South East London practice Steer Davies Gleave has been appointed by Better Bankside to develop design proposals for the Bankside Boardwalk project, which is partly funded through Transport for London’s Future Streets Incubator. The scheme will trial a temporary reconfiguration of Lavington Street to a one-way street, and use the
The Scottish Environment Secretary says that the Scottish government has “no intention” of relaxing European environmental standards following the Brexit vote. Speaking at WWT’s Water Scotland conference in Glasgow, Roseanna Cunningham explained: “I want to clarify our position as regards compliance with European Union directives and the issue of Brexit.
Wandsworth Council has granted planning permission for a vibrant new, high quality office building overlooking the Grade II listed Wandsworth Park with views of the River Thames on the corner of Putney Bridge and Deodar Road. Designed by dn-a architects and developed by Landid, The Parklife Building will transform the
Contractor and developer McGoff Group is targeting a major expansion into the private rented sector. Executive Director Dave McGoff said that the firm wanted to expand its development of PRS schemes into Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham. The group launched its first PRS development this year through its development arm Villafont
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has revealed that it is shocked at the lack of precautions taken by retail giant Tesco before sending maintenance employees to work at height. Last week, the supermarket chain was prosecuted and fined £500,000 for breaches of health and safety that resulted in a
A Bolton night club owner has been sentenced after he admitted failing to carry out a survey for asbestos prior to starting on the refurbishment of a local night club. Manchester Magistrates’ court heard how UK Night Life Limited and its only director, Charles John McGrath, undertook the management of
The Government is to continue its efforts to increase housing stock following the result of the EU referendum. Communities Secretary Greg Clark and Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said the Government remained committed to tackling the shortage of new homes. In a meeting with the Home Builders Federation (HBF), they said
Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Fri, Jun 17th 2016 Caped crusaders from Keyline, the UK’s leading specialist supplier of civils and drainage solutions and heavy building materials, will take their fight against evil onto the road as they take part in an international
Fit-out specialist Styles&Wood reports a clutch of diverse contract awards worth £23m in total. Above: Chief executive Tony Lenehan The six projects are across the commercial office, healthcare and hospitality sectors in London and the northwest. In the commercial office sector, Styles&Wood has a £6.2m contract for a 56,000 sq
Prysmian is staging a series of roadshows to demonstrate how cables that may look similar can perform very differently, highlighting the potential dangers of selecting poor quality products. The All Cables Are Not The Same (ACANTS) roadshow was launched in April, with further events planned to take place around the
South East London practice Steer Davies Gleave has been appointed by Better Bankside to develop design proposals for the Bankside Boardwalk project, which is partly funded through Transport for London’s Future Streets Incubator. The scheme will trial a temporary reconfiguration of Lavington Street to a one-way street, and use the freed up road-space to extend the footpath at grade through the design of a new modular structure: Bankside Boardwalk, to help improve the quality of environment of Lavington Street for those on foot. The appointment of Steer Davies Gleave came following a design competition held earlier in the year. Ten high quality submissions were made representing a total of 28 organisations, which represent a very wide range of disciplines from highways engineering to urban landscape design and product design. A panel consisting of key partners Southwark Council and Transport for London were involved in the selection of the winning team. Originally situated on Lavington Street, it will help to test how streets and pavements can be reconfigured to respond to the changing pressures faced by streets in cities and towns, including accommodating rises in footfall and the need to navigate safely around building sites, temporary hoardings or roadworks. Streets account for 80% of London’s public realm, and as the number of residents, workers and visitors in Bankside goes up; the streets need to work harder to accommodate these changing needs. The Bankside Boardwalk will allow Better Bankside and its partners to test new ways of designing streets going forward. Bankside Boardwalk is commissioned as part of Bankside Urban Forest, the long term programme to improve the network of streets and spaces in Bankside. Bankside Boardwalk will be installed early next year following engagement with local companies and residents, and will be on site for a six month trial. The other shortlisted teams interviewed for the project were Cyclehoop with Witteveen+Bos, Carver Haggard Architects and Momentum/LDA.
