General Archives - Page 3 of 11

Want to join our next Roundtable event?

An opportunity to meet and network with a selection of Developers, Architects, Consultants and Contractors who operate in the London Real Estate market.

There are limited spaces available at our next event which is being held at The Gherkin on Thursday 9th March – click here to register your interest for a seat.

Listen to Aurélien Collignon of FORE Partnership, and Nick Ridout of Scott Brownrigg who attended our last event, as they share their thoughts on the benefits of meeting at these forums.

Hear what they say…

Listen to Chris Railston-Brown of Seaforth Land and Mariana Parrinha of Squire & Partners as they talk about their experience of engaging with us on our Façade Strategy service, for the repositioning project of Space House.

The opportunity to work on this stunning landmark building is exciting, and it has been a pleasure to work alongside Chris and Mariana to optimise the scheme and turn the vision into reality.

Project Update from One Berkeley Street

Pleased to share a recent shot of our project at One Berkeley Street.

Located in London’s prestigious Mayfair conservation area, facing the Ritz, this building is being transformed to provide a luxury mixed-use complex for Crosstree Real Estate Partners.

The hotel is fast taking shape on the lower and upper floors and the front elevation facing The Ritz, compliments the area with the contextually sympathetic design.

Keep up the good work team!

Perspectives from our CEO

A new year always gives us opportunity to take a fresh look at how we approach life, both personally and in business. It’s a chance to do things differently.

A post on LinkedIn the other day shared an interesting perspective on the farming community. A very different world compared to Real Estate, but a key phrase that jumped out at me was:

You can’t change the weather, so prepare yourself to weather the storm.

The storms will only impact the unprepared, so now is the time to be smarter about your Real Estate.

2022 was certainly a year for storms. Soaring inflation driving up construction costs, interest rate hikes significantly increasing the cost of funding and the war in Ukraine affecting supply chains throughout Europe to name a few. Set all of this against the background of a market coming out of COVID, a global sustainability crisis and a looming EPC B by 2030 requirement and the outlook for Real Estate looks challenging.

And looking ahead in 2023 further storms appear to be brewing. Analysts are predicting a recession, the great resignation is underway and the cost of living crisis is affecting the rates people can afford to pay.

However, amidst all the turbulence there are opportunities. We have seen the resilience of the Real Estate market through the recent pandemic years, the market weathered that storm well and we’ve come out of it stronger and more connected. London remains one of the most well-known centres for foreign exchange, banking and insurance and the demand for office space is forecasted to increase as more companies push for a return to the office. Other sectors such as life sciences are also buoyant, with demand for pre-fitted lab space in London on the rise, as the sector strives to become a global hub over the next decade.

Real Estate is here to stay as a worthwhile investment, and moving into 2023 it is time to take a fresh look at how we approach these storms to best weather them.

Take our Façade Strategy service as an example. Façade Strategy is all about using decades of experience to anticipate the unique risks and challenges facing a project, and doing it before it’s too late to make adjustments to avoid them. It means we get involved early in the design stages, acting as a strategic partner from the outset to ensure opportunities are not missed and problems are avoided before the design is locked down. It’s this holistic approach, focused on optimising your return on investment that helps you prepare for the storm, before it’s too late and risk and compromise become unavoidable.

Now’s the time to network and collaborate, like never before, sharing our challenges and successes, bringing others on the journey as we continue to weather the storms.

End of Year Celebration at Rose Court

On Friday 16th December, we held our end of year celebration, bringing all the team together in one of our recently completed projects – Rose Court!

Great opportunity to get together as a team to celebrate another successful year. Everyone enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the chance to take time out and chat with their colleagues, as well as the opportunity for us all to admire the attention to detail throughout the design and build of the building.

Perfect weather to appreciate the amazing views across the City, and enjoy a delicious meal served by Green & Fortune.

Excited to share our ‘Employee of the Year’ Winners, who were announced at this event. We encourage our team to recognise outstanding progress and development in their colleagues by nominating them to receive this accolade every year.

This year we awarded the following:

Kris Zakrzewski was awarded Employee of the Year, nominated by the team.
Predrag Breberina was awarded Employee of the Year, nominated by the Leadership team.
Steve Foster and Steve Sharp were runners-up, nominated by the team.

Congratulations to all – very well deserved!

Is your façade in the wrong jungle?

Envision a group of producers cutting their way through the jungle with machetes. They’re the producers, the problem solvers. They’re cutting through the undergrowth, clearing it out.

