In today’s news, we will look into a Welsh fabricator that has been hired to build Aston Martin’s new Formula 1 facility at Silverstone. Builder fined for unsafe site-made cradle. The corporation Shiva Ltd violated a restriction that had been placed. In order to construct test tracks and infrastructure in south Wales, the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) is awarding contracts for £250M. The Hackney School of Food by Surman Weston was awarded the RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize for best small project. The county council stated that a new community of affordable homes had been built in Llanidloes, Northern Powys. Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road by Henley Halebrown were honoured with the Neave Brown Award for Housing 2022.

Welsh fabricator to work on Aston Martin’s Silverstone F1 facility

Original Source: Welsh fabricator to work on Aston Martin’s new Formula 1 facility at Silverstone

The 400,000-square-foot plant will have a wind tunnel and simulator.

A Welsh aluminium manufacturer will support Aston Martin’s new Formula 1 factory in Silverstone.

Cardiff-based Dudley’s Aluminium and SDC Builders will develop the 400,000 sq ft facility to support Aston Martin’s F1 growth.

The building will house Aston Martin’s design, manufacturing, and marketing resources as well as its first wind tunnel and state-of-the-art simulator. Opening is expected in Q1 2023.

Formula 1 uses wind tunnels to analyse component efficiency and achieve aerodynamic balance.

Colin Shorney, managing director of Dudley’s Aluminium, said, “We’re happy to partner with SDC Builders Ltd.” The facility will help Aston Martin’s growth and Formula 1 objectives.

Dudley’s Aluminium has completed various projects in the UK and Channel Islands since 1993.

Unsafe site-built cradle fined

Original Source: Builder fined for unsafe site-made cradle

A building firm was fined for endangering workers while renovating a London warehouse. The corporation broke a ban.

Shiva Ltd used a site-made cradle to renovate the Bermondsey Street building.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that the company put workers at risk of falling from height while renovating the building’s facade.

The company continued working after obtaining an HSE prohibition notice.

Fall danger

An HSE examination concluded that physically lifting the cradle from the roof edge put workers at risk of falling. Working at height near vulnerable apertures. Unsupervised employment was also found.

The company obstructed justice by denying the HSE inspector site access.

Shiva Ltd failed to ensure workers’ health, safety, and wellbeing.

Shiva Ltd of Lincoln Tower, Westminster Bridge Road, London, pled guilty to Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 violations on October 10. The court fined £46,000 and ordered £24,688.10 in costs.

HSE inspector Sharon Boyd said, “Inspectors won’t hesitate to take enforcement action against duty holders who put lives at danger.”

Working at height is a leading source of death and injury. In 2021/22, 29 fatal workplace falls occurred.

£250M test track contract alerts contractors

Original Source: Contractors alerted to £250M rail test track construction opportunity

The Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) is procuring £250M in contracts to build test tracks and infrastructure in south Wales.

The Welsh Government created GCRE in 2021. It’s a large infrastructural project on a 700ha location in Neath Port Talbot and Powys.

It will have two electric test loops: a 6.9km loop capable of speeds up to 177kph and a 4.5km infrastructure testing loop enabling speeds up to 64kph. The station will have two platforms. On-site infrastructure and rolling stock testing and R&D facilities will create innovation opportunities.

Mott MacDonald is focusing on the project’s net zero energy approach.

According to GCRE’s prior information notice for the £250M construction contracts, procurement may include passive rail systems (such as permanent way, overhead line electrification, civils works), active rail systems (such as signalling, SCADA, power, telecoms), fencing, depot and building related requirements, and bulk purchases.

The final plan will determine whether these works will be divided.

GCRE invites contractors to register for a market engagement/meet the buyer event to discuss upcoming prospects. It’s also a chance to explore current thinking and innovation so GCRE can initiate the formal procurement process in early 2023.

Wednesday, 2 November at 1.30pm in Cardiff City Hall. Register here, contractors.

Kelly Warburton, GCRE’s chief commercial officer, said, “This is an invitation to join the team delivering this transformational initiative.” We’re initiating early conversation with prospective suppliers to discuss opportunities, current thinking, and plans to provide a contemporary, dynamic test centre for international rail innovation with leading-edge R&D facilities.

