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Baker Hicks are playing a lead role in the delivery of a £15m Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre at Glasgw Airport URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2020 URBANREALM.COM
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AS THE ENGINEERING SECTOR ADAPTS TO SIMULTANEOUS REVOLUTIONS IN COMMUNICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY AND WORKING PRACTICES WE DISCOVER HOW AN EMPHASIS ON CREATIVITY IS ESTABLISHING NOT ONLY A NEW GENERATION OF ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE BUT A ROADMAP OUT OF A CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY EMERGENCY. HERE FIVE KEY FIGURES SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS ON WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE WE ARE HEADED.
Claire Rosset, Associate, Architecture BakerHicks How is the profession adapting to new ways of working? The global pandemic has essentially pressed fast-forward on our industry adapting to new ways of moving, working and communicating. Whilst the past few months have been challenging for us all, what has been particularly heartening is how well the industry has embraced new technology to keep lines of communication open, allow creativity to flow and projects to develop. This period has forced us to question the purpose, necessity and productivity of communication, and I feel Teams, Zoom and the likes may stay with us long-term. This can only have a positive impact on both the environment and our time efficiency. Are we becoming more ambitious in pushing the boundaries of what is possible? As designers, it’s in our nature to challenge the norm and the possible. We’re always striving to be the most innovative while testing briefs, efficiencies and economic solutions. And, while our natural questioning nature, skills and experience have always helped us push boundaries, advances in technology are helping us realise them, intrinsically leading to more ambitious designs. Whether it’s creative use of BIM or Virtual Reality / Augmented > Reality, being able to see our creations before they’re
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physically built allows us to explore the possibilities in a virtual environment, test ideas, prove theories and, ultimately, push our imagination further. What excites you most in your work? Seeing your vision become a reality is the bit that really excites me about my job. I am working on some really innovative projects currently, such as HMP Highland, HMP Glasgow and the MMIC, and I can’t wait to see these come to life. At BakerHicks we specialise in designing complex and highly serviced buildings, so problem solving and overcoming challenges a big part of the role and one I enjoy a lot. By continually pushing boundaries and challenging each other, the possibilities of what we can achieve are endless, and I find that highly motivating.
Isla Jackson, Director Civic Engineers How and where is engineering pushing beyond structural requirements with creative flourishes? As engineers, we have a real responsibility to help address the climate emergency. One particular area where we need to push and be more creative is in the re-use of buildings. In our ‘Climate Charter’, we talk about how important it is from both a climate and historical perspective to, wherever possible, taking a balanced approach, look at how we can use our buildings differently and breathe new life into them. Many of our derelict commercial buildings have higher imposed loading levels which enable them to be transformed into residential buildings. We need to be creative about marrying the old with the new, reusing not just using. What are the main avenues of growth you predict in the years ahead? Society is changing rapidly, digitally driven and accelerated by the pandemic. Our towns and cities must now adapt to support the way people want to live. Places need to be more connected, people want to travel less, meet more, stay local, have access to green and nature and focus on the human experience. Our urban infrastructure and structures must change to support this so the main avenues of growth will be around nature based engineering solutions such as SuDS, green infrastructure, use of sustainable construction materials, an increased emphasis on ‘Retrofirst’ , active travel solutions to achieve 20 minute neighbourhoods and an approach that looks as places as a whole. What recent project best illustrates the value added by a great engineer? Developer Citu’s £250m Climate Innovation District in Leeds URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2020 URBANREALM.COM
is a real illustration of engineers adding value. This £250m car-free, low carbon development is the largest sustainable development in the UK. As structural, civil and transport engineers from the outset, we have worked on every stage of the planning and design process. We’ve been true collaborators, helping to determine materials and design of the modular, low energy, timber framed homes. On the civils side, we’ve created an award winning, entirely permeable SuDS landscape to withstand a 1 in 200 year flood event and from a transport perspective we’re assisting with development of one of the first ever car-free schools.
