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Stadium concerts, football matches, or any kind of big celebration are all hot spots for crowds. When a large number of people gather in one place at one time, a crowd is formed and there are dangers to be aware of. When communication is lost, huge disasters can unravel. Thankfully, technology is at hand to help battle the causes of crowd catastrophes and accidents. In addition, technology such as pedestrian modelling software, is now available to help architects to design buildings that are safe for their users. Architects can plan ahead with crowd management in mind. Many firms are investing in technologies that analyse, evaluate, and provide data regarding the safety of a crowd. By law, event organisers are obligated to keeping crowds safe – so these …

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Private rented sector specialist Moda is linking up with taxi app Uber to cut the number of car parking places in its city centre developments. Residents will receive up to £100 in Uber credits each month if they agree not to have a car parking space. Moda will swap the space previously used for car parking for greater amenities within the developments like fitness centres and media rooms. Moda, backed by Apache Capital Partners, is delivering more than 6,000 apartments across the UK with major city centre developments in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, and Birmingham. Its first scheme, Angel Gardens in Manchester’s NOMA neighbourhood, is currently under construction and will house close to 900 residents when it completes in 2019. Moda’s buildings are created only for rent, and include …

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Over the next few years, London’s skyline will change dramatically, so we thought we’d take a look at some of the new buildings that are about to pop up in the nation’s capital as well as showing you where exactly they’ll be developed and outline some of the concerns made by locals who are keen to keep the skyline as it is. The Future Of London’s Skyline by Rubber Bond.

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The Survey Association’s £2000 bursary award is set to boost the career prospects of two exceptional Geomatics students at Newcastle University. The winners, Connor Foxall and Oliver Smith, received their cash prize at a TSA conference where they also had the opportunity to network with industry professionals and guest speakers. These included Matt Shaw of ScanLAB Projects Ltd., whose laser scanning expertise was recently featured in the BBC series, Italy’s Invisible Cities. Following the conference, Connor was offered a week-long work placement at ScanLAB’s London office and used some of the bursary money to fund his travel and accommodation costs. Connor commented on his time at ScanLAB. ‘’Talking to the different members of the team, exploring new software and equipment and practising the industrial processes needed …

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UK Construction Week, the UK’s largest gathering and community of construction professionals, has conducted a survey to uncover and tackle issues facing construction, housebuilding and skills in the run up to the General Election. With over 1,000 responses from a cross section of professionals working in the sector, key points from the survey include: Sir Richard Branson is named as ‘the best person’ to head up new UK infrastructure projects 77% believe state intervention is needed for more housing 38% want Gavin Barwell to retain his position as Housing Minister 54% call for more housebuilding on brownfield sites One of the most significant results from the survey was for Sir Richard Branson, who was voted as the best person to spearhead new UK infrastructure projects, such as HS2 …

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Liverpool City Council has appointed engineering consultancy Ramboll to lead the design team to develop a permanent cruise terminal on the River Mersey. The multi-disciplinary design team includes architects Stride Treglown, cost managers Gardiner & Theobald, property consultants JLL, and landscape architects Hyland Edgar Driver. The team will initially work up detailed designs for the proposed £50m passenger facility before submitting a planning application for the former Princes Jetty, off Princes Parade, later this year. Further applications are likely to include associated projects like a new 200 room hotel and 1,100 space multi-storey car park to enhance the city’s capabilities in handling the next generation of turnaround cruises, which can carry up to 3,600 passengers. Subject to planning approval the Ramboll team will project manage and assist…

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Northern Irish contractor McLaughlin & Harvey has been named preferred bidder for Blackpool’s new Winter Gardens conference centre. The new exhibition and conferencing facilities form part of a council effort to turn the fortunes of the town around The council has agreed to appoint the firm under a pre-construction services agreement ahead of construction starting in October with a view to completing the project by spring 2019. McLaughlin & Harvey was reported to have had the most attractive bid over rivals Eric Wright, Gilbert Ash, Esh and Willmott Dixon. Architect Bisset Adams designed the £25m landmark conference centre, which attracted central Government funding. The complex will have a double height entrance foyer, with exhibition space on the ground floor and conferencing facilities above The new venue…

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Sellafield has formally invited firms to bid for four key partner roles to deliver its £4.5bn construction programme. The firm, which runs the Cumbria nuclear site, is rolling out a new collaborative procurement model that will change how major projects are delivered. The four successful programme and project partners will work alongside Sellafield’s in-house engineers in integrated teams over the next 20 years. This collaborative model will be used to deliver the huge works programme more safely, efficiently and cost effectively. The selected firms will work together to deliver three initial major projects.  The SPRS Retreatment Plant, SIXEP Contingency Plant and Replacement Analytical Project, together estimated at £1bn – £1.7bn). Further major projects in the pipeline still need more detailed project definition…

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Manchester-based social housing specialist Harbur Construction has sunk into administration. The firm founded just seven years ago turned over £28m last year and employed more than 20 staff out of its Manchester Business Park base near the city airport. Administrators from Leonard Curtis confirmed staff had been now laid off. Harbur specialised in buying land, obtaining planning permission for schemes and then constructing them in conjunction with the relevant residential provider. The firm built up skills in remediating brownfield sites in order to deliver affordable housing and commercial developments. Harbur Construction was on site building a £2.9m 30 apartment scheme at Back Church street in Bolton and was working on several schemes for TAC Development including a £6m housing job of 70-plus units on the…

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