Read About the Latest News on a Grand Historic Hull Structure, Lightsource BP, UKAEA R&D Contract, Birmingham’s Construction Consultants, and a Cargo Containers Turns Into Dwellings

In today’s news at ukconstructionblog.co.uk, we will look into the restoration of a Grade II listed property in Hull, a Grand Historic building. Lightsource BP is going to initiate the construction of the Tiln solar farm. Kier has been awarded a contract by UKAEA to construct a new 8,000 square foot R&D facility, at a cost of £26.8 million. Construction Consultants has been chosen for the redevelopment projects in Birmingham. A man on Anglesey is repurposing unused cargo containers into living spaces. 

Grand historic Hull structure restored

Original Source: Construction firm restores grand historic Hull building

52-53 Whitefriargate, a Grade II listed property in Hull, has been restored on schedule and on budget.

Shires Estates Investments, who bought it in 2020, renovated and restored the building for Hobson & Porter. Historic England and Hull City Council provided funding under the Humber High Street Challenge Fund.

The upper levels were converted into restaurants or cafés, and the flat roof was turned into a roof deck. Hobson & Porter replaced shop fronts, roofs, and external elevations, including stone window surrounds, rendering, ornamentation, and traditional timberwork.

Hobson & Porter’s Sam Robertson commented, “We take satisfaction in restoring local landmarks for future generations.” Our work reflects the traditional construction processes and high levels of craftsmanship that have contributed to the building’s 200-year endurance.

This project shows our team’s and supply chain’s capabilities. We appreciated working with Wren Architecture to realise their vision. We’ve received inquiries about other fascinating developments around Whitefriargate, where more development is planned.

52-53 Whitefriargate was built in the late 18th century and has changed much since then. In the 19th century, a townhouse was converted into a shop. The late 19th and early 20th-century upper floors were a library.

A fire in the 1960s destroyed the second floor overlooking Whitefriargate. The unit had fallen into disrepair when Shires Estates Investments bought it and attracted LW Flowers, who aims to construct a rooftop bar and restaurant space.

Sam said, “Whitefriargate in Hull has 60% Grade II or Grade II Listed structures.” The region, comprising Silver Street and Hepworths Arcade, has been proclaimed a Heritage Action Zone, providing access to city council and Historic England funds. We are honoured to have played a part in ensuring a brighter future for the property, its tenants, and the surrounding community. “

Hobson & Porter has experience with heritage and listed buildings; it recently re-roofed the Guildhall and is restoring its time ball and internal mechanism. The company also repaired the clock tower’s antique stonework.

Hobson & Porter has restored 79 Lowgate and Beverley Road Baths and is repairing Albert Avenue Baths and its lido.

Lightsource BP to build Tiln solar farm

Original Source: Lightsource BP to start building Tiln solar farm

Lightsource BP will commence its largest UK solar project.

The 61MWp project near Retford will begin construction in November and take 11 months.

Once complete, the project will sell 50GWh of renewable energy to Forterra, a UK construction goods business, for 15 years via a corporate power purchase agreement.

The PPA will give the organisation price security and predictability.

Lightsource BP will invest £40m.

Tiln is the latest project in Lightsource BP’s UK project development pipeline, which consists mostly of big sites.

The UK is important to LightsourceBP’s goal of 25GW by 2025.

Lightsource bp Kareen Boutonnat, CEO of EMEA and APAC, remarked, “Deploying solar in the UK is vital to combating the energy crisis.” The fact that we can complete a +60MWp project like Tiln in under a year is critical.”

Adding battery storage helps dispatch solar during peak demand. Lightsource BP is moving quickly to develop sustainable renewable projects, helping the UK’s low-carbon transition and climate ambitions.

Louise Kingham, BP’s UK head, said, “These are the types of projects we want to see developed: sustainable energy, new jobs, and assisting local communities.” Today’s announcement brings another UK solar plant one step closer to operation.

£26.8m Kier secures UKAEA R&D contract

Original Source: £26.8m UKAEA R&D building contract secured by Kier

As part of the UKAEA R&D building contract, Kier will build a four-story office building with R&D facilities and a car park.

UKAEA has granted Kier a £26.8m contract to build an 8,000 sqm research and development building at the Culham Science Centre near Abingdon in Oxfordshire.

