Building News is an information portal for all professional building specifiers. Here you can find all of the latest construction news from around the UK and the rest of the world.
Tata Steel mechanical engineer Scott Harwood has singlehandedly built an entire steel hot mill model using Lego blocks. The full-functioning model rolls cardboard instead of steel but operates in exactly the same way as a full scale mill.
Check out the amazing model in the video below:
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has outlined his commitment to providing greener and more public transport-focused river crossings in the East and South East of London.
The Mayor has set out a package of new river crossings to be built in the next five to 10 years that will vastly improve travel across the capital, while supporting new affordable homes and business opportunities in East London.
These include:
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said “It’s no secret that London has long needed more river crossings in the east. With new homes and economic growth across East London, it becomes even more important that we deliver new greener transport links that allow Londoners to cross the river quickly and more easily.
“But we don’t want these to have a damaging impact on our environment, and that’s why I’ve reviewed and improved plans for Silvertown Tunnel and why I’m pushing forward with crossings that encourage public transport, walking and cycling.
“As we continue to unlock the massive economic potential of East London, we must secure the very best transport infrastructure that improves the quality of life for everyone living and working in the area.”
Alex Williams, Acting Managing Director of Planning at TfL, added “London’s population continues to grow and it’s vital that we do everything we can to support this to ensure that everyone can continue to move around freely and easily. The Mayor’s new vision for river crossings in East London is firmly rooted in supporting growth and providing better public transport links for all. We will now work hard to develop the designs for these new crossings, as well as identify potential funding opportunities, to allow them to be constructed more quickly.”
David Leam, Infrastructure Director at London First, concluded “Better river crossings will help unlock the economic potential of East and South East London and connect thousands of new homes in Newham, Barking, Greenwich and elsewhere. We’re delighted the Mayor has sped up these plans, aiming to deliver new ways of getting across the river within the next five to ten years.”
More than 2,000 new schools must be built within the next four years to accommodate the rising number of primary and secondary pupils in England, according to Scape Group’s latest ‘School Places Challenge’ report.
The research has revealed that local authorities are expecting an additional 729,000 pupils in education by 2020 – a rise of 8.6% in primary school pupils and 12% in secondary school pupils in England alone. To tackle this increase, the equivalent of two new schools must be created each working day.
London, the South East and East of England are experiencing the highest growth with more than 375,000 additional primary and secondary pupils expected to be added to the registers in four years’ time.
Of the total 2,122 new schools needed, the equivalent of 12,209 primary classrooms and 12,078 secondary classrooms, London requires 507 new schools. The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham will see the biggest increase in pupil numbers, requiring a total of 28 new schools, followed by Lambeth, Newham and Greenwich, which need 21, 37 and 25 new schools built, respectively.
Outside of London, the Northern Powerhouse city of Manchester will see numbers rise to almost 19,000 extra primary and secondary pupils by 2020 – a 27% increase that will require the equivalent of 57 new schools. Rapid growth in the cities of Bristol, Peterborough, Milton Keynes, Leicester and Nottingham will also mean that new schools will become highly sought-after should the necessary amount not be built in time.
Mark Robinson, Scape Group Chief Executive comments: “As the growth of the primary school population gathers pace, the pressure on school places will soon transfer to the secondary population, requiring a new wave of advanced school building. The government’s preference for free schools has created uncertainty for local authorities, who are tasked with planning and building new schools, but will not be responsible for running them. Proposals for new grammar schools has further muddied the waters.”
Leaving the EU could have a profound effect on the UK population – we could see a short term surge in migration from Europe or a drop off in numbers if migrants are put off coming here. It is very difficult to predict what impact Brexit will ultimately have, putting even more pressure on local authorities who are planning how and where to prioritise school-building.
“In a post-Brexit economy, with all of the uncertainty this brings, the construction of new schools must be a top priority for government and local authorities must be given the tools and funding necessary to deliver extra places in time. Creative solutions including standardised design, classroom extensions and larger ‘super-schools’, as well as more effective use of land to deliver mixed-use developments, are all options we need to look at to deliver more new schools.”
At the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham this week, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid and Chancellor Philip Hammond revealed that the government are planning to make new money available for builders in the UK.
This will consist of a £2bn Accelerated Construction scheme to make publicly-owned brownfield land available for quick development and the already announced £3bn Home Builders Fund, which seeks to help fund the development of 25,500 homes by 2020.
