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Concerns that HS2 will not deliver on UK’s wider economic brief and on budget

Last week the government awarded £6.6bn in contracts to build the new high-speed HS2 railway between London and Birmingham, to companies including crisis-ridden construction firm Carillion.

Construction work is due to begin next year on new stations, tunnels, embankments and viaducts on the London to Birmingham line, which forms the first phase of the controversial HS2 project. The civil engineering alone is expected to create 16,000 jobs.

It was welcomed as a “shot in the arm for Brexit Britain, providing thousands of jobs and billions investment that helps close the north-south divide,” but is that really the case?

According to CMF Capital’s John Mulheron, perhaps more worrying is the budget to deliver and whether it will support the vision of wider UK growth and prosperity. “The figures are eye-watering and the debate on whether HS2 is value for money a hot topic. Back in January 2012 £32.7bn was set aside for the total project. That figure now stands at £55.7bn.”

“Opponents have warned that the government is underestimating the costs, and that construction has already been delayed. The overall budget was revised up, but estimates drawn up on behalf of Lord Berkeley, chairman of the Rail Freight Group, suggested it could be as high as £111bn which would be a serious overspend and bring into question its value for money.” Commented Mulheron.

Lord Berkeley’s calculation was produced by Michael Byng, an expert for the Department of Transport who devised the standard method used for Network Rail to cost projects. It essentially works out to £403m a mile to build, which is 15 times the ‘cost per mile’ compared to the latest French TGV project extension. The stretch from London Euston to Old Oak Common has escalated to £8.25bn alone.

Whilst that figure was dismissed as nonsense, it’s worth pointing out the Chris Grayling’s submitted budget doesn’t include trains – about £7bn of new ‘state of the art’ rolling stock is needed. With the Government’s focus on Brexit negotiations, the fall-out from Grenfell and the fall-outs within the cabinet, it seems wise to urgently assign a few more bean counters to Grayling’s team for a little more diligence. Diligence to date has cost about £2bn in planning fee’s alone – nice work if you can get it.

So, what are the reasons for the spiralling costs? “The UK is densely populated with high degrees of home ownership (for those over 35 years old) and a high use of the railway infrastructure. All of which makes the price of land and the cost of disruption very expensive. If this was China or Russia the bulldozers would simply pile through. Fortunately, here people have rights and they are prepared to dig their heels in over them, this is likely to slow progress even further.” Said the CMF Capital Managing Director.

Whilst HS2 will create direct engineering and construction jobs, it will also impact employment in the short term. As homes get demolished local business communities that relied on their weekly spend will go under. In a poll, back in November last year an overwhelming 77% of the public would prefer the billions being spent on HS2 to go to the NHS and public services. No doubt given the latest crime figures that percentage might be a touch higher.

Looking at the proposed phase 2 routes also unveiled this week, the obvious omission is there is still no plan to join Manchester to Leeds or Leeds to the North East. The M62 is a daily carpark and the rail network linking these key cities frankly embarrassing.

Transport for the North, the body set up to deliver new infrastructure argues that by just improving transport connections across the Pennines – halving the Leeds to Manchester journey to 30mins – it would bring greater economic benefit than the high-speed link to London ever could. A five-fold boost to rail travel by 2050 could add £100bn to the region’s economy and create 850,000 new jobs.

“The other ongoing argument is that whilst HS2 will increase capacity to our current creaking Victorian network, it will simply make it quicker to travel to London and not benefit the northern powerhouse regions. That phrase that has all but disappeared from Tory manifestos since George Osbourne was told to get a new handful of jobs.” Commented Mulheron.

With businesses scrambling to promote themselves to a wider global audience in the wake of Brexit, it’s no wonder the north of England, with a GDP of £350bn – equivalent to the 21st largest economy in the world and exports 19% of the UK total continually feels like London’s second cousin twice removed. Expanding Heathrow at vast cost is another example of a London centric approach to growth and there are no plans for HS2 to link up to the airport.

Whilst the phrase Northern Powerhouse might have died, the region’s revival goes on. Aerospace, manufacturing, engineering and digital industries are growing at pace. The regional purchasing managers’ surveys show growth faster than the national average. But it’s still not shifting the ‘productivity needle’. Which, is what ministers and economists are pinning on HS2 to help solve.

