Wallace Whittle & Xeretec - A Technical Relationship
Xeretec Ltd, our IT tech providers, recently filmed a case study in our Glasgow Head Office.
They spoke with Raymond Kelly, our Quality & Standardisation Manager, about how our high-spec HP kit allows us to deliver on our goals of quality & standardisation, as well as hearing from Paul Cooper, Director, on how it makes the working lives of our team even more efficient.
The Wallace Whittle Way is all about Quality of Product, Quality of Service and Standardisation. Xeretec have helped us upgrade and standardise our tech across all our offices which enables the team to deliver quality. In particular within the offices, our large curved screens allow multiple window working and have streamlined productivity. Our laptops are also recycled by Xeretec after three years, allowing us to ensure we’re up to date with technology without impacting the environment.
You can read their full case study, which includes a video chat with our IT Manager, Sukhpreet Kaur, about the benefits of the tech and our ongoing relationship.
If you’d like to discuss further, we’re happy to chat – email [email protected]
Senior Electrical Engineer, Warrington
Job Description
Job Title: Senior Electrical Engineer
Directly reports to: Associate / Associate Director
No of Direct Reports: 0
Location: Warrington
Position Summary:
Technically competent engineer, with excellent communication and time management skills and a track record for consistent project delivery, with strong technical knowledge. Good team ethic approach.
Responsibilities and authority:
- Preparation and/or development of client brief
- Carry out surveys of existing facilities and prepare survey reports
- Prepare design calculations in accordance with all relevant standards and legislation adopting all necessary standard formats and procedures
- Prepare sketch drawings in sufficient detail to enable draughtspersons to produce satisfactory detail drawings as required for tender, construction or other purposes
- Prepare particular project specifications and schedules adapting standard specification information where possible
- Carry out site supervision duties as necessary to ensure works are installed in accordance with contract documentation and good engineering practice
- Prepare feasibility studies and any specialist studies as required by the project brief
- Liaise with other design team members, internal and external, and represent the business at meetings
- Liaise with and provide focal point for clients and lead and/or support consultants to ensure that client interests are more effectively fulfilled
- Collaborate and work effectively with all others affecting or affected by your work
- Adopt a responsible attitude to project management and actively undertake training of subordinate staff
- Regularly review personal and subordinates forward programme workload; develop and frequently review priority lists of programmed tasks
- Check adequacy and accuracy of information and documentation produced by others
- Ensure application and maintenance of all Quality System procedures
- Carry out all personal management duties including weekly recording of man-hour commitments to individual projects
- Comply with all security procedures and commercial in-confidence restrictions associated with work duties
- Contribute to the maintenance of the highest possible standards of design by maintaining a good working knowledge of proven building services systems and new developments in the Building Services Industry
- Undertake project risk assessments to ensure safe installation and operation and comply with CDM legislation
- Undertake all other duties as may be required to assist in the fulfilment of the primary objectives of the Directors
- To contribute to ensuring operations are conducted in accordance with the relevant ISO and national legislation
Education and Experience:
- Preferably BEng (Hons) degree in Building Services Engineering/Electrical Engineering Or HNC/HND
- Preferably Chartered or working towards Chartership with IET/CIBSE
Specific skills, knowledge, competencies and training
Essential:
- AMTECH proficient
- DIALUX / RELUX proficient
- AUTO CAD capability
- Excel and Word proficient
- Online collaboration tool knowledge
- Works well with minimal supervision
Senior Mechanical Engineer, Warrington
Job Description
Job Title: Senior Mechanical Engineer
Directly reports to: Associate / Associate Director
No of Direct Reports: 0
Location: Warrington
Position Summary:
Proficient and self-motivated engineer, with good time management skills and a track record for consistent project delivery – with strong technical knowledge and competence discipline. Works well with minimal supervision.