The intention of the new funding is to provide short-term loans for small builders, which will be borrowed from the public sector. This will help them build quicker as public land will be made available with outline planning permission already available to them and money will enable them to undertake any required remediation work on the brownfield sites prior to construction starting.
The ministers are also urge builders to use modular technologies to meet housing demand, as it will shorten the delivery time.
At the conference the ministers also confirmed that they are also pushing ahead with allowing office blocks to be repurposed or replaced entirely with residential developments. This alone has the potential to create 4,000 homes by the start of 2022.
Chancellor Philip Hammond commented: “There has been a housing shortage in this country for decades, and this Government is determined to take action to tackle it. “We’ll use all the tools at our disposal to accelerate housebuilding and ensure that, over time, housing becomes more affordable. That is why we are committing £2 billion of additional investment towards this.”
Sajid Javid concluded: “Tackling the housing shortfall isn’t about political expediency. It’s a moral duty. And it’s one that falls on all of us. Not just in Parliament, but in business, in local government and in our communities. So my message today is clear: it’s time to get building.”
With three months having now passed since the outcome of the EU referendum, John Morris, CEO at JAM Recruitment takes a look at how the result has impacted the job market and production within the engineering and manufacturing industries.
Whilst the initial reaction to Brexit was one of concern, three months on, we’re yet to see a change to the market – we certainly haven’t seen the levels of disruption that were predicted. We’ve placed hundred’s of engineers across the likes of BAE Systems and GE over the last three months, and we actually started to see a growth in contract jobs in August – something that can be seen as a real positive for UK employment.
Despite initial warnings of job cuts, leading to increased skills shortages in engineering and manufacturing, the market hasn’t seen a great amount of change. Unemployment is still holding up at an 11-year low of 4.9%, which is incredibly promising. However, it’s too early to draw solid conclusions about the impact Brexit will have on employment rates, especially as Article 50 is yet to be triggered.
Contrary to the initial predictions, recent reports have shown that British manufacturers have enjoyed rising output and a steady flow of new orders over the past three months, meaning Brexit didn’t deliver an immediate blow to businesses. Further to that, a recent REC report highlighted that engineering was the second most sought-after job category when it came to permanent staff, showing that any dip in confidence within the sector was short-lived.
The recent Engineering and Technology Skills and Demand in Industry report found that while demand for qualified engineers is increasing in the UK, the education system fails this industry by not producing engineers that are fully prepared and experienced enough. As a result, the best option for employment would see the UK Government ensuring that STEM subjects are given more of a push, which will better equip our future workforce.
To ensure that there remains access to skilled engineers in the UK, it’s crucial that the government doesn’t stifle access to the skilled candidates with its immigration policy. Whilst we do have an incredibly strong network of skilled professionals in the UK, the freedom of being able to recruit staff from Europe is still hugely beneficial, especially within the industries where there is a well-recognised skills shortage.
Whilst we wait for the activation of Article 50, it’s essential that we continue to work closely with clients to ensure that we’re taking preventative steps to minimise the impact Brexit may have. This will mean continuing to attract students to the UK industry, whilst also investing in up-skilling those already working within the sector.
Europe has led the world in improving building standards with the UK having played a key role in their development. But after the momentous day that was June 23rd and the UK economy appearing now to have weathered that initial vote-to-leave shock, where does that leave the construction industry in terms of EU regulations?
The British Standards Institution (BSI) is one of 33 voting members of CEN (European Committee for Standardisation). However CEN rules state that you can only join CEN if you are a member of the EU or about to become a member. In the case of non-EU countries including Norway and Switzerland, their membership in the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) qualifies them as well. When the UK finally leaves the EU it will therefore be essential for the UK to rejoin EFTA otherwise the BSI will have to argue for a change in statutes of CEN so that they can continue their membership of this organisation. And in that scenario, there may well be a lot of political pressure to keep us out.
But then what does that mean for the UK and what is the scenario of the UK walking away from the EU standard table? Any product intended for sale in the EU must meet the relevant EU standard. Non-compliance will clearly restrict markets. One of the key things about EU standards is that they do ensure a level playing field and are considerably better than each country having a different standard and system of compliance.
To add to this, the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) has, since 2014, mandated that all products produced for sale in the EU provide a declaration of performance and visible CE mark. In their BREXIT negotiation, the UK Government would be able to ignore the CPR and revert to BS standards instead of BS EN standards. This scenario seems unlikely as this would complicate matters with the possibility of two-tier standards. And that might a have a knock-on effect for manufacturers with variable production runs and increased stock levels.