The Scottish Environment Secretary says that the Scottish government has “no intention” of relaxing European environmental standards following the Brexit vote. Speaking at WWT’s Water Scotland conference in Glasgow, Roseanna Cunningham explained: “I want to clarify our position as regards compliance with European Union directives and the issue of Brexit. “This government has no intention of relaxing standards. Anybody out there that thinks that, from the perspective of that kind of compliance, that leaving the EU will mean a relaxation is dead wrong. “We do not believe that is the right way to go. Those standards are in Scotland’s best interest, providing safe, clean drinking water and protecting the environment, all of which we see as essential to Scotland’s prosperity.” She added that climate change will pose challenges to the resilience of Scottish Water’s infrastructure, and pointed out that the floods earlier this year were “a perfect example”. “We need to understand the likely impacts and plan accordingly,” she said, adding that Scottish Water “can’t plan or deliver improvements on its own”. The company will need the help of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, land managers and local authorities and local community groups, she said. She also told delegates that, although customer engagement has improved “markedly” over the years, they must “work even harder” to explain the water industry to customers, particularly given the challenges, such as climate change, that it faces. “To put it another way, the days of the silent service need to come to an end,” she said. “I know that Scottish Water is working with customers and has had considerable success from its advertising campaign – Keep the Cycle Working Smoothly. A 10 per cent reduction in sewer blockages, as a consequence of this campaign, is a pretty good result. “However, I do want to encourage you all to continue to work in partnership with Scottish Water to engage with customers on a range of issues, such as improvements at bathing waters and environmental compliance, for example.”
Wandsworth Council has granted planning permission for a vibrant new, high quality office building overlooking the Grade II listed Wandsworth Park with views of the River Thames on the corner of Putney Bridge and Deodar Road. Designed by dn-a architects and developed by Landid, The Parklife Building will transform the current site, a c. 40,000 sq ft vacant office building, into a 80,000 sq ft, design led and user focused urban workplace. It will provide the area with much needed commercial floor space, and will set new standards of character and quality for businesses in Putney. With a focus on creating a connected community, the building will offer 7,000 sq ft of flexible public retail space fronting onto the park, along with occupier amenities including: cycle and shower facilities, on-site yoga lessons and multiple cafes. The office building extends to five storeys and boasts terraces on every floor, making the most of the spectacular park setting. Claire Hammond (née Freeland), Development Director at Landid commented: “Landid is thrilled to be involved in this exciting development opportunity in Putney. Putney has lost a significant amount of commercial space as a result of permitted development rights, and there is a lack of Grade A floorspace. The Parklife Building will have everything we look for in a workspace – including excellent connectivity, amenity, and character within a very special setting. “We have already had a number of very positive discussions with national and local occupiers looking for good quality office space in Putney. We are confident The Parklife Building will draw a range of new occupiers to this attractive part of south-west London and provide the calibre of workspace that has a positive impact on business performance, including staff attraction and retention, productivity, wellness and more.” Nick Troullides, Director at dn-a added: “Our architectural approach is to deliver a high quality design which creates a much improved office building to attract occupiers and enhance the existing streetscape.”
Contractor and developer McGoff Group is targeting a major expansion into the private rented sector. Executive Director Dave McGoff said that the firm wanted to expand its development of PRS schemes into Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham. The group launched its first PRS development this year through its development arm Villafont Homes: the 368-apartment £75m Downtown scheme in Manchester city centre (pictured). McGoff explained: “The plan is to build a Downtown in each of the Northern Powerhouse cities.” He added that the group will “very quickly move on to contracting the other sites that we’re looking at” once the Downtown project gets underway early next year. McGoff Group will act as landowner, developer and main contractor on the Downtown project, and has already appointed Capita to provide structural engineering and Clancy to deliver service engineering on the scheme. The group will also fully manage the development once it has been finished, to provide services including a business centre, a gym, facilities management services and concierge. “Rather than building something to sell off, our interest is the business that runs the buildings,” Mr McGoff said. “It’s about having a business stream that feeds off something we’ve created.” The group has also launched a further development business, Applebarn Nurseries. The new development arm will acquire and develop sites for childcare projects following a similar model of the group’s New Care company, which will develop and operate extra care facilities throughout the country. Applebarn Nurseries has already gained planning consent for its first scheme in Broadheath, south Manchester, and is looking to expand the model to further sites. Meanwhile, Forrest has been selected to deliver a £20m PRS scheme in Greater Manchester for developer X1. Work will include the construction of a 19-storey tower, called X1 The Gateway, in Salford Quays.
