A total of £1.67 million is to be invested to refurbish platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly Station. Network Rail teams will start to overhaul the lounge above the station’s busiest platforms which see up to 40,000 passengers every day. The investment will bring: During the upgrade work the
Swansea Council has appointed Willmott Dixon to complete work at the Copr Bay district after the original contractor, Buckingham Group, went into administration. The Copr Bay scheme covers the area of the former St David’s Shopping Centre and across the new bridge over Oystermouth Road to Swansea Arena and the
Trafford Council has given the green light to the new design for Therme Manchester. The updated scheme features a pavilion-style concept immersed and enveloped in a natural landscape. The decision coincides with the appointment of Professor David Russell as the first UK-based CEO of Therme UK and demonstrates a shift
Morgan Sindall has been appointed by the City of London Academies Trust (COLAT) and the Department for Education to deliver major upgrades to Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Centre. The project at the free sixth form college, situated on Barking Road, has been procured through the Department for Education’s (DfE) construction
Southwark Council and housebuilder, The Hill Group, has welcomed residents to their new council homes at Aylesbury Estate. Hill recently completed 229 high-quality homes, exclusively designated for affordable rent, on behalf of the council. Providing 187 apartments, 27 houses, and 15 maisonettes, these new properties include 54 extra-care homes and
A provider of rented retired homes has acquired an apartment development in London. Birchgrove has bought a total of 78 apartments in Hampton Court growing its portfolio across the South-East. The £39 million deal has been completed with Octagon Developments, who design and build high quality homes throughout Southern England.
Mace has completed the UCL Marshgate building, part of the first phase of UCL’s new campus at East Bank on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Marshgate is UCL’s single largest building to date providing over 35,000sqm of cross-disciplinary teaching, research and learning spaces over eight floors. Designed by architects Stanton Williams
J Murphy & Sons has been appointed to develop a new railway station for Chelmsford’s Beaulieu development in Essex. It is the second of two contracts awarded by Network Rail. The £124 million contract includes main construction work for the new station on behalf of partners Essex County Council and
Housing association B3Living has secured a £50 million sustainability-linked loan from Lloyds Bank to build hundreds of new, affordable properties. Its sustainability-linked loan facility will be measured against three KPIs, which will see B3Living receive discounted funding relative to its performance as against agreed targets. The first KPI relates to
Morgan Sindall has completed work on a new school in Warwick. Kenilworth School and Sixth Form is part of Warwick District Council’s plans to increase school places and improve facilities in the region. The project involved Kenilworth School & Sixth Form relocating from two existing sites to a new facility
A total of £1.67 million is to be invested to refurbish platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly Station. Network Rail teams will start to overhaul the lounge above the station’s busiest platforms which see up to 40,000 passengers every day. The investment will bring: During the upgrade work the toilets and seating areas will stay open, but it will see some changes for passengers – including the closure of the existing Costa coffee shop. Kyla Thomas, Network Rail station manager for Manchester Piccadilly, said: “The waiting area above platforms 13 and 14 is crucial to how we manage passengers getting safely on and off their trains, so it’s really important for us to make this investment so we can make it even better for customers. “While trains won’t be disrupted during the work, some of the facilities will be out of action while we build two new retail units and carry out a phased upgrade of the seating area and toilet facilities. I’d like to thank people in advance for their patience while we improve this well-used part of Piccadilly station for the tens of thousands of passengers who use it every day.” The waiting lounge revamp for passengers will begin on October 4 and will be complete in early 2024. It follows the recently completed investment to resurface platforms 13 and 14, paint new safety markings and install tactile studs along their lengths to improve accessibility for people with visual impairments. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Swansea Council has appointed Willmott Dixon to complete work at the Copr Bay district after the original contractor, Buckingham Group, went into administration. The Copr Bay scheme covers the area of the former St David’s Shopping Centre and across the new bridge over Oystermouth Road to Swansea Arena and the coastal park. Most of the scheme is complete and open, so it’s business as usual at Swansea Arena, the Copr Bay south car park, the coastal park, the Green Room Bar and Kitchen, and the residential unit on the north side of Oystermouth Road. Willmott Dixon, which has an office nearby in Cardiff, will focus on completing the car park on the north side of Oystermouth Road and some other snagging work on site. The St David’s multi-storey car park – which is earmarked for demolition – will remain open in the meantime A Swansea Council spokesperson said: “The Copr Bay district is at the heart of Swansea’s on-going regeneration of the city centre. When our contractors Buckingham went into administration, we had to act quickly to protect the council’s position and complete the unfinished work. We’re delighted to appoint Willmott Dixon, one of the country’s leading specialists, to manage the construction and ensure the unfinished work is completed as soon as possible. “The snagging works will now be finished as soon as possible, and work to finish the car park is anticipated for completion in the spring of 2024. The financial arrangements we have in place mean we don’t envisage these works leading to extra costs for the council or the taxpayer.” Neal Stephens, Managing Director for Willmott Dixon in Wales and West, added: “It is very sad what happened to Buckingham Group and to see their supply chain partners go through such a difficult period. We will try to use as many as possible as we complete this important project for Swansea. We have extensive experience of working in the local area and are pleased to be working with Swansea Council to bring this fantastic development to a fitting conclusion.