And how does an EU standard compare to BS? Some BS testing is outdated and not as relevant to real-life scenarios. We tend to cling to some out of ‘habit’ when more representative standards exist. One such example is the adherence/preference of the UK to BS476 testing regimes for curtain wall perimeter fire barriers, when a specific EN test standard EN1364 offers a far more representative test option. The BS 476 standard tests curtain wall perimeter fire barriers in a static assembly, whereas the EN1364 tests simulate the dynamic movement of the curtain wall façade, which we would contend is a far more sensible and robust option. Siderise is amongst a very few suppliers who have opted for the EN1364 test, as we see it as far more representative of “real life”.
At the moment the UK has a vote and we can influence EU standards, and on occasion we could in theory ‘block’ standards that we did not like or at least modify them. One scenario is that we can go to meetings post-BREXIT, provide technical input, but in the end not have a vote – unless of course we negotiate some arrangement whereby we are allowed to vote. But that would appear to be fraught with difficulties. Whatever the outcome, we must not fall out of step with Europe. The costs to industry of totally abandoning EU standards are so vast as to be too horrible to contemplate.
Battersea Power Station has now confirmed that Apple has agreed to lease office space within the historic Battersea Power Station.
Apple will be the largest office tenant at Battersea Power Station occupying approximately 500,000 sqft., across 6 floors of the central Boiler House inside the historic icon. Apple is expected to move into the Power Station in 2021.
Battersea Power Station will be Apple’s new London campus and its office will account for circa 40% of the total office space in the whole development.
Apple has today said it is looking forward to opening its new London campus at Battersea Power Station in 2021. 1400 Apple employees from existing offices around London will relocate to this magnificent new development at one of London’s best known landmarks. Apple has added, that this is a great opportunity to have its entire team working and collaborating in one location while supporting the renovation of a neighbourhood rich with history.
Dato’ Johan Ariffin, Chairman of Battersea Holding Company Limited, said “We are delighted to welcome Apple, the world’s most valuable brand, to Battersea Power Station, London’s most iconic development. This move by a brand of such calibre will serve to generate even more interest in Battersea with its vibrant mix of commercial, exciting retail and residential offerings in a cultural setting designed to drive innovation and enterprise. Apple can only strengthen this formula for success.”
Rob Tincknell, CEO of Battersea Power Station Development Company added: “We are delighted that Apple has chosen to make Battersea Power Station its home in 2021. It is testament to our fantastic building and the wider regeneration of the 42-acre site which offers a carefully curated mix of homes, businesses and leisure amidst extraordinary open spaces and new transport links. It has always been our clear objective to create one of London’s most thriving new communities and this commitment from Apple will undoubtedly help us achieve our goal.”
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London commented: “I am delighted that Apple is moving into Battersea Power Station, helping to generate new jobs and economic prosperity for Londoners. It is a further sign that London is open to the biggest brands in the world and the leading city for trade and investment.”
Cllr Ravi Govindia, Leader of the London Borough of Wandsworth said: “I’m very pleased to give Apple a warm welcome to the London Borough of Wandsworth. Apple will become the largest employer in the Borough and we are hugely excited that they will play a keen and active role in our local community.”
After more than two months since the Brexit vote, it’s good news for the residential construction sector, as the value of contracts awarded reached £1.7 billion in August, an increase of 13% compared to the same time last year, based on a three month rolling average.
According to the August edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI, it was the residential and infrastructure sector that kept the industry on a steady pace last month, delivering £3 billion of the £5.5 billion total construction contracts awarded.
It should also be noted that residential construction across the first two post-Brexit months (July & August) are significantly higher figures than when compared to the same months in 2015.
However even with the strong results from the residential sector, it was not enough to mark an improvement for overall construction new orders as they were down to £5.5 billion in August, a month-on-month drop of £300 million, although this is traditionally a slower summer month.
The commercial & retail sector particularly struggled in August, experiencing a decrease of 43% compared to August 2015, which continues a poor run of performance over the long term for the sector.
Commenting on the figures, Michael Dall, lead economist at Barbour ABI, said: “The construction sector is yet to experience the full post-Brexit effects that were forecasted to occur after the result was announced. The mixed results from the residential sector has still been robust enough to keep the industry in a position to potentially grow in the near and long-term future.
“Developers are also keen to keep progressing with major projects, such as the £750 million Galloper offshore wind farm and the £150 million Greenwich Peninsula residential development commissioned this month alone, which in turn is helping to build confidence and provide a well needed boost across the industry.”