The managers are behind them, sharpening their machetes, writing policy and procedure manuals, holding muscle development programs, bringing in improved technologies and setting up working schedules and compensation programs for machete wielders.

The leader is the one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the entire situation, and yells, “Wrong jungle!”

– Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, page 101

Since it was written back in the 90s this analogy has changed the way many leaders and managers throughout the world think and act. As well as highlighting a key difference between leaders and managers the story plays out one of the key habits from the book – ‘Habit 2 – Begin with the End in Mind’

As he explains, if you don’t make a conscious effort to visualize who you are and what you want in life, then you empower other people and circumstances to shape you and your life by default. In other words if you don’t take the time out to choose your jungle, you could spend your life working in the wrong one.

Its an incredibly powerful concept, and we’ve been thinking a lot recently about how it applies to the world of Construction and Façades.

Looking back, the management skills are obvious, throughout the industry. We’ve all got really good at tweaking designs to get every bit of performance out of them, hunting out long lists of VE options and savings, shaving extra millimetres off to maximise the sight lines and searching out the most sustainable suppliers for each material.

But have we been doing it in the wrong jungle?

What if there was a fundamentally different façade solution available that’s a lot more aligned with the specific development objectives? One with significant cost and carbon benefits, or perhaps a lot faster to install on site with increased NIA, and that the team hadn’t even thought of? Surely its worth climbing the tree to find out?

We think it is, and that’s why we’ve set up our team of Façade Strategists to help our clients challenge the status quo and find out what is possible on their developments.

Want to know more? Reach out to one of our team, watch what our clients are saying, have a look at the definition of a façade strategist or have a browse of our website….

New Project Secured – St Pancras Campus

Excited to share that we have been appointed to deliver the façade on the St Pancras Campus scheme.

Working with Bam Construction, alongside W.RE, Caruso St John Architects and Exigere, the transformation of this underutilised site will bring a mix of commercial office, retail, light industrial, as well as residential uses. Utilising a high-performance façade together with on-site energy generation, the development is set to achieve BREEAM Excellent upon completion.

Read more about this project here: https://www.colorminium.com/project/st-pancras-campus/

Key takeaways from BISNOW’s London State of the Market event

Pleased to share some key takeaways from our attendance at BISNOW’s London State of the Market Event earlier this week.

We came away feeling upbeat about the future of London’s real estate and condensed our takeaways into 3 key points:

• London is here to stay with the demand being for quality, height, light and collaborative open spaces. Good building design drives value, and it always will do.

• Need to be adaptable and explore all options, repositioning vs new development, not being single eyed on repositioning necessarily.

• Emphasis of ROX (Return on Experience) – ROI remains important in the world of development and real estate, but as with every sector, brand experience is what builds long term value!

Great to network with others at the event and have opportunity to convene at our recently completed project 127 Kensington High Street.

Latest pictures from our project The Forge

Excited to share an update about our project The Forge for Landsec.

Things have progressed quickly over the past months and we are now fitting doors and finishes, making way for the groundwork to be completed.

Building the world’s first ‘kit of parts’ solution on a P-DfMA structural frame with Landsec, Bryden Wood, Mace and Sir Robert McAlpine has been such a great experience.

Read more about this project here: https://www.colorminium.com/project/105-sumner-street/

Celebrating World Hello Day!

Today is World Hello Day – created to highlight the role that personal communication plays in preserving peace. On this day, people are encouraged to participate by simply greeting 10 people.

At the Colorminium headquarters and on our sites, we celebrated with a pizza lunch, giving our teams the opportunity to get together and say ‘hello’, while enjoying a delicious meal.

David & David catching up over their pizza lunch!

What is a Façade Strategist?

We’re all used to working with a Façade Consultant or Façade Contractor, but a Façade Strategist? What’s a Façade Strategist?

Looking it up in a dictionary doesn’t really help us:

Façade – ‘any face of a building given special architectural treatment’;

Strategist – ‘someone who is skilled in planning the best way to gain an advantage or to achieve success, especially in war’.

Not the best definition, although the battle between design, cost and quality can end up feeling like war in some meetings!

The actual definition is:

Façade Strategist – someone who takes a holistic approach to a building’s envelope in view of optimising the client’s return on their investment (ROI).

And what does a Façade Strategist do anyway?

Façade Strategists work at the very early stages of a development, pre-planning, and sometimes as early as pre-acquisition stage, to develop the best result for the asset. They explore the development, getting a deep understanding of the client’s objectives and concerns, and go on to create a range of innovative solutions working in close conjunction with the team. They facilitate informed decision-making by the client and develop a sustain mechanism to ensure this choice is not diluted as the project moves forward.