“As ever, there is no one silver bullet and we need more immediate solutions than a project set to take decades to complete. Currently, not a single metre of track has been laid. To compete in a global economy the region needs to take advantage of new trading opportunities beyond Europe. There is capacity at Manchester and Leeds airports, so opening new trans-Atlantic or Asian routes would send an instant signal that we’re open to business across the country.” Concluded Mulheron.

The news that HS2 is progressing should be met with gentle applause, but more needs to be done in the short term to build confidence that in turn fuels investment. One final point to note, HS2’s announcement coincided with Elon Musk receiving verbal approval from the US Government to take his Hyperloop concept to the next stage.

Journey times from Washington to New York City would be around 29mins. Edinburgh to London, phase one of his European ‘Hyperloop One’ would be about 50mins of travel. Given the pace at which HS2 is likely to progress, Musk might still beat us to the ticket barriers.

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Royal Mail celebrates contemporary architecture in the UK with special stamps

Royal Mail have launched a Special Stamp set to celebrate 10 buildings that represent the renaissance of contemporary architecture in the UK of recent years.

The Landmark Buildings issue uses photography to capture the distinctive lines and shapes of these remarkable structures. The structures that feature in the set are: London Aquatics Centre; Library of Birmingham; SEC Armadillo, Glasgow; Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh; Giants’ Causeway Visitor Centre, Northern Ireland; National Assembly for Wales, Cardiff; Eden Project, St Austell; Everyman Theatre, Liverpool; IWM North, Manchester and the Blavatnik Building – formerly Switch House, Tate Modern, London.

All the buildings in the set have become famous landmarks for the local communities, regions and cities.

The new stamps are available at www.royalmail.com/landmarkbuildings and 7,000 Post Offices across the UK.

Stamp-by-stamp

SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT, EDINBURGH
The Scottish Parliament, which opened in 2004, is a building extraordinarily rich in ideas, materials and complex shapes. It was created in the aftermath of the 1997 referendum, in which the people of Scotland voted for their country’s first parliament in over 300 years. It was designed by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT), who wanted to find a way of expressing national identity. Their design is based on the striking surrounding landscape and also draws inspiration from such things as the shapes of leaves, boats upturned on a seashore and the flower paintings of the great Glaswegian architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh. EMBT’s wish was for a building “growing out of the land” that should “arise from the sloping base of Arthur’s Seat and arrive into the city almost surging out of the rock”.

Constructed using Scottish stones and timbers, the Scottish Parliament won many admirers for its daring and exuberance. At the official opening on 9 October 2004, Her Majesty The Queen described it as a “landmark for 21st-century democracy”. Sadly, Miralles died in 2000 aged 45, never to see his vision realised.

EVERYMAN THEATRE, LIVERPOOL
The design of theatres is a complex and subtle task for architects. Apart from meeting the technical challenges of acoustics and sightlines, they have to make spaces where a theatrical atmosphere can flourish to enable a rapport between performers and audience. They have to have character and a sense of occasion, but the architecture should not dominate the acting. The architects Haworth Tompkins are specialists in designing theatres that achieve these qualities. At the Everyman, a much-loved Liverpool institution rehoused in a new building in 2014, they used a rich and tactile palette of rough and smooth materials, including concrete, reused bricks, timber, cork, red leather, copper and plywood. The large stage, which projects into an auditorium of close-packed seating and was inspired by the Everyman’s former space, creates an intense relationship between actors and viewers. On the street façade, 105 life-size portraits of Liverpool residents by local photographer Dan Kenyon were etched onto moveable aluminium sunshades.

Winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize for Building of the Year (2014).

IWM NORTH, MANCHESTER
The Polish–American architect Daniel Libeskind made his name with the Jewish Museum in Berlin, a building that sought to represent the complexity and anguish of its subject through its jagged angles and complicated interlocking forms. Located on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal and opened in 2002, the IWM North – a museum dedicated to telling the story of how war has changed lives from the First World War to the present day – was Libeskind’s first building in the UK. Its form was conceived as a series of fragments of a shattered globe that have been reassembled, with three interlocking shards signifying conflict on land, water and in the air. Achieved on a budget of £28.5 million and covering an area of 69,965ft² (6,500m²), its construction materials include steel frames and aluminium cladding. With its irregular angles and clashing shapes, IWM North has a deliberately unsettling feel, while also offering moments of peace within.
Winner of the British Construction Industry’s Building of the Year Award (2004).