Multiple tenants will use the office and engineering space (a rig hall for R&D).

Sustainable and energy-efficient construction is a priority.

The roof will have a solar photovoltaic array and air source heat pumps for heating and cooling.

Built to support UKAEA’s long-term environmental aims, the facility will meet energy targets in the South Oxfordshire Local Plan. Using energy-efficient design and passive techniques, the building’s thermal performance will be improved.

Kier Construction Western & Wales regional director Andy Bolas said, “We’re pleased to collaborate on another major project with UKAEA.”

“Sustainability is important to what we do at Kier, and this project furthers our footprint in the science sector.”

“This supports UKAEA’s objective to create safe, sustainable, low-carbon fusion energy for centuries to come.”

Boosting the local supply chain and employment prospects Antonia Jenkinson, UKAEA’s chief financial officer and director of property, said, “We believe fusion could be part of the world’s future energy mix, and we’re working with a wide range of science, engineering, and technology companies at our Culham Science Centre to achieve it.”

Our work here creates jobs, drives economic progress, and puts the UK at the forefront of world science.

“This new investment in Culham will help support companies contributing to the UK’s world-renowned fusion technology cluster, while building a supply chain and skills base to solve difficulties across a much larger variety of sectors.”

“Developing public and private collaborations is crucial to our mission to create sustainable fusion energy.” We’ve had considerable interest in the new building, which will be versatile and promote innovative company growth.

The project was purchased through CSS. Autumn brings construction.

Birmingham’s construction consultants

Original Source: The Construction Consultants selected for Birmingham redevelopment

Midlands-based The construction consultants are building a hotel in Birmingham. The Dean will convert Birmingham’s Grade II Methodist Central Hall into a 150-room hotel.

Birmingham’s 1904 Methodist Hall will be renovated in the coming months. Developers want to turn the structure into a hotel and leisure attraction by early 2025. Plans for The Dean Birmingham include a full rehabilitation of the listed building. This will contain 150 contemporary rooms and eight new ground- and basement-level pubs and restaurants.

Irish leisure and hospitality operator Press Up Hospitality Group and developer Oakmount have hired The Construction Consultants (TCC). TCC provides quantity surveying at The Dean Birmingham.

TCC co-founder and director Alex Pimley said, “We’re happy to be working on The Dean Birmingham.” This ambitious plan will transform a Heritage England At Risk building. Already on site, we look forward to working with Press Up Hospitality Group and the project team to create a lively hospitality and leisure destination.

Launched in 2017, TCC specialises in project management, employer’s agent, quantity surveying, fund monitoring, and CDM consultancy. It has helped redevelop listed structures, too. Previous projects include the rehabilitation of Grade II-listed Cosener’s House near Oxford, a 70-bed Travelodge proposal in Wiltshire, and the construction of many outlets nationwide for The Gym Group.

TODD Architects created the plan, which will rejuvenate a 1,500-seat event venue. It will also add a three-story rooftop expansion with a café that overlooks the Birmingham skyline.

Anglesey guy turns cargo containers into dwellings

Original Source: How one Anglesey man transforms old shipping containers into homes

‘Container Craig’ turned a rusting container into a £27,500 house that sold the day it was listed.

An Anglesey man who converts disused cargo containers into homes reveals his process. Craig Ledwards, a construction project manager from Nantwich living in Anglesey, became a shipping container converter after seeing CIMC-MBS build hotels in Daao Xinhui District, Jiangmen City.

Mr. Ledwards, known as “Container Craig,” has worked in construction. His ability led to him being asked to build prisons from shipping containers in 2018, and he accepted.

Craig spends his time hunting for containers to turn into £27k residences. Most people in the UK have undoubtedly stayed in one of their container hotels, since Travelodge, Ibis, Holiday Inn, and Hilton use them.

As Craig states, “CIMC has perfected modular construction and built hotels worldwide, with the UK being their biggest export.” Most of us would stay at a hotel made from containers and never know it.

“One end of the container is a bedroom, the other is a bedroom, and the middle is a corridor.” When you stack them and add ceilings, you won’t see the joints. The containers are all identical, created in the factory, rows and rows of them, so efficient, made just for the hotel, on the manufacturing line. “

Craig explains, “In 2018, I was asked to handle the building and delivery of eight container jails in New Zealand. I jumped at this opportunity.