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has revealed that it is shocked at the lack of precautions taken by retail giant Tesco before sending maintenance employees to work at height. Last week, the supermarket chain was prosecuted and fined £500,000 for breaches of health and safety that resulted in a worker falling through a skylight. The employee of Tesco Maintenance Ltd was said to be fortunate to suffer just minor injuries after falling nine metres through a fragile skylight landing in the shopping aisles of the Tesco Liscard Express store in Liscard Village, Wallasey, on June 13, 2014. Liverpool Crown Court heard that the worker was part of a team that carried out repairs to the store’s roof and gutters when the incident took place. Tesco Maintenance Ltd and Tesco Stores Ltd were prosecuted by the HSE following an investigation that found no risk assessment or method statement had been produced before carrying out the work. The fragile skylights should have been identified and precautions taken, however Tesco Maintenance Ltd had received no information regarding the fragility of the roof from their client Tesco Stores Ltd. HSE inspector Chris Hatton said following the hearing: “I am shocked at a company the size of Tesco failing to take even basic precautions to prevent injury to its employees and further, to risk injury to the public” Tesco Stores Ltd of Tesco House, Shire Park, Kestrel Way, Welwyn Garden City, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Regulation 10 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and was fined £200,000 with £712.70 costs. Tesco Maintenance Ltd of Tesco House, Shire Park, Kestrel Way, Welwyn Garden City, pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 9 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and was fined £300,000 with £624.60 costs.
A Bolton night club owner has been sentenced after he admitted failing to carry out a survey for asbestos prior to starting on the refurbishment of a local night club. Manchester Magistrates’ court heard how UK Night Life Limited and its only director, Charles John McGrath, undertook the management of a refurbishment project between August 1 and 12, 2015 on The Level nightclub, Mawdsley Street, Bolton without an experienced contractor in place to manage the site. Around 20 workers were potentially exposed to deadly asbestos fibres so that the club could open in time for Fresher’s week and an influx of students to the club. The site first came to the attention of the Health and Safety Executive in August 2015 after a complaint from Bolton Council regarding unsafe construction works throughout the site. The HSE inspector served a total of three Prohibition Notices and two Improvement Notices, as well as a Notification of Contravention for a foreseeable risk of asbestos exposure, a lack of competent site manager, risks of falls from height, unsuitable welfare facilities and inadequate fire safety precautions. Sole director of UK Night Life Limited, Charles McGrath, of Mawdsley Street, Bolton, pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, and Regulations 5(a) and 16 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, and was fined £5,720.00 with costs of £3,535.86. In his summing up, District Judge Sanders said that Mr McGrath had chosen to rush through the works with unqualified and inexperienced people running the site on a daily basis. He added that it was clear that these offences amounted to a ‘degree of cost cutting at the expense of safety’. HSE inspector Matt Greenly commented after the case: “Mr McGrath totally failed in his duty to protect his workers, subcontractors and anyone else accessing this site from a foreseeable risk of serious harm. Asbestos related diseases are currently untreatable and claim the lives of an estimated 5,000 people per year in the UK.”