GIANT’S CAUSEWAY VISITOR CENTRE
Rare, beautiful and wild places present a special challenge for architects, because their very attractiveness and popularity can threaten to overwhelm their rarity, beauty and wildness. Giant’s Causeway in North Antrim, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its geometric geology of interlocking hexagonal pillars, is no exception. Its visitor centre had to meet the public’s requirements for coach and car parking, a café, information and toilets, while also ensuring minimum impact upon the sight people had come to see. The building was thus located 0.62 miles (1km) from the site itself and its architects Heneghan Peng designed a sloping grass-roofed building that is cut into the ground to minimise disruption to the line of the adjoining ridge. Within this discreet outline they then created a large structure, with substantial angled pillars that are human-built echoes of the nearby landscape. Constructed using dark basalt quarried from the same ancient lava flow that produced the Causeway and completed in 2012, the centre provides a unique and complementary gateway to the main attraction. Both are owned and managed by the National Trust.

LIBRARY OF BIRMINGHAM
Francine Houben, of the Dutch architectural practice Mecanoo, believes that libraries are “the cathedrals of nowadays” and “the most important public buildings”. She and her practice designed the Library of Birmingham to be a “people’s palace” – a grand structure that celebrates the importance of learning but which also “promotes the informal” and “seduces people into coming in”.
The exterior of the ten-storey building is wrapped in broad bands of gold and silver cladding, overlaid with a filigree pattern of interlocking circles in thin sections of aluminium. Inside, a large cylindrical void rises through the centre, criss-crossed by blue-lit escalators and giving access to many different uses, including adult and children’s libraries, a musical collection, a studio theatre, an exhibition gallery and the Shakespeare Memorial Room, whose ornate timber interior was originally created in 1882 and reinstalled at the top of the new building.

LONDON AQUATICS CENTRE
Dame Zaha Hadid, who died in 2016, was one of the most charismatic and influential British architects of all time. Her use of irregular angles or curves, and of gravity-defying structures, changed the course of architecture around the world. The London Aquatics Centre at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, built for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and then modified for permanent use, is her most significant work in Britain and perhaps the most memorable building created for the Games. Inspired by the fluid geometry of water in motion, it is dominated by a flowing steel roof clad with wood, undulating and curvaceous like a marine creature, which touches the ground at three points. This creates a huge, dramatic interior with glass walls filling its flanks. Other elements, such as the shapely diving boards, add to the sense of dynamism.

Winner of the British Construction Industry’s Major Building Project Award (2014)

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR WALES, CARDIFF
The Senedd is the home of Wales’s parliament, the National Assembly for Wales. It represents a significant stage in the story of the nation’s devolution and, since its official opening in 2006, has become one of Wales’s most iconic buildings. Following the launch of an international design competition, it was the Richard Rogers Partnership (now Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners) that developed the winning architectural design for the new parliament in Cardiff Bay. At the heart of the concept was the need to generate a sense of open government and public accessibility. The extensive use of glass throughout the Senedd signifies clarity, openness and transparency, while members of the public have access to spaces outside and throughout the upper and centre levels of the interior. The building has also been designed to make a significant contribution to sustainable development: the funnel in the Siambr (Debating Chamber) acts as a giant air vent and forms part of a significant strategy for cooling and ventilating the Senedd using largely natural means.

THE BLAVATNIK BUILDING – FORMERLY SWITCH HOUSE, TATE MODERN, LONDON
When Tate Modern opened in 2000, in the converted shell of the former Bankside Power Station, the new architecture was self-effacing: the idea was to let the imposing industrial building speak for itself. The Switch House, its ten-storey extension that increased its area by 60 per cent and opened in 2016, is highly expressive, comprising a twisted brick pyramid on the outside with a magnificent interior staircase that changes form and direction from level to level. It responds to the huge numbers that pass through the world’s most visited modern and contemporary art gallery each year and to the ways in which individuals now visit museums. The stair, which was described as a “vertical boulevard” by Tate Modern’s Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, serves and celebrates the movement and interaction of the crowds.

In June 2017, Switch House was renamed the Blavatnik Building.