“Each prison consisted of 150 40-foot containers built in a horseshoe around a central courtyard.” Each container had four cells with bunk beds for eight detainees. Then three for a mess room, three for workers, etc.

The rapidity of manufacture, the capacity to customise the design for the final purpose, and the fact that groundwork on the destination site is done simultaneously make a novel container appealing.

Container Craig’s preoccupation means you may put one at the end of your lawn as an office, gym, theatre, den, or even a business, subject to planning. While building a log cabin in Anglesey, he couldn’t get containers out of his thoughts.

“Watching great buildings being created in China inspired me to attempt something with containers when I got back, albeit on a lower scale.”

“While working in China, I realised that containers can be used for mobile hair salons, home offices, home gyms, holiday cottages, and economical housing.

The choice and supply of a container for a client’s project is very precise, and although Craig has great relationships in China, transporting just one container over isn’t cost-effective.

Craig can locate a jewel to upcycle in the UK. We tend to go local from Holyhead or wherever we are.

Sometimes they’ve served their purpose, or the company has too many and is selling some. This is a terrific method to reuse and recycle them.

Craig is selective about which cargo containers he buys and transforms. “The four corners and structural side must be flawless for integrity, else it’s a hassle!”

“If you build a cabin and try to lift it and have trouble, you’re in a quagmire! If it’s structurally sound and rust-free, it’s good.

“The smells aren’t a problem since that’s usually what’s been in there, not the actual container, and it can be cleaned and removed, but the container’s strength is crucial – we don’t want too much rust on it, even though it can be treated.”

So a container is picked and carried to Craig’s yard, where the fun begins. First, the internal steel walls are sprayed with foam to retain heat and prevent moisture. The frame is then coated with larch, cedar wood, or composite boards, if possible.

Sections of the walls are cut out for windows, many of them at eye level to maximise views of the container’s final location, as well as glass sliding doors as the entry and main source of light within.

The bedroom part is set back to create an outside overhang and add visual interest. Craig also adds a roof lantern window if possible to increase head height and light.

Internal fixtures and fittings are custom-made. Craig explains, “We can install underfloor heating, but we use electric heaters above the door and in the bedroom and a towel rail in the bathroom because it’s a small, well-insulated box.”

The bespoke Howdens kitchen uses slim wall units as base units to save space. To save room, the microwave and oven sit above the fridge but are the standard size.

Craig says the container may be used for various things, the most unusual being a hair salon. They are intended for hauling, so his company can deliver them to your door, but you must consider access.

He says, “Being a container, it has an inbuilt chassis, so all you need are four pad stones on each corner.” We let clients handle things, but if they’re struggling or don’t have the means, we will.

“It can be craned over the house to the garden, but that’s fine. The lorry needs access to the delivery site, but it’s not a big deal to crane it over a house.

Some regions are unfeasible, and that will be decided during the initial customer discussion. For example, a man wanted one along a river, but his garden was a half-mile long, so it wasn’t doable.

What happened to the £27,500 house that shook Rightmove? It was snatched up in a day and is now at Anglesey’s RAF airport for pilots to sleep between flights.

Craig explains, “It was a display cabin, so I put it on Rightmove and it sold in 24 hours.” The estate agent was besieged with inquiries, and the buyer bought it from the images.

“Because it’s rare, the agents were excited to sell it.â€� It wasn’t a conventional house sale, so they were eager to sell it. It was “out there.”

Summary of today’s construction news

Overall, we discussed the 52-53 Whitefriargate, which is a Grade II listed property and a grand historic edifice in Hull, has been restored in accordance with the planned timeline and without exceeding the allotted funds. Lightsource BP will shortly launch Tiln Solar Farm, the UK’s largest solar project, and they have allocated £40 million to Tiln as this is their latest UK initiative. UKAEA granted Kier a £26.8m contract to build an 8,000 sqm R&D complex in Oxfordshire, and also created a four-story office building with R&D and parking as part of the contract. Midlands-based Birmingham’s Grade II Methodist Central Hall will be renovated by the construction consultants and reopened as The Dean Hotel. Mr. Ledwards, also known as “Container Craig,” is a resident of Anglesey who transformed a rusted container into a house that was sold at a price of £27,500 the same day it was placed for sale.