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Trafford Council has given the green light to the new design for Therme Manchester. The updated scheme features a pavilion-style concept immersed and enveloped in a natural landscape. The decision coincides with the appointment of Professor David Russell as the first UK-based CEO of Therme UK and demonstrates a shift in Therme’s focus from design and planning to delivery. With 30 years of experience in delivering large-scale projects, Professor Russell has been involved in major ventures around the world including the London 2012 Summer Olympics, The Rugby World Cup in Japan 2019 and the $8 billion Expo 2020 in Dubai. Russell takes up the role after a successful three-year tenure as CEO of a joint venture between Russell Partnership Collection, the UK’s largest food, nutrition, and technology consultancy, and Therme Group. Russell will be supported by Richard Land, Chief Development Officer of Therme UK, who has successfully spearheaded the planning process, and James Mark who has been a leading part of Therme UK’s senior team since the project began. Mr Mark now takes up the role of Chief Strategy Officer for Therme UK, with a focus on developing further city-based wellbeing resorts across the UK. Attractions include large family and adults-only zones with swimming pools, slides, warm water lagoons and multi-sensorial saunas. Alongside this, elements such as water-based fitness classes, evidence-based wellness therapies, botanical gardens, immersive art, urban farms and educational activities create an integrated wellbeing concept for all ages. The resort is forecast to contribute over £4.5 billion to the UK economy, according to an independent PwC study, with most of the positive impact in the Greater Manchester area. James Whittaker, Executive Director – Development at Peel L&P said: “After five years working in partnership with Therme, we are delighted to hear planning permission has been approved for this incredible, high-quality health and wellbeing resort in TraffordCity. We’re looking forward to working closely with the whole of the Therme team to deliver something truly unique and iconic in the UK, that is not only world-leading for health and wellbeing, but will also create a significant number of new jobs and have a huge positive economic impact for North West England.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Morgan Sindall has been appointed by the City of London Academies Trust (COLAT) and the Department for Education to deliver major upgrades to Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Centre. The project at the free sixth form college, situated on Barking Road, has been procured through the Department for Education’s (DfE) construction framework. Work will take place across two buildings, with the former East Ham Police Station set to be refurbished and a new structure built at the rear of the building, providing a new, high quality teaching space for students. The two buildings will be connected via a glass façade dining hall. Across both the new structure and refurbished building, Newham Collegiate will benefit from an additional 11 classrooms and four seminar rooms, creating an additional 60 places for the school. Two new cycle stores will be built to encourage healthy and sustainable travel for prospective students. Morgan Sindall will also install a green roof with over 100 sq. m of photovoltaic (PV) panels across all roofs on site. As part of Morgan Sindall’s commitment to delivering social value to the communities in which it operates, the project team are already underway in engaging with the local Newham community. To date, the tier one contractor has hosted four different events at local schools and provided students with the opportunity for work experience and mock interviews. Throughout the project, the Morgan Sindall team will continue to generate social value in Newham, educating the next generation on careers in the construction industry that they may not have previously considered. Morgan Sindall is working alongside engineers Ingleton Wood and architects Rivington Street Studios. Alongside the work at Newham Collegiate, Morgan Sindall is delivering a new residential development in Newham that will bring hundreds of much-needed affordable homes to the area. Manor Road Quarter, from The English Cities Fund (ECF), is currently under construction and when complete will deliver 804 homes, of which 50% are affordable, to the London Borough of Newham. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Southwark Council and housebuilder, The Hill Group, has welcomed residents to their new council homes at Aylesbury Estate. Hill recently completed 229 high-quality homes, exclusively designated for affordable rent, on behalf of the council. Providing 187 apartments, 27 houses, and 15 maisonettes, these new properties include 54 extra-care homes and seven homes designed to enable people with learning difficulties to enjoy independent living. A combined heat and power energy centre will help improve energy efficiency, and new community facilities include a landscaped central park, play areas, and a community centre. These homes are just one phase of the wider regeneration of the Aylesbury Estate which is being managed by Southwark Council. The total redevelopment will see 3,575 new homes and 7,800 sqm of employment, retail, healthcare and community spaces built over the coming years. The overall masterplan aims to create new neighbourhoods which are integrated into the wider network of streets and spaces in Walworth. The Una Marson library on the estate was recently finished and will be opening to residents before Christmas. The library is named after Una Marson, who was the first Black female presenter on the BBC during World War II. Cllr Helen Dennis, Southwark’s Cabinet Member for New Homes and Sustainable Development, said: “It’s really exciting to see residents moved into these wonderful new council homes and celebrate the start of a new chapter in the story of the Aylesbury Estate. I can see the difference these new homes are making to the lives of our residents and it’s fantastic to be able to celebrate that here in the brand new community centre at the heart of this latest development.” Oluwakemi Odutayo, a resident who moved into her new home on Aylesbury Estate in March, said: “I’m really pleased with my new home. It’s spacious, it has a garden, my kids are enjoying it, and our lives have much improved since moving out of temporary accommodation.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
