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I'm pleased to say that we have taken on an additional facility close to our Hall Farm yard at Chippenham. 'Westinghouse', as it's now known provides a 15,000 square feet covered facility which we will be using for our highly finished and larger engineered projects where the ability for 4 forklifts carrying 10m beams to waltz around each other will increase our capacity enormously.
I was on site yesterday, and it was a real delight to see the synchronised operation of 10 planers preparing rafters for a current project - although I know that highly skilled craftsmen don't quite share this passion!
Critically for us, although this facility was desperately needed for the extra space, what it does allow us to do is to divide our highly crafted and labour intensive projects from those requiring efficiency and that extra cost advantage that every QS is looking for.
Recession, what recession?!
More blogs by Tim Burrell
I've just been reminded that I haven't written any blogs recently - so here goes.
Just before Christmas I was expressing my concerns over the state of the economy and our industry in particular. 2009 has indeed heralded a lot of turmoil and uncertainty, and I guess to a large extent many of us are still watching and waiting to see how things will pan out. (For what it's worth I'm still convinced that things will get very much worse, and that we still seem to be very much in denial. And surely I can't be the only one thinking that having got into this mess by huge swathes of the population borrowing more than they could afford, the obvious solution is to encourage us all to borrow more????? Are they serious????).
Allegorically, the flow of CV's into us demonstrates just how hard people are finding things, and a lack of work is being widely reported. But this is where we can afford ourselves a wry if tentative smile. We have never been busier! Our Scottish yard is nearing full capacity for the year, and the English yards have fuller order books than I can ever remember. In addition, we are only choosing to price one tenth of the timber engineering enquiries that come into us.
So are we exempt from the problems? Well obviously not, but what we are seeing is that the construction slump is providing opportunities to many (lower contractors prices, increased availability of land etc), and that we are being trusted as a known and reputable safe pair of hands. Having expected these problems, we were able to build cash reserves, and these are now standing us in good stead and allowing us to continue in our quality and training programmes - one of the key factors that differentiates us from others. It also gives us the stability that provides the safe home for our customer's cherished projects.
In a year's time where will any of us be? I've honestly no idea, but for now the future, against all odds, looks surprisingly bright. In the meantime our greatest defence is to continue to strive to be the best that there is. There can be no better qualification for survival?
More blogs by Tim Burrell
If you watched the BBC?s recent remake (well, more of a ?reimagining? than a remake to be honest) of the classic 1970?s drama Survivors, you may have been struck by some of the location shooting.
It?s clearly not easy to shoot a post-apocalyptic drama in a busy town ? the hundreds of people tend to give the game away ? although Manchester city centre, part of the Rossendale Valley in Lancashire and The Trafford Centre featured extensively.
Another location also featured ? probably more than any other ? and that was the Earth Centre at Doncaster. This location was used by ex-Government minister Samantha Willis to create a new community, with her as the leader.
The huge timber framed solar canopy
The reason I mention this is that part of the Earth Centre was constructed by Carpenter Oak & Woodland ? we were responsible for building the dramatic solar canopy, which featured in many of the outdoor shots. The canopy is huge ? over 1,300 square metres ? and it?s not just to keep the rain out. It was, at the time, Europe?s largest flat-foot photovoltaic installation, capable of generating 80,000 kilowatts of electricity per year.
And that?s one of the things that actually made the Earth Centre a smart choice for the survivors ? while the rest of humanity?s leftovers were scavenging in empty cities and towns, with no power infrastructure, any survivors at the Earth Centre could certainly enjoy life a little bit more, taking power from the sky.
The canopy under construction
Sadly, the Earth Centre was not a commercial success, and it closed in 2004, after only being open around 3 years. The Centre was used in 2007, to house refugees from the floods whose homes had been damaged, and we understand that the location has now been acquired for use as a skirmish site.
It?s something of a shame, as the Earth Centre was a real showcase for many technologies that we really need to be thinking far more seriously about ? such as sustainable energy. But, for us, it was still great to see it feature in what was one of the most successful dramas of 2008.
More blogs by Andy Parker
The Roman Architect Vitruvus in his Ten Books of Architecture (circa 25BC), the oldest known text on the subject, defines the essence of architecture as a synthesis of "utilas, firmistas and venustas", variously translated as firmness, commodity and delight (Sir Henry Wotton 1624) and strength, function and beauty. For Vitruvius, architecture requires balance between intellectual and manual, between theoretical and practical, between design and construction. John Da Silva of Polhemius Savery DaSilva Architects Builders makes the point about traditional Architect and Contractor relationships where one can profit by proving the other wrong are rife with mistrust and contentiousness. Designing and making allows the integration of theory and craft providing the best chance at approaching Vitrivius?s balance.*
I liken John?s words to the business practices of our own organisation. We are passionate about serving our Clients through the understanding of their needs, with integration into the design team at the earliest stage of the project concept. This approach to construction removes entirely the potential opportunity to profit from the errors or omissions conveyed by a set of rushed incomplete drawings, further exacerbated by a rather pathetic attempt at descriptive text made up by inexperienced college graduates. When the specialist contractor knows more about the construction than the project procurement team, that knowledge is the power to profit.
I recently was advised by a dishonest procurement practitioner that if our company provided the information from which he could put together a meaningful contractual document, we would be "nominated" to carry out the works. Alarm bells rung, as we had no knowledge of this practitioner and he had no experience of working with us and, by complete chance, we learned that he had made the same promise to two other specialists. How did he ever think that this dishonest approach would ever produce a successful project?
* Architecture of the Cape Cod Summer by Michael J Crosbie
More blogs by Scott Fotheringham
I frequently find myself reflecting on the fact that there is such a clear and compelling case for building in timber, and that post and beam construction has so many advantages, but the forestry industry in Britain just doesn't support it.
Don't get me wrong, I like the Forestry Commission. I like their cycle tracks through forests and their maintenance of areas such as the New Forest. But what I do find disappointing is that as a supplier of timber to this industry, it just doesn't happen. It's not just that we often struggle to find a contact to source timber for one of their own projects, as reasonably specified. It's that there is no sign of them responding to the obvious demands for building materials in this country - at least not that we, or our British sawmills can see.
The French do this really well - oak is a commercially grown crop there, and organised harvesting and replanting is commonplace. Is it any wonder then that British oak is so expensive and difficult to find, but that it's readily available from the other side of the channel?
OK, so I'm ranting. But if we, as a commercial organisation (albeit one with a strong conscience) can operate net replanting schemes which won't benefit us financially, isn't it reasonable to ask others who operate with public money to have a serious look at this problem?
More blogs by Tim Burrell
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