The Government is to continue its efforts to increase housing stock following the result of the EU referendum. Communities Secretary Greg Clark and Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said the Government remained committed to tackling the shortage of new homes. In a meeting with the Home Builders Federation (HBF), they said that the target for a million new homes was still a “top priority”. Peter Andrew, deputy chairman of the HBF, welcomed the announcement. “We were very pleased to hear the Secretary of State reaffirm the Government’s commitment to increasing housing supply,” he said. “House-builders remain confident in the underlying level of demand for housing and will continue to deliver the homes the country needs.” Estimates from the HBF suggest that around 245,000 new homes are needed each year in England. In order to bring an end to the shortage, ministers announced a target to build a million new homes in England by 2020 last year. Among the factors thought to be causing the shortfall are complicated planning procedures and a drop in the number of councils building new homes. It is also thought that a shortage of skilled workers may be preventing developers from increasing construction rates. As a way to plug the skills gap, the Government is also aiming to create three million apprenticeships by 2020. It has protected the term “apprenticeship” in law to ensure the vocational training programmes are seen on an equal footing to career paths such as university degrees. Figures from the National House Building Council (NHBC) show that there was an increase in the number of new homes completed last month. According to the NHBC, there were 12,045 completions in May 2016 compared to 11,149 in May 2015. Overall, almost 13,000 new homes were registered to be built in May, the figures show. Meanwhile, the HBF has said that sales rates have so far not been affected by the referendum result last week. Source link
Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Fri, Jun 17th 2016 Caped crusaders from Keyline, the UK’s leading specialist supplier of civils and drainage solutions and heavy building materials, will take their fight against evil onto the road as they take part in an international car rally. Drivers will embrace the Superheroes & Villains theme as they head from Northampton to St Tropez this month to raise vital funds for Prostate Cancer UK. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Caped crusaders from Keyline, the UK’s leading specialist supplier of civils and drainage solutions and heavy building materials, will take their fight against evil onto the road as they take part in an international car rally. Drivers will embrace the Superheroes & Villains theme as they head from Northampton to St Tropez this month to raise vital funds for Prostate Cancer UK. This will be the seventh year in a row that Keyline has organised the event and those taking part are hoping to raise in excess of £100,000. Twenty-four cars made up of teams from Keyline’s staff, along with its suppliers and customers, have chosen themes that include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Catwoman, Thor and The Flash. All teams will gather at the starting line in Northampton on Wednesday 22 June. After crossing the English Channel at Dover, the cars will travel over 1000 miles, via Soissons and Grenoble, before reaching the beautiful French town of St. Tropez on Friday 24 June. Once again, ex-international footballer and ambassador of Prostate Cancer UK, Luther Blissett, will be embarking on the fundraising adventure. He said: “Taking part in the Keyline rally again is a dream come true to me. Anything that involves driving is very close to my heart and although it is not a racing circuit, the rally is all about driving, strategy and endurance, which is what team48, my Alfa racing team, is all about. It’s a great test of motoring but is ultimately about saving men’s lives so that they can go on to fulfil their dreams.” “This year the rally theme is superheroes and villains. Who will I be? You will have to wait and see. However, in the end the only real villain is prostate cancer and everyone who participates in this event or donates to this incredible cause are definitely superheroes. One man dies of prostate cancer every hour and so getting across the important message that we need to stop ignoring this disease and raise awareness and funds is vital.” Keyline’s partnership with Prostate Cancer UK began in 2010, initially pledging to raise £25,000 in that one year alone. However, through the fantastic efforts of staff and customers, together with the support from the team at Prostate Cancer UK, the partnership has helped to raise more than £1.2 million. Every year 42,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer, with over 10,500 men dying from the illness. The money raised from the Keyline rally will help fund vital research into tests, treatments and the causes of prostate cancer. Kieran Griffin, Managing Director of Keyline, said: “This will be the seventh annual Keyline rally and each year we receive fantastic support from our employees, suppliers and valued customers, as well as the outstanding team at Prostate Cancer UK. Since launching the partnership, we have raised more than £1.2 million for the charity, which contributes to the fantastic work undertaken to help fight this terrible disease.” James Beeby, Director of Fundraising at Prostate Cancer UK said: “This is the first time I’ve taken part in the Keyline Rally and I can’t wait to hit the road. All that’s left now is putting together the playlist! Keyline has given a phenomenal amount of support to the work of Prostate Cancer UK, both in terms of helping to raise awareness and vital funds. Ignoring prostate cancer won’t beat it and I urge everyone to join us in fighting back against the disease.” Contact information lizzie woolley weston partnership 29 Kingswood road london SW2 4JE 07881 923 530 Source link
