4 minute read
Construction
Decarbonising construction in
Liverpool and beyond
Richard Potts, Liverpool area director, Morgan Sindall Construction
When it comes to taking the action needed to address the climate emergency, it’s difficult to underestimate the importance of leadership.
As a business with a large footprint in Liverpool – from our ongoing projects at Liverpool City Council’s Knowledge Quarter to the recently completed new buildings at Copperas Hill for Liverpool John Moores University and our work building The Depot sound stages for Liverpool City Council – we take our responsibility to the city – and its net zero ambitions – very seriously.
That’s why we were proud to recently launch Decarbonising Communities, Morgan Sindall Construction’s transformational approach to collaborative carbon reduction, which will enable us to support our local supply chain in achieving their environmental ambitions and help meet our own target of Net Zero Carbon by 2030.
Decarbonising Communities will harness the combined expertise of our customers, employees and supply chain partners to change the way buildings are designed and constructed, in order to reduce the amount of carbon associated with each built asset.
Crucially, this will include a focus on reducing carbon emissions within supply chains and applying science-based benchmarks to reduce whole life carbon on projects, in order to meet the 1.5 degree global warming target, alongside UK government targets.
Underpinning this approach is CarboniCa, an innovative carbon calculation tool that will allow project teams to work with customers to estimate, manage and reduce whole life carbon emissions through the design, construction and entire lifecycle of an asset. In addition, every Morgan Sindall Construction team member throughout Liverpool and beyond will make a Personal Carbon Pledge, which will allow them to make a small yet significant change to their way of working in order to help our business decarbonise.
As a proud member of the Liverpool business community, we’re pleased to be taking decisive action to help our city play its part in rescuing the natural world for the benefit of future generations.
Of course, that goal is not straightforward – but we see it as our responsibility to show the leadership required to take our customers and supply chain with us on a journey that will result in the transformation of how carbon reduction is delivered within the construction industry.
For more information about this news release please contact Susan Patterson at Morgan Sindall Construction -
ArchiPhonic Chicago Buildings project receives
planning approval
Plans to transform a former commercial space in Liverpool into a stylish new city centre accommodation scheme have been approved.
Speaking of the plans, Adam Mokhtar, co-director at ArchiPhonic, said: “The Chicago Buildings are a part of our city’s heritage, known not only for being home to the former Blacks’ store, but also being the location of Hessy’s Music Centre, where The Beatles once bought their instruments.
“Our plans focus on maintaining this heritage, while also ensuring a positive end user experience, offering a bigger mix of unit types, better circulation and far more natural light, as a result of the number of windows included in the scheme.
“It has been a fantastic project to work on. Lead architect, Harriet Powell-Hall, and the rest of the team have relished the challenge of transforming this derelict city centre space into a considered scheme that will bring an excellent mix of rental accommodation to the retail quarter.”
The Chicago Buildings on Whitechapel, which have remained vacant since Blacks’ Liverpool store surrendered its lease in May 2019, will be converted into 24 self-contained apartments in the approximately 17,000 sq ft scheme, designed by Liverpool-based architectural design firm, ArchiPhonic. Situated in the heart of the city’s retail quarter and bordering the heritage area of Matthew Street and Castle Street conservation area, the scheme will comprise five studio, 12 one-bedroom and seven two-bedroom apartments across four floors, all located around an existing atrium. Once complete, property owners Sara and Hossein Asset Holdings intend the units to be let, with the scheme featuring a combination of assured shorthold tenancies and Airbnb rentals.
The work will be predominantly internal, with the facade of the building being retained to maintain the building’s heritage and preserve the area’s character and appearance. ArchiPhonic will also work to maintain the architectural quality inside the building, keeping unique features such as the building’s iconic climbing wall, which was a much-loved aspect of the former Blacks’ store.
ArchiPhonic has been appointed to manage the tender process and the project, which will be led by ArchiPhonic architect, Harriet Powell-Hall, is expected to go on site in early Spring 2021.
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