Stuart Fleming Director Will Rudd Davidson How and where is engineering pushing beyond structural requirements with creative flourishes? Fundamentally, I view Structural Engineering as a creative
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Left - Civic Engineers stress the value they add to projects such as the Climate Innovation District in Leeds Right - Will Rudd Davidson are not afraid of a challenge, as demonstrated by the Market Street Hotel, Edinburgh
endeavour. In my experience, and at Will Rudd Davidson, Engineers are passionate about great design and Architecture, and our contribution towards it. Much of the creativity in Civil & Structural Engineering goes unseen – The “flourish” is in the vision and execution of elements that unlock the broader potential of the project. However, it fills me with joy when a steel connection is expressed aesthetically, a staircase cantilevered or a concrete soffit exposed! I give these aspects a great deal of care and attention, which goes way beyond my focus on design code compliance. What are the main avenues of growth you predict in the years ahead? Recent times have shown us that we are all vulnerable. Avenues of growth will come from our response to this vulnerability, and how we collectively build resilience into everything that we do. There is a need for increased flexibility and adaptability to manage and lead change. Successful Employers must bring this into working culture.
Renewable Energy will increasingly power growth. We are proud to be supporting clients at the leading edge. Sustainable places will be measured by their flexibility and adaptability. There’s a unique opportunity for Engineers to ensure our buildings and infrastructure have the resilience needed for the future. What recent project best illustrates the value added by a great engineer? A great Engineer buys into the Client and Architect’s vision, wholeheartedly, and is sustained by what can be achieved. The Market Street Hotel in Edinburgh, is a fine example of the value we added to the process. Behind the handsome and elegant form of the completed hotel, was an abundance of major engineering challenges. One of the most challenging city centre gap sites I’ve seen, complex terraced topography, constrained boundary conditions, delicate demolition requirements and temporary stability concerns – and that was just to make way for the building! The finished roof Terrace is a real gem! >
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Mark Hepburn Director David Narro Associates How is the profession adapting to new ways of working? When lockdown was announced the profession was already in a strong position to be able to adapt quickly to home working. All the design teams we were part of were well versed in Microsoft Teams and Zoom within a week or so and after a quick tidy of the spare room it was business as usual. Virtual working will certainly continue to have a place in the future however the creative process is greatly enhanced when collaboration with Architects and clients happens face to face which is after all the part of the job that as designers we enjoy the most.
What excites you most in your work? Collaboration. Whether working with new or experienced Architects, the creative design process of delivering the overall vision for the project is the most exciting part of our work. As a practice we have always enjoyed being challenged and take great pride in delivering structures to meet the architectural brief, whether that is cleverly concealing or unashamedly exposing the structure. As structural engineers we are in a unique position where we can bring our experience of working with many different Architects and varied projects to the table, virtually or otherwise, to ensure each project exceeds expectation and it is that that really excites us. > URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2020 URBANREALM.COM
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What are the main avenues of growth you predict in the years ahead? We have always had a very strong portfolio of cultural and private residential projects and we expect that to continue. With the significant increase in government investment we also predict more opportunities in community regeneration and social housing projects. Our Forres office is well placed to take advantage of the opportunities that will arise from the Moray Growth Deal and with tourism in the Highlands and Islands continuing an upward trend we expect more opportunities in this sector. Despite some uncertainty at the moment, we do still anticipate continued growth of the whiskey market with several new distillery projects in the offing.
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David Narro Associates have nurtured strong relationships with Scotland’s top architects, such as Oliver Chapman
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Left - Collaboration is key for Max Fordham, no more so than in the necessity of reversing anthropogenic climate change Right - Monifeith Parish Church embodies the practices low-energy, high concept approach
Andrew Leiper Net Zero Carbon Leader and Principal Engineer Max Fordham How is the profession adapting to new ways of working? In recent years we’ve undergone a rapid expansion of our digital design capabilities and we are now working day-to-day in a much more integrated way, making use of collaborative models, automation and streamlining our production of information. The COVID pandemic has brought about a universal adoption of remote communication tools and has shown many of us that we can work in an agile way. MS Teams feels in some ways like a rounding off of the digital design transition. Remote working has not been easy for everyone, but productivity has not suffered as a result of our engineers working remotely. We have maybe lost some of the serendipitous encounters with others, which is a big part of office work, but at the same time I feel a lot more connected to external teams and clients. I hope that we can all find a new and happy balance between remote and officebased work when the pandemic is behind us, and use some of the learnings from this emergency to help tackle the climate emergency!
