By clicking “Allow all cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, and to up the ante on your user experience.
Essential Cookies cannot be disabled, however you can opt-out of your data being stored. Click here to read our Cookie policy.
Close
Perspectives from our CEO: The Roger Bannister Approach

You’ve likely heard about Roger Bannister, and while some may argue that his record has been surpassed by many, why does his name still live on? 

Few moments have captured the world’s imagination like Roger Bannister’s historic sub-four-minute mile on May 6, 1954. It wasn’t just about speed; it shattered the belief that running a mile in under four minutes was humanly impossible. The prevailing thought was that the human body couldn’t endure such a feat. 

I hadn’t delved into his story much before, but recently someone pointed out that he studied the method and medically proved the apparent ‘medically impossible’ was, in fact, possible. This myth mirrors the mental barriers where certain goals may seem out of reach due to perceived limitations. Despite setbacks, injuries, and doubters, Bannister persisted in his pursuit of the elusive goal. His story encourages Colorminium to embrace unconventional ideas, explore new approaches, and constantly evolve to thrive in the ever-changing landscape. 

Reflecting on 2023, I’ve witnessed the embodiment of Roger Bannister’s methodology in my team’s work. We embraced new projects with innovative methods, proving their success. With over 50 years of knowledge and experience, doubt was never in the equation. We focused on the small details, crucial to the bigger picture, building relationships with an eye on the long term.  

As we stride into 2024, I think of how Roger Bannister’s approach and strategy to win is still so appropriate today. Applying method and challenging the ‘4-minute’ mindset, we’re exploring fresh ideas and constantly challenging the status quo. In a world marked by strife and conflict, we each need to embrace the opportunities around us and adopt a positive mindset. 

Our attitude plays a pivotal role and impacts those around us. Whether it be teammates, customers, or family, maintaining a smile on our dial and being the sunshine in every situation is ingrained in our DNA and culture. Every touchpoint becomes an opportunity to spread happiness and make a positive mark on the world. 

We’re ready for the next year, and whatever it brings us, and look forward to continuing our journey, bringing positive changes to the industry and embracing the challenges and successes that lie ahead. 

Roscoe Price | CEO

The Forge, 105 Sumner Street Shortlisted by the NLA

It’s great to see The Forge shortlisted in both the Workplace category and for the Environmental Prize of the year by the NLA.

Inspired by it’s industrial past and built for the future, The Forge is the UK’s first net zero carbon commercial development which we were excited to have worked on alongside Landsec. Featuring two elegant buildings, offering best-in-class sustainable office space, it is set around a bright public courtyard in the heart of Southwark.

We look forward to hearing the results tomorrow and good luck to all the other nominees!

Rose Court Shortlisted by the NLA

We’re excited that Rose Court has been selected as a finalist for the NLA’s Retrofit of the Year award.

We eagerly anticipate the announcement of the results on November 15th and wish all the other nominees the best of luck!


You can view the other nominees by clicking here.

Wadham College Shortlisted for the BCIA!

We are so excited to announce that Wadham College has been shortlisted for the British Construction Industry Awards.

The finished building is a centrepiece on the campus and it is a further testament to the benefits of early engagement to ensure deliverability of the clients dream. We look forward to hearing the results on the 11th October 2023.

Click here to sign up to our monthly newsletter where you’ll find valuable insights, the latest news, exciting events, and much more!

The Kensington Building receives BCO Award

Great to see The Kensington Building receiving a BCO award for Best Refurbished/Recycled Workplace yesterday.

Working alongside Ashby Capital and Janson Urban on this project was a great experience. This high quality 95,000 sq ft office and retail development is situated in a prime location on Kensington High Street, and improves connectivity to the Underground station through the creation of the new retail arcade. The project involved the remodelling of the bleak 1970’s building to transform the quality of its architecture and provide an inspiring new workspace. Click here to read the project case study.

We look forward to seeing how this project will place in the BCO National Awards on the 3rd October at the Grosvenor House. 

Rose Court selected as an AJ Retrofit Award Finalist!

Great to see Rose Court selected as a finalist for the prestigious Architects’ Journal Retrofit Award, in collaboration with BDG architecture + design and WPP.
Located just off Southwark Bridge on the lively South Bank, this impressive building has undergone an extensive refurbishment. With it’s striking new façade and additional height, the building brings people together with a variety of event and celebration spaces, along with workspace for agile working.
Congratulations to the lucky winners of the AJ Retrofit Award: The The Gramophone Works, Studio RHE.

It was excellent to have the opportunity to work with WPP and BDG architecture + design on this project and excited to share the full case study here.

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.

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.