“GCRE has the potential to revolutionise the UK railway industry, and we want the supply chain to be part of this with an emphasis on collaboration and partnership.” There will be lots of chances for local contractors and tier one industry partners to join us. Starting now will enable suppliers to meet our team and understand potential.

Food school Surman Weston receives 2022 Stephen Lawrence Prize

Original Source: Surman Weston’s food school wins Stephen Lawrence Prize 2022

Hackney School of Food, a £307,000 refit of a caretaker’s residence, earned the RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize for best small project.

The prize honours the nation’s greatest small-scale projects and buildings under £1 million. Surman Weston’s community hub in east London teaches kids to cultivate and cook. A nonprofit and a federation of schools are collaborating.

AJ 40 under 40 young talent has two projects on the shortlist, including a two-story house in Surbiton.

The judges called the winning initiative a much-needed kitchen school for all Hackney school children, an inspiring location to teach children how to cultivate, cook, and enjoy food, and a vital community centre.’

They claimed Surman Weston’s ‘thoughtful’ architectural answer was ‘underpinned by a strong and distinctive design concept, guided by an ethos of maximising educational impact’

The jury said, “The project is accessible, safe, biodiverse, rich in social nourishment, and worth a visit if you’re in the vicinity, if only for some chicken-hugging wellbeing!”

The programme earned an AJ Retrofit Award in 2021 for gardens that allow children to grow food from seeds and provide outdoor cooking and eating places. A mural brightens the street-facing elevation of a Clapton building.

Matthew Goldschmied, a judge, stated Hackney School of Food’s success isn’t restricted to this venue. The architect and client created a template to help others revitalise their own towns.

The daring and imaginative investment shows how architecture can alter not simply a structure but a community.

Goldschmied is managing trustee of the Marco Goldschmied Foundation and son of the late RIBA president who launched the Stephen Lawrence Prize. On the jury were Doreen Lawrence, Stephen’s mother and creator of the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation, and Mike Tonkin, director of Tonkin Liu, which won in 2018 and 2021.

The shortlist also included Chiles Evans + Care Architects’ restoration of a 1960s Modernist house, Gagarin Studio’s sculptural footbridge in Leeds, McMahon Architecture’s four-storey home in Waltham Forest, and Will Gamble Architects’ The Parchment Works. Sanchez Benton’s transformation of a Brutalist garage in London into a studio and roof garden won the prize.

The Stephen Lawrence Prize was founded in 1998 in remembrance of Stephen Lawrence, a youngster and aspiring architect killed in a racist attack in 1993.

Tonight’s Stirling Prize ceremony at RIBA unveiled the winner (Thursday 13 October). Previous winners include Mole, Nall McLaughlin, Denizen Works, and Duggan Morris.

Completed Llanidloes social housing

Original Source: Llanidloes social housing development completed

Work on a new social housing development in north Powys is complete, the county council announced.

Powys County Council’s Affordable Housing Team created 22 new dwellings on the former livestock market in Llanidloes. The property, entitled Clos-Yr-Hen-Ysgol, was built by J Harper and Sons (Leominster) Ltd.

As part of the development, two four-bed houses, four two-bed houses, six three-bed houses, eight two-bed bungalows, and two three/four-bed dormer bungalows were erected at the Gorn Road site.

The £3.9m development, which will be owned and maintained by the council, will provide much-needed affordable housing for applicants on Powys Common Housing Register.

The project was funded by a £2m Welsh Government Town Centre Loan and a £1.37m Welsh Government Social Housing Grant acquired by the council’s Affordable Housing and Regeneration Teams.

Cllr Matthew Dorrance, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Fairer Powys, stated, “I’m glad that work has been completed and I’d like to thank our construction partners J Harper and Sons for helping us deliver this social housing development in Llanidloes.”

“We can’t build a stronger, fairer, greener Powys without tackling the housing catastrophe. We can only achieve this by developing high-quality council housing.

“This development meets the demands of the local community and will help us confront the housing shortage.”

Mike Harvey, Group Commercial Director at J. Harper and Sons Ltd, said, “We’re happy to have partnered with Powys County Council to deliver much-needed, high-quality houses to assist fight the local housing problem.”

