Pension Insurance Corporation (“PIC”), a specialist insurer of defined benefit pension funds, and Court Collaboration, a Birmingham specialist residential property developer, celebrated the Topping Out of the One Eastside development, which at 51 storeys is becoming the tallest building in Birmingham. PIC forward funded the £200 million One Eastside development and will own it for the long term. Court Collaboration is delivering the development. Once complete, PIC will use the rental income generated from the development to help pay the pensions of its policyholders. Almost 15,000 of these policyholders currently live in the West Midlands, and PIC has paid more than £1 billion in pensions in the region since 2012. PIC has also invested more than £900 million in the West Midlands to date, including in social housing, electrified rail, and the University of Birmingham. A number of PIC Policyholders were present at the celebration event. After breaking ground in March 2023, One Eastside is set to complete in 2026 and will feature 667 high-quality new homes for rent, with state-of-the-art co-working spaces and a range of amenities for residents, including a cinema room, sky lounge, and gym. Guests at the Topping Out ceremony were given a tour of the show apartments before heading up to the 150m-high sky terrace to take in the new views of the city and the quality of the amenities soon to be on offer. A celebratory lunch was also held at Birmingham Conservatoire. Rob Groves, Chief Investment Officer at PIC, said: “We are proud to have reached another milestone in our One Eastside development, with 140 of the total of 667 high-quality homes made available for rent in the heart of Birmingham. One Eastside will be the tallest building in the city and help pay the pensions of our policyholders for decades to come.” Alex Neale, Chief Executive Officer at Court Collaboration, added: “What a journey it’s been to reach this milestone for One Eastside. I couldn’t be prouder of the team or more grateful to our partners such as PIC, our main contractor Midgard, who have done – and are still doing – such an amazing job, and of course, Birmingham City Council. Only by genuinely working together with passion can we deliver these types of developments, and I’d like to thank everybody that joined us today to celebrate.” Councillor Sharon Thompson, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, also addressed guests at the event, highlighting the city’s ambitious regeneration agenda. She said, “Partnerships with forward-thinking local businesses like Court Collaboration are absolutely vital to our city’s continued growth and transformation. I want to thank Alex and his team, along with Pension Insurance Corporation, for sharing our vision for a more inclusive, dynamic, and economically resilient city. The topping out of this landmark development is not just a construction milestone, it’s a symbol of the momentum we’re building across Birmingham. From creating new homes and jobs to revitalising our urban spaces, this project reflects the kind of sustainable regeneration that will power our city’s future.” Also present at the Topping Out were members of the project team, including lead contractor Midgard, and representatives from Birmingham City University (BCU), including Hanifa Shah, Pro Vice-Chancellor STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

CBG Consultants are proud to announce that Cosway Street, a landmark residential project in Westminster, Greater London, has been awarded a Civic Trust Award. These significant awards recognise projects that make an outstanding contribution to the built environment, not just through architectural or design excellence, but by delivering sustainable, accessible places that offer lasting value. Located in Marylebone, Cosway Street forms part of Westminster City Council’s ambitious Church Street Masterplan. This collection of 49 high-quality homes is set around a peaceful communal garden and is a thoughtful and contemporary build that reflects its urban surroundings and conservation area status. The development delivers a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom apartments, designed with both modern living and community well-being in mind. Westminster City Council’s wider vision is a pioneering housebuilding programme. It aims to provide high-quality homes across a range of tenures, creating inclusive neighbourhoods while reinvesting in the local community. CBG Consultants were appointed to deliver the building services strategy for Cosway Street, with the design brief calling for a landlord’s central heating system and summer comfort cooling to all apartments. This was achieved through a central gas-fired boiler system, distributing heating and hot water to each apartment via individual Heat Interface Units. The system was designed to the Danish standard DS439, ensuring realistic pipework sizing and operational efficiency. Comfort cooling is provided to the living rooms and master bedrooms through a Mitsubishi air source heat pump, with each resident having full control of their cooling. Both the heating and cooling systems are intelligently interfaced to prevent them from conflicting. At the sister building