A provider of rented retired homes has acquired an apartment development in London. Birchgrove has bought a total of 78 apartments in Hampton Court growing its portfolio across the South-East. The £39 million deal has been completed with Octagon Developments, who design and build high quality homes throughout Southern England. Octagon Developments will deliver the apartments on a turnkey basis by 2025. This is Birchgrove’s eighth development with their equity partners Bridges Fund Management and follows the successful exit of its first two neighbourhoods to M&G last year. The debt is provided by Beaufort Capital and is their fourth deal with Birchgrove. The project’s GDV is forecast to increase to £68m once all units are fully let. The development will provide 78 contemporary, self-contained assisted living one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments available to independently minded renters aged over 65, together with extensive communal facilities including a restaurant, club room, licensed bar, wellness suite, library and landscaped gardens. Honor Barratt, Chief Executive, Birchgrove said: “Our new site at Hampton Court will encapsulate all the benefits of the Birchgrove offering: beautiful, purpose-built apartments, a flexible rental model, publicly accessible communal spaces and a development that frees up homes for local families. Imagine being able to sit on your balcony and look over the Thames into the back garden of Henry VIII – who wouldn’t want to live like that? “With more and more retirees looking to rent, London is firmly in our sights to expand our portfolio, and having secured sites in Chiswick and Hampton Court we look forward to announcing further exciting news in the capital soon.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Mace has completed the UCL Marshgate building, part of the first phase of UCL’s new campus at East Bank on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Marshgate is UCL’s single largest building to date providing over 35,000sqm of cross-disciplinary teaching, research and learning spaces over eight floors. Designed by architects Stanton Williams to provide new spaces for collaborative thinking, Marshgate unites activities across the arts, technology and science under one roof. Enabling students and staff to immerse themselves in innovative activities and cutting edge research. The floors are clustered into a series of ‘neighbourhoods’, each with its own double-height collaboration space to encourage cross-disciplinary knowledge share. The lower levels of the building include a network of publicly accessible spaces, with a café, exhibitions, art programmes, and activities, designed to draw the public into the heart of the building. The building creates a key interface with the wider Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park community. Its publicly accessible lower floors feature a curated programme of art and activities, including works by local artists, and landscaped outdoor settings providing a newly animated and accessible public realm. During construction Mace partnered with the UCL Plastics Waste Innovation Hub to replace all single-use plastics with fully reusable modular hoarding panels, recognised by LLDC as the new standard for all hoarding across Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Reflecting UCL’s overarching mission to embed sustainability through its campus and culture, durability and energy efficiency were central to the design approach. The BREEAM Excellent-rated building is powered in part by renewable electricity, with the aim to reach net zero carbon by 2035 in keeping with the district’s wider sustainable energy strategy. Terry Spraggett, MD Public Sector Construction, Mace said: “Together with UCL, the project team and our supply chain partners’ we’ve delivered an outstanding building. We are immensely proud to be part of this journey. Marshgate is exceptional in its vision – championing collaboration not just between the students and academics but including the wider public. Working closely with the community has been key for us to ensure we create long-term social value for the wider campus. I can’t wait to see Marshgate open and all the great ideas and innovations come to life.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
J Murphy & Sons has been appointed to develop a new railway station for Chelmsford’s Beaulieu development in Essex. It is the second of two contracts awarded by Network Rail. The £124 million contract includes main construction work for the new station on behalf of partners Essex County Council and Chelmsford City Council. This phase of the work includes the construction for the new station facility, the associated infrastructure, and progress towards opening to train services for the benefit of passengers. As part of a wider regeneration scheme, the new station has been designed to support the economic development of the Beaulieu area and its construction will include: Beaulieu Park station is currently expected to be completed by end of 2025. Once open, the station will be managed by Greater Anglia and served by its fleet of new trains with services into London. Katie Frost, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia said: “J Murphy and Sons have made an excellent start with the enabling and civils works and this contract award will allow us to seamlessly continue to deliver this amazing new station for Chelmsford without pause. “Beaulieu Park station is an excellent example of what the railway industry can do when working in partnership with local organisations to improve the railway for the benefit of communities and businesses by delivering a new station for the Beaulieu community.”
