Presentations

"Towards Intelligent Construction” Conference,
30 November 2011

 

The Conference that took place on 30 November at RIBA’s Jarvis Hall was Buildoffsite’s biggest event of 2011. Developed and delivered in collaboration with the Royal Institute of British Architects the event was attended by 250 delegates. The host was Angela Brady, RIBA’s President, with Richard Ogden of Buildoffsite chairing the proceedings. The Conference was sponsored by Tekla and the Department for Business.

The Conference title – Towards Intelligent Construction – was chosen to reflect the need for the construction industry to adopt new and more effective ways of working, in order to offer better construction solutions and to deliver much better value for clients and customers. It is not about suppliers making minor modifications at the margins but rather the need for a fundamental reshaping of the technologies, processes and relationships that are applied within the industry. This includes smarter build solutions including the increased use of offsite solutions, the application of the principles of design for manufacture and assembly, the use of lean production techniques to eliminate process waste and the increased and intelligent use of Building Information Modelling.

The need to ensure a quality built environment requires great architecture with architects able to take advantage of the opportunities that more efficient construction methods can offer to deliver genuinely stunning buildings, without the compromises that often result from the use of traditional construction methods.

The Conference featured two significant Case Studies, the first being the British Land project at 122 Leadenhall Street in the City of London. Commonly referred to as the Cheese-grater, this stunning and technically challenging development is being constructed by Laing O’Rourke and will be completed 6 months ahead of schedule through the application of intelligent construction techniques, including the use of Building Information Modelling, with the use of offsite manufactured components accounting for 85% of the building.

The second Case Study featured the development programme of elective surgery hospitals by Circle Health Properties. This substantial investment programme is characterised by the requirement for excellence in design, excellence in construction, excellence in use and excellence in customer experience. The expert client in collaboration with their supply chain is constantly challenging what it does and why it does it, as well as taking the learning points from each hospital project and applying the lessons to their next projects. This process ensures that tangible benefits in terms of more effective design and construction techniques, reduced cost of ownership, provision for adaptation, and the development of clinical and customer services are being achieved in a way that also ensures that waste in all its forms is being eliminated. The client’s supply chain is deploying Building Information Modelling both to manage the overall design and construction process and to drive efficiency in the building form.

Circle has already achieved a 30% reduction in construction costs whilst delivering exceptional architecture and build quality. Approximately 80% of project value is being delivered through the use of offsite manufactured components and assemblies. This is a fantastic achievement, but Circle believes that there is much more value to be gained through close collaboration with an expert and committed supply chain.

There were also presentations on the future of BIM by Stephen Hamil, the Director of Design and Innovation, RIBA Enterprises, and on collaborative working and continuous improvement by Paul Fletcher, RIBA’s Councillor and chair of the RIBA Construction Strategy Group, Director Through-architecture.

The conference was very well received by delegates and the presentations and Panel Session stimulated some passionate and well informed debate. Feedback from delegates has been incredibly positive, both about the learning from the presentations but also about the value of a mixed design and construction community together coming together to exchange ideas on meeting immediate challenges and on creating a better industry.

This was the first time that Buildoffsite has collaborated in such a visible way with RIBA. We will shortly be meeting with Angela Brady and her senior management team to identify how we can jointly build on this achievement, and begin to flesh out a shared work-programme for 2012. 

To download the presentations click here:

Case Study 1 – The Leadenhall Building
Presentations from:

• Matthew White, British Land – The Client
• Andy Young, Rogers Stirk Harbour – The Architect
• Damian Eley and James Thonger, Arup – The Consultant
• Andy Butler, Laing O’Rourke – The Constructor

 

Case Study 2 – Circle’s Capital Project Programme
Presentations from:

• Mark Cammies, Property Director of Circle
• Darron Haylock, Partner at Foster and Partners
• Jaimie Johnston, Director, Bryden Wood

 

Buildoffsite Stakeholders Event

8 October 2009

Going off-site in support of sustainability

Sustainability workshop

Stakeholder event

 

Buildoffsite Stakeholders Event

6 May 2009

The time for intelligent construction: vision and leadership

• Welcome and Introduction – Richard Ogden, Chairman of Buildoffsite

• Innovation in Construction: The Shard Development – Shane Lincoln, Design Director,Sellar

• Innovation in Design: Building in a Box – Jaimie Johnston, Senior Associate, Bryden Wood Associates

• Innovation is Sustainable Construction: World Class Performance – Neil Taylor, Gazeley

• Innovation in House-building: Why the future of housing is offsite – Dennis Seal, Director - Development and Affordable Housing, Kier Partnership Homes and John Miles, Global Chairman of Energy, Resources and Industry Market, ARUP

Workshops

21st Century Housing – Have we reached the tipping point for the main-streaming of offsite construction solutions?

• Where is the Henry Ford of Housing? - John Miles, Global Chairman of Energy, Resources and Industry Market, ARUP

• The Developer’s view -The Tipping Point has arrived - Dennis Seal, Director, Development and Affordable Housing, Kier Partnership Homes

• The client view - Andrew Main, Group Director of Business Development, Paradigm Housing

• The Designer’s view, Gary East and Jenny Hayes, O’Connell East

Why BIM?

