- Publications

Transcription

- Publications

NEW DIMENSIONS FROM ARUP | NO.1
CHINA UNVEILS THE
WORLD’S FIRST ECO-CITY
INTERVIEW: Baroness Ford on regenerating UK communities
TIME TO START PLANNING: A new approach to business resilience
INNOVATIONS: Exciting new benchmarks in design and technology
Contents:
02_Editorial
03_News
John Miles, Chair
of Arup’s Consulting
business, introduces
the first issue of A2.
The latest news stories
from around the Arup
world, including:
British Energy improves
performance, Singapore’s
new media HQ which
showcases future
technologies, Arup’s
acquisition of Rossmore
Group and an artificial
island being built
in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
08_The world’s
10_Interview
first eco-city gets Matthew Bythell discusses
urban regeneration
the go-ahead
12_Business
resilience: time
to start planning
For many, 21st century
China remains associated
with issues of population,
pollution and the
environment. It might
surprise you to learn that
the country will soon
be home to the world’s
first eco-city, Dongtan.
Henrik Kiertzner
explains a new approach
to business resilience
and how to future-proof
your organisation.
03
with Baroness Ford of
Cunninghame, Chair
of regeneration agency
English Partnerships.
10
08
14_Making
education pay
16_Made
in Britain
The UK Government
is pushing for all
universities to become
financially sustainable
by 2012. This
controversial process
is being implemented
in universities across
the country, but the
strategic implications
are only just emerging.
Tim Hawley suggests
a future for British
manufacturing and
Matt Cooper and
Robert Sternick
provide a case study
account of an awardwinning manufacturing
turnaround.
14
12
19_At a glance:
Corporate
Responsibility
Jonathan Ben-Ami
provides a 60-second
guide to corporate
responsibility.
20_Review
21_Innovations
A look at the new
biography, ‘Ove Arup –
Masterbuilder of
the 20th Century’,
by Peter Jones.
A round-up of the latest
innovations from Arup’s
design and technology
studios, including:
a battery-powered car,
a spa bath made from
recycled industrial waste,
Tate Modern’s striking
new extension, plus two
new intelligent fire tools
to make buildings safer.
21
16
Editorial:
Welcome to the first edition of A²,
the new business magazine from
Arup. A² is designed to offer an
insight into the new dimensions
of consulting that we are exploring
with our clients today.
John Miles, Chair
of Arup’s Consulting
business, introduces
the first issue of
A² magazine.
So what are we finding as we explore
these new dimensions with clients?
Our work in recent years has seen
us involved at close quarters in
the re-structuring of Railtrack into
Network Rail in the UK. We also
led the external consulting team
brought in to design and drive
the business turnaround at nuclear
generator British Energy. We advised
Chinese manufacturer Nanjing
Automobile Corporation on the
acquisition of MG-Rover. We helped
develop the principles for Sustainability
Reporting for the Global Reporting
Initiative (GRI) in the USA. This gives
us a broad spread of exposure to the
challenges and opportunities that
confront businesses as they operate
in today’s world.
Three messages come through
loud and clear: sustainability, global
competition and security.
0 A² magazine ISSUE 1
The first of these, sustainability,
is starting to force a new equilibrium
as businesses seek to weigh up
today’s performance against a clear
and workable vision of tomorrow.
Companies are now being judged,
not just by the traditional economic
measures of financial performance,
but also by their ability to
demonstrate what they are doing to
protect people and the environment.
The second of our messages,
competitiveness, has always been
with us. But today it comes in a
different, and particularly acute, form.
The emerging countries, characterised
by the BRIC group (Brazil, Russia,
India, China), are affecting the global
balance of supply. These countries not
only provide a very low cost-base for
the production of goods; they are also
the source of a vast pool of intellectual
and creative potential. These
countries are beginning to generate
intellectual capital and to create
and control global brands. The route
which leads to business success for
organisations in the more established
countries of the world consequently
becomes more difficult to plot.
Innovation is becoming a vital
component of organisational strategy
in the quest to thrive.
Our third theme, security, is
a reflection of the very nature of the
world around us. The complexity of
operating in the global environment
and the uncertainties presented by it
put risk management and the health
and safety of staff and customers
very firmly on the boardroom
agenda. At Arup, we call it ‘corporate
resilience’. While media headlines
imply that businesses everywhere
are facing significant risks from
global acts of terrorism, the
challenges that are most likely to
cause a business to fail are not so
sensational, but no less important.