Wadham College – Shortlist Winner in the 2022 Civic Trust Awards

Excellent to see that the Wadham College has made the shortlist for the National/International 2022 Civic Trust Awards!  As one of only 35 projects to reach this stage, it will either receive an award or be highly commended in March 2022.  It was great to be involved in this project from a very early stage, right through to completion, and delivering another outstanding scheme alongside Beard Construction, AL_A, and Gleeds.  Congratulations to all those involved!

Colorminium attends London State of the Market Event

Roscoe Price (Managing Director) & William Rabey (Head of Client Relations) are pleased to be at the London State of the Market Event.

Fantastic insights from a number of panel speakers Simon Carter, James Raynor & Samir Amichi and many more.

#londonstateofthemarket #colorminium #londondevelopment #futurebuildings #assetrepositioning

100 Liverpool Street Achieves Net Zero Carbon

100 Liverpool Street achieves Net Zero.

Great to have been part of a team with sustainability at the forefront of project decision making!

Nigel Webb, Head of Developments at British Land, said: “We are thrilled with what we’ve achieved at 100 Liverpool Street which serves as a blueprint for future sustainable development at British Land. We will never eliminate all carbon in development but with the right schemes, we can balance our emissions by supporting projects which truly absorb carbon from the atmosphere and have a positive local impact.”

British Land, Hopkins Architects and Sir Robert McAlpine

Barts Square III makes the headlines

Great article written by Thomas Lane regarding the Barts Square project.

Excellent to have taken part in delivering this masterplan, using modern methods of construction on Phase 3 with Helical plc, Sheppard Robson, Avison Young, Arcadis UK & Ireland and McLaren Construction Group.

https://www.building.co.uk/focus/barts-square-a-bold-piece-of-history-in-the-making/5109980.article

 

Business as usual, or business as unusual
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” [Alice asked.]
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where—” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

Nobody signed up for this. On New Year’s Eve, no one held up a glass and sang “Auld Lang Syne,” accompanied by resolutions around pay cuts, furloughs, airplanes without passengers, and hotels without guests…
But these are the times we find ourselves in. It’s natural to reminisce about history, even if that’s five months ago, but we can’t stay there. The world has changed.
We’re here now and, unlike Alice lost in Wonderland, we must decide where we are going to go. And it does matter what we choose: We can get up—or give up.
What was business as usual just a couple of months ago has radically changed—now it’s business as “unusual.” Leaders around the globe and in every industry are facing gut-wrenching decisions. As one executive said recently, “They’re all bad decisions. I’m just trying to pick the least worst ones.”
Yes, uncertainty abounds, but we can’t wait for the clouds to clear. Here are a few thoughts:

 

  • Isolation but not insulation. If you don’t know what day it is, its Blursday.  When Monday feels like Friday that feels like Wednesday!  Joking aside, people are feeling isolated.  Being at home or by themselves day in day out, not seeing their usual circle of colleagues and friends – but we can’t let them become insulated!  The antidote to insulation is visibility.  If people know they are being noticed and as leaders we are visible and present to our teams, people feel connected.
  • Get up or give up. Theodore Roosevelt once said: ‘In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing’.  We all know as leaders, that you have to put something in the bucket before you can take anything out.  Don’t let procrastination or indecision be your road block.  Winning in this environment is hard work, particularly when your opponent is a virus.  Invisible, but we have to believe, not invincible.  You have to believe to achieve.  You can’t teach hustle, but you can motivate it!
  • Planting not harvesting. A crisis is really an excellent breeding ground for building strong and healthy relationships.  With leaders starring down the barrel of losses and uncertainty, all too tempting is to leverage your position make a quick buck at the expense of someone else – the bitterness of a damaged long term relationship remains long after the excitement of short term profit.  Focusing on planting seeds, spreading your connections, helping people and building trust with all stakeholders will produce the most beautiful harvest in years to come.

Colorminium remains firmly behind its offer of help and assistance to anybody within the construction industry.  We’re really enjoying connecting, advising and resolving.  Reach out so we can share and learn together…

Stay stay, stay positive, stay connected.

Warm Regards

Roscoe Price
Managing Director
Are we nearly there yet?

Just cast your mind back to your childhood days, going on a car journey any longer than 30 minutes was a big deal.  The adrenalin of going on such a long journey definitely warranted the need to fully prepare.  Stocking up with books, travel games, packets of sweets or anything else to occupy the mind, would all ease the pain of the gruelling journey.  What we probably don’t recall is the extremely infuriating question we would relentlessly pummel our parents with – “Are we nearly there yet?”

Only when the situation is reversed and we find ourselves firmly in the driving seat, with our own kids wearing us down with the same question some 10 minutes out of the driveway, do we really appreciate just how frustrating a question it really is…

This is the unanswered question that no doubt lingers in everyone’s mind every minute of every day.  We all want to put this crisis behind us – and fast.

But as much as we might want life to be different, we have to learn to be prepared for the long haul.  And in all honesty, none of us really know how long that will be.  Welcome to the world of uncertainty.

