PROPERTY, construction, and infrastructure consultancy Perfect Circle has announced that director and sector specialist Richard Whitehead will return to the role of chair. Picking up the baton from fellow Perfect Circle senior management board representative, Duncan Green, Richard will be taking on the role throughout 2022, which marks the business’
AECOM director David Ross said: “AECOM provided strategic and technical support to DLUHC in its development of the changes to Part L (conservation of fuel and power) and Part F (ventilation) of the Building Regulations and the introduction of Part O (overheating). Our work supported policy development in areas such
THE CONSTRUCTION industry needs to rethink its approach to reusing and recycling buildings if it is to be seen as truly sustainable, according to a leading expert. David Cheshire, sustainability director for AECOM, told a recent webinar from property, construction and infrastructure consultancy Perfect Circle that reusing materials from demolition
Stephen George + Partners LLP (SGP) and infrastructure firm AECOM have submitted plans for a £15.8m bus station in Halifax, a key regeneration project which will deliver a fully enclosed concourse with 19 DIRO stands, fully enclosed waiting areas, retail and information facilities under a stunning feature timber framed concourse
At a ceremony that bucked usual built environment trends, an all-female team championed the best people, initiatives and companies from across the industry and presented deserving winners of the ACE 2019 Consultancy & Engineering Awards. The winners, chosen by a panel of expert industry judges headed by Roger Bailey of
AECOM is set to deliver a wide range of planning and environmental services to help communities across England develop their neighbourhood plans and shape development and growth in their local area. The four-year appointment is part of a major Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) contract that will
The 2017 Serpentine Pavilion will be remaining open for a further six weeks because of popular demand. The Pavilion will now be open until the 19th of November. AECOM has collaborated with David Glover in order to create the technical advisory services used in the fifth annual Pavillion. David Glover
AECOM, the fully integrated infrastructure asset provider, used often by governments, businesses and organisations across more than 150 countries. The company has announced that they are proud to be the headline sponsor for the first all-female team to attempt to cross the Antarctic. The launch of the team was carried
The global provider of infrastructure, AECOM has said that it is important for the infrastructure industry to do more in terms of encouraging the younger generation to think about an apprenticeship in this area. In order to improve the capacity of the industry, talent needs to be attracted through the
AECOM has announced that they have finished some distinctive landscaping designs for the project that will see Dreamland, the historical amusement park that is located in Margate. The amusement park was opened in the 1870s. The amusement park will be opening this week after undergoing some major renovation work. The
PROPERTY, construction, and infrastructure consultancy Perfect Circle has announced that director and sector specialist Richard Whitehead will return to the role of chair. Picking up the baton from fellow Perfect Circle senior management board representative, Duncan Green, Richard will be taking on the role throughout 2022, which marks the business’ sixth year and will see it grow to reach delivery of over £600m of public sector spend. Set up in 2016 by sector-leading firms Pick Everard, Gleeds and AECOM, the consultancy delivers the broadest range of consultancy services available to the public sector via SCAPE Consultancy, a single source direct award framework that drives collaboration, efficiency, time, and cost savings. Richard said: “Duncan has done an excellent job over the past year, ensuring that Perfect Circle retained a sharp focus on strategy and performance, through what has clearly been a turbulent time. I look forward to taking the business forward by increasing the scale and scope of the services we provide across the public sector and ensuring that we continually deliver best value.” Perfect Circle has been commissioned on more than 1,900 public sector projects during its term, with the business contributing significantly to the government’s levelling up agenda for the UK. In total, Perfect Circle has spent more than £120m through local supply chain on public sector projects, with many supporting the growth of communities at a regional level. Managing director of Perfect Circle Victoria Brambini said: “We are delighted that Richard will be returning as chair – his expertise and past experience on the senior management board at Perfect Circle will help to maintain our position as market leaders, delivering efficient partnering, integrated support and outstanding service performance.” Richard has extensive experience in the buildings and infrastructure professional services sector. He is Managing Director of AECOM’s Buildings + Places business in Europe, leading a team of over 2,500 people providing a diverse range of services for public and private sector clients in the UK and overseas. He is also a board member of the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership and Chair of Hertfordshire Enterprise Zone. Victoria said: “We’re welcoming Richard into this role at a pivotal time, with consultancy in the construction sector facing a multitude of challenges – including a shortage of skilled staff, increased costs and supply chain issues. “As a result, efforts should be made to maximise local spend through the procurement of opportunities for SMEs within their local community. Richard will be a great addition to ensure long-term success and support the recent drive for levelling up in the UK. He joins at a time of great momentum on the new SCAPE Consultancy framework, with the inclusion of new preferred partners, such as Stantec, Jacobs and WT Partnership, signalling our strong intention to continue to better support the wide array of public sector projects across the UK. By doing so, we are setting the industry on the path to better and more consistent partnership, that achieves better outcomes for clients and the communities that our industry serves.” Mark Robinson, SCAPE Group chief executive, said: “Delivering quality support and advice to our public sector colleagues has never been more important. Therefore, the expertise that is made available by Richard and the rest of the Perfect Circle team will be critical in helping our clients to unlock the true potential of their assets and infrastructure. With this appointment, I look forward to continuing our work together to deliver the very best outcomes for the public sector.” For more information about Perfect Circle, visit www.perfectcircle.co.uk.
