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First modular homes to be built by a housing association land in Coventry

The first modular homes to be built by housing association Midland Heart have landed in Coventry.

The four, three-bedroom properties on ‘Modular Mews’ in Foleshill are part of a pilot scheme delivered in partnership with developers Central Site and Coventry City Council.

Work on the scheme started toward the end of 2016 and during one weekend in February all four homes were craned in after being built off-site at a factory in Nuneaton. Construction of the development was completed within six weeks.

Midland Heart’s Director for Development, Chris Miller said “It’s been an incredibly interesting journey as we prepared the site and watched all four homes being built in just a couple of days.

“Modular homes are just one of the options we are exploring to deal with the effects of the housing crisis and are part of our commitment to build 2000 new homes across the Midlands over the next five years.”

The properties have been built to an incredibly high standard of both design and environmental sustainability making them cost-effective to run and maintain.

Each property includes amongst other amenities an externally fitted electric car charging port and walls that can be removed so properties can be easily adapted.

Brian Maunder at Central Site said “It was a pleasure to work with Midland Heart on delivering the first modular homes in Coventry, the first of many.”

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Birmingham’s New Street Station crowned UK’s Project of the Year after £1bn revamp

Following a major £1bn redevelopment, Birmingham’s New Street Station has been crowned UK Project of the Year at the 2016 RICS Awards Grand Final.

The national RICS Project of the Year accolade is presented to the scheme which demonstrates outstanding best practice and significant benefit to their local area and wider economy. The redevelopment of Birmingham’s New Street station and Grand Central triumphed over 90 of the UK’s most impressive property schemes to gain the top award.

The Birmingham Gateway & Grand Central project – delivered by a team including Mace, Network Rail, Birmingham City Council and Turner & Townsend – was described by our judging panel as the most significant investment in regenerating Birmingham in a generation.

The new Birmingham’s New Street station and its former Pallasades shopping centre opened as Birmingham Grand Central in September last year. The £1bn scheme has transformed it into a popular retail and leisure destination and world-class station – five times the size of the original station – with a striking soccer pitch-sized atrium. Meanwhile, the new shopping centre – above the station – is now home to the biggest John Lewis outside of London and a mix of premium high street brands and eateries.

As one of Britain’s largest and most important cities, Birmingham deserves a station and shopping and leisure destination of this remarkable calibre. This investment in the city has created around 10,000 jobs and is expected to deliver around £2bn in economic benefits.

David Tuffin FRICS of Tuffin Ferraby Taylor LLP said “It is the catalyst for further regeneration in other parts of the city centre, which will create even more jobs. The team behind Birmingham Gateway and Grand Central should be extremely proud. 180,000 passengers continued to use the station during the works, yet they still managed to create a visually striking, yet practical international gateway into Birmingham, on time, from which the city, its residents and visitors will prosper from enormously.

“Each of these schemes is of an exceptional calibre. I’d like to extend a huge well done to the teams behind them as these projects are all positively contributing to their local communities and our country’s economy.”

Category winners from each of the 12 regional RICS Award ceremonies – held earlier this year – competed to win the national accolade in their respective category, with host, Gethin Jones, Broadcaster and TV personality announcing the winners.

The Grand Final winners:

  • Building Conservation: Mount Stewart, Newtownard (Northern Ireland)
  • Commercial: Landrover BAR America’s Cup HQ, Portsmouth (South East)
  • Community Benefit: Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool (North West)
  • Design through Innovation: Black Rock Quarry, Portishead (South West)
  • Infrastructure: Emergency Care Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead (North East)
  • Regeneration: Birmingham Gateway & Grand Central, Birmingham (West Midlands)
  • Residental: Romilly Quarter, Barry (Wales)
  • Tourism & Leisure: NT Future, South Bank (London)
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Major Chinese deal to boost Birmingham housebuilding and economy

A deal has been signed between Birmingham City Council and the fifth largest property developer in China to focus on HS2 and deliver homes for Birmingham.

As part of the agreement, which is estimated to be worth up to £2bn to the local economy, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed company Country Garden intend to explore large-scale investment opportunities in and around the city.

The news of this agreement follows this week’s China visit by Prime Minister Theresa May for the G20 summit. Following the referendum result, the government have being investigating the potential for Chinese investment in major UK construction projects..

Council leader Cllr John Clancy commented on the potential that China have to offer, saying “The landscape has inevitably changed post-Brexit and Birmingham is already out of the starting blocks. That’s why I’m here selling our city to many of China’s leading investors.

“This agreement is about bringing good jobs and quality homes to Birmingham. Country Garden have a proven track record of building homes at pace and scale. They have played a major role over the last 20 years, as housebuilders have met the massive demands of China’s rapidly expanding economy.

“Bringing this level of investment and experience to Birmingham would be a massive economic boost to the region’s businesses, skills base and families. It’s about bringing new, big capital spend to the city, quickly. This is about building houses, jobs and futures for young Brummies and families across the region.

“Country Garden understand the demands in Birmingham and are clearly excited at the prospect of investing in our young, growing city.”

Country Garden founder and chairman Mr Yang Guoqiang commented “I have been impressed with Birmingham’s ambition and huge potential and I am delighted to announce this investment commitment to support significant housing and infrastructure development in the city.

“We have a proven track record in delivering quality housing at a scale to match Birmingham’s ambitions and with major projects coming to the city, including the forthcoming High Speed two project, these are exciting times for Country Garden and Birmingham.”

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Midland Lead launches new cladding solution at RCI 2016

Midland Lead, leading British manufacturer of machine cast lead, launched a new range of metal cladding solutions at this year’s RCI Show; the UK’s annual roofing, cladding and insulation event.

Industry professionals visiting Midland Lead’s stand were given the opportunity to see the firm’s new customised cladding range for individual facades, available in zinc, copper, aluminium and lead.

With the company’s machine cast lead having been successfully used to weatherproof a number of prestigious projects across the UK construction sector over the past 30 years, Managing Director Boudewijn Tuinenburg explains that diversifying into metal cladding was a natural progression for Midland Lead and a response to customer demand.

“Having established our reputation as a manufacturer of high-quality lead sheet, we’ve built up extensive expertise in the metals arena. Keen to expand our offering, metal cladding was a natural bolt-on to our current product range and a great way to offer our customer base a new range of architectural design solutions,” says Boudewijn.

As well as opening up new possibilities for a building’s aesthetics and working to preserve the structure, the new metal cladding solution is an environmentally-friendly, lightweight, weatherproof product that offers a full suite of practical features, including fast installation, low maintenance, large panel size opportunities and pre-fabrication options.

Launched under Midland Lead’s Construction arm, the introduction marks part of a longer-term strategy that will see the firm diversify into differing markets and products, alongside its core business of manufacturing and suppling machine cast lead.

For more information please visit www.midlandlead.co.uk.

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