Student Placements

We have taken on two student placements from Northumbria University this year, continuing our strong links with the Building Services/Architectural Engineering degree.

Alex Rostron and Joe Morrell are working as trainee engineers in the office.

CDDFRS Bowburn Fire Training Centre

As part of our ongoing appointment with County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, this year has seen the completion of Bowburn Fire Training Centre, located on the edge of Durham City.  This state of the art facility includes a “live burn” training complex, virtual reality simulator suites, training at height rig and appliance bays.

Seven Stories - National Centre for Childrens Books

To celebrate its 10^th anniversary, Seven Stories undertook a significant refurbishment across the building.  This included new lighting installations, acoustic measures to the gallery close control cooling units, new close control units to the level 6 gallery, new audio/visual system and general upgrades to power and data systems.  Seven Stories have recently been awarded gold in the Best Large Visitor Attraction at the North East Tourism Awards since re-opening.  It really was a pleasure working on this project and we look forward to continuing our relationship in future.

Gilbert, Gilkes & Gordon - R&D Redevelopment

2015 saw the completion of the refurbishment works at the Gilkes turbine manufacturing R&D facility in the Lake District.  The existing building and client dates back to the 1800’s so it was sometimes a bit tricky trying to work with the original structure!  The building uses natural ventilation via a mixture of cross ventilation via perimeter opening windows and roof mounted stack ventilators.  Lighting is provided by suspended LED luminaires which look great next to the other exposed services.

St Bartholomew’s Church, Newbiggin

We have recently completed specialist lighting designs at St Bartholomew’s church in Newbiggin.  The work was completed on a tight budget using local suppliers and contractors which enabled fine tuning and “tweaking” to be undertaken quickly. We’re sure you’ll agree that it looks pretty spectacular.

This is one of many ecclesiastical projects we are currently working on, watch this space for further updates.

Portobello Trade Park, Birtley

This year has seen the completion of the Portobello Trade Park, which can be seen from the A1 at Washington services.  The site includes seven new industrial warehouses providing 15 individual units which have achieved a BREEAM rating of “very good”.

Axis 19, North Tyneside

The two new industrial units on the Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate have now been completed and handed over to the client, Northumberland Estates.  We have also now completed the design for the fit out of the tenant building services and these are currently being installed.  The units are being used as an offshore training facility for AIS.

Carmel College – Music and Science

The new extension at Carmel College is due to complete in early 2016 and will incorporate new science and music teaching facilities.  The new systems include mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, radiant panel heating, LED lighting and controls and a new automatic control system.

This is now our fourth project for the academy and we’re looking forward to continuing our excellent relationship with the client team.

Dolphin Centre Refurbishment

The phase 1 refurbishment works at the Dolphin Centre are due to complete in early 2016.  This predominantly building services project has seen the replacement of the majority of major plant including air handling units, boilers, pumps, lighting, controls and an electrical re-wire serving the two pool halls, changing village, gym and sports hall.  This project is a great example of “team working” and wouldn’t have been possible without the commitment of the client and construction teams.

Houghall Campus Redevelopment

The enabling works at Houghall College, on the outskirts of Durham City Centre are now well underway.  The new Animal Care facility will be the next building to commence construction, swiftly followed by the animal sheds whilst the refurbishment to the main entrance building has commenced.

It’s great to see things happening on site now considering we have been involved with this fantastic client for a long time now.

Hummersknott Academy

The extension works at the academy have now been completed and all that remains is to install the roof over the covered courtyard area.

It’s great to see this project nearing completion.

Willowburn Trading Estate, Alnwick

As part of our ongoing work with Northumberland Estates we have recently completed two new retail units in Alnwick.  The two new units will be occupied by Aldi and Majestic Wines.

Northumbrian Hills - Burgham Park Phase 1

This year has seen the completion of phase 1 at Burgham Park.  The eight new luxury holiday homes have been designed to minimise energy consumption whilst maintaining a flexible operation given the varying occupancy patterns.  Each property has an air source heat pump which serves an underfloor heating system.

Gateway Development, Middlesbrough

The Gateway Development in Middlesbrough was completed this year.  The 100,000 ft² retail unit was handover earlier in the year and we think it looks great!

Nolan and Hume Houses

Works to these two 17 storey tower blocks in Stockton was completed this year.  This particular phase of the refurbishment works focussed on the community spaces at ground floor level and the communal spaces all the way up the building.  The existing boiler plant and controls were also replaced as part of the project along with a new external lighting system.