Plans unveiled for £1bn glass towers in Greenwich

Plans have been unveiled for a landmark glass building on Greenwich Peninsula.

Developer Knight Dragon commissioned “starchitect” Santiago Calatrava to design the scheme above North Greenwich station.

He has created a glass galleria and 80ft high “winter garden” atrium surrounded by three towers.

The development will also be linked to the other side of the Thames by a new bridge.

The Peninsula Place scheme will include 800 apartments, 30,000 sq ft of offices, a hotel and around 80 shops, restaurants and bars.

The bus station will be rebuilt while the tube station will remain open during construction.

Mr Calatrava told the Standard: “It is an honour to be designing such a piece of the fabric of London, a city I love. In designing this scheme, I have been inspired by London’s rich architectural heritage and the very special geography of the Peninsula.

“It will be a project that reflects both this and the ambition of Knight Dragon for Greenwich Peninsula.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, said: “Peninsula Place will create a new buzzing, cultural destination in the capital, which I’m confident will attract visitors not only from London, but around the globe.

“The iconic building – designed by world leading architect Santiago Calatrava – will be a truly fitting pathway onto the Peninsula, with the development offering an improved tube and bus station, alongside new shops and homes.

“This investment in key infrastructure in the capital is a vote of confidence post-Brexit and shows that London is open to business, trade and attracting the greatest talent from around the world.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/02/02/plans-unveiled-for-1bn-glass-towers-in-greenwich/

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Advanced robotic bat's flight characteristics simulates the real thing

Researchers have developed a self-contained robotic bat – dubbed Bat Bot (B2) – with soft, articulated wings that can mimic the key flight mechanisms of biological bats.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170201150619.htm

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Coordinates of more than 23,000 atoms in technologically important material mapped

Physicists have mapped the coordinates of more than 23,000 individual atoms in a tiny iron-platinum nanoparticle to reveal the material’s innate defects. These results demonstrate that the positions of tens of thousands of atoms can be precisely identified and then fed into quantum mechanics calculations to correlate imperfections and defects with material properties at the single-atom level.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170201131529.htm

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Peacock colors inspire 'greener' way to dye clothes

‘Fast fashion’ might be cheap, but its high environmental cost from dyes polluting the water near factories has been well documented. To help stem the tide of dyes from entering streams and rivers, scientists report a nonpolluting method to color textiles using 3-D colloidal crystals.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170201110550.htm

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Transparent gel-based robots can catch and release live fish

Engineers have fabricated transparent, gel-based robots that move when water is pumped in and out of them. The bots can perform a number of fast, forceful tasks, including kicking a ball underwater, and grabbing and releasing a live fish.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170201092647.htm

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Coleman sets aside £1.3m in wake of Didcot disaster

Coleman & Company has set aside £1.3m to cover costs on the disastrous Didcot demoliti0n job where four workers were killed in an uncontrolled collapse.

The demolition contractor revealled the exceptional provision after announcing a 22% fall in pre-tax profits to just over £1m in the year to April 2016 .

The accounts cover the period of the tragic incident at Didcot Power Station last February and part of the subsequent recovery operation.

In the report group managing director Mark Coleman said that the cause of the incident was not yet known.

“But in the event of the company having some responsibility, then based on professional advice the directors understand that insurance cover should be available to offset any financial claims.”

Coleman delivered an operating profit before exceptionals of £2.06m on a turnover of £28m, compared with £2.45m on a turnover of £30m in the previous year.

He added that overall the demolition firm’s business was performing well with the project at Waterloo International Station exceeding all expectations. The company has also been engaged in decommissioning work at Sellafield nuclear power station.

“Our pipeline of opportunities is encouraging despite micro and macro economic uncertainties revolving around Brexit, the American political situation and global volatility in the Middle East and Russia.

“The directors firmly believe that the core company strategies of developing innovative methods of demolition and deconstruction; creating a culture where healthy, safety and risk aversion is paramount at all times; and increasing its share of complex demolition work where environmental issues are critical are still relevant and robust.

“However, the directors are determined that the company, and the demolition industry as a whole, develop new procedures to deliver consistently a zero incident rate on major health and safety matters.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/02/01/coleman-sets-aside-1-3m-in-wake-of-didcot-disaster/

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Imetch failure cost Laing O’Rourke £24.8m

Laing O’Rourke has revealed how the collapse of Imtech cut £24.8m from the bottom line of its UK contracting division.

United Utilities appointed the Laing O’Rourke Imtech joint venture on the £170m Davyhulme Waste Water Treatment Works modernisation programme in Manchester in March 2015.

Dutch parent company Royal Imtech went into administration that August but Imtech UK and Ireland continued to trade normally.

O’Rourke confirmed the full hit from the failure in its annual report for the year to March 31 2016 which was published this week.

It stated: “The Group pre-exceptional gross margin dropped from 7.5 per cent in 2015 to 5.3 per cent directly as a result of lower margins in the UK business.

“UK margins were also negatively impacted by a £24.8 million margin deterioration due to the failure of one of the Group’s joint venture partners and the subsequent consequences of delivering a new water treatment plant in UK.”

O’Rourke declined to comment on the loss or officially confirm which project it related to.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/02/01/imetch-failure-cost-laing-orourke-24-8m/

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