8 minute read
News
NEWS INDUSTRY UPDATES
Each month PSBJ rounds up the latest public sector construction updates, from new contracts to industry awards.
Advertisement
Lungfish Architects supports 1400 new school places across Derby
Architectural practice, Lungfish Architects, has successfully partnered with Morgan Sindall Construction to deliver more than £30m worth of educational infrastructure in Derby, helping to generate 1440 additional school places. Lungfish has designed and delivered some of Derby City Council and Derby County Council’s most recent transformative school projects, including Hackwood Primary Academy, Castleward Primary School, Highfields Spencer Academy, Ravensdale Infant & Nursery (pictured) and, most recently, Snelsmoor Grange Primary School, which is due to open in September 2023. Procured through SCAPE’s frameworks over the past three years, the completed projects have all been delivered on time, on budget and with an average client satisfaction of score of 9.5/10. The milestone reaffirms Lungfish’s commitment to creating sustainable and purposeful learning environments that support sustainable community regeneration. Working closely with each council, Lungfish undertook an extensive research and development study outlining exemplar school design and developing a standardised kit of parts. This standardised approach could be applied to any school site, whilst delivering the council’s educational requirements.
New design guide to transform Scotland’s approach to affordable housing
A new catalogue of net-zero carbon building designs could provide a significant boost to Scotland’s affordable housing sector, as part of a standardised approach for local authorities and housing associations to adopt across a range of future developments. The energy-efficient design and performance standards have been created by the Edinburgh Home Demonstrator (EHD) programme. The catalogue covers different housing typologies, such as flats, houses and cottage flats, which combine fabric-first, energy-efficient standards, renewable energy technology and modern methods of construction – also known as offsite manufacturing. The £1m EHD programme – involving partners from the City of Edinburgh Council, Offsite Solutions Scotland, Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Edinburgh, Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST) and Scottish Futures Trust – is trialling the new approach for high-performing affordable homes. The first pilot project of the EHD in Granton includes the creation of 75 net-zero carbon-ready one-, two- and three-bed flats being constructed by offsite construction specialist, CCG (Scotland), and is funded by the Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme and the City of Edinburgh Council. The first homes designed using the performance standard are expected to be completed in the summer of 2023 and, once occupied, will be monitored to test the approach in the guide.
Work completes on £6.5m expansion at Barr’s Hill School
Construction works have been completed on Barr’s Hill School in Coventry, expanding its capacity with the creation of a new teaching block for Year 7 pupils and re-modelling of existing buildings. Midlands-based main contractor G F Tomlinson led on the construction of the building on behalf of Coventry City Council since works started on the school in 2021. The new teaching building, known as ‘The Bridge’, is set across two storeys and comprises seven modern classrooms. The facility provides a dedicated space that has been designed to help 11- and 12-year-olds benefit from a smooth transition into secondary education serving as their own ‘mini school’. Works also included the re-configuration and remodelling of existing buildings to accommodate the school’s expansion over the coming years, with the school’s science department being extended and refurbished, as well as new classroom spaces, improved sports and gym facilities, external play spaces and an additional dining area. Procured through Pagabo’s National Framework for Medium Works, this is the second scheme G F Tomlinson has successfully delivered for Coventry City Council – the first being the £3.7m development of Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Coventry.
Imperial College London’s new School of Public Health building has officially topped out at its White City Campus in west London. Designed by Allies and Morrison, the School of Public Health building will provide state-of-the-art facilities to support modern advances, underpinning epidemiology and public health, especially data sciences and community engagement, as well as educational facilities. In addition to leading the construction programme, GRAHAM is also fitting out almost 58,000ft2 of space across the nine-storey building, providing a series of spaces to enhance teaching, learning and research for academics, students, collaborators and the local community. Pat O’Hare, Operations Director at GRAHAM Building, comments: “This is a landmark moment for Imperial College London’s transformative White City Campus, the home of the new School of Public Health. We’re delighted to celebrate this milestone alongside representatives from Imperial College London, a renowned institution regarded for its approach to teaching, research and inspiring innovation.”