Responsibilities and authority:
- Liaise with and provide project focal point for clients and lead and/or support consultants to ensure that client interests are most effectively fulfilled
- Maximise staff effectiveness and improve efficiency by enhancing client relationships, improving internal systems and developing staff skills
- Interlink and work effectively with all others affecting or affected by your work
- Adopt a responsible attitude to project manage and actively undertake training and development of subordinate staff
- Effectively distribute project workload and liaise with technical and other support staff to ensure acceptable product delivery
- Ensure application and maintenance of all Quality System procedures
- Ensure documentation issued from Wallace Whittle in respect of a project has been processed in accordance with all relevant procedures
- Manage multiple projects including organisation of trainee staff and project delivery to time and cost requirements
- Carry out all personal management duties including weekly recording of man-hour commitments to individual projects and reporting on a monthly basis particular project fee input information
- Comply with all security procedures and commercial in-confidence restrictions associated with work duties
- Contribute to the maintenance of the highest possible standards of design by maintaining a good working knowledge of proved building services systems and new developments in the Building Services Industry
- Undertake all other duties as may be required to assist in the fulfilment of the primary objectives of the Directors
- To manage the workload of junior staff resource ensuring all deadlines and project requirements are met
- To contribute to ensuring operations are conducted in accordance with the relevant ISO and national legislation
- To ensure contract compliance with the IMS, by supporting the administration of the Internal Audit programme, corrective action and customer feedback registers
Education and Experience:
- Preferably BEng (Hons) Degree in Building Services Engineering / Mechanical Engineering
- Chartered or working towards chartership with IMECHE/CIBSE
- Minimum engineering HNC/HND or equivalent qualification
- Competent in AutoCad and knowledge of Revit
Specific skills, knowledge, competencies and training
Essential:
- Customer care
- Technically competent
- Project management
- Excellent communication skills within a team environment
- Good numeracy, literacy and computing skills
- Ability to manage your own time and prioritise at busy times
- Good team ethic approach
Aberdeen Office Relocates to Marischal Square
In late 2022, we moved our Glasgow and Edinburgh offices to new, high-spec premises, upgrading facilities and working environments for our staff and placing us right in the heart of the cities. Aberdeen was next to make the move, relocating to a fully re-fitted space in prestigious Marischal Square.
We are currently reviewing new office options for Belfast, aiming to move by Spring 2024, with new re-locations in Warrington and then London by Spring 2025. These moves would see all existing offices relocated within the first four years of buying our business back in 2021, something we’re proud to be working towards.
Aberdeen
L-R Andy Forbes – Location Director, Steve Bruce – Director & Derek Andrew – Director
Photos: Brian Doyle Photography
Allan McGill, Managing Director commented:
“With our Aberdeen office being the third of our six current offices to be relocated to city centre locations in the last 12 months, after Glasgow and Edinburgh, it was key for us to select the right location, environment and building to mirror our other offices.
In Marischal Square we really do feel we have achieved our ideal outcome and are delighted to have such prestigious neighbours, and in turn look forward to growing from a well-established base and location over the next ten years.”
Location Director, Andy Forbes, enters his 35th year with Wallace Whittle and leads a team with a wealth of experience and technical ability, covering all elements of MEP and Sustainability design.
The new 1500sqft office space will allow up to 24 staff to work collaboratively due to hybrid working across 12 fixed workstations and 24 soft collaboration seats, in an inspiring environment with everything they need to deliver quality – and of course a fancy barista-style coffee machine. Our new neighbours include CBRE, Faithful Gould, Aberdeen Journals, KPMG, All Bar One and Marriott International.
Nestled in the heart of Aberdeen’s city centre, Marischal Square is an award-winning development, with a vibrant blend of offices, restaurants, coffee shops and a hotel. As we continue to roll out our office upgrades, we focus on ensuring we deliver spaces that provide a flexible, welcoming and collaborative environment for our staff and visiting clients. These new spaces also provide us with a visible ‘shopfront’ within our services design for the space.
Maximising the fabric whilst utilising low energy, highly efficient equipment, mechanical ventilation and air quality monitoring systems, all linked to an interactive front end which allows us to review the ongoing performance of the office in accordance with our route map to Net Zero Carbon. Active travel is also encouraged by the provision of shower, changing, bike and locker facilities.
Quality and Standardisation echo throughout our new office spaces. Our fantastic lead designer, Form Design, really understood the consistency brief and thanks to FES, our ever-reliable fitout contractor who brought that to life.
The personality of the individual cities come through in our fantastic murals we have in each office from The Edinburgh Sketcher, showcasing local landmarks selected by the Aberdeen staff, including Union Street, Marischal College, The Port of Aberdeen Harbour & Pittodrie Stadium.
Finally, special thanks to Form Design, our fantastic lead designer, and to FES our fit-out contractor. They really have delivered on quality and our very precise vision fully, time after time.