Façades are a complex subject with many competing factors and drivers. These include aesthetical appearance, cost, embodied and operational carbon, net internal area (NIA), weight, and performance, to name but a few. As a result, it’s hardly surprising that many consider risk and compromise to be inevitable.

A Façade Strategist is a highly specialised role that requires a very specific profile to achieve success. Such a person must:

be a trusted advisor –able to listen, ask the right questions and do the right thing for the outcome of the development, without letting personal agendas and pride get in the way;
be able to challenge the status quo – applying tried and tested ideas in innovative ways, unlocking entrenched assumptions, networking and sharing solutions;
understand the real estate world – focusing on what really drives the development appraisal and delivers ROI, which is not necessarily the highest quality, the best or most sustainable performance, or lowest cost;
be commercially unbiased regarding products, processes or materiality – to avoid detracting from the project-centricity of the approach;
have delivery experience – able to assess how much it can actually be built, how long it will really take and how much it will actually cost.

As London’s Façade Strategists, we’re working with our clients to help them optimise their real estate and build the future of London through exceptional façades.

Celebrating International Accounting Day!

To celebrate International Accounting Day, and the great work our team do here at Colorminium, we focused our spotlight on our Financial Controller, David Raffaelli FCCA, who shared a few thoughts with us!

When did you join Colorminium?
October 2017 – it’s been a happy 5 years

What do you like most about your job?
I like the fact that it’s a large company, but still has that family business feel and I particularly enjoy the interactions I have across all departments with different members of the team.

Why is Accounting important?
I’d say, why isn’t it important?! It lets the business know how it’s doing, where we’re heading in terms of the numbers and the data feeds our leadership team and helps them make right decisions for the future. I like the fact that as a company, we have a secure future, that inspires me.

What do you like about our company culture?
I like the fact that the leadership team are really approachable, easy to talk to, and they listen to their staff, take their staff’s ideas on board. It’s what I said before, it’s the family business feel, they care about their staff and have a feeling of responsibility towards their staff, from the owners. Ah, and I also like the fact that we do such fantastic buildings, every time I’m in London I spot a project we’ve done!

Who inspires you most at Colorminium?
The younger team members – they’re the youth of today, but they’ve changed any perception you might have about the youth, they work hard, they’re inspirational.

How did you decide to get into Accounting?
I suppose the decision to become an accountant was really driven by my internal balance sheet! It made sense to earn money at the same time as training up – it was a career path where I was able to go to work straight out of college, and eventually obtain a masters equivalent qualification, supported by my employers, fully accompanied by paid working experience, whilst avoiding student debt!

Smarter Thinking Around the Future of Façades Event

It was great networking with representatives from across the industry at the ‘Smarter Thinking Around the Future of Façades’ Breakfast last week.

We discussed the challenges faced by the industry, sharing thoughts and ideas on the best approach to address today’s headwinds of material cost inflation and sustainability demands.

An excellent opportunity to collaborate and learn from others – truly appreciated the input of Aurélien Collignon of FORE, Richard Sansom of Landsec, Nick Ridout of Scott Brownrigg, Louise Tanner of Skanska, and Mark Cleverly of CPC.

The topical discussion included:
•The growth of repositioning, refurbishment and EPC
•How the industry is stuck in what arguably could be described as a “Victorian” style process
•The Need for an R&D budget to allow for innovation on a project
•How important aesthetics are, especially when restoring heritage buildings in London
•The appeal of redesigned spaces vs new spaces and balancing the sustainability factor

We look forward to further opportunities to collaborate, learn and share at future sessions like this in the new year.

Letter from our CEO

We’ve been working on some interesting new offerings here at Colorminium based on the feedback we’ve received from our clients over the years. Read the latest letter from our CEO Roscoe Price, below, to learn about all the exciting developments at Colorminium.

William Rabey joins the panel at BISNOW Event

On 22nd September 2022, William Rabey, Head of Client Relations here at Colorminium, participated in a panel discussion alongside other industry leaders Laurence Jones, Ben Cross, Ned Williams, Amanda Irwin and Yohance Harper in a discussion on ‘The Great Office Refurb: Increasing Asset Value.’

William added, “With the dynamics of development continually changing, it was fantastic to participate in the debate to aid in building London’s future. Occupiers and local communities will continue to play an increasingly vital part in the success of future developments, coupled with a strategically led approach ensuring all factors are considered, explored and realised early on in the development journey.

It was great to hear about signs of alignment on ESG standardisation from Basil at FORE, and the clear message that came through across various panels of putting effort, time, analysis and attention in early -to de-risk and realise all opportunities.”