AECOM director David Ross said: “AECOM provided strategic and technical support to DLUHC in its development of the changes to Part L (conservation of fuel and power) and Part F (ventilation) of the Building Regulations and the introduction of Part O (overheating). Our work supported policy development in areas such as assessing the technical viability and the cost benefit of proposals. “New buildings have been set an improved performance standard which will make them more energy efficient through better insulation, better performing windows and more efficient building services. The new regulations should also encourage the early adoption of low carbon heat by presenting a roadmap for its implementation in new buildings and they are also more favourable to low carbon heat sources such as heat pumps. Standards have also been raised to reduce energy use and carbon emissions when carrying out works to existing properties such as retrofitting or extending the building. “These new regulations will have significant impact on the industry and the day-to-day decisions developers make about building design and specification. They should be seen as a stepping stone to the 2025 Future Homes and Buildings Standard and are an important milestone in the built environment sector’s journey to net zero emissions.”
THE CONSTRUCTION industry needs to rethink its approach to reusing and recycling buildings if it is to be seen as truly sustainable, according to a leading expert. David Cheshire, sustainability director for AECOM, told a recent webinar from property, construction and infrastructure consultancy Perfect Circle that reusing materials from demolition simply isn’t enough to offset the environmental and financial impact of acquiring them in the first instance. Cheshire said: “At the moment, we as an industry dig, mine and process hundreds of millions of tonnes of raw materials that we essentially steal from the planet. There is a focus generally on reducing things like operational energy use, but around half of all greenhouse gas emissions come from mining and processing resources. “We are also knocking down and demolishing buildings at a phenomenal rate, sometimes after only 30 years of use, so we’re losing at both ends of the scale. “While we congratulate ourselves as an industry for reusing large amounts of the waste products from demolition, it’s not ‘recycling’ in the truest sense of the word as the products don’t maintain their value. For example, structural concrete doesn’t get recycled into use as structural concrete; it is downcycled to secondary aggregates like road base or piling mats. While this is reuse, it’s not giving us the materials back that we spent so much energy getting in the first place.” Cheshire talked attendees through the basics of circular economy design principles for buildings and emphasised how its applications can improve sustainability throughout the supply chain. He said: “The current model the industry operates on is very much a linear approach – we win the resources, we use them, we throw them away and then the process starts over again. The circular economy looks to remedy this and find better, more sustainable ways of doing things. “The core of the model is retaining, refitting and refurbishing buildings. There are a number of design principles that feed into this, chiefly the idea of building in layers. There are thousands of components that make up buildings, all of which have different lifespans, so the circular economy model needs to work differently for each layer. “The foundations and structure of the building are long-life and should be around for a hundred years, but with the interiors, the thinking needs to be around reconfiguring for a new use rather than throwing everything out and starting again from base build. “Building in layers also means that you can peel those layers off as uses change. If you’re converting usage from office to residential for example, you might want to replace the facade, but equally it is thinking about how you’re putting everything together – you don’t want to have an electrical component that lasts 20 years hidden behind a ceramic tile that has a 2,000-year life. “If you can retain and refurbish a building and keep the main structure of it, there’s around a 50% reduction in embodied carbon over time in comparison to a new build, which is hugely significant.” Among the examples given by Cheshire was the work being done as part of The London Plan, which has several policies relating to the circular economy in the built environment. Cheshire said: “We’re working with the Greater London Authority on the inclusion of the circular economy in its wider plans. GLA policy now dictates that all referable projects much have a circular economy statement that sets out the project’s commitments against a series of targets. “Our cities and buildings are a gold mine of resources. We spend so much money, effort and time in bringing these resources out of our planet and into our cities, only to downcycle them once their original use is exhausted. “The circular economy goes hand in hand with the idea of urban mining and ensuring that we keep materials within the loop and reusing them to the best of our ability.” A full version of the webinar can be viewed here: For more information on Perfect Circle, please visit www.perfectcircle.co.uk.