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What are the main avenues of growth you predictin the years ahead? We are in the midst of a climate and biodiversity emergency. I have young children who, all being well, will be around to see the 22nd century. I want to do my best to leave them and their generation with a planet which has avoided the worst effects of Anthropogenic climate change through our collective effort now to stop emitting greenhouse gases. The biggest growth area using our skills over the next decade will be in enabling the delivery of ultra-low energy new build and retrofit buildings: setting out the operating envelope in which design teams can work to deliver net zero carbon compatible buildings, ensuring ultra-low energy use in operation, minimising peaks in energy consumption through demand side response and making the most efficient use of renewably generated electricity. What excites you most in your work? As a people person, without a doubt, I enjoy collaborating with an effective team made up of individuals each with their own expertise, interests and personalities. I enjoy the exchange of ideas, solving design problems and feeling like we’ve made something great at the end. I feel very grateful to be in a profession in which through my work I can do a small bit to help make the world a better place for people; through both their enjoyment of the buildings they inhabit and by improving the environmental performance of the same buildings.
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Trilogy One, 11 Woodhall, Eurocentral, Holytown, Motherwell ML1 4YT (with other offices in London, Manchester, Warwick (HQ), Heathrow, Derby, Basel, Zurich, Vienna and Freiburg) Tel: 01698 738111 Email: contact@bakerhicks.com Web: www.bakerhicks.com Twitter: @BakerHicks_1957
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Principal Contact: Laura James, Head of Scotland Year of Incorporation: 23 May 2007 (trading commenced 27 July 2007) No. of total staff: 850 (including permanent, agency and European offices)
Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC) An innovative research, development and manufacturing facility, the new Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC) in Renfrewshire will support the UK’s pharmaceutical and fine chemicals industries in accelerating a new generation of manufacturing processes. A joint project between CPI, the University of Strathclyde, Innovate UK, Scottish Enterprise, GSK and AstraZeneca, the Centre will provide academics, research scientists and manufacturing partners with access to cutting-edge technical equipment and knowledge. It aims to encourage collaboration to develop new technologies and processes that will increase productivity in medicines manufacturing. BakerHicks have delivered multi-disciplinary design services, including architecture, civil and structural, mechanical and electrical, pharmaceutical consultancy, and process engineering to RIBA Stage 3. In addition, they are now working closely with the main contractor to provide a principal designer advisory role as the project progresses towards construction. With a number of different processes needing to be accommodated, and the specifics of these not necessarily known, the facility is designed to be as fluid and dynamic as possible. The space is able to be reconfigured easily, whilst a column-free space allows the Centre to be expanded to add further clean rooms and warehousing in future, ensuring it can react to the needs of the industry.
BakerHicks is a design, engineering and project delivery company that specialises in complex infrastructure, process and built environments across the full project life cycle. Its disciplines range from initial architecture to civil and structural, building services, specialist high voltage and process engineering services, programme management and CDM consultancy, using the latest innovations in Building Information Modelling (BIM) for the most efficient and cost-effective design. Recent Projects: BakerHicks are providing design and engineering services across a wide-range of projects within the aviation, defence, life sciences and manufacturing, nuclear, power, public sector, and rail industries. In the Scottish region, this includes: • Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC) • HMP Glasgow • Allander Leisure Centre • Perth High School • Woodside Health and Care Centre • Balloch Shared Campus Other projects nationwide include: • Ulster Hospital • Dorset Visual Improvement Programme • Barnard Castle Aseptic Manufacturing Facility • Stanford le Hope Rail Station
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Gresham Chambers, 45 West Nile St, Glasgow G1 2PT Tel: 0141 370 1829 Email: isla@civicengineers.com Website: www.civicengineers.com Twitter: @civicengineers Principal Contacts: Isla Jackson, Director, Glasgow Studio Year of Incorporation: 2014 No. of staff: 96 Recent projects: • Glasgow Avenues, Glasgow City Centre • Sentinel Building, Glasgow • Woodside, Making Places, Glasgow • Mayfield Development, Manchester • Gascoigne Estate, London Recent awards: • New Civil Engineers Companies of the Year 2020 Finalist • Winner in the large scale development category, Susdrain Awards 2020 • New London Architecture Awards 2019 Finalist • BCIA Temporary Works Initiative Finalist 2019
