Contractor Henry Brothers has been appointed to build a new £9m fourth pavilion to expand SportPark at Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park.

The four-storey SportPark Pavilion 4 will be the first Passivhaus development on the university campus – helping Loughborough University to decarbonise its estate to meet the Government’s zero carbon target by 2050, with significant progress by 2040.

This is the latest in a number of projects delivered by Henry Brothers for the university and builds on the company’s portfolio of sustainable developments.

Managing director of Henry Brothers Midlands, Ian Taylor, said: “We are excited to continue our successful on-going relationship with Loughborough University – helping to upgrade campus facilities and deliver new projects.

“As a Passivhaus development, SportPark Pavilion 4 builds on Henry Brothers’ growing portfolio of environmentally sound schemes and will be a fantastic addition to Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park.”

Mascott Construction has been appointed to undertake the major refurbishment and fit-out works to one of Belfast’s most iconic buildings, Custom House.

Located at Custom House Square in central Belfast, the Grade B+ listed building was designed by Sir Charles Lanyon, one of Belfast’s leading architects and built by D & J Fulton between 1854 and1857. It is viewed as one of the finest neoclassical buildings in Belfast and represents a strong link to the city’s industrial heritage.

Custom House was acquired last year by Straidorn Properties, the property investment arm of local businessman Neil McKibbin and his family, who have made an overall investment of £7.5m to refurbish the 58,000 sq. ft space into new, stylish office accommodation.

Straidorn has developed a scheme with local architectural practice Todd which sympathetically links and enhances the industrial origins, splendour, character and historical features of the existing building to the expectations of modern office users.  Work is scheduled to be completed by June 2022.

Jonathan Payne, Managing Director of Mascott said: “We are absolutely delighted with our appointment for this prestigious project. It demonstrates a commitment and support to the local construction industry by Straidorn. This project will offer employment for up to 100 people throughout its construction period, bringing local skills to a local project for a local client.”

PHOTO: Pictured at Custom House are (L-R) Jonathan Payne, Managing Director of Mascott, Neil McKibbin, director of Straidorn Properties and Mark Hanna, director at Mascott.

 Offsite manufacturing specialist, The McAvoy Group, is to deliver a new research and innovation facility at world renowned science hub, Porton Science Park.

 Located within the Porton Science Park site, close to the village of Porton, the new 2 -storey, 22,000 sq ft building will provide a mix of sector specific conferences, seminars, workshops and one-to one support in addition to a mixture of serviced labs and office facilities with scope for further development depending on tenant demand. 

 The new facility will sit adjacent to Porton Down which is home to Public Health England and the Ministry of Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.  Due to the Science Park’s location and land ownership, all construction-related work and security measures, will be carried out in liaison with Porton Defence Science Technology Laboratory.

 The building is scheduled to be ready for use in Summer 2022. 

Gilbert-Ash has paved the way for thousands of workers to return to Belfast city centre after completing one of the most ground-breaking projects to be undertaken in Northern Ireland in recent years.

The £14million Merchant Square project has created 200,000 sq ft of Grade A office space over nine floors in the heart of the city. The offices can accommodate up to 3,000 employees at the former Oyster and Royston buildings, in the business district and adjacent to the City Hall.

Merchant Square represents Belfast’s biggest ever private sector office letting deal and on July 19 PwC moved into their new state-of-the-art Northern Ireland headquarters.

Gilbert-Ash Project Director, Rodney Coalter said this was a stand-out project, at what is one of Belfast city centre’s flagship buildings.

Rodney said: “In terms of pure fit-out projects, I would go so far as to say this was one of the best completed by Gilbert-Ash.

“There was a very high standard of collaboration right across this project and that included our supply teams and the client team.

“The client was delighted with the finished project which is so important to us at Gilbert-Ash. It was a fast fit-out programme, and we had the major hurdles of the pandemic and Brexit to overcome but everyone on the team rolled their sleeves up and met any problems head on.

“In terms of the issues we faced with Brexit, we had a lot of bespoke product throughout the building which came from Europe. This proved to be a very slow process as it had to make its way through France to Dover and then across to Northern Ireland, so it had two sets of checks with all the paperwork that entailed.

“But with detailed planning and close collaboration with the client team and our sub-contractors we were able to work around these sorts of issues.”

Situated on the Lagan Valley Hospital site, the four-storey 12,792sqm Lisburn Primary Community Care Centre (LPCCC) brings together local GP practices with other associated health care services to create a wide range of facilities to serve the city of Lisburn and its surroundings.

The centre offers modern consultation and outpatient treatment facilities for primary care services such as diagnostic imaging, pharmacy, physiotherapy, minor procedures rooms, a children’s services centre, specialist dentistry, podiatry and orthoptics, adult mental health, addiction services, lymphoedema services and a range of other facilities.

Located adjacent to the listed maternity building within the Lagan Valley Hospital complex, the design comprises a four-storey building and adjacent car park on the steeply sloping site, set on a plinth that integrates into the ground at the main entrance. Art, poetry, colour and gentle wayfinding informs a site-wide narrative that links all key public spaces from the external approach, through the main entrance, and on to transition nodes that inform a vibrant interior scheme. This approach provides spaces that engage with their occupants along the way and clearly connect the various clinics and services, allowing visitors to see their destination from their starting point.

The client for the LPCCC, The South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, awarded developer, Kajima Partnerships, working with O’Hare & McGovern and GPI (General Practice Investment) the contract for the project. Kajima and O’Hare & McGovern (OHMG) set up GPC O’Hare (Lisburn) Limited as a special purpose company to build and manage the £40 million project, with representatives from each company sitting on the board. The design and build of the medical centre was jointly funded by GPG O’Hare and Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale. The project architect was Scott Tallon Walker and OHMG was the main contractor and project manager for the contract.

James Hagan, of Hagan Homes, made a plea in a webinar from Australia where he has gone to live, calling for NI planning officials to meet with local developers to solve the issues facing them, as he begins work on his first Australian site after pulling out of Northern Ireland

Mr Hagan said: “My patience had run out last year and I made the decision to stop buying any new development sites in Northern Ireland. It used to be that every application was looked at on its own merit with a presumption in favour of development. Now, unfortunately, the developer is being asked more and more to make financial contributions to things like purchasing infrastructure when it should come out of one of the planning consultee’s budgets.‘’

One of Northern Ireland’s largest homebuilders, the businessman made the plea five months after he made the decision to stop buying any more new development sites in Northern Ireland.  “Not every council we deal with is the same, but there are three that have proved very difficult to work with, and most developers who work across all councils in Northern Ireland know it. Most are afraid to raise the issues because they are afraid of the same officers causing them further problems.”

Mr Hagan believes one of his developments – which was supported by elected representatives in the area – was deliberately held up by a planning officer for three years. He added: “I don’t understand why these problems are created. The more investment we have in property, the more roofs there are over people’s head and the more rates are paid. It seems simple really but it seems to be lost on many officials.”

Mr Hagan who has ten remaining live developments here urged those involved in the planning process including MLAs and NI Water to confront the problems that faced him and are currently facing his peers here. “We need everyone sitting around a table, from all the bigger housebuilders to MLAs. It means there is nowhere for anyone to run to. They can then answer questions and stop blaming each other. Let’s go back to the old ways of sorting things out. Get everybody around the table, throw it all out there and don’t get insulted. This is about problem solving, not problem making,” he said.