“It’s a testament to the Council Members, funders, housing staff, and community that such a major development could be achieved during these extraordinary circumstances.”

East London housing complex wins Neave Brown Award

Original Source: East London affordable housing complex wins Neave Brown Award for Housing

The Neave Brown Award for Housing 2022 went to Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road by Henley Halebrown.

Annual award honours social housing pioneer Neave Brown (1926-2018) and recognises the best new affordable homes in the UK.

On London’s Kingsland Road, this hybrid plan includes a community-led school and 68 residences. The dense housing – which includes 68 rental units, 50% of which are offered below market rates – frees up the maximum footprint for the school and muffles noise and pollutants from the busy road.

The building is owned by a charity that houses critical staff. 333 Kingsland Road offers 50% of units below the average market rent.

Orientation, ventilation, and light were prioritised to provide bright, roomy flats. On each main floor, eight dwellings surround an octagonal stair. Large windows maximise views of the city, and all residents have access to a roof terrace. Below the building, a welcoming colonnade extends the sidewalk and provides access to new commercial units, creating an outstanding, multifaceted urban complex.

Kaye Stout, chair of the Neave Brown Award for Housing jury, remarked, “This is a significant architectural approach, illustrating how to mix different uses without decreasing educational or residential aspects.” Here, Henley Halebrown provides high-quality affordable housing that thrills residents, tourists, and passers-by. The design is well-thought out. Not only does it add social value to this inner-city neighbourhood, it also responds to a challenging brief with architectural ambition and establishes a high standard for urban architecture. When Neave Brown collected the RIBA Gold Medal, he commented, “We weren’t so much doing houses as making part of the city.”

RIBA President Simon Allford called it “a highly-intelligent response to delivering crucial social infrastructure” The educational and residential parts are neatly combined in a single composition, an architectural investigation in constructing a city corner that addresses the public domain.

Kaye Stout, Partner at Pollard Thomas Edwards, Yemi Aladerun, Architect and Development Manager at Meridian Water (Enfield Council), and Neave Brown family representative Professor David Porter chaired the 2022 Neave Brown Award for Housing jury.

Hackney School of Food won the Stephen Lawrence Prize 2022.

The yearly Prize was founded in 1998 to honour Stephen Lawrence, a teen killed in a racist attack in 1993. Founded by the Marco Goldschmied Foundation, it celebrates and rewards projects with a budget of less than £1 million.

Formerly a dilapidated school keeper’s house and garage, The Hackney School of Food serves as a community hub and an exciting venue to teach youngsters how to grow, cook, and eat food.

Due to restricted space and budget, Surman Weston retrofitted the existing building to meet the client’s needs. The house appears identical from the outside, however the first floor was removed to create a double-height area. Derelict gardens have been transformed into vegetable patches, greenhouses, and outdoor cooking and eating spaces for youngsters to learn about food.

RIBA selected Thornsett Group Plc and the Benyon Estate Client of the Year 2022. The annual RIBA prize recognises clients who commission great architecture.

The joint clients commissioned Henley Halebrown to develop Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road in 2015, a project praised for its social infrastructure contribution to East London.

Summary of today’s construction news

Overall, we discussed that the new Aston Martin Formula 1 plant located in Silverstone, will receive help from a Welsh aluminium producer. It was heard in Westminster Magistrates’ Court that Shiva Ltd, which employed a cradle built on-site to repair the Bermondsey Street property, put its employees at risk of falling from height. The construction company was fined. A building opportunity for a rail test track worth 250 million pounds procured by the Global Centre of Rail Excellence (GCRE) has been made known to contractors. Hackney School of Food won the RIBA Stephen Lawrence Prize for best small project. The judges dubbed the winning idea a much-needed kitchen school for all Hackney schoolchildren and a valuable community centre. Llanidloes’s historic livestock market was converted into 22 brand new homes by the Affordable Housing Team of the Powys County Council. Hackney New Primary School and 333 Kingsland Road, both designed by Henley Halebrown, won the Neave Brown Award for Housing 2022. Each year, the best new affordable homes in the UK are honoured in Neave Brown’s (1926-2018) name.