No one can see the road ahead, but we have to find our way through this.  Here’s how:

  • Count the small wins daily.  As a leadership team, we love to spend time strategizing on our 3 year plan, dreaming of the future, spending numerous hours in healthy debate in offsite venues – never had we felt so comfortable that we had nailed our 2020 strategy… until COVID-19 turned up.  The 3 year focus becomes a 3 month focus and everything scales back accordingly.  You start what feels like an endless journey of timelessness – every day is the same you can’t remember which day of the week it is and you feel like you are just watching the clock….Stop, get back in control.  Make every day count.  What are you going to achieve today?  As we often get told, How do you eat an elephant? – once piece at a time.
  • Perfection is the enemy of execution.   Having been used to a world where we had time, we could collect information in an orderly fashion and consult widely before making decisions, we are now in a parallel universe.  With things moving so fast, the decisions we make today maybe wrong tomorrow – that’s ok.  Its far better to make a decision than no decision and a strategy that’s 75% perfect but 100% executable is 100% better than a perfect strategy that’s too late to be effective.
  • Open and Honest communication removes the fear of the unknown.  When the pressure’s on and you just can’t see your way clearly ahead, the natural thing is to put on the brave face and tell everyone “it’s going to be ok, don’t worry” in an attempt to pacify any concerns and not be the bearer of bad news.  The biggest trust-building action you can do with your people is to tell them what you really think and maintain this on a regular basis.

I hope these words may help someone in these challenging times.  We have been really enthused with the take up we have had with our offers of help to the Construction Industry and remain resolute in our commitment to continue to help.  We would love to hear from you – simply email or call us – if there is anything we can do, we’d love to do all we can to help you.

Stay positive, keep opportunity-focused and stay connected.

All the best

Roscoe Price

Managing Director

COVID-19 : Retaining the initiative
In these very unusual times, it brings to mind some interesting reflections…I will never forget the time I got caught in a strong ocean current whilst snorkelling off a glass-bottomed boat in Barbados.  Being young and inexperienced, the automatic reaction was to swim harder and more vigorously in some futile attempt to overcome a greater power.  I never got anywhere.

Fortunately, a more experienced swimmer came to my rescue and showed me how to get back in control – he told me to “calm down and swim with the current not against it”.

Safely reaching the boat, I lay on deck completely exhausted.  This taught me an invaluable lesson – don’t fight the current, go with it.

I am sure we can all relate to experiences similar to this in life’s journey, but this is what this moment feels like.    With so much anxiety, negativity and pressure swirling around us, we can drown in a downward spiral.

Times are tough.  Leaders are doing all they can to protect the viability of their businesses – pulling every lever to reduce every possible cost whilst keeping their people upbeat and productive.  People are striving might and mane to achieve results over virtual platforms, whilst working in a completely different environment accompanied by families learning from home.  Never has there been a time, when having a positive mental attitude been more important.  As they say, when the going gets tough… the tough get going….

Let me share some thoughts from our little world in Colorminium…

Enjoy the challenge and retain the initiative.  What stands out for me, is the way our people continue to evolve and adjust their equilibrium to suit a “new normal”.  Coming from a culture of where we enjoy the social connectivity of meeting each other in reality, the team are finding innovative ways of keeping positive.  From sharing precious moments of where families are enjoying fun and laughter like they’ve never done before; or the snaps of the unspoilt creation looking beautiful in this fantastic weather whilst on the daily walk; to the amusing images of mishaps through self-managed haircuts.  These all help to keep us motivated and connected.

Thinking of others.  Whilst it is very easy to feel hard done by in these times.  We have an earnest desire to think and care for those around us.  In doing so, we are always on the look out for opportunities in which to help our stakeholders, but especially our customers.
You will probably recall last week, we launched our Red button strategy, to help our friends in distress.  Anyone who is challenged in the industry, the offer is still open.  Just email redbutton@colorminium.com and we’ll get right in touch.

However, in our quest to further help, we’ve come up with a new initiative.  Welcome SmartSan.  A simple concept to help Contractors mobilise and get productive on their sites again.  Click on the SmartSan word to find out more.

So, if you are feeling like you are swimming against the current, I hope these life belts might help!

Stay positive, keep opportunity-focused and stay connected.

All the best.
COVID-19 A week’s reflection

Our sympathies and thoughts continue daily to be with those individuals and families that have seen their loved ones become victims of this COVID-19 pandemic.  It is alarming how such diseases can claim the lives of many so quickly.

It is times like this that bring out the real core values of people.  It’s truly heart-warming to see so many men, women and children devoting their time and energies to unselfishly caring for others through this critical time.  Not least of all to mention the sterling efforts of our NHS.

One feels humbled, as one reflects on one’s own life.  I find it sometimes needs a jolt to galvanise you into really assessing what is important in life.  What really are your priorities?

