Wait over for £340m Belgravia council estate rebuild

Westminster City Council is finally pressing ahead with plans to rebuild the Ebury Bridge Estate in Pimlico located next to the £1bn Chelsea Barracks scheme.

The council plans to invite tenders for the £350m project to redevelop the 1930s Belgravia estate next month after first earmarking it for regeneration eight years ago.

Ebury Bridge Estate is the biggest of 10 planned estate redevelopment plans within the London borough.

The project involves demolition of around eight buildings to make way for 750 homes, half of which would be affordable.

Last month the council committed to self-deliver an initial phase, comprising over 200 new, mixed tenure homes and the first of the new open public squares, setting the design quality and delivery intentions for the new Ebury.

This will be run and funded by Westminster’s newly-formed wholly-owned development company set up to deliver and own new intermediate rent, market rent and sale housing across the borough.

This initial phase will enable the council to fulfil its re-housing commitments locally and achieve vacant possession of later phases.

The successful design and build partner would start phase 1 construction before the end of 2020, with the spend estimated at £100m-£340m depending on phasing.

Firms seeking to express an interest in the project should email Samantha Rogers on for additional information.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/24/wait-over-for-340m-belgravia-council-estate-rebuild/

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Opinion: Lack of talent at the top is hurting construction

We keep a keen-eye at the Enquirer on appointments at major contractors and projects.

And they reveal a not-so-merry-go-round of talent at the industry’s biggest players.

Of course most managers on the carousel do a decent job.

But it’s pretty hard to fall-off even if your performance leaves a lot to be desired.

The same old faces and CV entries crop-up regularly when new directors are unveiled.

It means construction bosses are now like football managers.

A lack of new entrants means a closed shop of candidates for vacant roles.

Positions are often filled from a band of construction directors whose main selling point is that they’ve done the job for a while – rather than how good they are at it.

We hear a lot about site skills shortages.

But the talent drought at the top of major companies is just as alarming.

And those recruitment chickens have been coming home to roost recently.

Some of construction’s biggest companies have suffered lately and the people in charge are surely a massive part of that.

“Over-optimism” is the new blame buzz-phrase when it comes to contractors explaining mistakes on bidding and project delivery.

But growing boardroom bonuses based on performance – real or just spreadsheet based – has seen the “over-optimism” culture spread from the top down.

The industry needs a new generation of leaders with different ideas fit for different times.

We still talk about changing the industry based on reports like Latham and Egan which were written before smart phones were invented.

Construction needs to trust younger people in more senior roles to bring a fresh perspective on some deep-rooted problems.

The old-guard isn’t working too well so it’s time for a change.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/24/opinion-lack-of-talent-at-the-top-is-hurting-construction/

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Guinness plans largest ever homes scheme in Leeds

The Guinness Partnership has bought a 900-plus home development site with full planning permission at Leeds South Bank.

The development will be The Guinness Partnership’s biggest single consented residential scheme in its 129-year existence.

North West developer X1 Developments sold the Hunslet Road near Leeds Docks and the Royal Armouries Museum to the housing association.

The affordable housing element will now be upped from 5% to 35%, providing at least 9 times as many affordable homes than under the original plans.

In total, the site will now offer 600,000 sq ft of homes and commercial space.

The deal was supported with cash from a £224m Homes England grant to a strategic partnership of Guinness and Stonewater housing associations to start building an extra 4,500 affordable homes across England by 2022.

Catriona Simons, chief executive of The Guinness Partnership, said: “This site, within the Leeds South Bank Regeneration and Innovation District, is a fantastic opportunity for us to create over 900 homes in a vibrant new neighbourhood in Leeds. We intend at least 35% of the homes to be affordable.

“We plan to build over 9,000 new homes by 2023, with our vision to create great homes where people are proud to live. Funding from Homes England means we have been able to extend our development programme in Leeds to fulfil that vision.’’

Councillor Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council’s executive member for regeneration, transport and planning, said:“The Guinness Partnership’s proposals are fantastic news for Leeds.

“That it is committing to its biggest ever scheme here and intending to deliver so many new affordable homes is a real mark of confidence in our vision for the South Bank, where we want to ensure regeneration and growth benefits all the city’s residents.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/24/guinness-plans-largest-ever-homes-scheme-in-leeds/

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Winners unveiled for £400m Dounreay decommissioning

Winners of a decommissioning services framework worth up yo £400m at Dounreay have been revealed.