Stephen George + Partners LLP (SGP) and infrastructure firm AECOM have submitted plans for a £15.8m bus station in Halifax, a key regeneration project which will deliver a fully enclosed concourse with 19 DIRO stands, fully enclosed waiting areas, retail and information facilities under a stunning feature timber framed concourse and fully green roof. The redeveloped bus station is a key component of West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Calderdale Council’s plans to transform public transport within Halifax town centre. The bus station combines improved passenger facilities and a safe and welcoming environment in a statement building that marries contemporary sustainable architecture with the existing listed heritage assets. SGP is the architect for the project, while AECOM is lead consultant providing engineering, planning, environment and transport planning. Says Alistair Branch, Studio Director at SGP: “Our design for the bus station redevelopment sensitively integrates a number of important listed heritage structures within a modern bus concourse facility, improving safety for pedestrians and enhancing accessibility to the town centre in a state-of-the-art station that meets the aspirations of the client, operators and key stakeholders.” SGP has chosen a simple and contemporary ‘pavilion’ form to create a bold gateway to the town centre for passengers and passers-by. A simple timber grid shell structure supports a full green roof, flowing down as the concourse gently traverses the steep site, improving access for users with walking difficulties or wheelchairs. The eaves will use a two-part copper effect capping and triangular rooflights stand up from the roofscape, adding form and interest. Continues Alistair: “The surrounding buildings all have views towards the bus station from a high level, making the roofscape as important as the other elevations. Our design incorporates a fully green roof, with a wildflower meadow over the main concourse to encourage ecological diversity and a sedum green roof over the bus boarding areas to reduce load on the large canopy overhangs.” The concourse facades will use a combination of glazing and large format natural stone cladding, respecting the material of the listed Sion School. The School itself will be integrated into the design, with a colonnade and glazed entrance to frame the view of the School and provide a dramatic, light airy arrival space. A glazed link connects the bus concourse with the School, offering a sensitive interface and creating a breathing space around the listed School. Accessibility and safety are central to the design and SGP’s innovative Y shaped configuration of stands allows facilities such as a retail unit, waiting rooms and a café area to be sited in the triangular centre, serving all the stands. Creating segregated foot and vehicular paths, the concourse is the shortest route for pedestrians to get to the stands and there is only one crossing place, which has good sight lines for both walkers and drivers. For the fully enclosed bus concourse area, the DIRO bus stands will be separated from the bus concourse by means of a fully glazed screen and automatic doors linked to induction loops within the bus stand area, ensuring the automatic doors will only operate when a bus is parked on the respective bus bay. Concludes Alistair Branch: “This is another significant transport commission where SGP with will be providing full architectural services with AECOM for client West Yorkshire Combined Authority. Halifax Bus Station is a once in a generation project, a statement building, sustainable and future-proofed for new electric vehicles, able to help reduce congestion, enhance public spaces and promote economic activity across Halifax and the West Yorkshire region.” AECOM’s Project Manager for the scheme Kirsty James said: “This is a further milestone in the delivery of a number of transport schemes within Calderdale that AECOM is proud to work on through the delivery of multi-disciplinary support. This investment in the bus station will bring a very significant improvement in the quality of public transport facilities for the residents of Calderdale.” This project has received funding through the Transforming Cities Fund and match funding from the West Yorkshire Plus Transport Fund. The planning decision is expected Autumn 2020 and the project is planned to complete by March 2023.