I’m a fan of the 7 F’s – Faith, Family, Financials, Fitness, Friends, Function and Fun.   Fully recommend taking a blank sheet of paper and reassessing your priorities against these categories.  It really helps to press the “reset” button in life’s journey.

Turning to Colorminium…..

Our People – As our people begin to fashion their lifestyles and environments around the “working at home for the medium term” outlook, we remain fully cognisant of the huge challenge and paradigm shift that is required to really make this effective.  In endeavouring to ensure our teams continue to perform, we find that an all staff company daily huddle meeting on Zoom is an excellent way of achieving this.  Communicating daily on key metrics and information across the business allows the staff to share the leadership team insights into what is going on very frequently.  Keeping them positive and fun is also essential – Our Chairman, Ian Price enjoyed asking the families of all our staff to join today, promising the children £5 each today in reward for being so supportive of their parents – that went down well!!

Our Projects – With the health of our people, partners and stakeholders being a non-negotiable priority, we are constantly monitoring site activities to ensure rigid compliance with the government advice.  We would like to thank our site teams for how they are rising to the challenge of these new expectations and also for the innovative thinking that has seen some seemingly impossible site activities become possible by taking an “out the box” approach.  Feel free to reach out so we can share our ideas with you.

Our Customers, Partners and Stakeholders – We kicked off this year with a theme of “Stronger Together” – never did we realise just how important that would become as we do now.  We would like to thank everyone within our network for their continued hard work and support.  We can assure you of our commitment to deliver outstanding service at the current time.

Given, that we as humans are generally socially-wired, we are hungry for real connection – we’d love to hear how you are getting on and whether we can do anything to help.

Above all, remain positive, stay opportunity-focused and care for each other.  Stronger together.

All the best

Roscoe Price

COVID-19 An update from Colorminium

In this very challenging time of national emergency, we are all finding that we need to keep extremely agile to deal with the key issues as they confront us.  What seemed important last week, has fast moved down the list of priorities.

With the huge threat that COVID-19 poses to our society, our focus is to operate as effectively as possible whilst safeguarding the health and well-being of our people, supply chain partners, customers and those connected to the organisation.

Our People – With the majority of our people having now worked from home for just over a week, we are very thankful for the way our IT infrastructure has allowed us to continue to perform, along with some of the excellent video conferencing tools to keep us connected.  It is so important to maintain a good company culture in these somewhat changing circumstances.  Whilst arguably, some say we probably are over-communicating, inspiration and motivation of the team at this current time are a must.

Our Projects  – We would like to make a special mention to our site teams and construction workers who have kept “the wheels” of our sites turning where we are able to operate responsibly.  Ensuring that we adhere to the government’s mandatory requirements of social distancing and minimising risk of spread of infection has determined that some sites and site operations must cease.  We continue to monitor all activity daily to ensure no protocols are compromised.

Our Outlook – Whilst we really have no idea what the future holds in terms of COVID-19, we remain resolute in our determination to minimise the impacts for you and our people.  We firmly believe that adopting a “can do” attitude will see us all through this stronger.  Whilst the normal way of doing business has changed, our teams remain committed to deliver outstanding service and engage with you to provide design and technical advice as required.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you and all our customers, partners, people and friends for going above and beyond at this current time.

Above all, remain positive, stay opportunity focused and care for each other.  Stronger together.

COVID-19 and Supporting business continuity

With the growing levels of uncertainty and mounting pressure around COVID-19, we wanted to personally reach out and share a few things we are doing to minimise the disruption to our businesses and projects in these challenging times.

Firstly, our top priority is the wellbeing of our employees, customers and partners.  Approaching this challenge with a positive mindset is critical.  Our teams have risen to the challenge and have been exploring innovative ways in which we can weather the storm and adjust our ways of working to maintain continuity.

 

  1. Stay positive. Negativity destroys culture and stifles action.  Being a positive influence is infectious and helps to get things done.
  2. Contingency planning. Our project teams have carried out thorough risk reviews including supply chain audits and have strong mitigation plans in place should these need to be triggered at all.
  3. Think Smarter. With the real threat of self-isolation pending, all our teams are fully equipped to work from home.  With the investment we have made in technology, all our people are well experienced in holding virtual meetings by video-conference as well as continuing to execute efficiently remotely.

 

If you wish to discuss a challenge you may have, feel free to reach out to anyone of our Leadership team, we would only be too glad to see if we can help.

We are committed to supporting you in these difficult times.

Stay well, keep positive and stay opportunity focused.

Colorminium Leadership Team

HRH Princess Anne visits Barts Square

An honour to see HRH Princess Anne paying a visit to our Barts Square site with Helical plc and McLaren Construction last week, to replant the Persian Ironwood to commemorate Her Majesty, The Queen Mother.