Category: Commercial News

The construction works for a 160-hectare reservoir in Hampshire are yet to start, as the planning approval was secured by local authority. East Hampshire District Council and Havant Borough Council have given planning permission for the 8.7bn-litre storage reservoir.

These neighbouring councils gave permission to build the reservoir between Leigh Park in Havant and Rowlands Castle in East Hampshire. Besides, there was an approval for constructing a pipeline to extract water from the reservoir and to fill it with surplus water from the Bedhampton Springs in winter.

The Havant Thicket Reservoir worth £140m is collaboration between Southern Water and Portsmouth Water to safeguard water resources in the region. The project plan will also allow creation of a wetland with bird watching facilities.

Concerns were raised by Havant Climate Alliance, The Woodland Trust, Friends of the Earth and residents about the removal of ancient woodland during the meetings held at both local authorities.

Councillors weighed up the impact of the loss of these trees against the benefits that would protect other habitats and local chalk streams, the rivers Itchen and Test. Main construction work will start during next spring 2022.

Government regulators Natural England and the Environment Agency told the councils that they were satisfied by the water companies’ proposed mitigation and compensation strategy for the loss of irreplaceable habitats.

Hochtief, Balfour Beatty, and a Mackley Jones joint venture are competing to build the reservoir, having been shortlisted last month. Roadbridge UK, Farrans Construction, Clancy Docwra, and Ward & Burke are shortlisted for the pipeline.

Southern Construction Frameworks, shortly known as SCF which is a Joint venture between Devon and Hampshire County Councils has issued invitations to contractors for a new residential development contract.

This new £5.16 billion Residential Delivery & Development Framework ITT is a four-year long framework by SCF. This framework is created to help support public sector residential construction and development in the region.

It will be available to all public bodies in the South East, South West, and London. The tender process has been started and SCF is calling for residential developers, including SME Developers and residential builders and to express their interest to be part of the framework.

Mid day of July 2nd, 2021 (Friday) is set to be the final day & time to accept requests of participation. The framework will give public sector organizations access to a full range of residential construction and development solutions.

SCF Residential will be tailored to suit a wide range of projects, including:

• Smaller Value (£15m+)– delivered in 7 sub lot regions, allowing up to 8 providers per sub lot and focused on local delivery.
• Larger value projects (£30m+) – delivered in 3 sub lots (SW, SE, London), allowing up to 6 providers per sub lot.

The lots are split between schemes of 65+ houses and 10-75 houses. It is expected that SCF will appoint contractors and developers to more than one lot. SCF is the market leader in Two Stage Open Book (2SOB) tendering, under which the framework will operate exclusively.

This Government-recommended bidding process is part of an initiative to reform UK construction practices and is unique in the way it brings the contractor, stakeholders and suppliers together at the very start of a construction project.

The Kensington & Chelsea Council has shortlisted Willmott Dixon for the two Ladbroke Grove area housing schemes in west London. The total value for the combined construction of two different towers at different locations is worth £25.6m.

Willmott Dixon will build a £17.1m development on Kensal Road which is the larger of the two projects. This will create 37 homes above new ground floor commercial premises.  This is a five-storey building which might rise to six stories at certain points.

The larger of the two schemes is expected to be complete in the autumn of 2022. Tenants will have access to a shared garden and a podium deck with a landscaped terrace. The contract of both the towers was procured under the Southern Construction Framework (SCF).

The construction company will also deliver a second tower costing £8.5m development half a mile away in Hewer Street. This will provide a further 20 flats by early 2023. Also, both buildings will be fuelled by air source heat pumps.

Artisan Real Estate as a urban regeneration property developer kick started it’s first project in Leeds and for a residential development scheme. The preparations at Kirkstall Place for a development of 263 homes will be built on a seven-acre site.

The site is located on the corner of Kirkstall Hill and Kirkstall Lane, which was formerly home to the Kirkstall District Centre. The project will provide a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments and three- and four-bedroom townhouses.

The price range is set to be £190,000 to £360,000, while shared open space and private gardens will come in place. The project will be powered entirely by electricity and air source heat pumps. Planning permission for Kirkstall Place was granted by Leeds City Council in April 2021.

Also, the demolition and enabling works are already under way. Construction is due to start in September, with the first occupiers expected to move in next summer. Full completion of the development is scheduled for 2024.

Artisan Real Estate was founded in 2009 and has eight live residential and commercial developments across the UK. These include Rowanbank Gardens in Edinburgh, a residential development of 126 apartments, and Everards Print Works in Bristol city centre, which will be a 255-bedroom hotel alongside commercial space and residential units.

VolkerFitzpatrick won a contract worth £29m to build a seven-storey construction in London’s King’s Cross district. Under the waterside Tribeca development in the, the Apex is one of six mixed-use new builds, to form the heart of King’s Cross for developer Reef Group.

