INDUSTRYNEWS
FAÇADE COMPETITION WINNERS ANNOUNCED
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AGAINST A BACKDROP OF A record number of entries from façades practices and partnerships located around the world , the winners of the 2016 Façade competition , organised by the Society of Façade Engineering , have been announced .
With the honours presented by Chris Macey , Chair of the Society of Façade Engineering Judging Panel , the winner of the Façade of the Year in the Refurbishment category went to Arup for 10 New Burlington Street , London . Winner of the Outstanding Façade Innovation went to TU Delft & ABT Consulting Engineers for the Crystal Houses , Amsterdam .
Special commendations went to BuroHappold Engineering in the Façade of the Year New Build category for their work on Columbia University , Vagelos Education Centre , New York ; to Octatube for the Glass Entrance Building of the Van Gogh Museum ( Façade of the Year , New Build ), Amsterdam ; and to Volker Gienke & Company for Great Amber , Liepaja , Latvia ( Façade of the Year , New Build ).
Façade of the Year 2016 – Refurbishment was awarded to Arup for 10 New Burlington Street , London
The standards overall were extraordinary said the judges but the two outright Winners were ‘ quite exceptional ’. Of Arup ’ s entry for 10 New Burlington Street , for the judges Chris Macey commented : “ London is the refurbishment capital of the world currently and Arup appear to reign supreme here with this project itself a trophy to the skills and commitment of the team behind it . The tight curved highly glazed unitised façade of 10 New Burlington Street has been completed to the highest quality standards .”
Commenting on Crystal Houses , submitted by TU Delft and ABT Consulting Engineers , Chris commented : “ This is a beautifully crafted example of a small but precisely executed commercial building . The judges were impressed by the attention to detail and thorough research and engineering that went into the project .”
Graham Hackley , coordinator of the competition on behalf of the SFE , added : “ This entry was the unanimous decision of all of the judges and proof that winners of this competition do not have to be large scale . We are delighted also that much of the credit for this project goes to two post graduate researchers Faidra Oikonomopoulou and Telesilla Bristogianni , two young and inspired designers who beat the big guys .”
PLANNING AHEAD FOR “ EACH HOME COUNTS ”
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FOLLOWING THE RECENT publication of the “ Each Home Counts ”, a review conducted by Dr . Peter Bonfield , the GGF is already planning its involvement for its implementation in 2017 .
Each Home Counts is an independent Review into consumer advice , protection standards and enforcement for energy efficiency and renewable energy .
The Review was commissioned by the Department for Energy and Climate Change , now the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy , and the Department for Communities and Local Government in July 2015 .
Brian Smith , GGF Director of Home Improvement commented , “ We are pleased to see this published at last , following a ninemonth delay by Government . The review covers many areas of our industry from consumer protection to technical quality through to skills and training .
“ We have already received an industry specific summary of the 68-page report from our political advisers , GK Strategy , and we
will be meeting with them in the first week in January . It ’ s imperative that the GGF is involved in the discussions from the very start of the implementation process .”
The Review was conducted by engaging with a wide range of stakeholders from the supply chain , consumer protection organisations , central government , devolved governments and companies in the sector . The aim was to try and achieve a consensus of the existing problems and their causes .
The research was broken down into six ‘ core workstreams ’, which were : Consumer
Protection , Advice and Guidance , Quality and Standards , Skills and Training , Compliance and Enforcement and Holistic property consideration . There were an additional three ‘ workstreams ’ that cut across these six and they were Insulation and Fabric , Smart Meters and Home Energy Technologies .
A final workstream that aimed to develop recommendations and an implementation plan was entitled ‘ Applying the Review to Social Housing Sector ’. Each workstream had a different lead and all were overseen by Dr . Peter Bonfield .
In the first week of 2017 , the GGF will hold a strategy meeting with its political advisers , key staff and Members from the Home Improvement and Glazing Executives . From this meeting , the GGF aims to form an action plan to ensure its Members and the broader glass and glazing industry are fully included in the Each Home Counts initiative .
www . ggf . org . uk
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