Kier has been awarded places on all three lots of the Southern Construction Framework, one of the largest regional construction frameworks in the UK.

The four-year framework, with an expected value of more than £4 billion, will include a pipeline of multiple contracts valued at £1 million upwards.

The Southern Construction Framework brings together three existing frameworks; Construction Framework South West (CFSW), the iESE framework (SE) and the London Construction Programme (LCP), creating a new framework for London and the south, to meet the procurement needs of a wide range of public sector organisations.

The framework will be operational from summer 2015 and will include new build and refurbishment opportunities across the public sector, and can be based on green field, brown field or complex inner city sites. It may also be used by some private sector organisations.

Contractors can also be called on to provide additional services such as feasibility studies, project management services, construction management services and advice for both pre-construction and construction phases, design support and post-handover support and advice.

Neil Pates, Kier managing director of Strategic Framework Alliances, said: “We have been working for many years on the CFSW and SE frameworks, which have provided us with a large number of regional projects.

“So we are delighted to be awarded a place on a framework that combines these and more, as it is an excellent way to build on our success, with the potential to substantially expand our work with the public sector in London and the south.”

British Land has announced that Meadowhall, Yorkshire’s premier shopping destination, will be marking a substantial £50 million internal refurbishment that will help economic growth.

The refurbishment is set to commence in autumn 2015 and will be completed by the end of 2017.

The extensive works will create distinct districts within the centre, each with a different finish including wood and punctured metal.

The works will also enable a number of retailers to install double height shop fronts.

The refurbishment includes new way finding, mall seating and lighting as well as the installation of dramatic lighting artwork.

The works will largely be completed out of hours to enable all retail and leisure operators to trade throughout the period.

The refurbishment will help reposition Meadowhall ensuring it remains a modern shopping environment which is locally preferred by both retailers and consumers.

Claire Barber, Head of Shopping Centre Asset Management for British Land, said: “Across the retail portfolio, we are investing in our assets to ensure they reflect the way people shop today.

“The refurbishment of Meadowhall will reposition the centre to appeal to premium and lifestyle retailers as well as a broader range of customers. We are very excited about the future for Meadowhall and the experience this investment will create for both our customers and retailers.”

The Scarborough Group has been granted detailed planning consent, by Sheffield City Council, for the development of two new office buildings, totalling just under 130,000 sq ft.

The new development is located on the Sheffield Digital Campus, in the Sheffield city centre, on Sheaf Street, adjacent to the main railway station.

The buildings are:‘Acero Works’, which will provide nearly 80,000 sq ft over six floors; and, ‘Vidrio House’, which will provide over 50,000 sq ft across eight floors.

The development will have an end value in excess of £40 million to help economic growth as well as boost the construction trades.

Scarborough has appointed Yorkshire based GMI Group as contractor for the scheme, with construction of Acero House, the first phase, commencing in autumn 2015 with completion expected in spring 2017.

GMI was also contractor for the development of the existing office buildings on the Sheffield Digital Campus, Ventana House and Electric Works.

Scarborough’s team in securing the planning permission included planning advisers Zerum Consult, and architects CJCT Studios.

Mark Jackson, Consultant to Scarborough, said: “Sheffield is becoming increasingly attractive as a headquarters location for major organisations and the Digital Campus is particularly well located being adjacent to the main railway station.

“We developed both Ventana House and Electric Works on the adjacent site attracting occupiers including Sky, Kennedy’s Solicitors, Michael Page, and Coal Board Pension Trustees all of whom recognised not just the benefits of the location, but also the quality of the accommodation.”

Kier has been named as preferred bidder for two new contracts totalling £130 million at King’s Cross, London.

The two projects, currently badged R7 and R8, are the latest schemes to come to fruition at the 67-acre King’s Cross Central Development and will provide a mixture of housing, retail, leisure and commercial office space.

The R7 scheme is a new development of 150,000 sq ft. Its West tower will have 13 storeys of offices above a cinema and retail units while the East tower will hold 11 storeys of offices above retail space at ground level.

R8 is a 200,000 sq ft scheme to construct a mixture of private and affordable housing together with office accommodation and retail space.

These contracts are the latest in a long line of projects that Kier is involved in at King’s Cross. Kier is currently redeveloping the Grade II listed Midland Goods Shed and East Handyside Canopy for supermarket chain Waitrose with offices above for the Guardian Media Group.