If you’d like to pop in for a visit and a coffee, get in touch with Andy Forbes, Aberdeen Director [email protected]
Photos: Brian Doyle Photography
BIM Stage 2 Re-Verification
BIM Stage 2 Re-Verification
At Wallace Whittle, we pride ourselves on Quality of Product and Quality of Service.
Our Building Information Modelling (BIM) verification, is just one of the many ways we re-assure our clients that we have the in-house expertise to deliver BIM Stage 2 projects, in compliance with the RIBA stages and industry standards.
We have had another successful BIM Stage 2 Verification Audit, conducted by BSI (British Standards Institution). The audit, which took place on May 15th, 2023, has reaffirmed the company’s commitment to quality assurance, standardisation and the implementation of BIM processes.
This audit is a crucial evaluation of an organisation’s ability to adhere to industry standards and deliver high-quality products and services through the virtual construction process. The audit covered multiple projects within Wallace Whittle, ensuring compliance with BIM processes and the effectiveness of our BIM Standards.
Our experienced digital engineers utilise BIM from the early concept stages of projects, to visualise design intentions and make informed decisions. We use an in-house suite of standards, in conjunction with powerful BIM authoring software, to build our design within a 3D environment which we are then able to share with our design partners to provide the process with an efficient means of communicating information.
Our ability to work in this manner allows our design to be passed on to the construction phase adding value & support to such things as offsite project management, reducing abortive time on site and avoiding re-design resulting in waste materials.
Our experience integrating data into our models at the design phase provides our clients with the option to develop progressive operational data which assists with future aspects of the project, providing a full audit trail which lays the foundations for digital building asset management.
The auditor’s attention to detail was thorough and throughout the audit evidence was reviewed to verify the implementation of BIM processes across various projects. The feedback received regarding our BIM Standards was overwhelmingly positive, reflecting the dedication and hard work put in by the team.
Paul Hargreaves, Associate Director, Paul Underhill, Associate BIM Technician and Andrew Masson, Senior BIM Technician, played crucial roles during the audit, which was overseen by our Quality and Standardisation Manager, Raymond Kelly. Their expertise in navigating through our systems and processes, and ease of guiding the auditor to the required evidence were instrumental in the successful outcome.
As a result of the audit, Wallace Whittle has achieved re-verification of its BIM Stage 2 for another year.
This achievement is a testament of everyone within the Wallace Whittle team, It demonstrates our dedication to maintaining high standards, delivering quality products and services, and a consistent approach to applying BIM processes.
Receiving this verification with no non-conformities for the 7th year running, demonstrates the maturity of our capability and expertise of our team. We are committed to ongoing excellence and will continue to push the boundaries of quality in the construction industry. The upcoming year will bring new challenges, but with the same level of dedication and adherence to standards, we are confident in our ability to excel.
If you want to chat with us further about BIM, drop us an email to [email protected]
Making Beds
30,000
Providing new homes for people and families is a core sector for Wallace Whittle, and one which we are very pleased to play our part.
After all, we all need a place to sleep in safety and comfort.
Until now, we’ve never stopped to work out how many homes that would stack up to and more importantly how many people could live in them. So far, we have passed 20,000 dwellings across many projects planned, designed and built which will provide homes and places to sleep for tens of thousands of people across the UK, indeed if were counting beds it’s well over 30,000!
Wallace Whittle have a long track-record in the Residential sector.
It started in London around 25 years ago with Chelsea Bridge Wharf, where we worked on multiple phases to deliver nearly 1200 apartments and a 200 room 4 star Hotel. This award-winning development set us on our way and was followed by several other developments where we started to introduce Low Carbon Heat Networks to provide energy to these new residential led mixed-use developments across London.
Our knowledge base and shared values was a further catalyst for success and the number of units we had in design was now measuring in the thousands – we were now part of the solution to deliver new homes to meet the country’s shortage.
In this growing sector our next milestone was being selected to join the design team for the Athletes’ Village at the London 2012 Olympics located in the gigantic Olympic Park regeneration at Stratford, East London.
We were one of the first...
Wallace Whittle were one of the first Services Engineers appointed to work on some of the new sitewide infrastructure and the first two vertical build plots. Over the next four years we worked on 4 residential plots delivering nearly 1400 apartments and the new state of the art Polyclinic which would provide full medical facilities for the games, but also community healthcare to the new neighbourhood which would become the Athletes’ Village legacy as East Village.