SEC ARMADILLO, GLASGOW
Formerly known as the Clyde Auditorium, the SEC Armadillo was designed by architects Foster + Partners. An international conference centre with seating for up to 3,000 delegates, the structure comprises striking interlocking shapes that echo the shipbuilding traditions of the River Clyde and the industrial heritage of its site on Queen’s Dock. A series of overlapping, aluminium-clad, framed ‘hulls’ wraps closely around the auditorium to minimise the building’s volume, while creating a distinctive profile on the Glasgow skyline. Floodlit by night and reflecting sunlight by day, the building provides a symbolic form that has come to represent Scotland’s largest city. Completed in 1997, and intended as a landmark for the regeneration of this once industrial site and for Glasgow as a whole, the SEC Armadillo helped to launch a new wave of more expressive, freeform designs.

EDEN PROJECT, ST AUSTELL
Geodesic domes are structures of great lightness and strength that were originally developed in the mid-20th century by visionary US architect Richard Buckminster Fuller, with a view to providing shelter for humans. Led by Andrew Whalley, British architecture practice Grimshaw found a remarkable and creative use for such structures when bringing to life the Eden Project in Cornwall. Constructed on the site of an old china clay quarry, and inspired by the concept of soap bubbles being able to land on and adapt to all manner of different surfaces, the eight domes of varying sizes were designed to accommodate the quarry’s irregular cliffs and slopes. Energy-efficient and future-proof, they were made from responsibly sourced materials. The team added an especially notable innovation, roofing the domes with ethylenetetrafluoroethylene, a translucent material weighing less than one per cent of the equivalent area of glass. The entire structure comprises two ‘Biomes’ – the Mediterranean Biome and the Rainforest Biome – in which it has been possible to recreate climates from across the world and grow 5,000 different species of plants. Open to the public since March 2001, the Eden Project is an educational and environmental charity that connects people with each other and the living world.

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Extremely rare Roman sarcophagus lifted from ancient Southwark burial site

An archaeological gem, unearthed by builders from Galliard Construction, has been moved to the Museum of London, where its contents will be exhumed.

Earlier this year Galliard Construction workers, who are currently building a new residential development in the prime location of Harper Road, came across a rare Roman sarcophagus, leaving experts astounded by this unusual discovery.

This is an exceptional find for London, where only two similar late Roman sarcophagi have been discovered in their original place of burial in recent years: one from St Martin-in-the Fields near Trafalgar Square (2006) and one from Spitalfields in 1999.

The excavation, which began in January this year, revealed a large robber trench around the coffin and found that the lid had been moved, suggesting that the coffin was discovered and robbed in the past. However, it is possible that only the precious items were removed, and the less valuable artefacts, such as the body itself, still remain within the stone sarcophagus.

Southwark and the City of London are remarkable in being the only two London Boroughs that have their own, in-house, dedicated archaeologist. Southwark Council champions archaeology and has dedicated planning policies to ensure that the borough’s ancient history is identified, protected and managed for future generations. The Harper Road excavation is just one of the many archaeological projects that are currently running across Southwark.

Acorn Property Group, which is working in partnership with Galliard Homes and Otterlo London on this development to transform the new space in Trinity Village, have also been keen to develop the site sympathetically, without detriment to its historic surroundings.

Stephen Conway, CEO of Galliard Homes siad “This is a remarkable discovery and I am delighted that we were able to work with the council to ensure the safe passage of this archaeological gem to the Museum of London.

“This incredible find will add even more to the rich history of the area and the stunning new residential development which will stand upon its site. I’m sure buyers will be thrilled that they too can enjoy a slice of seminal history. ”

Recent archaeological research has shown that this area of Roman Southwark is the focus of ritual activity. The area further forms a complex ritual landscape containing various religious and funerary monuments and a vast dispersed Roman cemetery (sites such as Dickens Square, Lant Street and Trinity Street) incorporating a range of burial practices, often with exotic grave goods sourced from across the Roman Empire.

The burial of a 14-year-old girl from nearby Lant Street was one of the richest internments from the Southwark cemetery and is without parallel in Britain; her 4th century chalk-burial contained a bone inlay box, an ivory clasp knife depicting a leopard, and glassware.

Roman London was a multi-cultural city, with a population spanning the empire and adding to the mix of different religious practices and beliefs. If the skeleton survives within the sarcophagus it will be a fascinating contribution to current archaeological research.