Work at the Scottish nuclear site will include construction of a size reduction facility, shaft and silo decommissioning and demolition of historic active laboratories.

Six framework contracts have been awarded, bringing together the capabilities of at least 28 companies and their supply chains, initially for up to four years with the possibility of extensions of up to an additional three years.

WInners will now compete in ‘mini competitions’ for distinct packages of work that move the site towards its ultimate closure.

Stephen Adamson, Head of Commercial Services at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority said: “This agreement will deliver real and visible signs of progress towards achieving our mission.

“It is about forming long-term partnerships so that the successful companies can work alongside our own Dounreay staff, ensuring a first-class team combining the best site skills and experience with the wider industry knowledge and innovation that the supply chain can offer.”

The winning bidders are:

AECOM E&C UK; MW Hargreaves; Kier Infrastructure and Overseas; Morson Projects; NIS; NSG Environmental; Squibb Group; Westinghouse Electrical Company UK

Dounreay Decommissioning Framework (DDF) Alliance; Cavendish Nuclear; BAM Nuttall; KDC Contractors; JGC Engineering and Technical Services

Dounreay Wood Alliance (DWA); Wood; Aquila Nuclear Engineering; GD Energy Services; Orano Projects

Jacobs UK; Atkins

Nuclear Decommissioning Ltd (NDL); James Fisher Nuclear; REACT Engineering; Shepley Engineers; WYG Engineering; JBV Demolition; RPS Consulting Services

Nuvia; Graham Construction; Oxford Technologies; Thompson of Prudhoe

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/24/winners-unveiled-for-400m-dounreay-decommissioning/

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Call-up for £110m Southsea seafront defence job

Portsmouth City Council is on the hunt for a contractor to deliver a £110m phased programme of works to strengthen the seafront at Southsea.

A planning application is due to be submitted next month following public consultation and outline designs being drawn up.

The scheme covers 4.5km of coastline from the Long Curtain Moat in the west to the Eastney Battery in the east.

The seafront, along with Southsea Common, is a focal point for recreation and tourism and is hugely important for the city.  But at present the principal design has highlighted a funding gap of around £20m from the £95m initially budgeted.

Funding for construction will now depend on the full business case being submitted and approved by the Environment Agency and Treasury.

Present plans will split the works into half a dozen phases to be delivered over eight years.

The city council is now inviting firms to prequalify with the hope of signing up a contractor in early September with the target of starting works by Spring 2020, subject to funding approval.

Ahead of shortlisting a bidders day will be held on 1 May with a presentation at the Portsmouth City Council Civic Offices followed by a guided site visit of the frontage

After this procurement chiefs plan to shortlist three firms to bid a two-stage open book early contractor involvement.

Click here to express an interest.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/24/call-up-for-110m-southsea-seafront-defence-job/

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Working out makes hydrogels perform more like muscle

Human skeletal muscles have a unique combination of properties that materials researchers seek for their own creations. They’re strong, soft, full of water, and resistant to fatigue. A new study has found one way to give synthetic hydrogels this total package of characteristics: putting them through a vigorous workout.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190422155004.htm

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Eight placed on £200m London Universities framework

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has named its preferred panel of firms to deliver a £70m upgrade programme over the next seven years.

The winning firms could also see the work programme swell to over £200m if The Royal Veterinary College, The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and Birkbeck College use the panel to call off firms for works as planned.

Projects procured through the new set-up will range in value from £250,000 to £10m and will cover a mixed bag of fit-out, building refurbishment and infrastructure replacements.

Project £1m-plus (total forecast spend: £139m)

Graham Construction; Speller Metcalfe Malvern; 8build; Walter Lilly and Co; T & B (Contractors)

Up to £2m (total forecast spend: £79m)

Walter Lilly and Co; Russell Cawberry; T & B (Contractors); Styles and Wood; Logan Construction

Kier bagged the biggest single project investment for the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in a separate tender race to deliver new £27m biomedical labs in Bloomsbury.

Work on the 4-storey Bloomsbury Research Institute at 15 – 17 Tavistock Place is due to commence next month.

The new framework partners will support a phased programme of works for the main Keppel Street building, designed by Ian Ritchie Architects.

Phase 1 involves building new laboratories and improved infrastructure inside the relatively modern North Courtyard building.

