Whats going on inside the huge building site of St Bart's Hospital?

OK, so I am really itching to have a look inside the construction site that is the future building of St Bartholomew's Hospital.

The reason simply being that everytime I pass the building site when im walking to the bustop I get a small glimse of the deep pit that us going to be for the foundations and as it is a small glimse it is breathtaking!

I wish I could get a photo but the only time any member of the public would ever see such a thing is when a huge scary lorry is leaving the site hence my hesitation not to stand there and sneak a photo, but ever since I knew what was going on I have been astonished at the scale of the project and how it lies tightly within the city of London.
Here are a few photos off Google although is doesn't really show what's going on inside:

WOW!

As you walk along the pavement there are information boards explaining what is going on and when it will finish which is about 2016 so it won't be ready for the Olympics but still it s nice to see that along with Crossrail  there will be a few giant projects hanging around.

I even tried looking on Google to see if there are any birds eye views of the site or if any one had taken a few photos and published them some where.

I know the contractor is Skanska famous for huge projects so this will definitely be a high quality  building and I am so pleased to see that it is a hospital since this means there will be better facilities and departments (lets hope).

I am hoping to see write more about the buildings I see when I tend to walk anywhere as I believe this is the best way to learn about a building and see what is going on and despite London being tightly packed there is always something new happening somewhere around the corner :)

Has anyone else been to walk around the area of St Paul's and see this amazing project?

The Princes's House ( Natural House) at the BRE

OK so in my previous post I talked a a little about my trip to the wonderful BRE (Building Research Establishment), but since I saw and liked so much of it I thought I would right a post about my favorite house there. The Natural House.

Formerly known as the "Princes's House" in honour of HRH the prince of Wales, they then changed it to a more suited name of the "Natural House" as there are few natural materials used in this house.

Lets start by how the idea pf the house came by.....

Well upon this visit to the BRE prince Charles went on tour around the site looking and observing the different houses and their features, the BRE team asked him what he thought and he frankly told them he did not like the way the houses looked and felt that there must be a better way for houses to be environmentally friendly without looking like something off a catwalk.

The Natural House* ‘doesn't wear its "greenness" as if it was the latest piece of haute couture'.
HRH The Prince of Wales

So he challenged them to create an Eco-friendly house, using traditional methods of construction and creating a house that also had the looks of a traditional house.

The House is of level 3 in the Code for Sustainable Homes, and looks typically like a traditional terrace house, it is made up of 2 halves


Our lecturer briefed us a little on this house before we went and he asked us if we could guess how they managed to stick to the 300mm of insulation without making the rooms in the extremely small, and when I saw what they did I was astonished and felt really dumb not to guess it my self!

The blocks are made of natural clay and the air pockets provide insulation without stuffing into the walls, they also used Lambs wool in the roof to insulate the roof and stop heat leaving up there and this also allows the loft area to be converted into a bedroom.
As most people know when it comes to accessing  the loft it is usually the coldest place in the house so I really liked this idea.

This was the house I chose to talk about for my project too, mainly because I felt if I was going to spend time on an essay on what house I liked it was going to be this one, there were other nice and interesting houses there too and one Healthcare center but for me if I was going to live in an Eco-Home I would definitely choose this because you simply do not feel like you are living with all these extra things that have been changed rather they are saving you money in the long run.

I also do find my self leaning to the classical types of Architecture and I guess i would not get bored of it, I was also told at the BRE that this type of house is being tested to go into social housing, however based on the cost of this house it would not be that easy to be implemented in such a way.


What do you guys think of the "Natural House"? would you want your Eco Home to look like this?

BRE Trip

A few weeks ago I went to the BRE (Building Research Establishment), which is a essentially a large scale science lab that specialises in the built environment.

To simplify they try as hard as they can to build houses that adhere to the Code for Sustainable Homes regulations with the top level being zero Carbon Level 6.

