The stories that count

35

The number of Italian architects that signed a letter condemning foreigners for taking all the good jobs. The letter to prime minister Silvio Berlusconi says Italy’s architecture is under threat from an “invasion of foreigners” and called for a halt to buildings designed by the big names such as Lord Foster (who is masterplanning a new city near Milan) and Zaha Hadid. Their protests are echoed by Pio Baldi, director of one of Rome’s architectural association. Baldi says: “Architects like Foster can make skyscrapers in London, but he is not suited to making them in Siena. Italian architects are more capable of marrying the traditional with the modern in an Italian context.” Read what Mace chairman Bob White thinks of British architects on page 12.

500

The number of members the CIOB wants to recruit as ambassadors to represent the institute to regional development agencies, local government and other bodies. In the past, the CIOB feels it left would-be ambassadors in the lurch, so it has launched a system to train them, supply them with relevant research before meetings, and properly debrief them to capture the intelligence they’ve gathered.

A four-month pilot is under way in the South-west. Twenty-five members volunteered for it and regional director Doreen Baker said they were an impressive bunch: typically over 48, FCIOB, high achieving, in senior management and already involved in other organisations. “We’re going to be such a strong institute, with the right people, at the right place, at the right time,” she said.

32,000

The number of anti-roosting pigeon spikes that have been installed at the Oval Cricket ground. West Country firm Pigeonoff supplied the devices, which look like upturned hairbrushes, and installed them around the four-storey OCS stand. To date they have run more than out of the grounds 500 pigeons – howzat!

Don’t worry, the spikes are a humane method of pigeon control; they simply prevent the birds from landing without causing any injury.

The thousands of cricket-goers who packed into the building for the Ashes were probably too focused on the games to notice, but a little birdie was heard to tweet: “Since 1845, we’ve had 160 years of uninterrupted free cricket from the best seats in the ground - now we’re faced with a corridor of uncertainty. It’s just not cricket!”

1m

The amount of carbon, in tonnes a year, the government predicts will not be pumped into the atmosphere now that it has beefed up Building Regulations to require better boilers and mandatory air pressure testing on all new buildings, including houses. The changes to Parts F and L two years ahead of schedule, and the implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, will make an unprecedented contribution to the UK’s commitment to fighting climate change, ministers say. The Energy Saving Trust has welcomed the pressure testing of new homes. It says 30% of new homes fail to meet minimum air-tightness standards set out in the current Building Regulations. But it is disappointed that the new regulations do not include mandatory efficiency improvements for home extensions.

70m

The amount in pounds lost on problem contracts by Mowlem. The fate of the contractor hangs in the balance as financial consultant NM Rothschild is called in to advise on the way forward. Possible solutions include the sale of existing contracts and chief executive Simon Vivian has not ruled anything out. The past year has not been Mowlem’s finest. The company has been rocked by problems caused by its withdrawal from the Bath Spa project, has been banned from carrying out maintenance work for Network Rail after it used the wrong equipment and has failed to hand over five schools in Exeter in time for the new term. On a brighter note, Mowlem has been named preferred bidder for the £1bn PFI project for the Ministry of Defence in Northwood, near Watford.

Source

Construction Manager