Highlighting: Commercial
Commercial
With the transition of workspace design to accommodate agile & hybrid working, staff wellbeing, smart technology and steps towards Net Zero Carbon it is important for any new office design to be able to implement these changes.
At Wallace Whittle we have all the skills and experience to design sector leading Grade A commercial office spaces that include all of the above.
Our commercial clients including Barclays, Virgin Money, Morgan Stanley, Royal London, Dublin Airport Central & Scottish Power HQ, have all utilized our expertise when designing their new spaces with Wallace Whittle.
Our office spaces provide:
- Comfort and Functionality: via passive design and MEP engineering, including low energy HVAC systems, lighting and electrical installations.
- Energy Efficiency and Sustainability: Delivering Net Zero Carbon in operation with increasing focus on embodied and whole life carbon, as well as renewable energy, circular economy and ESG.
- Safety & Security: Incorporating systems that ensure occupant and building protection.
- Technology: Providing connectivity to optimise communication, agile working, seamless movement, energy consumption, use of space, air quality and visible sustainability.
- Wellbeing: Designing human-centric spaces where people are stimulated, healthier, happier, and more productive as a result.
Get in touch with us today to discuss your next project or to learn more about our commercial expertise – [email protected]
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Highlighting: Healthcare
Healthcare
Our experience in the Healthcare Sector spans over two decades, and is wide-ranging across new facilities as well as regeneration. We have worked on numerous projects to improve healthcare for the future, in some of the biggest facilities including; Golden Jubilee National Hospital, Monklands Replacement Hospital, Peterborough City Hospital, the new Balfour Hospital and more.
These are just some of the ways in which we have helped to shape the future of healthcare delivery:
- Hospital Design and Engineering: Including HVAC systems, electrical systems, water, drainage, and other essential infrastructure to ensure the efficient functioning of healthcare facilities.
- Energy Efficiency and Sustainability: Incorporating renewable energy sources including Net Zero Carbon designs, optimising lighting systems, and implementing green building practices to reduce environmental impact.
- Medical Equipment Infrastructure: Designing spaces with the necessary electrical, mechanical, and technical requirements for medical equipment to operate effectively.
- Compliance and Safety: Designing spaces that comply with health and safety regulations to provide a safe environment for patients, staff, and visitors.
- Infrastructure Upgrades and Renovations: Assessing existing buildings and providing recommendations for renovations and improvements.
- Emergency Preparedness: Designing systems and layouts that facilitate efficient emergency response and evacuation procedures.
Get in touch with us today to discuss your next project or to learn more about our healthcare expertise – [email protected]
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Wallace Whittle appointed to NHS HPCCAS Framework Agreement
WWe are proud and privileged to have been appointed to the NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) Healthcare Planning, Construction Consultancy and Ancillary Services (HPCCAS) Framework Agreement (SBS101190).
Committed to being a force for good, NHS SBS is dedicated to acting responsibly and sustainably at organisational, team and individual level. Sharing common values and unity of purpose with the rest of the NHS family, its solutions are underpinned by cutting-edge technologies and the teams’ expertise, in-depth understanding of the NHS, and commitment to service excellence.
The national framework agreement is designed to ensure ease of access and offers a compliant route to market for NHS and public sector organisations. It covers construction consultancy services for any size of project; traditional, design & build, new build, and refurbishment projects.
We have secured a place on Lot 5 – Mechanical, Electrical & Public Health (MEP)
To discuss any aspects of the framework agreement and how it can assist you, please contact Paul Dean, Director, at [email protected]
We look forward to hearing about your next project.
Paul Dean
Director of Warrington
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]
Away Day 2023
This year, our company Away Days took us to the vibrant city of Manchester, bringing together staff from all six of our offices across the UK. These few days give everyone an opportunity to meet fellow staff in person, not through a screen, and take time to really relax and bond. We encouraged everyone to stow away their laptops and stay off their phones, enabling them to take a well-deserved break and fully immerse themselves in the experience.
At our first stop of the trip, Brooklands Sports Club, we welcomed our staff with lunch while unveiling the exciting itinerary for the next two days. To kick off the festivities, we organised a game of rounders, forming teams that combined individuals from different disciplines and locations. In the evening, we mixed groups up once again, treating our staff to dinner and an evening filled with fun over at our second stop of the trip, Sale Rugby Club. The drinks were flowing, games were played and the dance-off got heated – who knew engineers could break dance?
The second day commenced with a focus on staff development and business sessions. Our Managing Director, Allan McGill, took the stage to share insights into the company’s vision, growth and future plans and answered everyone’s burning questions. We followed this up with a seriously competitive quiz on Quality & Standardisation from our Academy Manager, Paul Hargreaves and our Quality & Standardisation Manager, Raymond Kelly. Congrats to the winning teams on the day – you must have had the fewest sore heads on your tables!
Photos: Away Day 2023
We ended the day with an old-school Sports Day in the beautiful Sale sunshine. Lathered in suncream and clutching ice lollies, the teams go-karted, bungee-ran and sack-raced. Not only was it a fun nostalgic experience, but it tested everyone’s communication and teamwork skills. Congratulations to the Purple Team for winning the final tug of war and taking the title of Away Day Champions 2023.
Feedback from the event has been overwhelmingly positive, affirming the value of this time away from our desks to relax and build relationships across offices and departments. At Wallace Whittle, we are committed to being market-leading, which includes investing in our employee’s well-being and fostering their professional growth. Our initiatives include opportunities for learning and continuing professional development through our Academy, access to healthcare and well-being support services, an annual allowance for branded clothing and accessories and support for hybrid working.