Project update from Marylebone Square

Work on our Marylebone Square project is progressing well, and the structure for this contemporary new build residential development is now visible on the corner of Moxon Street, just off Marylebone High Street.

The site is on a tight footprint, but hard work and excellent collaboration is driving progress forward, as we work to deliver the rich, varied, and high-quality façade that will provide a seamless blend with the historic buildings surrounding this development.

Excellent to have this opportunity to work with Kier Construction, Concord London Developments , E8 Architecture and Gardiner & Theobald LLP on this stunning project.
Keep up the great work team!

One Berkeley Street project update

Our team at One Berkeley Street are continuing to make excellent progress – with the side and front elevations now visible on our latest shots.

Keep up the good work team!

One Berkeley Street

Seeing Clearly – Core Five Roundtable discussion takeaway

We recently attended a roundtable discussion on reducing the embodied carbon content in facades hosted by Core Five.

The topic for the discussion was: How can the industry design, cost and construct façade systems that minimise embodied carbon whilst still creating high quality architecture that also optimises operating carbon?

It was excellent to meet with others from Arup, Kawneer, as well as members from Core Five to debate some of the key issues faced.

You can find out more and access your copy of the report here.

New Photos released – 127 Kensington High Street

Brilliant to see the stunning photographs of our recently completed project at 127 Kensington High Street.

This remodelled 1970s building transforms the prominent corner of Kensington High Street and Wrights Lane, providing next generation office space and improves connectivity to the Underground station through the creation of the new retail arcade.

Excellent to have this opportunity to work with Ashby Capital, Pilbrow & Partners, ISG and Core Five, on this impressive project.

Click the link to read more about this project and see further pictures.

RIBA London Awards 2022

Excellent to see the 2022 RIBA London Awards recognising and celebrating the outstanding architecture across London.

We are delighted to have contributed to 3 of these by delivery the unique atrium and sweeping soffits at British Land’s 100 Liverpool Street, The Hoxton Southwark with its bespoke unitised system and Helical’s Barts Square scheme where early engagement enabled the architectural intent to be fully realised.

Thank you for the opportunity to be involved in helping build London’s future with these exceptional facades.

Business Breakfast Event – 31 March 2022

Excellent event at The Gherkin last week, looking over London’s ever changing skyline and collaborating with representatives from across the industry.

Thought provoking topics including inflation and sustainability, gave opportunity for experienced leaders to discuss the impact from their perspective and share their vision on how the future could evolve.

We’re feeling upbeat about the resilience the London market has shown to date and it’s ability to survive the recent events, and agree that collaboration and a readiness to work together will help us all continue to drive forwards.

The Minories Hotel, Aldgate

This recently completed project sees the first Canopy by Hilton open it’s doors to guests in Aldgate London.

Commissioned by the client, 4C Hotel Group in January 2017 to work on the largest hotel project in their portfolio, Colorminium worked on a façade strategy starting with optimisation through to developing the detailed design of the façade with Acme architects from RIBA stage 2.

This early engagement enabled us to realise the vision of celebrating the existing façade with a bespoke feature fin system that clad the existing pre-cast frame, to give it the stunning finish we see today.

This video captures our journey with the Client and Architect on another stunning landmark scheme – working together to build a sustainable future for London.

Practical Completion achieved at 127 Kensington High Street

Excited to announce that we have been awarded Practical Completion of our project at 127 Kensington High Street!

Pleased to share a few pictures taken by our site team – well done to all involved for their relentless commitment on this project.

New Photography Released of 50 Eastbourne Terrace

Pleased to share some stunning shots of our recently completed project at 50 Eastbourne Terrace!

With close attention to detail every step of the way, the quality finish makes it stand out in its prominent corner location.

Excellent to be involved and have this opportunity to work with YardNine, Avison Young, Sheppard Robson, Gardiner & Theobald LLP & McLaren Construction Group.

Click on the link below to find out more about this project and see further pictures.

100 Liverpool Street – Arcade Soffits – New Photos Released

British Land’s 100 Liverpool Street development is now a thriving hub of activity, as the benefits of this award winning, net zero carbon building, are experienced by so many every day.

Along with the stunning Atrium that we were pleased to complete for them, we also contributed to the 90,000 sq ft of new shops, restaurants and gym, by delivering some large curved soffits throughout the retail areas.

The soffits lead you through the Mall, across all three levels, with the gentle curves and crisp precision further enhancing the look and feel of this prestigious building.

It was excellent to be involved in this project.