We are delighted to annonce Global Academy has won Education Project of the Year 2018 at Offsite Awards! Constructed with our partner Portakabin, Global is the first University Technical College to be built offsite, and is one of the most energy-efficient modular buildings of this scale ever constructed in the UK.
Greatfields and Global Shortlisted for Offsite Awards
Three Surface to Air projects have been nominated for the Offsite Awards 2018. The first phase of Greatfields School in Barking and Global Academy, Hayes are nominated in the Best Use of Hyrbid Technology category. Global and Riverside Academy, Barking are also shortlised for Best Education Project. The winner will be annouced at the Excel Centre on 6 March 2018.
Greatfields School Phase One is Complete
The first phase of Greatfields School in Barking and Dagenham is complete after just eight months on site. Constructed using a hybrid Innovare system, the new two-storey teaching block contains 18 classrooms and external play to accommodate the initial Year 7 intake before further school zones are complete. The project is part of the wider Weaver's Quarter Masterplan and regeneration of the former Gasgoine Estate, providing much needed school places in the area. A further teaching block and main school building will be submitted to planning early this year, to be completed in time for the September 2019 school intake.
GLOBAL UTC SHORTLISTED FOR FX AWARDS
Surface to Air Architects have been shortlisted for Global Academy UTC in the Public Sector category of the FX International Interior Design Awards. The winner will be anounched on the 29 November 2017.
GLOBAL UTC NOMINATED FOR OFFSITE PROJECT OF THE YEAR 2017
The shortlist for the 2017 Building Awards have been announced, with Global UTC nominated for offsite project of the year.
Global UTC opened its doors in September 2016, and provides specialist education spaces for 14-18 year olds looking to work in Creative, Technical and Digital Media industries.
The event takes place on 7 November at the Grosvenor House hotel in central London
GREATFIELDS IS ON SITE
Greatfields School is progressing quickly on site, with the innovare structure nearing completion after just 6 weeks on site.
Surface to Air architects were appointed by LBBD council to design the new £35 million school, which will provide a 700 pupil primary school and a 1,800-pupil secondary school.
HILLSIDE GARDENS AWARDED PLANNING
Surface to Air have been awarded planning for 4 new affordable housing units in Streatham, London.
The existing garage site sits within the Hillside Gardens Estate in South London, and has been selected by Lambeth Housing Regeneration as an ideal location to provide much needed housing in the borough.
The proposed scheme introduces an active use in high quality buildings which will improve the visual amenity of the area and lead to natural surveillance in a site that currently suffers from anti-social behaviour. The design strategy responds sensitively to the tight boundaries of an urban site and edge-conditions in terms of over-looking, sunlight and daylight into spaces; and finally the relationship to adjacent buildings and building heights.
Atkins has been selected as a partner to assist in delivering this 100% affordable scheme. The design team have worked in partnership with Lambeth Housing Regeneration who are responsible for Strategic Housing, Regeneration and Communities projects.
GLOBAL UTC OFFICIALLY OPENED BY ROYALS
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry have officially opened Global academy in Hayes, West London, in support of their mental health initiative Heads Together.
The Global Academy is free to attend and students come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and encourages young people to talk about mental wellbeing issues they may be facing with an hour of mental wellbeing on the curriculum every week.
The royal guests each visited a classroom where pupils are learning about the science of sound, the student radio station where pupils are working on a mental wellbeing project, and an audio project listening to EMI’s vinyl recording of early speeches of the royal family.
HOLLY PORTER ON MIPIM 2017
This week I was asked to be guest blogger over on the ‘Maximising MIPIM’ blog, where I was tasked with predicting what will be ‘hot topics’ of conversation at this year’s event. These were my thoughts:
MIPIM is a melting pot for the world’s property industry. Once delegates from the UK cross the channel and converge in Cannes, events from the past year get boiled down and conversations – whether with old contacts or new connections – tend to revolve around a few select themes. Here are my predictions for what will be the “hot topics” at this year’s MIPIM:
Brexit: the London stand is an established feature at MIPIM, but this will be first time when it will present itself while preparing to depart from the EU. It’s unquestionable that Brexit will feature heavily at MIPIM – both in general conversation and at the various formal talks and panel discussions. We should use it as an opportunity to show that, despite the outlook back home, London and the UK is still attractive to a global market.
The housing crisis: With the Housing White Paper only recently published, and the UK in the midst of a serious housing shortage, how we can make meaningful change in this area will certainly be a hot topic at this year’s MIPIM. With developers, financiers, city leaders, agents, local authorities, architects and planners all in one place at one time, MIPIM will provide the perfect platform to get to heart of this issue and hold genuine talks on how to solve it.
PRS: The new kid on the block or an old acquaintance that we’ve only recently reconnected with? Rewind to 1917 and the private rented sector accounted for around 90% of all UK homes. A change in mind-set is desperately needed here; the property industry is ahead of curve compared to the average homeowner so discussions about how we reverse misconceptions and instigate a step change in thinking back home should be high priority at MIPIM.
The weather: We Brits can’t resist the opportunity to moan about the weather – too hot, too cold, too windy, too rainy. Last year it was so varied we’re still remembering it one year on – who could forget “Wet Wednesday”!? At least if you exhaust all other topics and find a lull in conversation, you can always play up to the stereotype and fall back on this old reliable. Let’s just hope that this year the climate in Cannes gives us little to complain about!
Holly Porter, Founding Director of Surface to Air
READ HOLLY'S COMMENTS ON THE RECENT HOUSING WHITEPAPER
Modular housing will be the key to unlocking the housing crisis so, while it is good to see the Government making reference to it in last week’s Housing White Paper, it doesn’t go anywhere near far enough. We needed to see more commitment to delivering housing through
modern methods of construction.
The Government’s recommendation that both traditional and modern methods of
construction receive the same access to funding is right, but it’s use needs to be actively encouraged – or indeed enforced – if we are to build the number of homes necessary within the short timeframe needed. There needs to be a fundamental shift in mind-set - modular
housing must be a natural consideration for the design and delivery of every scheme,
instead of an after-thought or novelty component.
Offsite construction cuts time to housing delivery, improves design quality and can in the end be cost-effective when delivered at scale. Industry game-changers, such as Laing O’Rourke and L&G, are starting to systemise the modular housing build process at scale, which is delivering more security and normalising the approach for funders who have hitherto been cautious about its success rate.
The announcement was a step forward, but to maximise the full potential of modular housing, the method needs to be totally integrated into the wider house-building process. What we would like to see is offsite construction becoming a guaranteed element – or at the least a consideration – in any development.
Holly Porter, Founding Director, Surface to Air