The current structure on St Pancras Way is done with the initial works of demolishing in June while VolkerFitzpatrick’s crew will separate the structural slab from its neighboring plot. Also the contractor will then construct the new seven-storey Apex building.

Reception, retail areas, and café will be accommodated in the ground level while levels one to six will be for laboratory or office space. The building will also include a basement level with bicycle and plant storage, changing facilities, and a roof with a plant enclosure to service the floors below.  The project is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2023.

Alongside, levels one to four will have balconies overlooking Regent’s Canal and a stepped back façade at level five will allow for an accessible terrace space. VolkerFitzpatrick needs to collaborate with The Canal & River Trust throughout the works due to the site’s proximity to the water.

Amey will handle the responsibility of Maintenance and Response as it goes tracking on more than 130 new starters of Area 12. This contract by Highways England was handed over to Amey on 1st December 2020.

Amey is responsible for the motorway and trunk road network across Yorkshire and Humberside, providing all routine and cyclic maintenance, as of Monday this week. This is an eight-year contract worth £22.5m a year.

The teams are responsible for incident management, defect rectification and responding to severe weather. The teams will also oversee traffic management during incidents and the operation of the ten maintenance depots in the region.

The Area 12 network spans 476km of trunk road (dual), 1,650km of motorway, 179km of trunk road (single carriageway) and 1,963 structures. It was previously looked after by A-one+, a joint venture of Jacobs (formerly CH2M), Colas and Costain. Amey also looks after areas 10 (North West) and 7 (East Midlands).

Stanhope is starting its first outside of the southeast of England project, while partnering with Bruntwood SciTech. This ID Manchester program is a £1.5bn innovation district planned by the University of Manchester.

Around 10.6 hectares of the North Campus site is under the plan of the redevelopment as The University of Manchester sources reveal and this is next to Piccadilly Rail Station. The plan, called ID Manchester, is to create ‘a new neighbourhood and innovation district that will be an engine for economic growth’.

Bruntwood SciTech will lead the project according to the University’s selection. Besides, Stanhope works as a strategic development manager. Bruntwood SciTech is a 50:50 joint venture between Manchester-based developer Bruntwood and insurance/investment firm Legal & General.

Plans show four million square feet (370,000 sqm) including 2.6 million square feet (240,000 sqm) of new commercial workspace. This will be accommodated with a £28m investment in the public realm to provide a focal point for events.

The development is expected to take 15 years to complete. Stanhope said that the project consolidated its commitment to the life sciences sector in the UK following landmark developments at White City Place and the British Library, both in London.

Focus Logistics has lined up a distribution warehouse for construction materials in Rainham. The major criteria are to make sure of the in-time-deliveries to all the housing developers in East London. It has signed a 10-year lease on a 31,658 sq ft unit on the Segro Park Rainham industrial estate in Essex.

Thereby the company agrees to provide construction materials to developers for 10 years in east Londo. This includes the materials for schemes in Canary Wharf, Kidbrooke, West Ham, and the Barking Riverside Development. Alongside, it’ll accomplish a number of other schemes in the City and central London.

South Bank Colleges have shortlisted GRAHAM to build the new London South Bank Technical College at Nine Elms. This college that comes into the location of Vauxhall, London was procured via Pagabo’s £10 billion Major Works Framework.

This contract of construction in 10,000 sq m will help further education teaching facility as its purpose-designed and will provide ten storeys of teaching, learning and support space for technology, science, engineering, maths, and arts.

The building architecture is taken over by PLB to create a distinctive identity while the building will feature a strong façade. This will allow the completion of brick work and curtain walling at lower levels.

The ground and first floors will accommodate a two-storey section in the inner part of construction.  This will also feature the main entrance and informal teaching space, with a café and large workshops for construction training.  The above eight storeys will sit on a narrower teaching floor plate.

The project has been designed to create a low-carbon campus that can be sustainably managed and maintained for longevity. It is also expected to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating. Construction has started early 2021.

Kier was appointed by Sunderland City Council, as the contractor to build a new school. This will allow children with severe learning difficulties and disabilities to join, after the construction completion in approx. 4,000 sqm.

These new premises for Sunningdale Primary School with the current site reaching the end of its design life will be used to promote it as a school for pupils with special education needs (SEN). Extra facilities will include rebound therapy, a hydrotherapy pool, sensory facilities, and soft play.

Also, each classroom will have a storage area for mobility equipment. Informal play and grass playing fields will also be provided across the wider site, alongside nature trail, a wetlands area and habitat area.

Construction is expected to be completed in the summer of 2022. Procurement of the project has taken place through the North East Procurement Organisation (NEPO) framework.

Kier has worked on numerous SEN projects across the country, it says. Also, 96 pupils aged between 4-16 years with a primary diagnosis of autism were recently handed over Forest Bridge School in Maidenhead.