Vinci confirmed winner of £155m Hull student village

Vinci will build a new £155m student accommodation complex for the University of Hull containing 1,750 rooms.

The main contractor was confirmed by developer University Partnerships Programme this week.

Vinci was tipped by the Enquirer for the job in January.

The scheme will consist of nine accommodation blocks alongside an urban green and avenue featuring a café, convenience store, laundry facilities and formal and informal outdoor areas.

The construction value of Vinci’s deal is £97m.

Preliminary work has now started with the first raft of 478 new rooms due to be available for the 2018 student intake and the remaining 984 available in September 2019.

Bruno Dupety, Chairman & Chief Executive officer, Vinci Construction UK Limited, said: “This will be the fifth student accommodation contract Vinci Construction UK has carried out for UPP.

“Our experience and expertise in the student accommodation sector will ensure the highest quality facility that enhances the student experience of life on campus.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/06/02/vinci-confirmed-winner-of-155m-hull-student-village/

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Seeing light-to-energy transfer in new solar cell materials

Scientists are now able to capture the moment less than one trillionth of a second a particle of light hits a solar cell and becomes energy, and describe the physics of the charge carrier and atom movement for the first time.

from Engineering and Construction News – ScienceDaily https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170601125241.htm

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Pensioner drowns on construction site

A Glasgow based construction company has been fined £110,000 after the death of an 83-year old man in Kirkcaldy.

Kirkcaldy Sherriff Court heard that in early January 2015 an elderly gentlemen who suffered from a number of age-related illnesses, walked onto the construction site which was closed for the holidays.

While on the site operated by Sandford Park Ltd he fell into a flooded excavation and died from drowning.

An HSE investigation found that Sandford Park failed to install the appropriate level of fencing around the site to prevent members of the public including vulnerable adults and children from accessing the construction site.

Sandford Park of Glasgow pleaded guilty to breaching CDM Regulations and was fined £110,000.

Speaking after the hearing HSE Inspector Gillian Anderson said: “This tragic incident could have been prevented, had the company installed a continuous fence around the site.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/06/01/pensioner-drowns-on-construction-site/

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Rolls Royce boss to head up L&G modular homes

Legal & General has hired Rosie Toogood as CEO of its modular housing business.

Toogood joins from Rolls Royce where she was a business development director.

L&G is making a major push into the housing market using modern methods of construction.

It is producing precision-engineered manufactured units at the new 550,000 sq ft factory in Leeds which can produce up to 3,500 homes per year.

Toogood takes up her new role later this month.

Prior to joining Rolls-Royce she trained with Ernst & Young as a chartered accountant and holds an MBA in Strategy & Procurement.

She also served for eight years as a non-executive board member of Derwent Housing Association.

Nigel Wilson, CEO of Legal & General, said: “Rosie is joining the business at an exceptionally exciting time.

“Almost every other industry has seen radical innovation brought about by digital technology advancements.  And yet we continue to build houses the same way that the Victorians did.

“We need more entrants to the sector, new technologies and business models to deliver the 100,000 shortfall of new homes.

“Just as the car industry was automated, so the UK’s traditional house building sector now needs to step up.

“We need to build houses faster and more efficiently than ever before.  Rosie has a mandate to deliver this.”

Paul Stanworth, CEO of Legal & General Capital, said:“Rosie joins from a world leading, quality engineering organisation, where she managed complex commercial relationships and delivered large scale, customer-focused product.

“She is a strong hire and will provide important leadership for our modular housing business as it reaches the crucial delivery stage.

“Modular building is quicker and more efficient, and delivers at least the same or higher standards of building as traditional methods but with greater certainty.

“Crucially it is also far less labour intensive, providing additional capacity to the established UK housing sector at a critical time.

“It offers an economically viable solution and will deliver much needed scale.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/06/01/rolls-royce-boss-to-head-up-lg-modular-homes/

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Mears bans beards for maintenance workers

Unite officials are claiming Mears has banned its housing maintenance workers from having beards.

The union said it has obtained a letter stating that the beard-ban is now a nationwide policy.

The company said the requirement for all workers to be clean shaven is so they can “wear appropriate dust marks effectively”.

Unite said the only exceptions the company is willing to make is if a worker can’t shave for medical reasons, a dust mask can’t be worn for medical reasons or a person has a beard for religious reasons.

The letter also states a ‘goatee’ may be acceptable.

Unite regional official for London Mark Soave said: “The arrogance of Mears is hair-raising.

“This is a highly delicate issue, which has huge cultural, religious and personal issues and where sensitivity should be the watchword. Instead members have been handed a decree from on high.

“This is clearly a case of Mears going for the cheapest option and amounts to ‘penny pinching stupidity’. Other forms of masks are available and these should be offered to existing workers.

“Unite will always put the safety of our members first and creating huge resentment and anger among your workforce is never the way forward.

“Mears needs to withdraw this decree and enter into a proper consultation with Unite and the workforce.”

Mears has been contacted for a comment.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/06/01/mears-bans-beards-for-maintenance-workers/

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Osborne wins £31m project by Trafalgar Square

Alaska Developments has awarded Osborne a £31m contract for  a mixed-use development on Whitcomb Street, next to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing.

The Hobhouse Estate project was successfully agreed through a negotiated second stage tender with Deloitte as project manager.

The design includes 20 high-end apartments, offices and retail.

The redevelopment also foresees the return of the prestigious Royal Watercolour Society to their original home.

Osborne was invited to the project as a result of the successful delivery of the £22m Mercers Yard mixed use development in Covent Garden, where Deloitte was also involved.

Following demolition down to ground level, the new structure will be built over existing load bearing listed vaults.

Ron Moir, Osborne Construction board director said; “There was a strong teamwork ethos and partnering approach with the Hobhouse customer, Alaska Developments and Deloitte to overcome a series of challenging constraints that included confined logistics, occupied properties fronting the internal court, the listed vaults and a complex 3D façade geometry.”

Osborne has appointed TPBennett architects and novated Thornton Tomasetti on structures and Max Fordham on services.

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/06/01/osborne-wins-31m-project-by-trafalgar-square/

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Google submits plans for new King’s Cross HQ

Internet giant Google has submitted plans for its new headquarters building at King’s Cross in London.

Lendlease will be main contractor on the job which is expected to cost around £350m to deliver.

Plans went in to Camden Council for approval this week.

The planning application describes the scheme as a “7-11 storey building for use as offices with ancillary staff facilities including a cafe, gym, pool, Multi Use Games Area, events centre and landscaped roof garden.”

The Google HQ building, designed by Heatherwick Studios and BIG, in collaboration with BDP, will be home to 4,000 Googlers on completion.

Neil Martin, Manging Director of Lendlease’s Construction business in Europe, said: “With our global construction experience, we are confident this will be as distinctive as everything else Google does.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/06/01/google-submits-plans-for-new-kings-cross-hq/

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