Gillian King, Senior Planner: Archaeology, at Southwark Council, added “In my long archaeological career I have excavated many hundreds of burials, but this is the first Roman sarcophagus I have ever discovered, still surviving in its original place of deposition. I have seen them in museums, but I think part of me believed that they had probably all been found by now!

“It really is a very special discovery. Personally, I find it really fascinating to contemplate that this area – which we are now so familiar with – was once, during the Roman period, so completely different. It really does make me feel very honoured that my role at Southwark Council contributes to protecting amazing archaeological treasures like this, and our work means that we can ensure that the historic environment is championed and preserved for the enjoyment of us and future generations.”

Cllr Peter John, the Leader of Southwark Council / Cllr Mark Williams, Southwark Council cabinet member for regeneration and new homes, said “This is a remarkable and exciting find. In Southwark we take our duty as custodians of the borough’s rich, varied and important archaeological heritage very seriously.

“This Roman sarcophagus is the find of a lifetime and a credit to the council’s commitment to ensuring that the borough’s history is properly conserved.”

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Construction 2017: Road to success still marred with uncertainty

Workloads have slowed across all sectors of the construction industry as Brexit delays investment, according to the Q2 2017 UK RICS Construction and Infrastructure Market Survey. Anecdotal evidence from respondents suggests that uncertainty regarding Brexit is weighing on investment decisions, alongside the political turmoil generated from last month’s general election.

A modest slowing

After a positive picture in the Q1 survey with the growth in workloads accelerating at its strongest pace since the referendum, there has been a modest slowing in Q2 2017 with private commercial and industrial sectors seeing the most significant easing in activity.

That said, a net balance of 29% of contributors continue to report a rise in private housing activity.

Although growth in total workloads has slowed in the sector, it is still rising, with 21% more respondents reporting an increase (down from +27% recorded in the previous quarter). Expectations for the next 12 months also remain relatively positive, although respondents appear noticeably less optimistic on their profit margins.

Infrastructure in focus

Infrastructure workloads remain broadly unchanged, with roads, rail and energy expected to see the strongest growth in output over the coming 12 months. Two areas of the UK that are seeing activity continue to rise are the Midlands and East Anglia, where activity has been boosted thanks to a surge in infrastructure.

Respondents in all other parts of the UK report a fall in workloads.

Looking back at the national picture, in the two sectors with the most significant easing, 21% more respondents saw their workloads in the private commercial rise rather than fall in Q2, down from 31% in the prior quarter. Private industrial activity also eased to 15% from 22% previously.

The more uncertain outlook for the economy as a whole has led to a less optimistic outlook for the sector over the year ahead; even so, 44% more contributors expect activity to rise rather than fall. This is down from 53% the previous quarter. Likewise, only 29% more contributors now expect to see employment rise rather than a fall, compared with an average of 32% over the four previous quarters.

Financial constraints

Financial constraints are reported to be by far the most significant impediment to building activity, and with a net balance of 79% (from 70% in Q1) is the highest reading in four years. Economic uncertainty driven largely by Brexit and the subsequent election result was identified as the primary cause of the constraint. Difficulties with access to bank finance and credit, along with cash flow and liquidity challenges, were the second and third most frequently cited reasons, respectively.

Despite the slowdown in growth, skills shortages persist with 55% of contributors reporting them as a constraint on growth. After having eased in 2016, the intensification of labour shortages appears to be biting once more. The lack of quantity surveyors and bricklayers appears to be particularly acute, but the shortfall extends to other construction professionals as well.

Tender price expectations over the next twelve months remain unchanged in Q2, with respondents envisaging greater price pressures. The expected increase in tender prices may signal rising costs and shrinking profit margins for businesses. Indeed, expectations on profit margins have eased from a net balance of 18% to 8% in the latest results.

Jeffrey Matsu, RICS Senior Economist said “Economic and political uncertainty appear to be weighing on sentiment, but all things considered, current conditions and year-ahead workload expectations are holding up rather well relative to the longer-term trend.

“Given the ongoing nature of Brexit negotiations, it remains to be seen what impact this will have on financial conditions or the availability of skilled labour to the industry.”

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LGA calls for ‘urgent and immediate’ building regulation review

The Local Government Association is today calling on government to launch an “urgent and immediate” review of building regulations.

