Press Relations: housing

Monday, December 12, 2011

BILLY CONNOLLY: MADE IN SCOTLAND FROM SCULPTED STEEL BARS, AND HUNG FROM A WEE BUILDING IN ANDERSTON

MCBAINS COOPER

PROPERTY & CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANCY

PRESS RELEASE

December 14, 2011.

BILLY CONNOLLY: MADE IN SCOTLAND FROM SCULPTED STEEL BARS, AND HUNG FROM A WEE BUILDING IN ANDERSTON.

Billy Connolly sculpture video. http://bit.ly/vLq6eV

Anderston residential project: the challenges video: http://bit.ly/ut0NsJ

Anderston – the next stages, video: http://bit.ly/vxHop5

Links to photos http://bit.ly/vkEhZN

Made in Scotland from girders … not quite, but a sculpture of Big Yin Billy Connolly has been created in metalwork to signal the completion of the first phase of a landmark McBains Cooper project-managed residential housing project in his home town of Anderston, Glasgow.

The sculpture, made from steel bars by renowned north-of-the-border artist Andy Scott, is hung high on an elevation of the first phase to be completed.

And while Glasgow’s most famous son couldn’t make it to the unveiling of a ground level commemorative plaque marking the occasion, a big crowd of locals and media did.

Property and construction consultancy McBains Cooper are project managers on the five phase residential rebuild of Anderston, working with client Sanctuary Housing, and the sculpture of Billy Connolly is high up on the elevation overlooking Glasgow.

Such was the attention to detail during the project as a whole that the team even designed one apartment specifically for the needs of one family, and the gratitude and delight of the residents at that sort of effort - plus the overall finished product – has been clearly signalled by how well kept the whole area is.

“We occasionally get celebrities turning up at launches and openings, but it’ll be nice to drive past the sculpture of the Big Yin every day and be reminded that we played a part in putting Anderston back on the map – after Billy Connolly did it first time round,” said Alan Hannah of McBains Cooper.

The project involves the demolition of a number of 1960s housing blocks in the Glasgow suburb, but has proven to be a massive logistical challenge for the McBains Cooper and Sanctuary teams.

“The key issues here are that the work is going on in amongst a number of schools and nurseries, while also being surrounded by occupied homes – so not only have the logistics of getting into the sites been taxing the grey matter, there has also been the issue of moving families out and into nearby accommodation, and then into the completed Phase One apartment complex,” said Alan Hannah.

“But we know we’ve got it right, firstly because the local residents were surveyed and asked what they wanted and needed in the area – a target we delivered against – but secondly because you don’t have to go far through the area to see how well-kept and looked-after the communal areas are.

“This is one of those incredibly complex but equally incredibly satisfying projects that’s clearly making a vast difference to life in Anderston. And with the Big Yin looking down on us, we wouldn’t dare get it wrong.”

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley

07788 978800 im@pressrelations.co.uk

www.mcbainscooper.com

Notes.

McBains Cooper

McBains Cooper is an inter-discipline consultancy, specialising in property, infrastructure and construction, offering a wide range of consulting and design services including architectural, aesthetic or technical design, problem solving, budget management, facilities management, health and safety, sustainability consultancy and on-the-ground civil engineering. Driving and supporting projects ranging from minor works to major contracts worth more than £100 million, McBains Cooper operates across a variety of sectors throughout the UK, Europe and Latin America. McBains Cooper is committed to environmental, social and economic sustainable development and their integrated approach means they deliver effective, award-winning solutions to their clients. The Group employs 150 people. McBains Cooper has regional headquarters in London (head office), Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Oxford, Windsor, Athens, Lima (Peru), Miami and Mexico, with associate offices in Belfast and Dublin. www.mcbainscooper.com

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

“SHOE-BOX HOMES”: RIBA’S GERALD RATNER MOMENT.

MCBAINS COOPER

PROPERTY & CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANCY

PRESS RELEASE

September 20, 2011.

“SHOE-BOX HOMES”: RIBA’S GERALD RATNER MOMENT.

Property and construction consultancy McBains Cooper says RIBA’s Gerald Ratner moment – its “Case for Space” report slating the country’s housebuilders and their “shameful shoebox homes” – could have a devastating impact upon housing development.

“Somebody’s been reading their management books and come up with the light bulb moment that if you want to make something happen, then make somebody uncomfortable – but they’ve lost sight of the fact that the housing construction sector is facing unprecedented challenges right now, and just about everybody involved is doing everything in their power to meet those challenges,” said Mark Leeson, a director of McBains Cooper.

“The question is why are we criticising our own? The report could have taken a much more supportive approach, providing solutions and answers rather than problems and impossible-to-answer questions about future market trends.

“If we’re spending 20% of our time debating the issue, then we’re being 20% less efficient – and we all know that given time is money, we have nothing like the luxury of a 20% margin to play with.

“This could go down as RIBA’s ‘Gerald Ratner moment’ - he called the products in his own jewellery chain ‘crap’. The reality is that house size is the wrong area of focus. If a house is deemed to be too small then we all have a choice not to buy it and to look for a bigger one – it’s called ‘the market’.

“RIBA’s energy, and members’ fee payments, could be better spent re-establishing architects’ reputation in the industry rather than alienating powerful industry people.

“They should be spending their time working with the housebuilders to establish a position for architects to add value, and influence the process with the housebuilders rather than confronting them. The fact is the desperate need for new housing stock in this country can only be delivered by a collaborative approach and by housebuilders.

“The real issue is that homes are not sold on a square footage basis, they are sold according to numbers of bedrooms. A larger three-bed house will sell for no more than a smaller one, so there is no real incentive for developers to build bigger. The bigger one may sell faster, but value and revenue are based on sale price, not necessarily speed of sale.

“The right way to add value and improve our stock in the industry is not to moan about the housebuilders, but to point to and look at ways in which good design can make the best use of space, rather than focus on how much space is created.

“For instance, look at yacht design as an example – we and others are developing incredibly space-efficient home designs based on yacht interior design.

“Well-designed homes have carefully considered integrated storage, efficient plans minimising circulation or corridor space - and maximising useable space for furniture and various room layouts, with well-positioned and proportioned windows orientated well to maximise natural light and views.

“That’s what’s known as a constructive solution, and it’s what we should all be focussing upon.”