Climate Innovation District, Leeds Client: Citu Location: Leeds City Centre The Climate Innovation District is a £250m car-free housing development in Leeds on a brownfield site and is the largest sustainable development in the UK. It aims to create sustainable, low carbon communities, providing a great setting for home and family life. It incorporates more than 500 low carbon homes, across the phases, alongside manufacturing, offices, a carfree school, multi-generational building, community facilities and a climate resilient public realm. The houses built will be the first family houses in the city centre for over 90 years. The development straddles the River Aire, south east of the city centre and to ensure those living there are encouraged to be car-free, the development links both sides of the river with a new footbridge. The city of Leeds suffered devastating floods on Boxing Day 2015 and given the proximity to the river preventing surface water from entering the city’s drainage network is key. URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2020 URBANREALM.COM
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Head Office 34-36 Argyle Place, Edinburgh, EH9 1JT Tel: 0131 229 5553 Email: mail@davidnarro.co.uk Web: www.davidnarro.co.uk Twitter: @davidnarroassoc Principal Contacts: Mark Hepburn, Mhairi Ramsay Year of Incorporation: 2002 No. of Total Staff: 63
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david narro associates is a medium sized practice of Consulting Structural & Civil Engineers with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Forres and Stirling. Established in 1986 with the aim of providing a high-quality service from a committed and experienced staff. In 2014 the practice transitioned to an Employee Ownership structure, strengthening the long-term continuity and commitment of employees. Motivation and a desire to extend the experience of the practice has led to expertise across all sectors including commercial, industrial, residential, hotels and leisure, the public sector and conservation.
Ardrishaig – The Egg Shed Client: Scottish Canals Architect: Oliver Chapman Named for the retained original building’s former use for transit storage of eggs between the canal and the Clyde. It is located flush with the harbour wall below, along with the existing portalised timber building. Surrounding site was also developed to provide a larger building footprint and it was the site parameters encountered which provided most of the challenges to overcome. The bearing material was loose sand overlain with rubble fill and was heavily contaminated due to the previous site usage as a Gleaners fuel storage site. When designing this we had to ensure the sea wall was not overturned by the piling rig weight or compromised by the vibration from the pile installation. Within the Egg Shed we considered the vibration piles too damaging to the existing structure and adopted mini piles in this location. These were concrete encased in a sacrificial steel casing to limit leaching and ease installation. The serious contamination of the site was addressed with a ventilated mat system. The site was also within a flood plane and we carried out a flood risk analysis and designed the building and its contents to remain damage free up to the level in danger of flooding.
Recent Awards: • Scottish Design Awards 2020: • Chairman’s Award for Architecture – Kyle House - Groves Raines Architects • ARCHITECTURE: Regeneration – Ardrishaig Harbour (The Egg Shed) – Oliver Chapman Architects • ARCHITECTURE: Low Cost Project Schemes Under 200k - Flitch House – Oliver Chapman Architects • ARCHITECTURE: Building Re-use – Faithlie Centre - Moxon Architects Ltd
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Exchange Place 3, 3 Semple Street, Edinburgh EH3 8BL Tel: +44 (0)131 476 6001 Email: post@maxfordham.com Web: www.maxfordham.com Twitter: @MaxFordhamLLP Principal Contacts: Colin Hamilton (Senior Partner and Edinburgh Office Leader), Mark Palmer (Senior Partner), Andrew Leiper (Net Zero Carbon leader) Year of Incorporation: 1966, Edinburgh office opened in 2003 No. of total staff: 220 across five UK offices. 29 in Edinburgh
Recent Projects: • New Gorbals Housing Association, with Page\Park Architects • The Twist, Kistefos, Norway, with BIG • The Engine Shed, Stirling, with Historic Environment Scotland and Reiach and Hall • Tollcross Housing Association Offices with Elder and Cannon Architects • King’s Stables Road with Fletcher Joseph Architects • Brodick Ferry Terminal, with NORR • Brodie Castle Playful Garden Visitor Centre, Hoskins Recent Awards: • CIBSE: Building Performance Award (Public Use and Building Performance Champion) for The Engine Shed • RIAS: Andrew Doolan Award (Shortlist) 2019 for Tollcross Housing Association Offices • Scottish Design Awards: Commercial/ Office/Hotel Building or Project 2019 for Tollcross Housing Association Offices • RIBA: Stirling Prize (Shortlist) 2019 for Nevill Holt Opera URBAN REALM AUTUMN 2020 URBANREALM.COM
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Max Fordham LLP is an environmental building services engineering consultancy. For over 50 years, they have engineered energy, air, light and sound to bring buildings to life. From their offices in Edinburgh, London, Cambridge, Manchester and Bristol, they have worked with the world’s leading architects on some of the world’s greatest buildings. Max Fordham’s portfolio includes award-winning exemplars of sustainable design and a diverse mix of beautifully engineered buildings. The practice numbers more than 220 people in five offices around the United Kingdom and is a Limited Liability Partnership (essentially employeeowned), with over 120 partners. Max Fordham were the first business to have all of their offices Net Zero Carbon verified against the UKGBC framework.