Lord Porter, LGA Chairman, said “Following on from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, we want the Government to begin an urgent and immediate review of building regulations. We cannot wait for the result of the public inquiry or coroner’s report before this review is started. We have to act based on what we know now, while being prepared to revisit the building regulations again in the future if any additional lessons need to be learned.

“There is complexity and confusion in the current system that must be addressed and local government must play a central role in this review from the outset. The review needs to consider how easy it is to use, comply with and understand the building regulations and the associated documents supporting them, particularly those relating to the installation of cladding and insulation on external walls of buildings and how the building control, fire safety and planning regimes interact.

“Councils will do whatever it takes to ensure our residents are all safe in their homes. We have been clear all along that entire cladding panels and the insulation behind them need to be fire tested together as a system, rather than just the core of the panels on their own, and are also pleased these much-needed changes to the testing process will now happen. It is vital that we get this right and this whole-system testing needs to happen as soon as possible.

“We are concerned that the Building Research Establishment (BRE), carrying out safety tests, does not feel able to release the results of previous cladding system tests, as these are deemed commercially confidential. If the public are going to have faith in this fire safety testing process then everything needs to be out in the open. It is no time for contractors or manufacturers to withhold test results from both councils and the public.

“The industry and BRE needs to waive this confidentiality in the public interest to assist the Government and councils in gathering as complete a picture as possible of what is and is not acceptable in cladding systems. These are exceptional circumstances when not only the safety of thousands of residents, but also the peace of mind of many more, is at stake.”

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Construction chaos on cards as Unite ballots workers for strike action at crane company

Unite, the UK’s largest construction union, has begun balloting its members at HTC Wolffkran for strike action in a dispute over pay.

Unite has taken the ‘regrettable’ decision to seek a mandate from its members for strike action after the company refused to hold fresh talks about pay leaving members with no alternative.

If as expected workers vote in favour of strikes they will begin later this summer and are set to create chaos across the industry.

Previous pay talks collapsed when the company refused to increase its pay offer beyond three per cent with a commitment of bringing holidays in line with industry minimums. HTC Wolffkran negotiators also undermined their own position when they stated they would only countenance a two year pay deal, when a one year deal was what had previously been discussed. The company’s final offer was for a three per cent increase and an additional days holiday this year and the same again next year.

The pay offer is a cut in real terms as the retail price index is currently 3.7 per cent and expected to increase. Members are increasingly unhappy that their pay has not recovered in real terms compared to what workers were receiving in 2008.

Workers will begin to receive their ballot papers from Wednesday 19 July and the ballot will close on Monday 4 August.

If strike action goes ahead it will severely affect major contractors and construction projects in London, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester and Leeds. High profile projects that will be affected include: the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, Greenwich Peninsula, Elephant and Castle redevelopment, the Midland Metropolitan Hospital and the Sheffield Retail Quarter.

Jerry Swain Unite’s acting national officer for construction said “This strike ballot is taken very much as a last resort and is entirely a result of HTC Wolffkran failing to put forward a pay offer that meets our members’ expectations and its refusal to return to the negotiating table.

“The ball remains in HTC Wolffkran’s court if it wants to avoid strike action it needs to re-open negotiations and table a realistic pay offer.

“Without an improved offer contractors need to brace themselves for major disruption as sites grind to a halt and projects are delayed.”

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Winners of £6.6bn construction contracts for HS2 Phase One announced

The winners of the major construction contracts for Britain’s new railway were announced today (17 July 2017), with the £6.6 billion contracts supporting 16,000 jobs across the country.

16,000 jobs will be supported through contract opportunities over the next 6 years.

The huge infrastructure investment covers the main civil engineering work on the first phase of HS2 between London and Birmingham – including construction of tunnels, bridges, embankments and viaducts.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced the decision to award contracts today, which will mean the new high speed link reaching Birmingham by 2026.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said “This is a hugely important step in the construction of Britain’s new railway and underlines this government’s determination to deliver an economy that works for all.

“HS2 will deliver vital links between some of our country’s biggest cities, helping to drive economic growth and productivity in the north and midlands.

“As well as providing desperately needed new seats and better connecting our major cities, HS2 will help rebalance our economy.

“We will now get on with building the railway, while continuing to ensure affected communities get appropriate support and are treated with fairness, compassion and respect.”

David Higgins, Chairman of HS2 Ltd, added “This is a huge day for the HS2 project and for the country. These contracts will support 16,000 jobs here in Britain and will create opportunities for thousands of SMEs.