There are several houses there all different in shape size and level of sustainability, at first their main objective was to see how and what they could achieve without money being an object but slowly they have been able to try and find ways to make buildings more environmentally friendly without the heavy price tag.

You may ask why so much money and research spent on such a thing, but the government is aiming to be zero carbon by 2016 which is not exactly an easy job. However this world leading establishment is more than environmentally friendly they also research methods of allowing residents of a house hold to make use and recycle their energy or water.

Projects such as recycling "grey water" which is used water from washing dishes, bathwater to flush toilets that dispense up to 9 litres of water in flush which ads up to at least 120 litres per day, and this is also going to be reduced by the government to 80 litres per day this aims to lower water bills as well as saving energy.

Other features include Triple Glazed argon filled windows which is a feature on all the houses, this is said to reduce air leakage and reduce the need to use heating as much hoping to save energy bills.

All these clever innovations have showed successful and of course once these ideas are implemented it will be a little difficult to follow with some people claiming that the argon filled windows may not hold up long enough to span the life of the house itself, others saying that the new amount of water to be allowed at 80 litres is too little ans will be rather frustrating since to achieve this number taps will have to run at a lower rate than they do now.

However Graham Hardcastle of the BRE is visitor liason officer and he told us upon our visit at his presentation that he did not find the new flow rate of the taps that annoying as he had one fitted in to his shower.

Whether you believe in climate change and that CO2 Omissions are affecting the globe or not, I'm sure a few people if not most will appreciate the use of triple glazed windows and save a few ££'s on their energy bills every three months.

Here are a few photos of my visit to the BRE:

What do you think of the Government saying they want all new buildings built in 2016 to be"zero carbon"?

Lack of posts :(

Appologies for the lack of posts I havent had enough time to actually organise and research a topic and since this is about engineering I am hoping to get photos of what I talk about too.

stay tuned I have a lot to show in this wonderful world of construction

xxx

Sustainability in Construction

SUSTAINABILITY

yes its a big word isn't it, its a word that is rapidly dominating the world of construction and seeping to industries else ware.
you might get the vibe from post construction industry workers that is simply is a pain in the neck, but is it? Is it all a gimmick to try and make buildings look and be more interesting by stamping on it "sustainable" or is it an increasingly important topic that must be taken seriously now and not later.

I personally do love the idea of innovation in Eco-logical construction, I mean that is what Engineering is about right? 

I went to an open day last year with my brother to LSBU (London South Bank University) and as we came nearer we saw a large tall "razor like" tower and I wondered what it could be, I was soon granted an answer when one of the architecture lecturers told me it was the "Strata Tower" I was amazed at the look and the placement of the wind turbines. To me I genuinely thought it was a good idea at least as a leader in incorporating environmental issues into construction. I looked at it when we left and I thought to my self  " I wonder what everyone thinks of it?"

I did get a lot of opinions about it some were rooting for it and others just thought that it was just an excuse for the company to build it without any headache from the council (Ouch!)

I also heard people saying that despite all the promises that were made about it being very efficient, it wasn't actually operating the wind turbines as offten as it should have. Who knows..

However I definitely agree with investing in more research regarding this kind of Engineering I also feel like Architects could really change the way these environmental features are perceived in terms of look  because they will improve the way of life and possibly make London a "greener" place .

Developments on Oxford Street London

Welcome to my blog! 

As a starter post I decided to show you some pictures of the new development occurring on Oxford street.

I must say it looks amazing I took photos in different angles back in July and I passed it the other day and boy has it changed! 

I unfortunately did not have my camera with me so I will try and take some new photos soon, according to the Evening standard the new development will hold new offices, shops and apartments and is costing £655 million pounds.

What do I think of the design? Well I actually like it the glass effect makes the building blend in well with the area, since the street is rather narrow it helps that the glass reflects the blue sky and I suspect it will look lovely at night.

The scheme is by Land Securities Group Plc you can go on to their website get more information on this project and their previous work.

Is anyone else excited about this development in Marble Arch?

Houda