MCBAINS COOPER TO LEAD LANDMARK PUBLIC SECTOR JV PROPERTY PROJECT IN JORDAN

MCBAINS COOPER

PROPERTY & CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANCY

PRESS RELEASE

May 19, 2011.

MCBAINS COOPER TO LEAD LANDMARK PUBLIC SECTOR JV PROPERTY PROJECT IN JORDAN.

The Jordanian government has appointed London-based property and construction consultancies McBains Cooper and EC Harris to help in the delivery of a public sector facility management review and rationalisation.

The project involves installing a property and facilities management information system, supporting the Directorate of Government Buildings (DGB) to develop an organisational structure that incorporates a property and facilities management capability, providing FM procurement guidelines, and identifying of possible PPP projects that can be used to pilot the new approach to managing a government building.

McBains Cooper is leading the project - which involves a number of consortium partners - working with the Privatisation Commission of the Jordanian Government.

Funded by the World Bank, the Commission is planning to rationalise its property department - and the management of up to 10,000 public buildings. The Jordanian government’s initiative will be seen as a pioneering and cutting edge move in the region.

The project will help the Jordanian government to drive efficiencies in the operations of buildings.

“It’s a tribute to the experience of the McBains Cooper team, the esteem in which UK-based property and construction expertise in general is held, and to the ability of the consortium to work together that such a big and complex project should be awarded,” said Anthony Coumidis, director of McBains Cooper, and overall project leader.

“This is a crucial project, and will drive significant change and efficiencies in the way government-owned buildings are managed, operated and maintained.

“It also underpins McBains Cooper’s decision to develop an Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East hub in Athens; our presence so relatively close to Jordan was a big influencing factor in the decision of the Jordanian government.”

The full scope of work will include advice on the creation and implementation of a comprehensive property database to enable the department to realise the value of its assets, as well as a comprehensive property maintenance strategy, including identification of the best procurement route.

It will also include identification of potential maintenance projects to be financed through PPP, ways to make such projects attractive to investors, and an overall review of the property department and its resourcing.

The opportunity was secured via a competitive bidding process that the McBains Cooper-led consortium won thanks to the high quality of submission, and, crucially, a strong technical score.

McBains Cooper will be in joint venture with EC Harris, supported by legal advisers K&L Gates and Jordan-based Darat Consulting.

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

A COOL GREEN HOT SOLUTION AND A QUIET SUCCESS FOR ADDENBROOKE’S HOSPITAL

MCBAINS COOPER

PROPERTY & CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANCY

PRESS RELEASE

September 15, 2010.

A COOL GREEN HOT SOLUTION AND A QUIET SUCCESS FOR ADDENBROOKE’S HOSPITAL.

They may look like regular flats and apartments, but the four buildings at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge conceal structural and design features unique to the demands and lifestyle of the residents – and have the potential to massively influence the local economy.

The Oxford-based team at international property and construction consultancy McBains Cooper was commissioned to manage the £20 million, 292 apartment, Sanctuary Housing Association project – but the team had a particularly challenging brief: a very tight window to complete the work, and unique issues relating to demands on hot water systems and sound insulation.

“First, this was a two year project that had to be delivered in 18 months come-what-may because the hospital needed to bring in healthcare professionals fast – and keep them there; second, we had to design in a number of unusual elements to cater for the work cycle of the residents – who are all doctors or nurses,” said Jo Churchill of McBains Cooper.

“The medical staff work in shifts, and those shifts change at times when normal residential properties would be quiet – so there are huge peaks of demand on the building’s systems at unusual times, for example, the need for large volumes of hot water in the middle of the afternoon or early hours of the morning when dozens or more people run baths or showers at the same time.

“The solution was to ditch the normal central heating boiler-based system, and to heat water through solar panels and feed it into large tanks where it was kept hot – this also helped achieve the 10% renewables requirement.

“The next issue was noise: the last thing an exhausted medical professional needs after a double shift is to suffer broken sleep, so we had to pay particular attention to the acoustic qualities of the building.

“This we achieved by modular manufacturing most of the building off site – which also helped address the time constraints – and by bringing in special twin wall panels from Germany, which were then filled with extremely high density concrete.

“At each stage of the development of these wall panels we consulted acoustic specialists who assessed the likely effectiveness of this sound-deadening to ensure that it was as efficient as possible, and which makes these flats amongst the quietest of their type in the world.