A big thank you to Brooklands Sports Club and Sale Rugby Club for hosting us.
Check out our highlight video below!
WWe can’t wait for next year's Away Day already! 🎉
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]
Call Challenge – WWe Are Ready to Respond
As of 1st of July 2023, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service will no longer attend automatic fire alarm call outs to non-high-risk premises.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) have undertaken extensive research into Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals (UFAS) which has identified up to 98% of automated fire alarm calls are false alarms. Following consultation, they have taken the decision to implement a new response model which in simple terms requires a confirmed fire before they send a response.
In addition to the time wasted in sending an Appliance to false alarms, there is also the increased road safety risk when Appliances attend under blue lights. Each false alarm has been estimated to cause 27 minutes of business disruption. This would seem to be a modest estimation of the disruption and many large buildings will incur significantly higher disruption costs as well as other issues such as loss of reputation or loss of customers. SFRS are also likely to charge for calls to repeated false alarms.
This article is in relation to the SFRS requirements in Scotland, however it is likely that other Fire & Rescue services across the UK may employ a similar approach, either currently or in the future.
Our staff are being briefed on these changes, considerations on operational impact and how they will affect designs and processes.
There has been an SFRS campaign to raise awareness, but it is not clear that there has been significant penetration with building owners, building operators, duty holders, or the wider fire alarm industry. There are no “ready-made” design solutions although there are some products that are better than others in avoiding unwanted alarms. We are readying ourselves to provide solutions.
So what happens when an alarm goes off?
SFRS will “Call Challenge” any calls received from Alarm Receiving Centres (ARC) or from direct calls. This means that they will ask if it is a confirmed sign of fire, which will then determine the SFRS response.
Premises which are exempt from the Call Challenge are those considered high risk. This can be simplified as premises which include a sleeping risk, including:
- Residential / Nursing / Care homes
- Sheltered housing
- Residential (Generally)
- Hospitals (Only in sleeping areas, such as wards)
- Hotels
Therefore, if the building is not exempt it will be Call Challenged. This includes offices, retail, education, industrial etc. and at all times of the day. It also includes areas of non-sleeping risk in large sites such as hospitals or retail premises on the ground floor of residential buildings.
Although some small premises may use a conventional fire alarm system, in general most will make use of an addressable fire alarm system. This will allow identification of a particular device, its type and location. SFRS will not consider a single smoke detector going into alarm as a confirmed fire.
However, they will consider some automatic devices as sufficiently low risk of false alarm to be considered as an indication that there is a confirmed fire.
The simplest form of confirming a fire condition is by human intervention, however that could have obvious safety risks. It may also introduce a delay if the fire condition occurs when the building is not staffed. Using technology to confirm a fire condition is possible but requires careful consideration in conjunction with other aspects of the fire safety plan.
There is a balance to be had between the disruption and cost of unwanted alarms, against the delay in attending to real fires. The implications of a delayed response could be significant hence the need to define the strategy considering all aspects.
At Wallace Whittle, we ensure our Engineers are ready to tackle change. If you would like to discuss the Call Challenge further, please get in touch with our Director of Engineering, Stephen Phimister – [email protected]
Stephen Phimister, Glasgow
London Office Growth
WW London Office
Our London Office, led by Matt Graves, has seen significant growth in recent years, which has led to the overall team supporting our London projects expanding to 20 plus and the recent promotion of several key staff members.
Since its inception, the London Office has demonstrated a strong track record of success in delivering high quality projects across a range of sectors and has continually exceeded expectation when competing with larger competitors inclusive of residential / mixed use, leisure, retail, commercial office, commercial hotels and healthcare. The Residential and Mixed-Use sector has evolved recently with both modular based construction processes and standardisation established to enable best value.
Staff take a pro-active role in driving the company in a collective manner, allowing for sector diversity whilst continuing to maintain quality of service and quality of product.
Support from our internal Sustainability, CAD, BIM and Revit departments, has been key to the continued growth and given the office a wide range of experience across projects completed for Developers, Contractors and end-user alike.
One of the London’s recent notable projects is Elephant Park, with Wallace Whittle playing an integral part since inception. Having been involved for 10 years, we have seen a significant evolution of Elephant and Castle as a result of this development where it has transformed the area with fantastic residential, retail and commercial accommodation.
We are nearing the final phases of the project with several further residential towers currently either in early construction stage or due to commence with a view to full completion around 2025. This is a testament to the continued quality maintained through such an established period, cementing our reputation throughout London on sizable projects.
The success and growth have been driven in large part by the talented and dedicated staff members and our in-house development programmes through our Academy. As a result of this growth, several key staff members have recently been promoted.
Austen Beischer and Ross Beischer have recently been promoted to Principal Engineers. These promotions reflect their exceptional contributions to the office and their ability to both lead as well as deliver complex projects time and time again. These promotions highlight our commitment to recognizing and rewarding the hard work and talent of our staff members.
Austen Beischer & Ross Beischer – London
“We are like a football team and only ever as good at the eleven players on the field. We are only ever as good as our staff and given our continued growth, our high percentage of repeat work, continuing to be supplemented with new projects, speak volumes for the quality of our staff and the contribution which they continue to make. We duly recognise this with continued review, reward and promotion, all of which is well deserved.”
– Matt Graves, London Location Director
With its strong track record of success and its talented and experienced team, our London Office is well-positioned for continued growth and success in the coming years. As the demand for innovative and sustainable engineering solutions continues to rise, the office is poised to lead the way in delivering world-class engineering services to clients across London and beyond.
Get in touch with the team at [email protected]
Matt Graves
London Director
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]