• Welcome and Introduction – Cal Bailey, Buildoffsite
• An overview of Building Information Modelling – Mark Bew, Director of Business Information Systems, Scott Wilson Group plc.
• Case Study 1 – Adrian Burgess, Scott Wilson
• Case Study 2 – David Throssell, Skanska
• Case Study 3 – Jeff Stephens and David Leonard, Taylor Woodrow    
• Design & Decision Tools for Low Impact Buildings - Kerry Mashford, TSB  
• TSB Design and Decision Tools competition and the forthcoming RIBA/BSRIA BIM conference - Anne King, Membership and Marketing Director, BSRIA
• RIBA Knowledge Community on Integrated Project Working - Keith Snook, Director of Research and Technical, RIBA

 

'Breakfast with Buildoffsite - An introduction to innovative Project Management (presented by Ali Mafi, Lean Thinking Ltd)

29 January 2008

 

LEAF OSC Conference

23-24 January 2008

LEAF London kicked off with a rousing evening speech from Mark Brearley, urban design manager at Design for London, about the architectural renaissance shaping London's future.

Held at London's Royal Horticultural Halls, the event brought together some of the leading lights in architecture and proceeded with the LEAF Offsite Construction Conference on the Wednesday chaired by Richard Ogden, Chairman, Buildoffsite. Established with the support of the Department of Trade and Industry, Buildoffsite partnered the conference programme to help promote offsite construction methods in support of a more productive construction industry and a more sustainable built environment.

The opening keynote, "Designing and Constructing for a Sustainable Future – a Global Perspective", led by Jonathan Fenton-Jones, Global Procurement & Sustainability Director, Gazeley Ltd, was a fascinating look at the new industry benchmarks this global provider of sustainable logistics space is setting. Jonathan showcased impressive projects including Chatterley Valley, which is set to become one of the world’s greenest business parks, aided by its very own bio-fuel micro power station.

Gazeley’s sustainability approach as well as a look at other carbon neutral buildings and future technologies was followed by a panel discussion supported by RIBA president Sunand Prasad, Ken Shuttleworth, a founding partner of Make Architects, and Gordon Carey, president of the British Council for Offices, all of whom debated with Jonathan what opportunities offsite presented businesses, the environment and the economy as a whole.

The main focus was on how practices can establish their own "eco-template" and what Sunand described as a "clear connection between offsite and sustainability". Chairman of Carey Jones Architects and president of the British Council for Offices, Gordon Carey, highlighted the misconceptions architects and even clients have about offsite construction and how this needs to be addressed. Ken Shuttleworth brought his experience working on high-profile projects such as the HSBC headquarters in Hong Kong and London's Swiss Re tower, aka 'The Gherkin', to champion offsite's "meccano-style" advantages. Shuttleworth also tantalisingly predicted a future where buildings will not be demolished at the end of their lives but become "kits and bits that can be used over and over again".

Schools and healthcare

The late morning saw two presentations: one on schools, led by Alan Jones from the Department for Children, Schools and Families, and the other on healthcare, led by Paul Jackson, strategic business director at NG Bailey.

Bernard Williams and Alistair Gibb, professor of construction engineering management, Department of Civil Engineering, Loughborough University, followed this with an examination of the offsite market. Williams presented sobering research that identified the UK and Ireland as two of Europe's least efficient construction markets when compared to Belgium and Norway, where offsite formed a significantly larger share of the market. Williams also highlighted offsite's potential to provide more highly skilled personnel to produce better end products in a healthier, efficient market.

Case Study

After lunch, there was a case study looking at building a GlaxoSmithKline facility model by Nigel Barnes, VP global project management, and supported by Frank McLeod of Bryden Wood McLeod Integrated Design and Engineering. The discussion centred on why clients are demanding this form of architecture and the advantages of adopting OSC/MMC methods and the long-term implications this will have on business.

Stephen Taylor, principal specialist inspector from the construction division technology unit at the Health and Safety Executive, gave a sobering presentation on 'Reducing the Risk Factor'. Taylor examined what CDM implications and new legislation means for architects, health and safety within OSC and how MMC mitigates risk.

Heathrow Terminal 5

In anticipation of the exclusive visit to Heathrow Terminal 5, Anna Winstanley, director of strategic design, Laing O'Rourke, gave a fascinating presentation on 'Design for Manufacturing and Assembly for airport buildings'. Points of interest included looking at designing for predictability of time and cost.

21st Century Solutions

The final session ended with a lively panel discussion on “21st Century Solutions for the Home of the Future” led by Darren Burford, vice president, KNX, sponsored by Siemens. The discussion looked particularly at the need for innovation and technical solutions to create zero-carbon homes.

Richard Ogden wrapped up the day, with a convincing overview of how offsite offers innovative and long lasting construction solutions which had been demonstrated throughout the day’s presentations and panel debates.