At a ceremony that bucked usual built environment trends, an all-female team championed the best people, initiatives and companies from across the industry and presented deserving winners of the ACE 2019 Consultancy & Engineering Awards. The winners, chosen by a panel of expert industry judges headed by Roger Bailey of Tideway, were announced at ACE’s black-tie dinner on Thursday evening. The event, hosted by CBRE’s Amanda Clack, and AECOM’s Charlotte Jones, herself the winner of last years’ Apprentice of the Year award, featured Heathrow’s Emma Jane Houghton, Huda As’ad of the Infrastructure Projects Authority, the DfT’s Catherine de Marco OBE, Dr Tauni Lanier of Eco-Capital, and Georgia Hughes of Arcadis, and Chair of the ACE Emerging Professionals group. ACE Chief Executive Hannah Vickers challenged attendees to spot the difference between the ACE and every other industry event they had attended, saying “To those of you who say there aren’t enough women in the industry or you just can’t find female speakers, I’m sorry, but you’re just not moving in the right circles. Try harder.” Hannah also challenged attendees to use every business situation and opportunity to develop and celebrate the success of staff at every level. “Instead of focusing on the usual corporate entertainment for tonight’s celebration, we felt it more productive and intuitive to invest that money in further training and development for our co-host this evening, Charlotte Jones of AECOM. As business leaders, we should be supporting our teams from the ground up. “I’d like to congratulate all of our winners and nominees, who have shown that the future of consultancy and engineering is incredibly exciting.” Future of Consultancy – Integrated Project Team of the Year, Public Sector Client Winner – Arup Future of Consultancy – Integrated Project Team of the Year, Private Sector Client Winner – Arup – Welsh Water Alliance Highly Commended – BuroHappold Engineering Best UK Business Performance – micro organisation (<10 employees) Winner – Rail Power Solutions Best UK Business Performance – small/medium sized organisation (10+ employees but less than 250) Winner – Geo-Environmental Services Ltd Best UK Business Performance – large organisation (>250 employees) Winner – Pick Everard Highly Commended – Curtins Future of Consultancy – Strategic Planning & Placemaking Champion Winner – WYG Highly Commended – Arup Future of Consultancy – Data Led Asset Performance Champion Winner – Amey Consulting Environmental Initiative of the Year Winner – IMC Social & Environmental Safeguarding Team – Freetown Landfill Feasibility Study Highly Commended – Mott MacDonald – Embedding PAS2080 across a global business Emerging Professional Employer of the Year Winner – WSP Highly Commended – IMC Worldwide & Stantec Emerging Professional of the Year Winner – Philippa Jefferis – IMC Worldwide Highly Commended – Elizabeth Side – Jubb Consulting Engineers Limited Apprentice of the Year Winner – Elliott Webb – Arup Highly Commended – Willow-Athena Hempell – WSP
AECOM is set to deliver a wide range of planning and environmental services to help communities across England develop their neighbourhood plans and shape development and growth in their local area. The four-year appointment is part of a major Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) contract that will be led by Locality, the nationwide network of community organisations, with AECOM as its principle subcontractor. The contract follows a three-year appointment previously held by AECOM delivering neighbourhood planning services for over 500 communities across England. Under the new contract, AECOM will support the delivery of potentially hundreds of neighbourhood plans, which include the location of new housing and businesses. Neighbourhood plans that are approved in local referenda will form a crucial part of the development plan for local authority areas and have become a powerful tool when considering planning applications. The new contract will introduce a scoping phase where AECOM will help groups to identify their needs, as well as the opportunities for growth and regeneration in their communities. This information will help the DCLG and Locality determine how community groups can be best supported. Stuart Woodin, Lead Technical Director for the project at AECOM, said: “Our support provides vital evidence to a whole new generation of ‘lay planners’ from all walks of life who are grappling with the opportunities as well as the challenges presented by planning their places. We are thrilled to be involved for another four years with Locality in this unique Private-Voluntary Sector Partnership.” Carole Reilly, Locality Director of Services, commented: “Locality is committed to empowering people to shape their communities; neighbourhood planning brings statutory power for communities to do this. Our unique partnership means that we can combine AECOM’s technical expertise with Locality’s deep reach into communities to deliver expert and lasting change at the most local level. We are delighted to have the opportunity to build on our work so far and to continue our partnership for the next four years.”
The 2017 Serpentine Pavilion will be remaining open for a further six weeks because of popular demand. The Pavilion will now be open until the 19th of November. AECOM has collaborated with David Glover in order to create the technical advisory services used in the fifth annual Pavillion. David Glover provided the structural and civil engineering as well as the fire and electrical engineering and lighting design for the project. This year’s Pavilion was designed by an award-winning architect Diébédo Francis Kéré, from Gando in Burkina Faso. Diébédo responded to the design brief with a bold and innovative structure that brings his trademark feel of light and life. The Serpentine Pavilion has been constructed in Kensington Gardens and reflects the architects aim of connecting people together and to nature. This year’s Pavilion has an exposed canopy structure which has been engineered by AECOM, and has been created with a range of traditional materials that can encourage visitors to engage with the structure. The architect felt that it was important to make the Pavilion a beacon of light at night. In order to achieve this, AECOM worked with the architect and the contractor, Stage One, in order to deliver visualisations of the final designs. AECOM engineers were involved with the creating the mood of the structure, with a subtle and inviting glow. This year, the Pavilion design has been ambitious and has been successfully completed with the hard work and dedication of everyone involved on the project. A large number of visitors have come to enjoy the Serpentine Pavilion and it will be great to see how the lighting feature will take centre stage as the nights draw in. The Serpentine Pavillion put forward an interesting challenge to the engineers involved, as a knowledge of the materials, planning and Building Control regulations put in pace was needed in order to turn the structure in to functional and buildable spaces in a way that still maintains the original architecture and artistic vision.