Life safety has always been
important, but having a visible and
robust policy on all aspects of health
and safety at work, and having
disaster recovery plans in place and
well understood, are essential
elements of a well-run organisation.
Through our work with clients
worldwide, we understand the
issues posed by this combination
of sustainability, competition, and
resilience. Our pedigree in the
technical and design world richly
endows us with skills that set us
apart from many other consulting
firms. Our service lines of planning,
design, technology, and management
are illustrated in this magazine in a
fashion that, we hope, will illustrate
some of the stunning combinations
of technology, process and people
that we can draw on to help your
organisation. If your success depends
on the exploitation of physical assets,
be they buildings, plant, or products,
we believe we have something very
special to offer.
Our aim is to help you innovate,
develop your business propositions,
and prosper. This first issue of Aµ is
wrapped around our three key themes
of sustainability, global competition
and security. I hope you enjoy Aµ
and welcome your comments, views
and ideas.
For more information contact us at
[email protected]
News
A round-up of news from around the Arup world.
LONDON
BUSINESS
PUSHES FOR
LEGACY
Above Improving
performance at
British Energy’s
eight stations
BRITISH ENERGY IMPROVES
PERFORMANCE
British Energy has turned to Arup to deliver the largest performance
improvement programme ever conceived in the nuclear industry.
The programme involves large-scale equipment renewal across British
Energy’s eight nuclear stations, while at the same time ensuring that
maximum operational capacity is maintained. It will deliver fundamental
business performance improvements to British Energy through enhanced
leadership and an operationally-focused corporate culture.
Arup was initially appointed to carry out an assessment of British
Energy’s existing business operations and the condition of its asset
infrastructure. Our role then progressed to the development of the systems
and processes during mobilisation. The success of these appointments has
led to Arup Major Projects being awarded the role of strategic programme
manager for the entire four year performance improvement programme.
In our role as strategic programme manager Arup is supplying specialists
in: programme management, financial asset management, cultural change
and human factors, operations systems and planning.
British Energy is now well placed to become a major player in the new
nuclear era and Arup is finding its hard work is also paying off in other
ways. When Westinghouse in the US wanted to improve the performance
of three nuclear facilities, the company approached Arup to create an
enhancement programme based on a recommendation from British Energy.
“This is the most rewarding testimony we can achieve when recommended
by one satisfied client to another,” says Dr Gary Walker, Arup’s global
director for Major Projects. “Because we took on the challenge at British
Energy in the first place, we are now recognised as market leaders in this
kind of programme management.”
Since employing our services, British Energy has enjoyed renewed
investor confidence and has relisted on the FTSE 100.
London is faced with the huge
challenge of creating an iconic legacy
to follow the 2012 Games. It is now
the role of both the private and public
sectors to create opportunities and
real development proposals that will
generate long-term benefits to the UK
over future generations and be the
anchor for the economic development
of the wider Thames Gateway.
A new London business
prospectus, produced by Arup, will
be launched in January 2007 at a
business summit. It will set out how
London businesses can be engaged to
help deliver economic benefits from
the Games and will outline plans to
drive delivery in a number of key
areas. It was commissioned by the
London Business Board, which
includes London First, the CBI and
the London Chamber of Commerce.
Using Arup’s expertise gained
from involvement with the Sydney and
Beijing Games, and the Manchester
Commonwealth Games, the business
proposals are based around two main
components. The first is a business
network to mobilise the business
community to support the aim of
maximising the economic benefits of
the Games. There are also five businessled London Legacy initiatives aimed
at maximising the wider benefits to
London’s economic competitiveness.
The London Legacy initiatives
include: investing in, improving
and co-ordinating the way London
is marketed overseas; improving
employment and skill levels;
increasing and enhancing the
impact of corporate community
involvement; improving London’s
visitor offering including: hotels,
tourism facilities and improving
customer services; and ensuring
that the physical legacy accelerates
the growth and regeneration of
East London.
A² magazine ISSUE 1 0
Green roofs contribute towards
a better quality urban environment.
They offer physical, environmental
and cost benefits. They can help
with water retention, and reduce
dust, smog and noise levels. They also
increase the life expectancy of a roof,
while adding thermal insulation
and providing a natural habitat for
animals and plants.
Arup’s 24mµ roof was created
to test the logistics of a retro-fit
roof and compare recycled materials
to commercially available green roof
products. It was also designed for
biodiversity and tailored to enhance
local ecological value. In particular,
this involves the provision of a
habitat attractive to black redstarts –
a protected bird species present
in the local area.