on Ashbridge Street, a central air source heat pump ambient loop was installed for the heating/hot water HIU’s demonstrating a flexible, site-specific approach to the energy strategy. Delivering on the London Plan’s energy targets required detailed modelling and coordination across the design team. The project team, comprising of the architect, structural engineer, and landscape architect, worked closely with CBG to ensure all aspects of the building’s performance met the highest standards. High-performance insulation, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, and an extensive rooftop photovoltaic installation contribute to significant reductions in operational energy consumption. On-site renewable energy generation now meets over a quarter of the building’s total energy demand, further supporting Westminster’s environmental ambitions. Cosway Street is an outstanding example of how design and engineering can come together to support sustainable regeneration. The Civic Trust Award is a fantastic recognition of the collaborative efforts that have created a place that not only looks exceptional, but delivers social, environmental and long-term value too. CBG Consultants are delighted to have contributed to this award-winning development and remain committed to helping shape low-carbon, community-focused places for the future. Associate Director, Ian Law from CBG Consultants said, “Regenerating our cities sustainably requires more than good design. At CBG Consultants, we see projects like Cosway Street as an opportunity to embed low-carbon systems and future-ready infrastructure into everyday living. Creating resilient, responsible places calls for smart, efficient engineering that responds to both environmental challenges and the needs of the people who live there.” Project Credits Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

– The site has been sold to Barratt and David Wilson Homes’ Eastern Counties division, with outline permission for up to 1,000 homes, a new school, retail and employment space – Catesby Estates, a leading strategic land promoter, has completed the sale of Straits Mill, a 162 acre site in Braintree, Essex, to Barratt and David Wilson Homes Eastern Counties. The site was secured by Catesby Estates as part of the recent acquisition of L&Q Estates in August 2024. Five landowners entered into a promotion agreement in 2017, ahead of the team securing an allocation in Braintree Council’s adopted Local Plan, working through several technical constraints and subsequently receiving outline planning approval in 2021. The 162 acre site has been sold to Barratt and David Wilson Homes with outline consent for up to 1,000 new homes including 30% affordable housing, land for a primary school and early years provision, as well as a local retail centre and employment space that can be transformed into offices or industrial units. A network of cycling and pedestrian facilities are also set to be introduced, alongside improvements to the river walk to the south of the site. During the construction phase this site is expected to create 800 direct and indirect new jobs, and around a further 40 once the educational facilities are established. Adrian Clack, Group Land Director at Catesby Estates, comments: “Straits Mill is an impressive site but it also came with a number of technical and title challenges and so it is testament to the team for securing its allocation within the Council’s adopted Local Plan and subsequently receiving outline consent for a scheme that will have long lasting benefits for its residents and surrounding community. Catesby Estates is now delighted to have sold the land to Barratt and David Wilson Homes, and we look forward to seeing the company transform the site into a thriving new community. “This announcement comes as we gear up to what we expect to be an exceptional year for Catesby Estates. The acquisition of L&Q Estates has played a significant role in us achieving this success as not only have we gained impressive new talent but the quality of, and demand for, its additional sites has allowed us to cement our position as one of the leading strategic land promoters in the UK.” Matthew Lees, Development Director at Barratt and David Wilson Homes Eastern Counties, adds: “Straits Mill is an exciting acquisition that will be a cornerstone development for us. The site will allow us to deliver our quality brands of Barratt Homes, David Wilson Homes and Redrow, offering homes for first-time buyers, families, and those looking for high-quality, energy-efficient living spaces.  “We thank Catesby Estates for securing this complex but exciting opportunity and look forward to delivering a healthy new community environment in which to live and work within Braintree, set within open green spaces and woodland, with sports and play areas, cycleways, bridleway and walking routes to enjoy, as well as new community facilities and infrastructure.” During the sale, Shakespeare Martineau acted for Catesby Estates and the landowners were represented by Strutt & Parker (BNP Paribas Real Estate) Savills and Tees Law. Osborne Clarke LLP advised Barratt and David Wilson Homes. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals