Web browser, Vivaldi, has announced that they will be teaming up with Ecosia in order to support more environmental projects around the world. Ecosia is known for being a search engine that supports sustainability by planting trees, therefore the collaboration with Vivaldi ill enable the company to extend their
The recently awarded Infrastructure Architect of the year 2017 has revealed that they are a part of the AECOM-led team that will offer design services for the third and newest crossing of the Menai Strait. The contract has been given by the Welsh Government and Richards, Moorehead & Laing the
A new community energy initiative focused on farm-scale wind turbines has been launched by Sharenergy and will combine projects in Scotland and Wales. Small Wind Cooperative is first to combine projects in different countries within the UK and will allow members to use the energy generated in their homes and businesses as part of a deal with energy supplier Co-operative Energy. The project offers people the chance to support three community turbines, one in Wales and two in Scotland, with bonds or shares and a minimum of £100. The bonds offer a return of 4.5 per cent and will be repaid after 6 years and the shares a projected annual average return of 6.5 per cent over 20 years. Small Wind Coop director Jon Halle said: ““We know that people don’t trust the big energy companies, which is why we are a small co-operative, which is completely owned and run by our members – no ‘fat cats’ here. “And we know that people want to support renewable energy in the UK directly – so we set up the Small Wind Coop to make that possible.” Sharenergy community renewables adviser Leila Sharland said: “This could be one of the last chances to join a community wind cooperative following recent changes in government support. “And as well as supporting ordinary UK farmers in Wales and Scotland, we’re offering our members a new way to connect the energy they are helping to generate with the energy they use at home or work. It’s a really exciting opportunity to be part of a new UK energy democracy.” The project will generate a community fund of £3,000 per year for 20 years at each location, to support local projects bringing social, economic and environmental benefits to the area. Source link
Manchester’s historic Grade II listed Corn Exchange is being converted into a four-star hotel. Above: Manchester Corn Exchange ISG has been awarded a £13m contract by Queensberry Real Estate to refurbish levels two to five of the building, to create a 114-bedroom ‘aparthotel’ for operator Roomzzz. The scheme is the second phase of a wider £30m investment to develop the building as a leisure destination. The ground and first floor levels have already been converted to restaurant and bar use, and will remain operational during work on the upper storeys. ISG will start work in mid-August. It will carry out remedial works to the roof structure and install a cantilevered scaffold system at first floor level. ISG will then make significant structural alterations to the building’s floor slabs to introduce new service risers to accommodate new mechanical and electrical infrastructure. Roomzzz Manchester Corn Exchange will use a combination of existing brick walls and new partitioning to create four room types, from apartments to penthouses, including a guest suite in the building’s turret, accessed via a new spiral staircase. Three architecturally listed stair cores will be restored to create a historical feature within the hotel. Andy McLinden, ISG’s Northern managing director, said: “The former Corn Exchange in Manchester is a very special and much-loved building and its latest evolution builds on the growing trend for hybrid guest accommodation in the city. This is a high-profile showcase of our capabilities delivering luxury hotel accommodation in a logistically challenging and busy city centre location, with the added complexity of working in an architecturally protected building. “It’s a great challenge and an environment where we positively thrive as a business and there is a great deal of anticipation to get underway with the transformation of this iconic Manchester landmark.” This article was published on 25 Jul 2016 (last updated on 25 Jul 2016). Source link
Hanergy has warned bondholders that it will miss payment on a bond issued by its hydropower subsidiary, a first indicator of pain for mainland lenders after its Hong Kong stock was suspended 10 months ago. The rise and abrupt fall of Hanergy’s stock has become a symbol for the excess in China’s stock market, which began its slide shortly after. The slide has exposed corporations and executives who borrowed against rising shares. Hanergy, which manufactures thin solar film, used its rising stock as well as its physical assets as collateral for heavy borrowing. Public documents show that the company borrowed against shares in its Jinanqiao dam in Yunnan Province — China’s largest privately owned dam — as well as against the rights to revenues from those shares. Hanergy issued the Rmb1bn PPN001 instrument in 2014 at interest rates of 7.8 per cent through the Pudong Development Bank, one of China’s midsized lenders. Caijing magazine on Friday reported that holders of the instrument had received a notice saying that payment would not be made on time. Two other notes totalling Rmb1.4bn are due next year. Hanergy founder Li Hejun often referred to Jinanqiao as his cash cow that allowed the company to take a bet on thin film solar power. The company confirmed the report, but said it would issue a clarification later. Meanwhile, trading in shares of China Yurun Food Group, a sausage maker, was suspended on Friday pending a statement on the potential impact from the default on domestic short-term financing notes issued by its subsidiary Nanjing Yurun Food. FT investigation How an obscure toy maker was transformed into Hanergy Thin Film, a solar group whose value touched $40bn before a dramatic fall back to earth The Hong Kong-listed company gave no further details in a filing to the Hong Kong bourse announcing the suspension. Nanjing Yurun on Thursday defaulted on a Rmb500m short-term financing note repayment, the company said. Additional reporting by Ma Nan and Reuters Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. All rights reserved. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link