British Land is currently
reviewing options for green roofs
on its developments.
Above The Travellers
bridge sculpture in
Melbourne, Australia
TIME
TRAVELLING
‘The Travellers’ is a stunning new
outdoor work of art, launched as part
of the 2006 Commonwealth Games
celebrations in Melbourne, Australia.
Positioned on the former Sandridge
Bridge, which crosses the Yarra River,
it pays homage to the displaced
aboriginal communities that lived
in what is now Melbourne. The
tallest of the ten Travellers reaches
7m in height and weighs more than
7 tonnes. Nine of these figures move
back and forth along the bridge via
innovative movement systems which
are hidden between the existing
girders of the heritage listed bridge.
The iconic project, conceived
by artist Nadim Karam and Atelier
Hapsitus, was brought to life by
Arup’s design team in Melbourne,
in collaboration with architects
and project managers from the
Melbourne City Council’s City
Projects division, and sets a new
benchmark for complex structural
steel design.
TURNING
ROOFS GREEN
An Arup-designed experimental
green roof has been installed
at the company’s central London
headquarters as part of British Land’s
Biodiversity Programme. Its progress
is being monitored to help gather
information on how green roofs
should be designed in the future.
MODELLING
AN URBAN
VILLAGE
City modelling provides a highly
accurate digital representation
which helps clients to determine
how a proposed development will
interact with an existing cityscape.
It is a dynamic tool that enables
planners, developers and designers
to obtain a complete overview of
the planning process and test out
alternative scenarios. The impact
of these can then be communicated
to project stakeholders.
To enhance the design process
and improve the speed of local
planning decisions, Arup developed
HOT HOUSE
a model for the Ancoats development
in Manchester. The Ancoats Urban
Village Company uses Arup’s
Realtime technology to liaise with
local citizens, businesses and
community groups who can then
view the model in real time on the
computer screen.
Arup is currently investigating
how Geographical Information
Systems (GIS) can be incorporated
into the technology platform
to extend the functionality and
applicability of this technology.
A new ‘Synchrotron’, designed
to produce high energy light to
enhance the study of everything
from viruses to mineral
beneficiation, trace contaminants
and deeper forensic analysis,
is to open in Australia next year.
The facility will be located next
door to Monash University’s
Clayton campus in Victoria.
Arup’s specialist engineering
services were integral to providing
a sound structure to support
the Synchrotron. Due to its high
sensitivity to thermal movements,
temperature control systems had to
be installed. The equipment is cooled
with low conductivity water and
heating ventilation air conditioning
systems, allowing the temperature
in the enclosure to be controlled with
an accuracy of 0.1°C .
NEW MEDIA
MOVE IN
SINGAPORE
The Singapore Media Development
Authority’s (MDA) move to its
new flagship headquarters will
play an important role in the
Government’s initiative to transform
the economy through the creation
of new industries.
As well as regulating Singapore’s
creative media industry, the MDA
aims to encourage the development
of new media industries by providing
a showcase for future technologies
and innovation. It wants to operate
at the leading edge of media
technology, and has appointed Arup
Communications to design the
information communication
technology (ICT) and multimedia
systems for the new HQ. The
appointment can largely be
attributed to the team’s ability
to offer both design and innovation
consultancy. Project completion
is expected in early 2008.
For more details contact www.mda.gov.sg
Above The plan
for Songdo includes
a system of canals
for transport
and recreation
Below City modelling
of Ancoats urban
village, UK
NEW
SONGDO CITY
Welcome to Central Park. That’s
how the 40ha park at the heart
of New Songdo City in an area of
reclaimed land on the west coast
of Incheon in South Korea will
be known. This new development
will include a system of canals
to be used for recreation and water
taxi travel.
Further to our continuing
involvement in the new city’s buildings,
Arup is providing comprehensive
design services for the park, the sea
water canal system, associated pumping
stations and sediment removal plant.
A key feature is a recycled
rainwater system which will provide
an irrigation water source for the
park to ensure that maintenance
costs are kept to a minimum.
The project will also feature an
underground parking garage,
an ‘ecotarium’, cultural centre and
museum as well as open gardens
and park land within Central Park.
