Search Results for: construction

August 27, 2013

Willmott Dixon wins huge £19 million fit-out contract at University of Brighton

by Mark Eltringham • News, Property, Public Sector, Workplace design

The interiors division at construction and support services firm Willmott Dixon has secured its largest ever contract, a project valued at around £19m to refurbish a 1960s teaching block for the University of Brighton. The work will include a complete refit of the building to create a 160,000 sq. ft. mixed use scheme in the ten-storey Cockroft building, including offices and IT facilities. The project was procured through the IESE framework and Willmott Dixon is working with a team that includes Fraser Brown MacKenna, Mott MacDonald, Curtins Consulting and Burnley Wilson. The interiors division has announced that it intends to raise its turnover to £125m within three years across a range of projects in the office, retail, leisure and hospitality sectors.

August 22, 2013

London’s living wall designed to reduce flood risk and improve air quality

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The UK’s largest living wall, designed to reduce urban flooding, has been unveiled in London’s Victoria district. Standing at 350 square metres with over 10,000 ferns, herbaceous plants and 16 tons of soil, the wall, at the Rubens at the Palace Hotel near Buckingham Palace reaches over 21 metres high. The wall’s unique design enables it to capture rainwater from the roof of the building in dedicated storage tanks. Flooding is a key environmental challenge in Victoria during periods of heavy rain, due to the low absorbency of urban surfaces. According to the Environment Agency, there are now around 534,000 properties in London on the Thames floodplain, and one in four in London are at risk of flooding. More →

August 19, 2013

CBI raises growth forecasts, but cautious on sustainable recovery

by Sara Bean • Knowledge, News, Property, Workplace

A pick-up in confidence across a broad range of sectors, including services and construction and a better than expected second quarter has led the CBI to raise its growth forecasts, with GDP growth of 1.2 per cent predicted in 2013, up from 1.0 per cent in the May forecast. In 2014, the business group expects the economy to gather pace, forecasting 2.3 per cent GDP growth, up from 2.0 per cent in May. However, unemployment rates look set to stick at around 7.8 per cent. John Cridland, CBI Director-General said: “The economy has started to gain momentum and confidence is picking up, but it’s still early days. We need to see a full-blown rebalancing of our economy, with stronger business investment and trade before we can call a sustainable recovery.” More →

August 7, 2013

Costs of tenders deterring Scottish builders from bidding for public sector work

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Property, Public Sector

Construction firms in Scotland are increasingly reluctant to bid for public sector building work because of the spiralling costs of tendering for work, according to a new survey from the Scottish Building Federation. The SBF claims that the cost of tendering for public sector contracts has sky-rocketed in the past five years – and is now equivalent to £94 million each year as firms vie for a share of the £2 billion worth of public sector construction contracts awarded annually in Scotland. The survey claims that the annual cost to construction firms of participating in public procurement is now 4.4 percent of the total value of contracts, with builders reporting an increase of between 20 percent to 50 percent on most projects over the last five years.

July 31, 2013

Arup helps ensure tallest tower in Latin America is earthquake resistant

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Company news, News

L_Benjamin_Romano_Architects

Arup has disclosed it is currently working on five tall buildings in Mexico City, the most notable of which is the Torre Reforma, a mixed use building, which will be the tallest tower in Latin America. According to the tower’s architect Benjamin Romano, one of the greatest challenges has been in ensuring the building is designed for Mexico City’s high seismic activity. When completed in late 2015 the building will be able to withstand a 2500yr seismic event while achieving a life safety performance level; making it one the most secure buildings in the region. More →

July 30, 2013

Government gets around to tightening energy efficiency standards for buildings

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The Government has confirmed it’s to strengthen energy efficiency standards for new homes and non-domestic buildings. The toughened up measures announced today in Parliament covering Part L of the Building Regulations will mean a six per cent cut in carbon emissions for new build homes, and a nine per cent cut for non-domestic buildings. According to the government, the small increase in construction costs will be “heavily outweighed” by subsequent energy savings. There have been criticisms however, over the length of time it’s taken for the changes to be announced as a consultation on the proposed changes closed over a year ago. More →