Kier recently completed both the £42 million ArtHouse scheme, a housing development providing 143 homes for the area; and 5 Pancras Square, the £65 million public services hub for Camden Council, heralded as one of the greenest public buildings in the UK.

Haydn Mursell, Kier chief executive, said: “We are delighted to be awarded two substantial new contracts at King’s Cross with Argent. Across this development, Kier is demonstrating its broad range of capabilities and we are proud to be part of the team revitalising this exciting area of London.”

“As the London market grows at pace, we are establishing ourselves as a delivery partner of choice on major projects, regeneration schemes and in high-rise development. We look forward to continuing to increase our presence in the market.”

Atkins has won a four year contract to provide services to HS2 Ltd, the company behind Britain’s new north-south rail link that will create 40, 000 new jobs.

The contract will include professional support covering the planning and delivery of a range of activities including BIM educational and assessment tools for the supply chain, and working to help drive long-term efficiency and durability into asset management.

Last year HS2 Ltd published the findings of a study looking at BIM readiness within the supply chain.

Since the publication, work has been underway to develop an approach together with the BIM Taskforce, to help build digital skills and know-how across thousands of suppliers to the UK’s design, construction and civil engineering industries.

BIM Level 2 – which aims to create a common data environment throughout the supply chain – will be mandated on all major government projects by 2016.

Jon Kerbey, HS2 Director of BIM, said: “I am very pleased that Atkins are on board to help us achieve our vision of delivering a world-class implementation of BIM. HS2 is one of the largest infrastructure projects in Europe and a fantastic opportunity to embed BIM right from day one, delivering real value to the project – and to the industry as a whole.

Mark Roberts, Director of Atkins, said: “Adoption of BIM will revolutionise programmes like High Speed 2, materially improving delivery efficiency and success, and embedding an approach that looks beyond design and construction into the requirements and benefits for the whole operational life of the railway.

“We are delighted to have been chosen to work alongside our HS2 and supply chain colleagues to implement a BIM approach that we believe will be ground breaking, deliver great success and ultimately help support the UK’s economic prosperity.”

English Cities Fund (ECf) has officially launched its New Bailey scheme at MIPIM, Cannes and at the same time, announced that Make Architects and AHMM Architects have been appointed on the next two phases of the scheme.

Make has a reputation for producing innovative striking designs that are practical. From the pitches they were clearly the best practice for the City Wharf site at New Bailey and will create a striking new office building on this key plot that will attract corporate occupiers.

Ken Shuttleworth at Make said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to create a gateway building for the New Bailey masterplan, connecting the ongoing regeneration of the Salford central area with the booming Manchester Central Business District.”

In addition to appointing Make, ECf has appointed AHMM to design an innovative new building on a plot adjacent to One New Bailey and the newly built multi storey car park. AHMM has built its reputation working on challenging briefs and sites for both refurbished and new build workplaces.

Simon Allford from AHMM said: “The emerging masterplan at New Bailey will create a new city quarter. AHMM is delighted to be involved with this new phase in the city’s continued development and we look forward to further developing ideas that take the ambition for the masterplan through to the detail of a characterful, efficient and delightful 21st century place for working and playing.”

Bill Hughes, Head of real assets at Legal and General Investment Management spoke at the event, along with ECf’s development director Phil Mayall and Karen Hirst, development director for Salford City Council.

Bill Hughes said: “Public private partnerships are the key to unlocking UK economic growth. We choose to work with enlightened local authorities to deliver major regeneration.

“Looking beyond London and the South East, this is about identifying regional strongholds where we can deliver value over the long term, working closely with partners that are aligned to our vision and wider social purpose.”

A multi-million pound fund will help aspiring custom builders get their projects off the ground more quickly, Housing Minister Brandon Lewis announced this week.

The minister announced that the next phase of a £150 million fund is now open to bidders. It will create up to 10,000 so-called ‘serviced plots’ – land prepared for housebuilding, and connected to utilities such as gas and water, so builders can go straight in and build.

The average self-build takes 2 years – but those using serviced plots can cut this by up to a year.

Mr Lewis said that more and more people want to build their own home and today’s move will help further unlock the “massive potential” the custom build industry has to expand.

Unlocking the country’s custom build potential

Housebuilding is an important part of the government’s long-term economic plan, with custom build a key part of that.