Housing association B3Living has secured a £50 million sustainability-linked loan from Lloyds Bank to build hundreds of new, affordable properties. Its sustainability-linked loan facility will be measured against three KPIs, which will see B3Living receive discounted funding relative to its performance as against agreed targets. The first KPI relates to retrofitting existing stock to ensure the housing association is going above and beyond the current minimum regulations to bring all of its properties up to at least EPC C by 2028. T B3Living supports around 12,000 people in 5,000 homes among communities in Broxbourne and the wider south east Hertfordshire area and is currently rated as ‘Silver’ via the SHIFT sustainability framework (which amalgamates 15 separate ESG KPIs into one overarching score). Its aim is to enhance its SHIFT score year-on-year with the ambition of achieving a stretching SHIFT “Gold” status in 2024, and continuing to target a further numerical uplift in following years. Finally, B3Living aims to build at least 50 energy-efficient, affordable new build homes a year by 2028, of which 70% will be in Broxbourne to help tackle the ongoing shortage of affordable housing in the borough. Alex Shelock, B3Living’s executive director for finance, said: “In this current operating environment of high inflation and interest rates coupled with political and economic uncertainty, organisations like ours have a tough balancing act in terms of protecting financial resilience whilst delivering for our customers and communities. “The transition towards net-zero carbon is a key strategic priority for B3Living, and this type of flexible and incentivised loan is an excellent avenue for us to stretch our ESG ambitions and deliver benefits for existing customers as well as those yet to be housed. It also strengthens a nearly decade-long partnership between Lloyds Bank and B3Living.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Morgan Sindall has completed work on a new school in Warwick. Kenilworth School and Sixth Form is part of Warwick District Council’s plans to increase school places and improve facilities in the region. The project involved Kenilworth School & Sixth Form relocating from two existing sites to a new facility at Southcrest Farm, Glasshouse Lane in Kenilworth. Spanning over 36 acres of land, the new three-story campus offers 2,200 places, an increase of 440, helping to cater for the growing population in Kenilworth, a market town six miles southwest of Coventry. Procured through the Pagabo Framework and delivered for Kenilworth Multi Academy Trust (KMAT) and Warwick District Council, the school is now one of the largest in the UK. The design includes extensive teaching and social provision including two floodlit all-weather pitches, natural grass pitches and hard-court areas; a dining room with “grab-and-go” options, hall and theatre, community sports and changing facilities, and a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) suite. Following completion, the community and local sports clubs will have use of new sports and leisure facilities, and community groups will be able to hire the hall/theatre and other facilities at the school. The local air cadet group, 496 (Kenilworth & Balsall Common) Squadron, have also been invited to share the facilities. Richard Fielding, area director at Morgan Sindall Construction, said: “KMAT already had an existing reputation as one of the best schools in the area, so it was an honour to be a part of developing it even further. The completion of the new school marks exciting progress in the provision of public services for the growing town of Kenilworth. We are delighted to have completed construction works on one of the largest schools to have been built in the UK, and to deliver facilities which will benefit not only students and staff at the school, but the wider community for years to come.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