July 22, 2013

Active Building Design initiatives announced by New York Mayor

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property, Workplace

The Mayor of New York Michael Bloomburg has announced a series of initiatives to promote physical activity through the design of buildings and public spaces to encourage architects, planners and urban designers help combat obesity in the City. The Center for Active Design, a non-profit organization that promotes changes to the built environment to improve wellness is being created, and the Mayor has issued an Executive Order requiring City agencies use active design strategies when performing new construction and major renovation projects. Two pieces of legislation will promote stairway access in all buildings, with measures such as making stairways more visible to encourage use. More →

July 15, 2013

EU opens consultation on reducing the environmental impact of buildings

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

The European Commission is gathering views on how to reduce the environmental impacts of buildings. The consultation will focus on resources such as materials (including waste), water and embedded energy and aims to address resource use and related environmental impacts throughout the life-cycle of buildings, from the extraction of building materials to demolition and recycling of materials. James Drinkwater, Senior Policy Advisor for the Europe Regional Network of the World Green Building Council, welcomed the move: “It is incredibly important that the green building movement gets behind this evolution in building policy, and engages with the Commission on what the right strategic direction is going forward.” More →

July 12, 2013

Video: world’s largest building opens in China

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, News, Property

[embedplusvideo height=”190″ width=”215″ editlink=”https://bit.ly/1b5N173″ standard=”https://www.youtube.com/v/eob7Ki0Vhww?fs=1″ vars=”ytid=eob7Ki0Vhww&width=215&height=190&start=&stop=&rs=w&hd=0&autoplay=0&react=1&chapters=&notes=” id=”ep9609″ /]

Dubai will be kicking itself at the news that the world’s largest building, or rather world’s largest standalone man-made structure, has opened in China. The New Century Globe Centre in Sichuan province is a mixed use development housing offices, leisure facilities, hotels, shops, restaurants and even a beach resort warmed by an artificial sun. The 18-storey, glass and steel frame structure, is situated above a new metro station in Chengdu, stands 100 metres high, is 500 metres long and 400 metres wide giving it a floor space of 1.7m sq. m. making it the world’s largest standalone building, beating the previous record holder Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport by around 50,000 sq. m. and, as measured according to internationally recognised lazy media shorthand analogies, able to house 20 Sydney Opera Houses.

July 11, 2013

Green Building Council Awards recognise European environmental leadership

by Sara Bean • Environment, News, Property, Public Sector

The UK Green Building Council is accepting nominations for the first-ever European Regional Leadership Awards, part of the World Green Building Council Leadership Awards 2013, which recognise international best practice in city-level government policy for green building initiatives. The regional awards are for best practice in green building initiatives, projects, and policies that are supporting healthier and more sustainable communities within the European Region. “The awards promote leadership and inspire governments to replicate best practices in green building policy,” said the WorldGBC’s Chief Executive Officer, Jane Henley. “Buildings represent an unrivalled opportunity to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, and cities play an increasingly critical role in seizing this opportunity.”

July 9, 2013

New study to investigate effectiveness of UK carbon reduction policies

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Facilities management, Knowledge, Legal news, News

Deloitte has been commissioned by the Green Construction Board and the Green Property Alliance to carry out a study into the effectiveness of the UK Government’s policies for carbon reduction as the it seeks to meet its commitment to reduce the country’s carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Inevitably buildings, which reportedly are the largest source of CO2 including some 17 percent from non-domestic property, have been targeted to make significant contributions. With the much vaunted Green Deal in the news for all the wrong reasons – either because of its low take-up as well as new fears that it could lead to homes overheating – the survey will gauge how policies aimed specifically at commercial property such as Energy Performance Certificates and the Carbon Reduction Commitment have fared in spite of their own difficult gestations.

July 9, 2013

First “green-rise” commercial office building announced for Los Angeles

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Environment, News, Property

High-rise buildings tend to evoke a love-hate response, and being green is usually not a strong feature. However a new high-rise is being planned in California which aims to join the handful of tall buildings in North America to achieve the U.S. Green Buildings Council’s LEED Platinum certification. The 37-storey Century City Center will integrate the best new engineering and technological practices and innovations to deliver the first new build LEED Platinum “green-rise” in Los Angeles and Southern California. It promises, say developers JMB Realty Corporation, to effectively create a new benchmark in sustainable performance for the commercial office market in America’s second-largest urban region.