Monifieth Parish Church Client: Monifieth Parish Church Location: Monifieth, Dundee Monifieth Parish Church is a union of three congregations who decided in 2008 to set aside their respective traditional church buildings to construct a new, contemporary church and centralise their activities in one place. Continuing our ongoing collaborative work with Lee Boyd Architects, Max Fordham LLP provided building services design advice for the new build church and supporting community facilities in the Angus town of Monifieth, Scotland. The town centre location of the new building was vital in understanding the role the church should have in the coming years. Whilst the design intent was always to create a spiritual home for the congregation, the building was also intended to feel inclusive, flexible and accessible. A glazed ‘shop window’ provides both direct visual access to the interior for passers-by and reinforces the connection to everyday community life for those within the church. Breaking down the barriers between church and community was essential to ensure the survival of the new build sanctuary, which has a light and airy touch while still being impressive with light-flooded interiors that benefit from a keen attention to detail. It provides room for up to 250 persons, a main hall that can be subdivided into smaller meeting spaces, a generous foyer to welcome large numbers of people and appropriate ancillary spaces such as offices, plenteous storage, a large kitchen and toilets. The building construction commenced on site in early 2018 and was completed in August 2019 with an overwhelmingly positive reaction from the congregation and the general public.
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43 York Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3HP Tel: 0131 557 5255 Email:edinburgh@ruddconsult.com 1 Brunswick Street, Glasgow, G1 1TF Tel: 0141 248 4866 Email: glasgow@ruddconsult.com Web: www.ruddconsult.com Twitter: @ruddconsult
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Principal Contacts: Gillian Ogilvie in Edinburgh MJ O’Shaughnessy in Glasgow Year of Incorporation: 1982 No. of total staff: 80
The Market Street Hotel Architect: jmarchitects The Market Street Hotel is an 8 storey new-build development, set within the Edinburgh Old Town Conservation Area. The hotel populates a previous city centre gap site adjacent to the grand City Arts Centre and an existing 4 storey garage building demolished to make way for the development. The site is nestled into the northerly slope of the Old Town’s Royal Mile, and the site topography is terraced to follow the renowned Crag & Tail feature of Edinburgh’s castle rock. The site is bound on the north side by the subterranean levels of the railway station and by narrow closes and imposing historic tenements to Cockburn Street to the side and rear. The building relates to the prominent Old Town skyline, when viewed from the north. These features culminate in a significantly constrained site with many engineering challenges, relating to complex geometry, form of construction, building height, sequencing, shoring, underpinning and temporary works, as well as protection to adjacent buildings. This site complexity provides the context for a bespoke Architectural solution requiring great skill and care in addressing the sensitivities of the site. Our Structural Engineering provides the necessary form to facilitate roof terraces, cantilevered floor plates, overhangs, double height spaces, and a striking roof form, along with high specification façade treatments.
Will Rudd Associates was formed in 1982 and has grown steadily since that date, operating now as Will Rudd Davidson from offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Today, the Practice has become a very successful and respected Company of professional Consulting Civil & Structural Engineers, with a staff of 80. We offer our Clients an extended and consolidated comprehensive service, both technically and geographically. Economy of design and consistent Client attentiveness, senior level involvement from conception to completion is fundamental to company ethos. Recent Projects: • Dumbarton Harbour Housing Development • St Crispins Primary School, Edinburgh • Edinburgh Future’s Institute at Quartermile • New Hotel, St Andrew Square, Edinburgh Recent Awards: • Broughton Road, Edinburgh – Student Accommodation • George Street, Glasgow Block D Flats • Bingham, Edinburgh – Housing