“Finally, in a city like Cambridge, where it is very difficult to find centrally-located accommodation for key workers, the whole project has a potentially much bigger impact – it has brought in hundreds of people, and this will clearly have an effect on the local economy.

“And as such, this type of development clearly has massively positive implications for other towns and cities that need centrally-located accommodation for key workers, and need it fast.”

Michael Thirkettle, Chief Executive of McBains Cooper, said: “What the team has achieved – director Zaki Ghiacy, Kevin Conlon, Peter O’Rourke and Jo Churchaill – should not be underestimated: every possible challenge was thrown at them: design, planning, technical and timescale, and they delivered magnificently.”

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley / Chris Fowler

07788 978800 / 07719 172225

im@pressrelations.co.uk / cf@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, Lima (Peru) and Mexico City, with associate offices in Belfast and Dublin. www.mcbainscooper.com

“BIG SOCIETY” COULD CHANGE THE FACE - AND INSIDES - OF POLICE STATIONS.

MCBAINS COOPER

PROPERTY & CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANCY

PRESS RELEASE

September 1, 2010.

“BIG SOCIETY” COULD CHANGE THE FACE – AND INSIDES - OF POLICE STATIONS.

(Short 1’40” video interview here)

(Full interview here)

The new government’s “Big Society” is coming to the Police, and with it a likely demand for law enforcement agency building design to clearly demonstrate how it can help police officers work more efficiently and engage more with local communities.

Mark Leeson, a director of property and construction consultancy McBains Cooper, says that design and development emphasis will be influenced by a shift towards local accountability and local tailoring of police activities to address specific regional and community-based issues.

“Big Society could mean significant changes to the way police stations, buildings and offices are designed and constructed, for the simple reason that they will need to be, literally, a lot more transparent with more space for public meetings and interaction, and a lot easier to get around without compromising security and safety for officers and support staff,” said Mark Leeson.

“The key to this tailored approach is going to be efficient working practices and methods. Thousands of police and civilian staff members are in the process of being made redundant in a rapid cost cutting exercise. Some front line staff are being asked to re-apply for their jobs.

“The impact on buildings is clear – all new and refurbished buildings are going to have to demonstrate how they help the police work more efficiently. One example is a project on which McBains Cooper worked in the east of England – the building design has contributed to less time involved in administration in the station, more time out on the street.

“Furthermore, greater transparency resulting from the appointment of Police Commissioners that hire and fire Chief Constables will lead to the need for their buildings to be more transparent – greater space for public meetings and reviews and interaction.

“The concept of ‘beat meetings’, both within the police stations but also out in the community may generate a more open, yet smaller high street presence – this is already occurring across the UK but looks set to increase.

“The setting of local budgets by commissioners looks likely to be set against a policy of national buying – this could mean buying solutions, PFI, or new national frameworks.

“It’s too early to give an accurate view, but the re-commencement of the PFI bids for a number of custody and operational accommodation projects for police forces seems to indicate that PFI will remain on the agenda for the short to medium term.

“It’s not clear what is meant by ‘making good use of nationally provided services’ but this could mean larger frameworks for the supply of certain goods and services – perhaps even custody management.

“It could also mean amalgamation of neighbouring forces. The drive to create a more locally-focussed force may actually have the opposite effect; more smaller police forces may well end up sharing larger strategic facilities such as firearms training bases and custody investigation centres along the lines of the model we have created in the east of England for a number of forces.

“The central buying of IT and other infrastructure items may make procurement easier for those delivering buildings at a local level, but, for example, central government attempts to buy IT nationally has not been good.

“In any event, the white paper changes the emphasis towards more local facilities, local communities and a tailored approach to policing rather than national standards and targets.

“This will lead to each Commissioner and police force re-considering how their building stock works both from an efficiency standpoint, but also from a public perception standpoint. It remains to be seen, following the October spending review, how the reductions in the policing budget will filter through, but it seems that front line policing will be immune from cuts, and may actually benefit in real terms by re-focusing spending. Value for money is going to be more important than ever before, and this is going to be judged at a local, not national level.”

Ends

Further information:

Iain Macauley / Chris Fowler

07788 978800 / 07719 172225

im@pressrelations.co.uk / cf@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, Lima (Peru) and Mexico City, with associate offices in Belfast and Dublin. www.mcbainscooper.com