“HS2 was always designed to be much more than just a high speed railway and today we can see the opportunities it brings right around the country – spreading prosperity, acting as a catalyst for investment and rebalancing our economy 10 years before the railway even opens. Business now has the surety to invest with confidence to build a legacy for Britain.”

HS2 could carry more than 300,000 people a day. And with fast trains using the new line, there will be extra space for more trains on the existing rail network.

Benefits will be felt across the network with trains running as far as Scotland and the number of seats available out of Euston in peak hours more than doubled.

In total, construction of the full HS2 route to the north-west and Yorkshire will create up to 25,000 jobs and 2,000 apprenticeships. Another 3,000 people will operate HS2 and it is estimated that growth around new HS2 stations will create another 100,000 jobs.

2,000 apprenticeships will be created.

In February, Parliament granted powers to construct the Phase One route from London Euston to Birmingham, with the route opening in 2026.

The winning bidders to build the first phase of the route are:

Area South

Euston Tunnels and Approaches – SCS JV (Skanska Construction UK Ltd, Costain Ltd, STRABAG AG)
Northolt Tunnels – SCS JV (Skanska Construction UK Ltd, Costain Ltd, STRABAG AG)

Area Central

Chiltern Tunnels and Colne Valley Viaduct – Align JV (Bouygues Travaux Publics, VolkerFitzpatrick, Sir Robert McAlpine)
North Portal Chiltern Tunnels to Brackley – CEK JV (Carillion Construction Ltd, Eiffage Genie Civil SA, Kier Infrastructure and Overseas Ltd)
Brackley to South Portal of Long Itchington Wood Green Tunnel – CEK JV (Carillion Construction Ltd, Eiffage Genie Civil SA, Kier Infrastructure and Overseas Ltd)

Area North

Long Itchington Wood Green Tunnel to Delta Junction and Birmingham Spur – BBV JV (Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, VINCI Construction Grands Projets, VINCI Construction UK Ltd, VINCI Construction Terrassement)
Delta Junction to WCML Tie-In – BBV JV (Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, VINCI Construction Grands Projets, VINCI Construction UK Ltd, VINCI Construction Terrassement)
Preparatory works are already underway, with main construction work starting in 2018/19 following a period of detailed design work.

In addition, HS2 stations at Euston, Old Oak Common and in Birmingham will be central to HS2 and the work needed to develop designs is also well underway. Both the invitations to tender (ITTs) for the station design services contracts for all 4 Phase One stations and the invitation to participate in dialogue (ITPD) for the Euston Master Development Partner have been released to shortlisted bidders.

These are significant milestones which show how progress is continuing to deliver stations that will be embraced by the local communities, drive economic growth and provide seamless journeys for passengers.

The Transport Secretary will today publish a Bill to deliver the next phase of HS2, from the West Midlands to the West Coast Main Line south of Crewe.

This means – subject to Parliamentary approval – this part of the route can open in 2027, 6 years earlier than planned, to bring the benefits of HS2 to the north and Scotland sooner.

The Transport Secretary will also confirm the final Phase 2b route, from Crewe to Manchester and Birmingham to the East Midlands and Leeds. This phase will complete HS2 and unlock the transformative project’s full benefits for the country.

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One of London’s largest excavations has now completed

With five storeys below ground and a depth of 28.5 metres, it is big enough to contain the Royal Albert Hall. This basement will be home to one of two world-class NHS high energy proton beam therapy centres.

Proton beam therapy is a form of radiotherapy used to treat cancer which can be targeted extremely precisely, causing minimal damage to surrounding tissue.

Together with the Department of Health, NHS England is funding the development of two world class centres at The Christie in Manchester and UCLH (University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) for NHS patients to be treated in the UK. Patients are due to be treated at The Christie from summer next year, with UCLH following in summer 2020. When complete they will each treat up to 750 patients every year.

Fabienne Viala, Chairman of Bouygues UK, said “This is exactly the kind of project we relish. The complexity of undertaking London’s biggest excavation within a tight site at the heart of central London enables us to add value through our technical knowledge and the infrastructure expertise of our colleagues within Bouygues Travaux Publics. This is no ordinary project: as well as being an innovative and complex build, the finished development will have the potential to improve and even save the lives of those suffering with blood disorders and complex cancers.”