Fit-out specialist Styles&Wood reports a clutch of diverse contract awards worth £23m in total. Above: Chief executive Tony Lenehan The six projects are across the commercial office, healthcare and hospitality sectors in London and the northwest. In the commercial office sector, Styles&Wood has a £6.2m contract for a 56,000 sq ft Grade A commercial fit-out at One St Peter’s Square in Manchester. This is Styles&Wood’s second contract in this development, following its appointment to fit-out DLA Piper’s offices in 2015. It is also working on the £3m, 45,000 sq ft fit-out of Dakota House, a three-storey office building in Concord Business Park in Wythenshawe. This work includes a new glazed main entrance curtain wall and feature canopy and the complete renewal of all mechanical and electrical services; and Thirdly in this sector it is refurbishing Irongate House, a 26,000 sq ft office building in the City of London. Irongate is the second major contract the Group has secured with Aviva Investors, following its contract to refurbish Westminster House in Manchester in September 2015. In the healthcare sector Styles&Wood is delivering the £3m fit-out and refurbishment of a treatment clinic in Manchester for CARE Fertility. The contractor is having to work around staff and patients as the facility remains occupied and in operation during works. Finally, in the hospitality sector, Styles&Wood is working on two hotel contracts for easyHotels. In Manchester it is stripping out and refurbishing a listed five-storey building on Dale Street to create a 115-room hotel. And in Liverpool it is doing a similar job on a vacant six-storey site on Castle Street, creating a 70-room hotel. Chief executive Tony Lenehan said: “We are delighted with these contract wins, which demonstrate how the group is leveraging its unique skillset and capabilities to boost growth. The strength of our design and build offer, and in particular our team’s track record of delivering projects on time and on budget across a range of sectors, has seen us appointed to a number of high-profile developments across the UK. This is a further endorsement of our diversification strategy, which continues to bear fruit and is enabling the business to support clients across industries as diverse as healthcare and hospitality. “While we are continuing to win work and expand our portfolio in a variety of markets, the commercial fit-out sector also remains an important source of work for the business. The Manchester market in particular has witnessed a surge in activity in recent months, and as demand for premium space remains high, particularly across the northwest, we are expecting this is trend to continue.” This article was published on 10 Jun 2016 (last updated on 10 Jun 2016). Source link
Prysmian is staging a series of roadshows to demonstrate how cables that may look similar can perform very differently, highlighting the potential dangers of selecting poor quality products. The All Cables Are Not The Same (ACANTS) roadshow was launched in April, with further events planned to take place around the country over the summer. ACANTS was devised in reaction to an influx of sub-standard cable products from across Europe and beyond. While many of these products may look similar and make similar claims to those of legitimate cable manufactured to stringent quality standards, the actual performance can vary widely. Prysmian identified a need to demonstrate to the whole supply chain the importance of selecting the right cable and conceived the roadshow format. Hosted by the BBC’s Dallas Campbell, the inaugural ACANTS roadshow took place at Port Solent near Portsmouth in front of an audience including wholesalers, installers and some of the UK’s largest electrical contractors. Future events will be staged at a series of locations across the UK including Manchester and London. Using videos and live demonstrations of testing procedures, the roadshows vividly illustrate how differently individual cables perform. The premise was simply to collect cable samples from the market and test them in Prysmian facilities for the characteristics they should offer or claim to offer to see the results. Several types of test were undertaken, with some being filmed in the Prysmian fire test laboratories. Films of the most dramatic fire testing were screened, highlighting the financial and life threatening effects of choosing the wrong cable. Martin Boorman, product sales manager at Prysmian, said: “The event was a resounding success. Simply showing people how much difference there is in the performance of similar looking cables proved a real eye-opener and we are looking forward to bringing ACANTS to new audiences as the roadshow programme is developed.” Source link