Bigger ‘all in one’ premises developed following recent custody suites we’ve built in Newcastle, Sheffield, Birmingham and South Wales.
Willmott Dixon is launching a range of pre-designed custodial facilities that give police forces more options as they look to roll out a new generation of larger custody suites to replace outdated facilities.
Police forces are investing millions in moving to larger custody suites to create better working environments for staff and detainees and provide more efficient use of property that will save millions in running costs each year. This includes Willmott Dixon recently delivering 50+ cell custody suites for police forces in South Yorkshire, South Wales, Newcastle and West Midlands.
In the case of South Yorkshire, the police force expects its new purpose-built 50 cell centre in Sheffield to replace inefficient custody suites in Rotherham and Sheffield and save £1.2 million a year in running costs. Likewise, West Midlands Police expects its new 60 cell Central Custody Suite in Perry Bar to save the force £1.3 million per year.
To support the move to a new generation of modern, energy efficient custody suites, Willmott Dixon has developed a standardised offering called CODE with a range of pre-designed custody suites to suit different police force budgets and requirements. CODE models have been designed in partnership with NORR Architects, our supply chain partners, the Home Office and over 20 different police forces to tackle issues such as minimising the risk of detainee injury, increasing security of evidence and providing a better working environment that is more efficient and sustainable.
CODE has three models; Alpha providing up to 28 cells, Bravo up to 36 cells and Charlie for forces that require more than 36 cells; police forces can also completely customise their suite to ensure it meets their individual needs. All CODE projects are delivered with a fixed cost, timescale, quality and minimum risk; they also provide significant social value and community engagement commitments, a defining factor of Willmott Dixon projects.
It follows the success of the Sunesis standardised school concept developed with Scape Group that has seen over 25 primary schools built in three years across the country providing over 9,000 new places for a fixed cost and time scale.
CODE custody suites can also be procured through the Scape National Major Works framework, an OJEU-compliant procurement route that allows customers to engage directly with Willmott Dixon and reduce the time and resources spent on a lengthy tender process.
Anthony Dillon, managing director at Willmott Dixon Construction: “CODE has been developed with expert partners NORR architects, the UKs most experienced custody design practice and also in conjunction with the Home Office to produce standardised designs we are truly proud of. There are many pressures facing our police forces today and we are delighted to be able to play our part in supporting them by providing the most advanced modern facilities that are also economically efficient.”
74 per cent of housebuilders think the government’s aim of building a million homes during the current parliament is unachievable – so the latest survey run by the Build Show, as part of UK Construction Week, and Housebuilder magazine reveals.
Targeted solely at housebuilders, the survey has highlighted a number of strong opinions, concerns and predictions held within the industry about the future of this critical sector. Following the question on the government’s targets, housebuilders were asked what they thought were the main constraints to increasing the UK housing supply – the top two answers given were problems with the planning system and the availability of enough skilled labour.
As one of the first canvases of the sector since the EU referendum, the survey has provided a valuable insight into how the industry feels about the affects it might have. Over half of those surveyed said that Brexit would make meeting the UK’s new housing needs more difficult and only 11 per cent saying it would make it easier.
Equally, those surveyed were cynical of government initiatives such as the Starter Home scheme with two thirds saying it will not boost supply or that they’re unsure. Similarly, only 40 per cent believed that government initiatives would increase the number of affordable homes being built.
When asked about the possible solutions to the UK’s housing needs, 64 per cent of housebuilders felt that SMEs were the key. Also identified was offsite construction with over two thirds of respondents saying it would play a major role in new home supply as was new investment models with over 75 per cent highlighting the contribution they could make.
Nathan Garnett, Event Director for the Build Show, commented: “The survey has provided valuable honest insight into the housebuilding sector and clearly indicates that there is a lot of uncertainty. In this regard, the show in October will offer a much needed opportunity to develop strategy and build stronger business relationships with key customers, peers and associations. Excitingly, the sector also sees a lot of potential in SME builders and we do too. There will be a wide variety of content suited to both national and SME housebuilders at the show to help them overcome the hurdles they currently face.”
Some of the other notable findings from the survey include:
Taking place at the Birmingham NEC from 18 – 20 October, UK Construction Week combines nine shows in one location. With over 24,000 trade visitors last year – a figure expected to double at this year’s event – the show boasts over 650 exhibitors. Visitors are able to attend Timber Expo, the Build Show, Civils Expo, the Surface and Materials Show, Energy 2016, Plant & Machinery Live, HVAC 2016, Smart Buildings 2016 and Grand Designs Live.
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