England – SpecNews

Graham Construction secures £6.3m contract on Higgs centre

The Higgs Centre for Innovation will be built at the Royal Observatory in the city.
HILLSBOROUGH based building firm Graham Construction has secured a £6.3 million to build a space centre in Edinburgh named after renowned particle scientist Peter Higgs.
The space centre is just the latest in Scotland.
The new Higgs centre in Edinburgh will focus on space and big data technologies and the whole scheme will cost £12m when fitting out is complete.
Last month, Graham completed a £10m primary school in Fort William for the Highland Council.

Britain’s construction sector stages recovery

A rise in house building activity and commercial work has helped drag Britain’s construction sector back from a seven-month low.
However, the report cautioned that the overall rate of expansion remained slightly weaker than seen on average over this period.
The survey noted that UK construction firms had ended 2015 with a “robust” level of overall business activity, adding that commercial building increased on the back of improving UK economic conditions, leading to new orders.
Housing activity also showed strong growth, picking up from a 29-month low in November.
IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer said it was a “reassuring survey”.

UK’s Top Art Award, the Turner Prize, Won by Architecture Project for Derelict Houses

The UK’s Turner Prize for 2015 has been won by Assemble, a collective group of architects that has restored derelict houses.
The Turner is the leading award in British contemporary art, and arguably Europe’s most prestigious contemporary visual art prize, and Assemble is its first winner from the architecture and design field.
Alex Farquharson, director of Nottingham Contemporary, has been appointed the new director of Tate Britain.
Assemble was nominated both for this “Granby Four Streets” project as well as others.
The total prize pool for the Turner is £40,000 (about $60,300).

Project Orange’s West Stow Lodge has a pared-back interior

West Stow Lodge was designed by London architects Project Orange for a family with three young children in a village near Bury St Edmunds.
To emphasise the sense of visual continuity throughout West Stow Lodge, Project Orange spaced the mullions of all the windows evenly, at 600-millimetre intervals.
Oak joinery, white-painted bricks, and concrete flooring were used to make the interior of this new house in Suffolk, England, more contemporary than its traditional pitched-roof exterior (+ slideshow).
“The interior materials echo the exterior, and are intended very much as an honest expression of the construction,” said Ash.
“Within this setting, the house can be seen as a nuanced, contemporary exploration of the domestic vernacular architecture in Suffolk,” said Ash.

Building giant says plenty of public sector work available in Scotland (From Herald Scotland)

THE chief operating officer of building giant Galliford Try has highlighted the strength of the construction market in Scotland where public spending is providing a spur for the sector.
Galliford Try runs a big housebuilding operation under the Linden Homes brand.
Mr Gillespie said the market had picked up south of the border.
Ken Gillespie said Galliford Try’s construction arm enjoyed dramatic growth in Scotland over the last 12 months as it felt the benefit of winning a string of public sector contracts.
However, it does not build homes in Scotland preferring to focus effort south of the border, where Mr Gillespie has said it can make more money with less effort.

Architects seek $2.9 billion to build ‘Lord of the Rings’ city Minas Tirith in U.K.

Architects seek $2.9 billion to build ‘Lord of the Rings’ city Minas Tirith in U.K.
Crowd-sourced projects with lofty aspirations are a dime a dozen, but Jonathan Wilson’s Indiegogo proposal is asking for many more dimes — nearly $2.9 billion — to build the “Lord of the Rings” city of Minas Tirith.
If the nearly $2.9 billion goal isn’t reached by the late-September deadline, no contributors will be charged the amount they pledged.
“We settled on Minas Tirith, as we felt it represented the most realistic and sustainable project.”
Living in England’s Worcestershire County, Wilson said he came up with the idea to build the city after watching a marathon of its corresponding movies with his friends.
In addition to posting updates on the Indiegogo page, Wilson is updating fans on project progress on Twitter, via his @RealiseMinas account.

Contentious British Library Achieves Grade 1 Listed Status As Public Opinion Mellows

Director of Listing at Historic England, Roger Bowdler, said: “The British Library is one of England’s finest modern public buildings.
Colin St John Wilson’s stately yet accessible design incorporates fine materials and a generous display of public art.
The Library’s dramatic and carefully considered interiors achieve its ultimate goal: of creating a space to inspire thought and learning.
“Historic England has had a really constructive consultation with the British Library throughout.
This will enable it to go on flourishing as a dynamic public building, in which appropriate change is welcomed.
“It joins a select group of other listed post-war public libraries on the National Heritage List for England.
Intended to move and inspire its visitors, the British Library’s London site is much-loved and well-used by scholars and members of the public alike for its soaring and stimulating spaces.