Later phases will see investment in the original 1929 building to reconfigure and refurbish offices and other space for long term sustainability.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/23/eight-placed-on-200m-london-universities-framework/

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Blu-3 lands utilities package at Southend Airport Business Park

Specialist infrastructure provider, blu-3, has been awarded the utilities package for the new Southend Airport Business Park development.

The company has been appointed to work on the project with support from specialist supply chain partners, R&D Ltd, who will work on cable testing and Water Hygiene Solutions Ltd who will assist on water pressure and chlorination testing of the mains once installed.

The project forms part of the delivery of a new business park to support the continued growth of London Southend Airport as a key economic asset.

blu-3 Contract Director, Mark Wilson, said: “blu-3 has been involved in the development of this project for over two years, so the success of this tender is welcomed by the company and all individuals involved.

“The project is currently one of the biggest for the blu-3 multi-utilities team and we look forward to building on our great working relationship with the client as the project moves forward.”

Works are scheduled to start in May and will take seven months to complete.

The first phase of the project will involve the installation of temporary electrics and telecommunications followed by permanent gas and water supplies to a newly built rugby clubhouse, which is situated on the new site.

The second stage will be the installation of permanent utility supplies to the site for the broader development and its future tenants.

The final stage will consist of reinforcement works that are required to ensure adequate utility supply to the site for further developments planned. blu-3 will also install lighting columns and street lighting.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/23/blu-3-lands-utilities-package-at-southend-airport-business-park/

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Ex-Crossrail chief Wolstenholme wanted more bonus cash

Former Crossrail chief executive Andrew Wolstenholme challenged a decision to withhold part of his bonus just months before it was confirmed the project would bust its budget and miss its opening date.

The details are revealed in a London Assembly report into the “tarnished” scheme.

The report confirms that Wolstenholme was paid performance bonuses of £641,000 on top of his £940,000 in wages during the two years from 2016.

Wolstenholme and his executive team were also in-line for potential payouts under the scheme’s “Long Term Incentive Plan” (LTIP) which were measures against key programme milestones.

But delays meant executives were denied access to their LTIP pots in 2018 by the remuneration committee.

The report states: “The minutes note that this decision was based on the failure of these employees to meet their LTIP targets.

“The minutes also state that Crossrail executives “reluctantly accepted” non-payment of their retention bonuses.

“In fact, Andrew Wolstenholme wrote a letter to the Remuneration Committee requesting a review of their decision not to release his LTIP payment.

“This attitude is symptomatic of a culture that, while encouraging unchecked optimism, has also encouraged a denial of responsibility.”

Wolstenholme left Crossrail in March 2018 and since then it has been confirmed the project is £2.8bn over budget and will not be open until 2020 at the earliest.

The Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, Caroline Pidgeon said: “It is a complete tragedy that one of the most highly anticipated engineering projects the world has ever seen has found itself in a mess of overspending, mismanagement and an embarrassingly long delay.

“Crossrail was supposed to be the beacon of modern 21st century engineering but its name is now tarnished with shame in the eyes of the London taxpayer who will have to foot the bill until its completion.

“It is shameful that nobody at a senior level is willing to take responsibility for the failure of the project thus far”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/23/ex-crossrail-chief-wolstenholme-wanted-more-bonus-cash/

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Morrison takes on refurb job from failed contractor

Morrison Construction has been confirmed as replacement contractor on a restoration job in Aberdeenshire where the original builder went bust.

Morrison will restart work next week on the £3m Saltoun Square project in Fraserburgh.

Work came to a halt last November when original contractor A.D. Walker went into administration.

The project was originally approved by councillors in 2016 and work began in May 2017 to renovate the Faithlie Centre.

Morrison is expected to complete the project by the end of October.

Chair of the Banff and Buchan Area Business Services Committee Cllr Jim Gifford said: “It is essential that we fulfil our commitment to this historic project, and I am pleased that we have a contractor in place who can complete the work this year.

“The impact of this on the public purse has been carefully considered and we are confident that this is the right approach in the circumstances. We look forward to watching this come to completion.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/23/morrison-takes-on-refurb-job-from-failed-contractor/

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Race starts for £2bn YORcivil framework place

Sheffield Council has started the hunt for contractors to join the YORcivil major works framework.

It aims to appoint eight contractors to the framework, which is being set up for projects valued over £10m and promises a potential pipeline of up to £2bn over four years.

The new bid race is taking place because the YORcivil2 framework is approaching its advertised capacity in the major project lots.