Leading aluminium systems manufacturer continues to strengthen its sales and marketing team. Leading architectural aluminium systems manufacturer Kawneer UK has announced the appointment of Mark Hanson as marketing manager with additional responsibility for the development of products and services for the low-rise residential sector. Mark Hanson comes with a wealth of experience within the industry, having spent more than 20 years at Ultraframe where he was instrumental in growing, developing and promoting a range of aluminium-based conservatory and roof glazing products in the residential sector. Mark commented: “I am excited to start a new challenge within Kawneer and look forward to working with the team to further develop their already extensive product and service suite. I am fortunate to be joining such a respected and forward-thinking company.” Mark Clemson, Kawneer’s sales and marketing director added: “Mark’s wealth of experience and industry knowledge will make him a key addition to the team at Kawneer. His appointment is a sign of our drive for continued growth and commitment to being the leading company in our industry. “Our new products, combined with the growth in the use of aluminium-based glazing systems in the residential sector has led us to look for an addition to our team who will fit in with our ethos of innovation and service excellence. “We are very fortunate that we were able to find someone of Mark’s calibre to fulfil this role. I’m confident that Mark will play a key role in helping us deliver growth in this important sector.” ENDS About Kawneer: Kawneer offers a comprehensive range of architectural aluminium building products and systems which include curtain wall, windows, commercial entrance doors and framing systems. Since its beginnings over a century ago, Kawneer has been recognised as an innovator. Through the years, the company has balanced experience with innovation. It has listened to its customers and is dedicated to providing the tools its customers need to succeed. Kawneer’s global design expertise, combined with aluminium’s flexibility and recyclability, makes the company’s our building systems and products the right solutions for today and tomorrow. Kawneer products are made from materials of the highest quality and designed with the benefit of many years of construction experience. As the company controls every stage of the process, from mining the bauxite ore through to designing individual systems, it offers a unique resource to architects and contractors. Source link
The Waterman Group has been celebrating the completion of the IFC1 building. This building is the first to be completed at the International Finance Centre in Jersey. The IFC 1 building is part of the master plan that will deliver 470,000 sq. ft. of office buildings over six different buildings. The project will also deliver private car parking spaces that are situated below the buildings, and 520 public car parking spaces that will be spread across three levels and situated below a public park created on the site. The IFC Jersey project will become a new extension on the existing central business district. It is thought that the new development will create a distinct identity for the premier industry on the island. The new extension should also see the connection between the historic town centre and the waterfront strengthened. Waterman was selected to provide the buildings services to the project as well as work on the environmental, sustainability and structural engineering design of the development. The company selected their team of sustainability experts that gave advice on the project to make sue the building had the optimum levels of glazing and to lessen the impact of solar shading in the design of the front of the building. It is thought that the IFC 1 building will be the first building in the Channel Island to be awarded with the BREEAM Excellence rating. The performance of the building will be 19% better than the minimum requirement as well as the 20% reduction of energy which is achieved by the low and zero carbon technologies. The technology that is part of the design to make the building more sustainable includes air source heat pump and low energy LED lighting that includes daylight dimming control. The majority of the IFC1 building has already been let out to companies including UBS and BNP Paribas. As for the construction, the rest of the buildings planned will be split into different phases and will be completed on a building by building basis according to demand for the space.
Telling Architectural is a developer and distributor of advanced building facades based in the West Midlands. The company has announced that it has agreed with Aldermore a new financial facility that will be worth £1 million. The developer and distributor has been in operation since it was established in 2002. The company is based in Four Ashes, Wolverhampton and deals with clients in the UK and in North America. Telling Architectural has been expanding steadily since first starting up. The company moved to new premises in July of 2016 in order to accommodate their growing numbers of staff as well as in order to support their increasing sales. Telling Architectural revealed that they achieved a turnover of £5 million in 2016 and the company forecast that this figure will have doubled by 2018. The funding that has been granted by Aldermore is expected to help Telling Architectural achieve this ambitious level of growth. Aldermore Group PLC is a specialist bank that offers clients a range of straightforward products. The bank mainly caters for Small and Medium sized Enterprises, or SMEs, as well as offering services to homeowners, landlords and individuals. Aldermore does not offer a network of branches, but deals with their customers online, by phone or face to face via their regional offices that are dotted around the UK. The Bank was established in 2009 and focuses on delivering a reliable, dynamic and expert service for their clients. Telling Architectural are joining Aldermore after their previous lender proved unable to offer the kind of financial support that the company needed in order to maintain and continue their strong growth patterns. One of Telling’s independent consultants introduced the company to Aldermore and the bank was willing to offer a tailored funding solution and also proved very easy to work with. Support from Aldermore has allowed Telling Architectural to move in to their new premises and has given the company the opportunity to continue to meet customer demands while still forecasting and achievable level of growth.