The low down

  • The deepest point is 28.5 metres below ground and the basement measures 87 metres long by 67 metres wide.
  • 80,000 cubic metres of ground has been removed from the site. This is the equivalent of around 640 London buses.
  • With five storeys below ground and six above, the height of the building (including below ground) is 57 metres, making it equivalent to London’s Tower Bridge.

Below ground there will be:

  • A multi-storey gantries for the proton beam therapy equipment.
  • Two Mechanical and Electrical plant levels
  • Two floors for patient proton beam therapy care,
  • Eight surgical theatres.

Above ground there will be 6 floors which include Europe’s largest centre for the treatment of blood disorders.

300 people have been involved the excavation so far, with 3000 expected to participate in the construction works overall. Interestingly, more than 12% of the staff working on the site live in Camden.

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Legal & General unveils turn-key modular housing prototype

Legal & General (L&G) has revealed its first turn-key modular housing prototype as it continues to drive the evolution of the housing sector to help tackle the UK’s long term chronic production problem.

Located outside its 550,000 sq ft factory in Selby, near Leeds, the prototype is a two-storey, two-bedroom home. Exploring a range of designs, L&G expects to deliver its first homes in the first half of next year. The Leeds site is building the capacity to produce thousands of homes per year across 8 production lines, employing several hundred local people.

Modular building is quicker and more efficient than traditional house building, delivering homes in a matter of weeks rather than years to consistently high standards. This is achieved by building precision-engineered homes in a factory environment, ensuring accuracy of build, in dry controlled conditions, using state of the art methods and materials. The manufacturing process is highly energy efficient and will be carried out by a stable trained workforce. Constructing the homes from Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), delivers further environmental benefits by storing 1 tonne of CO2 in every m3 of CLT used in the construction of each home. This ensures an economically viable and sustainable solution to deliver much needed capacity for the industry.

Rosie Toogood, CEO of L&G Modular, commented: “The unveiling our first prototype today marks an exciting and important step in our programme to bring modular homes constructed from CLT to market. This prototype demonstrates the high quality of our modular solutions debunking preconceptions of modular housing. At full production, homes like this will be delivered repeatedly in a matter of weeks without the snagging issues faced by traditional methods.

“L&G has a long heritage in providing housing in the UK and sees modular construction as a natural evolution and extension of its position in this market. Modular construction is set to revolutionise the house building sector bringing new materials along with methods and processes used in industries, such as car-making to raise productivity and help to address the UK’s chronic shortfall of new homes.”

L&G has been involved in housing activities for nearly 20 years including: through its stake in CALA Homes; delivering a 1,000 home scheme in Crowthorne through its own house building arm, Legal & General Homes; and investing in a new institutional Build to Rent product. Legal & General more broadly is a significant investor in housing including social housing and student accommodation; and it is bringing housing back to the centre of the UK’s cities through large scale mixed-use urban regeneration schemes.

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Expert panel recommends further tests on cladding and insulation

Large scale tests will help establish how different types of ACM panels in combination with different types of insulation behave in a fire.

The independent expert panel on safety has advised further testing as the next step to be conducted in helping landlords to ensure the safety of their buildings.

These large scale tests will help establish how different types of Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) panels in combination with different types of insulation behave in a fire.

The results of these tests will help landlords make decisions on any further measures that may need to be put in place to make their buildings safe following the Grenfell Tower fire. These tests will be undertaken by the BRE and will not require any new samples from buildings.

Earlier this week the panel brought together a group of technical experts from a wide range of professions and organisations. The group discussed the processes that had been followed to identify whether buildings had ACM panels and the advice provided to building owners on interim measures and agreed that these were the right first steps.

The further tests – which will look at 3 different types of ACM cladding combined with different types of insulation – will be in accordance with British Standard 8414 in line with the panel’s advice. This involves building a 9 metres tall demonstration wall with a complete cladding system – including panels and insulation – fixed to it, and then subjecting it to a fire that replicates a severe fire in a flat breaking out of a window and whether it then spread up the outside wall.

In addition, the Expert Advisory Panel recommended issuing further practical advice on immediate steps landlords can take to identify their wall materials including insulation, which will be published shortly.

The government has now commissioned the Building Research Establishment to undertake these tests as a matter of urgency. The results will be made publically available. Landlords will be expected to take their own professional advice on what is required for their buildings in the usual way.

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