Supreme Winner - One New Change
The City DS office has followed up recent success at the LDSA
awards with further honours at the LABC National Building
Excellence Awards.
One New Change was declared winner in the “Best Commercial
Building – Large” category. It also received the award “Supreme
Winner” as the outstanding project in the competition.
The construction of the building was dealt with by Group
Building Control Officer Tak Chung, who picked up the award with
members of the design and construction team for the project. More
information is available here
http://www.labcbuildingexcellenceawards.uk.com/
Customer surveys
We carry out regular customer surveys to assess our performance
in meeting client needs as well as striving to improve our level of
service. Our latest survey was targeted at
a broad range of our customer base to ensure that all
areas are considered.
We were particularly interested to establish how valuable our
pre-application advice and regular site
inspections are to customers and their development teams.
Our survey has confirmed this part of our service combined with our
detailed 'conditional approvals' and
marked up plans are very important to them. We are
very pleased with the high levels of satisfaction recorded in this
and previous Customer Surveys but are committed to improvement in
the provision of our building control service.
Our most recent questionnaire was sent out in January of
2011. You can review the results of the survey here
- Results of Customer Survey
2011 (97kb)
Award-winning Building Control
The City of London District Surveyor’s Building Control Team is
pleased to announce successes at the 2011 LDSA Building Excellence
Awards, which took place in the Guildhall Livery Hall on 19
May 2011. Three of our recently completed projects won
awards.
This builds on last years success at the national LABC awards
where Watermark Place won the best Sustainable Building award and
the Apex Hotel won the best Large Commercial Building
award.
Winner ! Frobisher Crescent - Best Domestic Conversion
Refurbishing the top three floors of an existing mixed use
building and converting the space into 69 luxury apartments would
never be easy. To attempt that in a city centre site atop Europe’s
largest Arts Centre that wanted to remain running and totally
undisturbed throughout was a big challenge. I can only imagine that
being told by the client (the City of London Corporation) that you
should use their Building Control service probably was the least of
their concerns, but potentially could have been a minefield for all
parties.
Fortunately we met a design and construction team (the
contractors were also the developers) who were willing to work
through problems as a team, had a wealth of experience individually
and never once forgot their responsibilities throughout the whole
of the project.
It helped that we had frequent meetings with the Architects and
constructors almost a year before work started on site to sort out
issues that could arise in carrying out a material change of use to
a grade II listed building that many refer to as iconic.
The design achieved sympathetic alterations to roof coverings,
balcony soffits, guarding and enclosures, all of which met planning
and English Heritage limitations as well as meeting and exceeding
Building Regulations. Even tenants demanding to move in long before
the construction site was finished were safely accommodated by an
extremely conscientious construction team willing to work within
the constraints applied to them.
Winner ! One New Change - Best Commercial Project
The City of London has always thrived on the creative tension
between honouring its past and forging its future. One New Change
is a prime example of how it is possible to do both, through a
combination of lateral thinking, creative courage and sensitivity
to local surroundings and stakeholders. The equivalent of 12
football pitches of office and retail space has been incorporated
into a remarkably understated building that defers to the grandeur
of its historic neighbour.
One New Change has transformed this part of the City into a
seven-day destination, creating a dynamic social space in which to
work . At ground-level, the public realm has been transformed, with
a series of shopping arcades forming a natural extension to the
streetscape and reopening lost pedestrian routes. Most
spectacularly, the public realm has been extended six floors
upwards, with a public roof terrace offering views of St Paul’s
Cathedral that have never been seen before.
An unusually challenging top-down construction methodology was
used which offered significant programme benefits by overlapping
the construction processes above and below ground, allowing
excavations and construction works below ground to take place under
cover and the superstructure above ground to proceed in
parallel.
Highly Commended: Mint Hotel - Commercial Project
The 11 storey Mint Hotel is the largest ever Hotel in the City
of London, with 583 Bedrooms located on 9 floor levels. The
Innovative method of construction and design, together with the
off-site manufacturing process, reduced the programme time by three
months.
A unique feature of the Hotel is the Central Atrium Roof. The
roof shell is square (25.5 M x 21.5 M) cupola-shaped, with a
maximum height of 2 M above its perimeter level. The 1.5 M grid is
two way spanning with the steel structure built of the Block Node
System (BK) matching the square glazing grid. The roof is supported
by brackets installed to perimeter concrete beams.
The entire roof structure is clad by flat and regularly square
shaped insulated glazing units.
The whole project team demonstrated a very open and co-operative
approach to the Regulatory process. Regular Fortnightly progress
meetings were held with all the necessary representatives to deal
with any current or forthcoming construction issues. Issues that
were tabled, were always discussed and concluded with quickly. This
was found to work very efficiently and helped the project keep
advanced in its construction process.
Our regular site visits dealt with any day to day problems and
helped keep the project on track.
And one for the future perhaps?
Heron Milton Court
Work in progress - The City of London Building Control Team have
checked over 300 piles, generally 30 metres deep, the below
ground drainage and have inspected the completed slip form
core to level 35! We are currently inspecting the superstructure
which includes steel framing to the concert hall and a
post-tensioned slab to the theatre. More information is available
at the Heron International
website; http://www.heroninternational.co.uk/heron-international-milton-court-redevelopment
Investing in the Future of Building Control
The City of London Building Control/District Surveyor's Office
welcomes five new members to our team to add to the existing
complement of 21 staff.
Jonathan, David, Jon, Ben and Dalila were successful candidates
from over 180 applicants.
We wish them all the best for the future and are sure they will
make a valuable contribution to our team of multi-discipline
Building Control Surveyors.
Jonathan Greenwood BSc (Hons) - "Having
graduated with a degree in Building Surveying from Sheffield Hallam
University, I am excited at the prospect of developing a career in
Building Control within the City of London District Surveyor’s
Office. I hope to be able to contribute to a wide range of
projects in the near future, and to be able to learn from the
friendly and knowledgeable construction and engineering
professionals within the Division."
David Batten BSc (Hons) - "After
graduating from the University of Reading in Building Surveying,
part of my long term career objective was to become chartered
within the RICS. The City of London District Surveyors are helping
me with my professional development by providing excellent
structured training as well as the chance to work with large and
varied projects in the City, working in a convivial environment
with knowledgeable colleagues helping me progress in my
career."
Jon White MEng - "I am a recent graduate
from the University of Sheffield where I studied for my Masters in
Civil & Structural Engineering and I can’t wait to start
putting the theoretical knowledge I gained into practice. I have
enjoyed my first week here and I’m looking forward to working on a
wide range of projects in such a friendly office."
Ben Mossop EngTech LCIBSE - "Having worked in
commercial engineering consultancy for several years as a
Mechanical Engineer, working for the City of London DS Office is a
great opportunity to broaden my experience, work with a team of
talented and knowledgeable construction professionals and be
involved in some of the most exciting construction projects in the
City."
Dalila Lecky MEng - "As a recent graduate, one
of the most important aspects of my career path is the variation in
projects in which I may be involved, as these will provide
opportunities for personal development and progression towards
becoming chartered. The range in complexity and scale of projects
handled by the City of London District Surveyor's Office will
enable me to work towards my aims whilst providing some unique
experiences along the way."
The City of London District Surveyor is President of the London
District Surveyors Association (LDSA)
David Clements became the 98th President of the London District
Surveyors Association (LDSA) at its AGM held in the City’s
Marketing Suite on 17 March. He is very proud to follow
in the long line of City of London District Surveyors who have held
the position; the last one being Peter Gilder who was President for
1986-87.
Read about the history and background of this
year's president
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