Hundreds of new homes in north London get planning green light New school creates pupil places for expanding Notts market town
One of the biggest residential planning applications in Islington in recent years has been approved by the London Borough of Islington’s planning committee. The move sees permission granted for the transformation of the New Barnsbury Estate, where Newlon Housing Trust and Mount Anvil JV will develop 914 homes, including 47% social-rented housing, alongside retail and community floorspace and extensive public space. This is the culmination of three years’ work by planning and development consultancy Lichfields on one of London’s largest and most highprofile estate projects. The New Barnsbury scheme, designed by PTE Architects, will make a meaningful contribution towards pressing strategic and local housing objectives in Islington. It will see material improvements to housing stock, biodiversity, urban greening, carbon abatement and the local townscape. The scheme will increase the quantum and quality of useable open space across the site; delivering two public parks, community gardens, extensive play space and roof-level amenity space. It addresses a range of existing social and environmental problems at the estate, including overcrowded substandard housing, an inefficient layout, poor energy efficiency, accessibility challenges and redundant open space.
Local contractor Henry Brothers is celebrating after winning the Sustainability Award at the West Midlands Property Awards 2022. The award was presented for the delivery of Woodlands Day Nursery and Forest School at Staffordshire University – the first carbon-neutral development completed by Henry Brothers and the first carbon-neutral building on the university campus. It is the second accolade won by the project in recent weeks. Last month, the scheme was announced as the winner of the GB & Republic of Ireland Construction Project of the Year Over £2.5m category at last year’s Construction Employers Federation (CEF) Excellence Awards. Managing Director of Henry Brothers Construction, Ian Taylor, said: “We are absolutely thrilled that the Woodlands Day Nursery and Forest School delivered by Henry Brothers for Staffordshire University has been recognised once again. It’s an exceptional building, which is a significant development not only for the university and for Henry Brothers, but for the future also. To win the Sustainability Award at The West Midlands Property Awards 2022 is a superb achievement for the entire team involved in the project. I’d like to congratulate them for their vision, expertise and skill in delivering this wonderful day nursery that will benefit staff, students, their families and the local community.” Pupils in Bingham, Nottinghamshire, celebrated the opening of their new £7.9m primary school, with local Double Olympic Gymnast, Becky Downie, invited to attend the grand opening. Morgan Sindall Construction was awarded the contract by Arc Partnership on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council. Now complete, Bingham Primary School forms a central part of the new Romans’ Quarter housing development in Bingham. The new school, which becomes the latest academy in the Community Inclusive Trust (CIT), offers a 1FE (Form-Entry), 210-place primary with a 26-place nursery. The building has also been designed to allow for future expansion, taking the total number of pupil places up to 315. Designed and project managed by Arc Partnership, a joint venture between Nottinghamshire County Council and SCAPE, the onestorey 1405ft2 school features seven classrooms, a multi-use games area, playground and a hall that doubles up as a dining and indoor sports hall. The building will be highly self-efficient with air-source heat pumps, high-efficiency lighting with electrically-operated roof lights and four electric vehicle charging stations.
Lambeth is planning a shake up of its affordable housing delivery, to speed up efforts to tackle the housing crisis and build more much-needed new homes for the people of the borough. The council’s cabinet will consider a plan to bring affordable housing delivery fully back in-house, to help deliver hundreds of new council homes while delivering on its net-zero and sustainability ambitions. The proposal comes as the council publishes the results of a review of its housing programmes, carried out by independent peer, Lord Kerslake. The findings of the Kerslake review, commissioned to meet the administration’s manifesto commitment to tackle the housing crisis and to deliver more high-quality affordable homes more quickly for more people, was discussed by the cabinet at a meeting in December. Lord Kerslake said: “There is an urgent need for more genuinely affordable housing in Lambeth. Many councils and affordable housing developers across the UK are experiencing challenges in efforts to build more new, affordable homes. Lambeth Council leadership are to be commended for commissioning this independent expert review to explore how their programme can be accelerated. Our report sets out the achievements and challenges there have been to delivery in recent years and recommends a way forward for the council to better achieve its ambitions. I am pleased that they have responded openly and positively to our recommendations.”
Henry Brothers scoops second award for Staffordshire University building Lambeth plans housing shake up to build more council homes