Projects will be located across Yorkshire and the Humberside as well as the Sheffield Local Enterprise Partnership region that includes Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

The work programme will include civil engineering works, bridges/structure works, highway surfacing works and flood alleviation works

Firm have until 3 June to submit bids with awards expected in September.

Further information is available from Yortender or by emailing Mark Ives.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/23/race-starts-for-2bn-yorcivil-framework-place/

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Lendlease chief jumps for Crown Estate top job

Lendlease Europe’s chief executive Dan Labbard is leaving the Australian development and construction group to head The Crown Estate.

He will replace Dame Alison Nimmo, who is due to step down at the end of the year from her role as chief executive, where she ran the Royal Family’s £14bn portfolio.

The Crown Estate’s holdings includes property in London’s Regent Street and a fast-growing offshore wind turbine business.

His appointment requires a Royal Warrant and was signed off last week.

Australian-born Labbard began his career 22 years ago working for the property and construction developer.

Since August 2014, he has held the dual roles of chief executive officer, International Operations & Europe, responsible for overseeing the expansion of Lendlease’s Europe, Americas and Asia regions.

He will remain with Lendlease for six months to allow the board time to find his replacement and ensure a smooth transition for his successor.

Under Labbard’s control, Lendlease has steadily expanded in the UK, taking forward in London the Stratford International District and Elephant & Castle regeneration as well as securing the master developer deal for the Euston over-station redevelopment.

More recently housing charity Peabody picked Lendlease as preferred bidder for the £8bn, 11,500 home, Thamesmead Waterfront development in south-east London.

Also Lendlease has made inroads in Birmingham securing the contract to deliver the £350m Commonwealth Games village and £1.5bn transformation of the 17ha Smithfield city centre site in partnership with the council.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/23/lendlease-chief-jumps-for-crown-estate-top-job/

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Giant ‘concreteberg’ blocks sewers in Islington

Work is set to start this week to remove a giant ‘concreteberg’ from sewers under central London.

The blockage has been described as ” an industrial amount of solidified cement .”

Thames Water said it is 100 metres long and weighs 105 tonnes – as heavy as a blue whale.

The concreteberg is blocking three Victorian sewers in Islington and work to remove it will last at least two months.

Teams will have to manually chip away at the rock-hard mass using jackhammer pneumatic drills and high-pressure jets.

Alex Saunders, Thames Water operations manager, said: “Normally blockages are caused by fat, oil and wet wipes building up in the sewer but unfortunately in this case it’s rock-hard concrete.

“It’s in there and set to the Victorian brickwork, so we need to chip away at it to get it removed.

“This is not the first time damage has been caused by people pouring concrete into our sewers but it’s certainly the worst we’ve seen.

“It’s very frustrating and takes a great amount of time and effort to resolve. We’re now doing everything we can to deal with it as quickly as possible, making sure our customers don’t have to suffer because of this mindless abuse of our network.”

Thames water has also launched an investigation into how the concrete got into the sewer and who could be liable for removal costs.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/23/giant-concreteberg-blocks-sewers-in-islington/

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Green light for £150m Bolton Church Wharf regen plan

Muse Development’s £150m proposals to transform the Church Wharf area of Bolton have got the planning thumbs up.

City councillors have granted outline planning permission for the scheme, which would create a new riverside neighbourhood in the heart of Bolton town centre.

Church Wharf plans include a mix of 352 homes, an 80-bed hotel, offices, and 130,000 sq ft of offices and leisure.

The planning application also includes an emphasis on open space and landscaped areas, which will conserve the distinctiveness and character of the new neighbourhood.

Aerial view of the location for the Church Wharf development

Initial demolition work is set to take place on the Church Wharf intervention site over the coming weeks.

The Late Club and Club Ice building, which is owned by Bolton Council, will be demolished over a period of 16 weeks by specialists J Freeley.

David Burkinshaw, Muse Developments, said: “Church Wharf is the first project of this scale to be brought forward under Bolton Council’s wider plan to regenerate the town centre”

Bolton Council director of place, Gerry Brough, added: “We’re one step closer to achieving our vision in our £1.2bn masterplan.

Architect AEW designed the Church Wharf scheme

“Church Wharf is fundamental to the regeneration of Bolton town centre. This decision now paves the way for the finer details to be worked through.

“This scheme will unlock an underused piece of land, creating new housing, hundreds of jobs and bringing a mix of people back into the town centre.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/04/23/green-light-for-150m-bolton-church-wharf-regen-plan/

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