News
Pole Party
We recently held a party for local clients and colleagues. A few of the likely suspects were caught on film and appeared to enjoy themselves !
Velodrome wins Best Structure of the year
The Velodrome at the London 2012 Olympic site won Best Structure of the year at the annual Institution of Structural Engineers Awards on the 18th November 2011. Congratulations to Chris Wise and Expedition Engineering for an inspiring structure, with superb architectural form. It also ticks all the sustainability boxes.
John Anstey memorial lecture
Party Wall Surveyor Delva Patman delivered the key note speech at the John Anstey memorial lecture for Party Wall Surveyors, talking about Ethics and the Party Wall Act.
Party Wall Moot outcome
A moot took place on 8th November to review basements and Special Foundations, organised by Matthew Hearsum of Morrisons Solicitors www.morrlaw.com . Thanks to Matthew and to Morrisons for the event and excellent hospitality (and food!) at a local hostelry afterwards.
With basements becoming increasingly popular and with space at a premium, the types of foundations deployed are complex and often require the adjoining owners express consent. The associated rights of the parties and compensation claims are complex matters and some of these issues have not been raised in a court of law before and the industry is finding it difficult to determine, within current legislation.
The moot took the form of an appeal against a Third Surveyors Award under section 10(17) of The Party Wall etc Act 1996. The “appeal” was argued by Nick Isaac of Tanfield Chambers and Elizabeth Repper of Keating Chambers.
Architects v Engineers autumn tennis fixture
The infamous Autumn tennis challenge between architects Tubbs Davis and ourselves took place recently. The second match saw Tubbs come storming back with a convincing second set win, so that is honours even after two matches. The third match will take place in December. Tickets ARE available but sales are very slow!
Management of structures
Management of Structures Study Group
For anyone interested in the strategic management of structures, please see the following details and link to the IStructE website.
Convenor: Alan Gilbertson Contact details
A study group on the management of structures has been set up to discuss how Structural Engineers can actively manage structures once they are in use.
Merton Business Awards
Congratulations to Piccolino Restaurant who won Best Customer Service Award in Wimbledon Village, at the Annual Awards event held at the AELTC.
Thanks to lead sponsor WSM Advisors Limited www.wsm.co.uk and South London Business www.southlondonbusiness.co.uk for a superb evening and for the generosity of the All England Club who provided the venue and all food without charge.
Graphene wonder product !
Graphene: stronger that steel, stretches like rubber, conducts better than copper; Graphene may be about to revolutionise our industry and daily lives.
The government have invested £50m towards further research to help determine how the product might be used. Early plans include cheaper photovoltaic cells and smaller but powerful batteries. Electronic goods are likely to become smaller and lighter and flexible.
Institution Reviews
Each year Simon Pole donates time to the Institution of Structural Engineers to help prospective Chartered Engineers prepare for their final exams.
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Wimbledon Village Business
The Wimbledon Village Business Association is a network for all types of business in Wimbledon Village and provides networking, general advice and help to lobby local concerns.
It is an extremely valuable business and networking group for the shops and offices in Wimbledon Village.
www.wimbledon-village.com for all local business and retail information.
Loss of 20 minutes free parking (reduced to 10 minutes) in Wimbledon Village and Wimbledon Park.
A meeting was held at Merton Council on 27th October 2011 to review a previous Council decision to reduce free parking from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. The Business Association spoke at the meeting on behalf of more than 100 members to convey our concerns and the potential loss of business (and parking revenue) if people are not attracted to the village. Various businesses spoke along with a number of local residents who kindly gave up their time. Our friends in Wimbledon Park also spoke as the same issues apply.
New Houses are flavour of the month
We have a sudden flurry of luxury new homes to design for our friends at Octagon Developments in North London.
Wimbledon Young Professionals Group
Organised by Morrisons Solicitors www.morrlaw.com (contact Rebecca Fisher on 020 8971 1020) a relaxed networking group has been set up for younger professionals at all levels of career development. This is to encourage tomorrows movers and shakers and for local businesses to get to know each other in a relaxed manner.
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Olympics London 2012
We are advising the BBC in their capacity as host broadcaster to provide media facilities for the World’s Press.
Prime rooftop locations overlooking the Olympic Park are being modified structurally to support the media studios.
St John’s Area Residents Association
St John’s Area Residents’ Association is part of Hillside ward in Wimbledon Village.
New chairman is Peter Hirsch in Denmark Road
Secretary is Judy Ruston in Spencer Hill
contact judyruston@aol.com, tel 020 8947 1658
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Crossrail
We are advising various landlords whose property might be affected by tunnelling. Some 50 properties around Soho Square and surrounding streets are affected by the Tottenham Court Road station and running tunnels. Cement grouting is proposed beneath many of these properties and our task is to advise whether this is necessary and the likely risks/ commercial implications for this strengthening work. We are working with Steve Barker at BSVP Building and Project Consultants www.bsvp.co.uk
Wimbledon links
www.Wimbledon-village.com for everything in Wimbledon Village; news, events, find a business, etc
www.Mertonchamber.co.uk for general business advice and for Merton Borough wide information
http://www.merton.gov.uk/environment/buildingcontrol.htm for all Merton Building Control information
http://www.merton.gov.uk/environment/planning.htm for Merton Town Planning
http://www.wimbledonsociety.org.uk
http://www.mertonbusinessawards.co.uk/2011-winners/ for merton business award winners 2011
Project News
Our favourite Coffee house Costa Coffee www.costa.co.uk are keeping us busy, with plans to expand their headquarters facility in Lambeth.
There has been a recent upsurge in the luxury housing market and we are pleased to be involved in new schemes in Eaton Square Kings Road, Chelsea.
We are working with our friends at Octagon Developments at Kingswood and in North London on a range of new homes
A plethora of media structures, party wall and engineering matters keep our forensic/ investigation team very busy.
We act for the BBC on a number of health and safety matters and are currently checking the adequacy of a building for use during the 2012 London Olympics.
Pole Property Club Golf Tour 2011
The Pole Property Club Golf Tour took place on the Isle of Arran in Scotland.
The European team was lead by Captain Nigel Jeffery of Boultbee Land PLC with Simon Pole as Vice Captain. The Rest Of the World team was lead by Robert Beeby Architects and assisted by Andrew Tee of Tee Technical. We are pleased to announce a resounding victory for Europe on this occasion!
GO4SET: Helping young engineers of the future
Pupils at Wimbledon High School asked for our guidance for a project- based engineering initiative known as GO4SET (Go 4 Science Engineering and Technolgy). Go4SET is an Engineering Development Trust (EDT) initiative involving schools, engineers and companies to stimulate interest in young people in science, technolgy, engineering and mathematics.
School Careers Talk
Simon Pole is pleased to be doing an Engineering Careers Talk with Holden Harper at Wimbledon High School, to inspire budding new engineers.
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