The Considerate Constructors Scheme has announced the winners of their National Site Awards. It has been revealed that the winner of the Most Considerate site this year is the Graham-BAM Healthcare Partnership. This partnership has been formed by Graham Construction and BAM Construction in order to complete work on Ulster Hospital Phase B2-General Ward Block. This project also forms the basis of the award. The Graham-BAM Healthcare Partnership was awarded with the title of Most Considerate Site in the category of projects that were valued at £50 million and above. On top of this prestigious award, Graham was awarded five silver and two bronze awards for a number of their sites that are located around the country. It is thought that the National Site Awards are one of the most respected awards in the UK construction industry. The Awards scheme looks to recognise scheme registered sites that show the highest possible levels of consideration as well as respect for the community, environment and Workforce. The Ulster Hospital Phase B2 project includes the construction of a seven storey ward building that will house a procedural area and 288 en-suite bedrooms that form part of 12 impatient wards. The development will cover 30,000 sq. m. and has also been designed in order to comply with the highest building and infection control standards. The project monitors have been praising work on the site because of the attractive appearance and presentation of the new building while also recognizing the low profile of the team working on the site in the hospital environment. The project also has connections to local schools, charities and stakeholders in order to positively advertise the industry. It is a huge achievement for all of the companies that won a 2017 National Site Award and the scheme reflects the intention of the industry to continue to deliver world-class projects while also adopting the Code of Considerate Practice.
The Web browser, Vivaldi, has announced that they will be teaming up with Ecosia in order to support more environmental projects around the world. Ecosia is known for being a search engine that supports sustainability by planting trees, therefore the collaboration with Vivaldi ill enable the company to extend their efforts supporting environmental projects. Because of this partnership, the people that use Ecosia in the Vivaldi browser will be able to transform their web searches in to trees that will be planted in some of the most environmentally threatened areas around the world. Ecosia is known to donate at least 80% of their profits gained from search ad revenue in order to support tree planting programs worldwide. This project means that Vivaldi users will be able to make a big difference to the environment just through using a search engine. By searching with Ecosia, users will be able to monitor their contribution, as a small tree counter, located in the top right corner of the screen shows how many trees that have been planted through the help of the user. Currently Ecosia state that they have planted nearly 7.5 million trees since the company was launched in 2009. It is hoped that the company will have planted 1 billion trees by 2020. This new partnership with Vivaldi will help Ecosia reach this target. This partnership is a reflection of the way that technology can allow millions of different people to contribute to environmental projects. Vivaldi began operating in 2016 and offers a flexible browsing tool that is fully customizable. The browser offers a range of unique features that includes a built in screenshot tool, customizable appearance of the browser, and the ability organise and handle tabs in a more advanced way than other browsers. Vivladi is an employee-owned company that has their headquarters in Oslo.
The recently awarded Infrastructure Architect of the year 2017 has revealed that they are a part of the AECOM-led team that will offer design services for the third and newest crossing of the Menai Strait. The contract has been given by the Welsh Government and Richards, Moorehead & Laing the environmental consultancy will also be involved in the development. The team working on the project will be carrying out the Key Stage 2 Appraisal of the options for the development that will allow the best possible designs for the new bridge will be identified and constructed. This third crossing of the Menai Strait will see connect Anglesey to the mainland of the Wales. It is thought that this project will identify a new preferred route for a number of the passengers. This new connection will help to reduce the traffic in the two existing crossings for the Menai Strait. The original Menai Bridge was built in the 1820s by Thomas Telford. The second crossing, Robert Stephenson’s Britannia Bridge that was built in 1850 struggle with heavy congestion. The congestion is caused on Britannia Bridge because it is the only section of the A55 that is not a dual carriageway which creates a bottleneck. The route that connects the M53 with Holyhead Port via Britannia Bridge is a part of the Trans European Road Network. The new bridge has been planned in order to improve the capacity and reliability of the road network in this area. This new project will also offer better network resilience and improved opportunities and safety for non-motorised users and safety. It is thought that Knight Architects will contribute to the project with their significant expertise in delivering infrastructure designs that are of high quality in both high profile and sensitive locations. Recently the Architects firm has completed a 50m highway that extends across the River Avon in Bath, which was the first new bridge to be constructed in a World Heritage Site for more than 100 years. Knight are also working on the £600 million Mersey Gateway.