The village was a unique project and initially designed as a huge campus to provide beds for up to 17,000 athletes. Following the games, the Village was converted to provide 2700 new homes for all tenures; Social, Affordable and Open Market, as well as what turned out to be one of the first BTR developments in the UK for the Triathlon consortium. The village remains one of the largest, single-delivery developments to meet the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4 compliance.
Our recognised expertise in the Residential sector has taken us on a journey.
Over the last ten years we’ve worked for many of countries’ leading developers and organisations which provide places to live for some of the most vulnerable of our society.
We’re now working on residential schemes across the UK and we have all sorts of projects on the go, including urban regeneration of brownfield areas in our cities which have tailored resilient and flexible energy solutions to best deliver Net Zero Carbon to each one. Elephant Park in Elephant & Castle is an example of our experience working across several phases, over a period of over ten years and is a great example of our wide scope of capabilities. This experience is now being applied nationwide with Latimer by Clarion Housing Group, including in Manchester and Birmingham, as well as at their Leeds Dyecoats development, where hundreds of new homes will be built on a riverside site near the city centre with an all-electric next generation energy solution, delivered via high efficiency Heat Pumps.
New build developments form the majority of our experience.
We focus on a seamless and careful integration between the buildings’ own inherent passive performance and the performance of the dynamic MEP systems. We have a primary focus on optimising energy use and wellbeing in every home. We are also experienced in many types of schemes, including conversion of listed buildings such as the Switchhouses at Battersea Power Station and a listed ex-Manchester University Warehouse in the city centre as part of the award-winning Kampus development.
In the face of the Climate Emergency, our skill set continues to develop.
Our involvement in the master planning of developments, while producing the detailed design for the initial phases and a Hybrid Planning Submission, has also increased as the proposals for energy solutions and demonstration of their whole life carbon and operational energy are required from the outset.
In the face of the Climate Emergency our skill set continues to develop to meet the requirements of new legislation, our own and clients’ own ESG targets and aspirations. Alongside Fire Safety legislation likely to be issued later this year and already being implemented by our forward-thinking clients such as Latimer by Clarion Housing Group and Lendlease.
We cover tenures including Affordable, Market, Premium, Senior Living, Build to Rent, Purpose Built Student Accommodation and Co-Living and we have residential led projects in many of the biggest UK cities including Aberdeen, Belfast, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, as well as London and the surrounding commuter towns.
Contact Us
We’d love to talk to you about your latest project and the quality we can deliver.
Get in touch with us today at [email protected]
Company Away Day 2022
Company Away Day 2022
Our Company Away Days are a couple of days of fun, relaxation and re-connection for our staff across our eight offices. After two years of home working and being behind screens, it was an important win for us to get everyone back together safely. We asked our staff to pack away laptops and stay off their phones to take a break and feel fully involved.
Arriving at Uddingston Cricket & Sports Club on day one, we welcomed staff with a delicious lunch and set out the plans for the next two days of fun and activities before heading out to the field for Cricket 7’s. Putting together groups with mixed roles, levels and disciplines allowed more opportunities for staff to meet others from different areas and really bond together as a team. That evening we mixed everyone up again for dinner and staff enjoyed the thrills of their own casino, posing for the photo booth, as well as enjoying some live music in the evening sunshine.
The start of day two focused on staff and business development sessions where we heard from Allan McGill, our Managing Director, about the focus and direction of the business, future plans and our growth post management buy-out, as well as development workshops on Quality & Standardisation from Associate Directors, Raymond Kelly and Paul Hargreaves. We ended the day back out on the field in the sunshine for our very own Crystal Maze. Mystery, mental, physical and skill challenges tested our communication and team work skills and the competition was fierce!
Staff feedback from the day has been incredibly positive and we’ve seen the value in taking this time for our staff, both in terms of time to switch off, but also in creating strong relationships between offices and departments.
We aim to be market-leading, providing benefits and training opportunities and investing in our staff. From learning and CPD opportunities with our Academy to providing our staff with access to healthcare and wellbeing support services. We give everyone an annual allowance to spend on branded clothing and accessories, support agile working and this year we’ve provided an end of Q1 cost of living bonus. We understand that investing in our staff is key to ensuring quality of life for them, and quality of service here at Wallace Whittle.
A huge thank you to Uddingston Cricket and Sport Club for hosting us and we can’t wait to see where next year takes us.
Check out the highlight video from the brilliant No73 Media and get in touch if you’d like any more information about how we invest in our people.