The custom and self build industry currently accounts for around 10,000 new homes every year – but the government is backing industry-led efforts to double that by 2020.

The £150 million fund is open to small builders and community groups as short-term loans to help get the land ready for housebuilding. The land can then be sold as individual plots to people looking to build their own home.

Brandon Lewis said: “Custom build should not be something that’s confined to a small and select group of people – anyone who aspires to build their own home should have the opportunity to do so.

“We want to see the industry grow significantly and this £150 million fund will help further unlock the massive potential it has to help even more people achieve their ambitions.

“This fund will help create shovel-ready serviced plots so small developers and custom-builders can get on and build, finishing their projects more quickly.”

Skanska is set to start work immediately on the £165 million New Papworth Hospital at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus after reaching financial close to build a world-class healthcare facility.

The latest business information modelling (BIM) technology will be used in the design phase to maximise energy efficiency and ensure the hospital offers long-term flexibility.

The construction techniques used will allow reconfiguration of the hospital over time, making it fit for purpose both on delivery and for the future. The technology is also being used to engage clinicians in the construction process.

Skanska, with healthcare delivery expertise spread across its global network of projects, will provide Cambridgeshire with a hospital that is an exemplar of the facilities available to NHS patients and clinicians.

Sustainability is at the heart of the new hospital, which will specialise in cardiothoracic care. Papworth is designed to achieve an EPC ‘B’ energy rating, the first hospital in the UK to do so. Measures to reduce carbon emissions will include a large-scale ground-source heat pump system.

Terry Elphick, Managing Director, Skanska UK, said: “We will be consulting with all stakeholders throughout construction, an approach we like to take on our healthcare projects around the world, for example Barts and The Royal London, Derby City General Hospital, UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre, the Proton Therapeutical Centre Teaching Hospital in the Czech Republic and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in the USA.”

Richard Spencer, Project Director at Skanska, said: “The stunning architecture of the new hospital will showcase a confident civic presence that will help to attract the very best staff and clinicians, and will make Papworth a treatment centre of choice, both within the UK and internationally.”

A Joint Venture between Interserve and Babcock & Wilcox Vølund has been awarded a £150 million contract by the Brite Partnership North East to build a biomass-fired power plant in Rotherham.

Based in Templeborough, Rotherham, the ‘Brite’ power plant will be fired with locally sourced waste wood and have a capacity of 45 MW.

The power output generated from the plant will be equivalent to the energy consumption of 70,000 households and result in an annual carbon dioxide reduction of 360 tonnes.

Andy Jarman, Commercial Director at Interserve said:“The waste sector is a key growth area for Interserve. We recognise that projects of this type are highly technical and challenging, requiring key expertise to construct, operate and maintain.

“This is why we have formed a strategic partnership with Babcock & Wilcox Vølund who will operate and maintain the Brite plant from 2017.”

Work on the Brite plant is expected to start in the coming weeks, with the facility expected to be fully operational in the second quarter of 2017.

Interserve’s portion of the project, which received £150 million of investment from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, is worth circa £50 million.

The Biomass fuel used in the facility will be sourced on a long-term contract from Stobart Biomass Group.

Plans to fast track the delivery of approximately 2,000 homes on the site of a former Parcelforce depot in East London have been announced by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

The 10 hectare Stephenson Street site at West Ham, Newham used to comprise a large scale Parcelforce warehouse and car park and is the latest of several sites in the Mayor’s ownership to be released for housing.

These land holdings came under the control of the Mayor three years ago when he inherited almost 700 hectares of surplus public land across the capital. So far, 90 per cent of this land is now in development or in the process of development.

With two million Londoners now privately renting, it is expected that a third of the new homes in this residential-led mixed use scheme will be for high quality, long-term private rent, with the remainder delivered as affordable housing to buy or rent as well as and private for sale aimed at Londoners.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “With London now home to more people than ever before, housing supply and affordability is our biggest challenge.

“By seeking a development partner for the Stephenson Street site we hope to entice investors and developers to come forward and build quality homes for Londoners.”

The Mayor’s work to redevelop disused public land is one strand of his comprehensive Housing Strategy to double house building and create the homes hardworking Londoners need.

He is set to deliver a record 100,000 low cost homes for Londoners over his two terms, with more than 83,000 already completed.