AECOM, the fully integrated infrastructure asset provider, used often by governments, businesses and organisations across more than 150 countries. The company has announced that they are proud to be the headline sponsor for the first all-female team to attempt to cross the Antarctic. The launch of the team was carried out by HRH The Countess of Wessex. No team of women, from any nation has managed to complete this grueling challenge. The official launch was held at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in Camberley, with the expeditions set to take place in October. The ICE MAIDEN challenge will see the team of six women from the Regular Army and Army Reserve attempt to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. During this expedition, the women will ski a total of 1,700 KMS, which is the equivalent of travelling from London to Gibraltar. The team will be using only muscle power to pull sledges that will have all of their equipment and enough food for 30 days at a time. The challenge is expected to take three months, and the Ice Maidens will have to fight 60 mph winds as well as temperatures that could drop as low as -40℃. The aim of this expedition is to be a source of inspiration for women and girls of all ages and abilities, to be more active. Six women were selected to take part in this Ice Maiden challenge, Major Nics Wetherill, Royal Army Medical Corps; Major Natalie Taylor, Royal Army Medical Corps; Major Sandy Hennis, Royal Signals; Lieutenant Jenni Stephenson, Royal Artillery; Lieutenant Zanna Baker, Royal Artillery; Lance Sergeant Sophie Montagne, Honourable Artillery Company. The two Army doctors are the leaders of the expedition, and the training for the challenge has allowed all of the women to gain new skills and be inspired to organise their own expeditions. A call for candidates was made, with the only condition being that the women were serving in the Army, Regular or Reserve. The applicants underwent training processes, where the final six were selected.
The global provider of infrastructure, AECOM has said that it is important for the infrastructure industry to do more in terms of encouraging the younger generation to think about an apprenticeship in this area. In order to improve the capacity of the industry, talent needs to be attracted through the use of a number of different routes. Mainly in order to make sure that the infrastructure industry doesn’t suffer a serious skills shortage or becomes unable to develop to its potential, the attention of young people is needed. AECOM has said that gaining the imagination of young people and encouraging them to apply for apprenticeships after their GCSEs is vital for the future growth of the industry. The use of outreach programmes have been recommended, going into schools in order to present students and young people with a larger view of the jobs market and the range of different careers on offer. AECOM employees utilize this approach across the UK in order to inform young people about careers in this sector. The UK has set out an ambitious plan for the future with a large number of associated infrastructure projects. However, over the course of the next few months it will be important to see if the industry can continue to maintain their build capacity. There is concern about whether there are enough skilled professionals working in this area to carry out the sheer volume of schemes that have been planned across the UK. By using outreach programs and showing younger people what a career in engineering could include is vital to increase the skills available and maintain the industry, allowing these ambitious infrastructure plans to be carried out. It has been estimated that the UK will need more than 150,000 people qualified at Level 3 or above each ear until 2024. However, with the apprenticeship levy, companies could be reducing the number of apprentices they are taking on at the moment they need to be increasing their number.
AECOM has announced that they have finished some distinctive landscaping designs for the project that will see Dreamland, the historical amusement park that is located in Margate. The amusement park was opened in the 1870s. The amusement park will be opening this week after undergoing some major renovation work. The work should see the sensitive upgrade of the park, with restored vintage rides and the introduction of a range of different modern facilities. One of the new facilities that has been added is an open air venue that has the ability to hold 15,000 people. The venue has been designed and built with music venues in mind and it is thought that the space will be ideal for such performances. The design that has been drawn up by AECOM covers the entire of the 3.5-acre site and will look to upgrade the open and hard surfaces that the park had before with the use of greenery and plants that are well suited to the coastal theme park. The intention was to create green spaces around the vintage rides and make the whole theme park fell more intimate and create an open parkland area that is a perfect location for the main stage area of the park. As well as the transformation to the theme park site AECOM has designed the 1.5-hectare space that will be an expended park space for the public to use and contains the 15,000 capacity events space. The performance space, called the Scenic Stage will have a food court plaza nearby and will also have a public amphitheater surrounding it. The plans depict the installation of more than 1,000 trees and 60,000 different shrubs that will suit the seaside aspect of the theme park and the microclimate of Margate. As well as the design for the landscape in the newly renovated park, AECOM provided a number of different services to the redevelopment project. These services include engineering, cost management, lighting and wayfinding for the project.
