The Grade A listed Usher Hall built in 1914 is one of the finest concert halls in Europe. It is one of the leading venues of the Edinburgh International Festival. The project consists of refurbishing and extending the building’s front and back of house facilities.
The programme includes upgrading the backstage areas, creation of a dedicated education space, new lifts, toilets and staircases, increased circulation space and improved office accommodation. A new wing will house a café / bar, a box office area and additional hospitality spaces. The programme also includes significant external works to install specialist lighting and improve the public realm. The works also include the excavation of an extensive new basement, and repairs to the existing stonework elevations.
Heery International Limited is the Main Contractor procured under a 2-stage traditional contract.
Protection and care of this Listed Building together with safely managing the close public interface on a prominent city centre site have been our priorities. We also needed to ensure the Usher Hall could continue to be used for concerts during the Edinburgh International Festivals of 2008 and 2009. This required careful phasing and the incorporation of temporary works. The project was subject to extensive design and scope changes as the existing structure was exposed and we are proud of the excellent working relationships that we maintained with the Client throughout.
Transportation
In this complex and extremely broad-ranging sector, we focus on rail, major highways and multi-modal hub & spoke transportation systems. Within these areas our highly experienced team work through the entire development cycle; from feasibility and design right through to construction and delivery into service. This often requires a multidisciplinary approach, where we combine building, civil, M&E and rail engineering expertise with our project and commercial management skills to deliver in constrained and demanding environments.
We’re currently involved in some truly high-profile projects, including the King’s Cross Redevelopment – a hugely complex station redevelopment valued at around £800m – and BAA’s Terminal 5 Rail Link. We’re also playing a lead role in the upgrading of London’s Underground network, providing services to London Underground Ltd and its PPP partners through our dedicated Metro delivery team.
Above ground, we’re part of the Regional and City Airports (RCA) consortium - the Balfour Beatty Group’s specialist airport investment and development group. In 2007, our technical expertise developed the business model and capital expenditure plans that enabled RCA to successfully acquire Exeter and Devon International Airport Ltd.
Exeter is already one of the fastest-growing regional airports in the UK, but now it will be substantially redeveloped with new terminal facilities, an aircraft stand and (in the longer term) further terminal capacity, stand and taxiway development. It’s the kind of project that will require strong development, management and asset management skills. All of which we have in abundance. Our project history to date has clearly demonstrated expertise in airport master planning and development solutions, long-term capital investment planning, as well as operational skills in the aviation market, so we firmly believe we have much to offer.
Building
Heery’s strengths and track record have provided an excellent foundation in this area. Offering services across a range of sectors including commercial development, public amenities, education and healthcare, we work closely with customers to understand their needs, provide solutions for complex projects, and, in doing so, create maximum value on each project.
Some of the truly inspirational projects we’ve helped to deliver include turning Kempton Racecourse into an all-weather, all-year round facility, and completing the Playfair Project in Edinburgh, where we’ve refurbished the Royal Scottish Academy building and linked it, underground, to the National Gallery of Scotland. Heery have also been selected as Construction Manager for the two-year Cutty Sark Conservation Project, involving both repair and conversation for the ship herself, together with creating an improved visitor environment. A key national heritage project, our selection for this reflects our strong track record within this field.
And it doesn’t stop there. Current projects include the relocation of Queen Margaret University College (Scotland’s first entirely new higher education campus development for 30 years); seven new buildings across the UK for the NHS Blood and Transplant Service; and the 1,000,000sq ft, £170m Silverburn retail development centre in Glasgow.
Utilities
Drawing on our extensive experience in water, gas, electricity and telecoms networks, we’re able to manage a wide range of multi-utilities projects. Our projects include the rehabilitation and renewal of networks, where we handle every aspect of the planning and design to the management of utility diversions for major building and infrastructure projects, dealing directly with the utility companies and other stakeholders. We also have an established track record working with companies such as Three Valleys Water to reduce leakage from water networks.
A good example of BBM’s utilities activity is our alliance with National Grid on the North West Gas Alliance. We’re working together on the abandonment of iron gas mains across the distribution network in the North West of England – replacing the iron pipes, where necessary, with non-metallic materials. It’s a strong partnership that focuses on working together, sharing knowledge and getting the job done. BBM play a key role on the alliance management team and our staff on the project include commercial managers, programme planners, designers and network planners. All of the project’s targets have been met and we’ve also made considerable safety improvements. As a result of this success, we are now an alliance partner with National Grid working on the analogue to digital switch over programme and upgrading National Grid’s transmission infrastructure.
Other key customers include Merseytravel, for whom we managed utilities diversions to prepare for the Merseytram lines running from Liverpool to Kirby.
The work we do in this sector is supported by the latest technology, including GIS vector mapping and bespoke applications that we’ve developed using a variety of software, including Java.
Industry
Industry is a new and growing market for BBM, in which we’ve recently won substantial and challenging contracts.
Take, for example, our £24m construction management project with Kodak at Harrow – the first step in a programme of similar work right around the world. Kodak is streamlining its business to take advantage of new technology and reorganising its facilities and assets on the 40-acre site in North-West London. The modernisation process poses a number of technical challenges for BBM. For instance, the work must be carried out while the facilities are still operational and some of the buildings involved contain various quantities of asbestos.
We are also working on a number of PetroChem contracts. Lucite International have charged us with managing maintenance, turnaround and engineering projects on their site at Cassel Works, Teesside, and we also look after Q8 Petroleum’s site in Europoort, Holland.