VISION FOR
SCHOOLS FOR
THE FUTURE
As part of a consortium, Arup has
been appointed by the London
Borough of Greenwich to provide
strategic, technical and ICT
project management services
to the ‘Transformation through
Partnership’ project. This has
been created as part of the UK
Government’s secondary school
regeneration programme, ‘Building
Schools for the Future’.
The programme covers three waves
of secondary school regeneration
to include the complete stock of 13
secondary schools in the Borough,
with a capital value in excess of £290M.
As part of the Strategic
Partnering Organisation’s 10-year
strategy, Arup will develop an ICT
vision that will help to achieve
educational transformation through
independent, self-directed learning.
The work will initially focus
on developing the programme
and project management of five
secondary schools.
UP AT
CAMBRIDGE
Arup Associates has won a design
competition and been instructed
to develop the new Institute for
Manufacturing building at the
University of Cambridge. The building
will be located on the University’s new
West Cambridge site and will bring
together the Institute’s three main
activities: teaching, research (office
and laboratory-based) and links to
business and industry. The new design
for a courtyard building will provide
a common space for these activities
while establishing a strong identity
for the Institute itself.
Above Design of
the new Institute
for Manufacturing
building at the
University of
Cambridge, UK
FACELIFT
FOR PEAK
TOWER
GLASS
PAVILION
IN TOLEDO
Left The iconic Peak
Tower in Hong Kong
has been given
a HK$100M facelift
Peak Tower, an iconic landmark
in Hong Kong, has been given a
HK$100M revitalising facelift by
its owners Hong Kong & Shanghai
Hotels. This will turn the facility
into a sophisticated shop-and-dine
venue where visitors can enjoy a
360° spectacular panorama of the
city from the rooftop of the tower.
Commencing in April last
year, the renovation includes the
repositioning of the escalators and
the introduction of a glass-enclosed
atrium which allows visitors to
have wonderful views at different
levels. The viewing platform has
been moved up to the rooftop of
the bowl, where a 686mµ terrace
can accommodate up to 500 people
at a time. The renovation provides
an additional 30% of retail space
to the tower. Arup was appointed
to provide the structural, façade
and fire engineering services for
the renovation.
The grand opening of the Peak
Tower, which is being marketed
by tourism authorities as ‘The Hub
of Your Hong Kong Journey’, is due
to take place in November 2006.
Below Toledo’s
new glass pavilion
in Ohio, USA
More than 7 000 glass objects spanning
from ancient to contemporary times
are housed in the new $30M Glass
Pavilion at Toledo Museum in Toledo,
Ohio. The single-storey pavilion has
curved glass interior and exterior walls
that comprise full height mullion-free
low iron glass. While this creates
a beautifully transparent façade,
the ample glazing is a challenge for
curators. So, in the exhibition areas
a delicate balance has been struck
between the desire for a daylit
gallery space and the conservation
requirements for the museum’s lightsensitive pieces.
The Pavilion provides exhibition
space and open storage areas for
the glass collection in addition to
glass-making facilities for artists
and students. On permanent display,
and lit as a beacon for the museum,
is a 10-inch Dale Chihuly glass
sculpture created specifically for the
Glass Pavilion. The lighting features
bespoke daylight mitigation, and
a highly customised exhibition
lighting system, including bespoke
exhibit lighting heads and
customised track.
ARUP JOINS
ACQUISITION
THE CLIMATE ADDS NEW
GROUP
CAPABILITY
Arup has joined The Climate Group
to share its expertise in delivering
real solutions to mitigate the
effects of climate change in the
built environment. Arup will work
with The Climate Group to offer
governments, business leaders and
lobbying organisations help building
climate change leadership.
Jim Walker, Chief Operating
Officer of The Climate Group, said:
‘’We are extremely excited that
Arup is joining The Climate Group.
Its work on sustainable design and
consultancy sets it apart as a leader
in this area and provides a best
practice approach for successful
partnerships between business
and governments around the world.
Arup not only commits to making
changes but is working with multiple
organisations in the public and
private sectors to make sustainable
communities a reality. This is the
type of leadership we need to support
a low carbon economy.’’
Arup will implement the
membership requirements of reducing
carbon emissions across its 74 offices
in 32 countries.
THE
ALBERT
BASIN
Above The new
JetBlue Airways’
terminal building
at JFK Airport,
New York
JETBLUE
AT JFK
Construction of the new JetBlue
Airways Terminal 5 at JFK
International Airport is well
underway. Structural work is
nearing completion and the first
rooftop air-handling units were
recently lifted into place. When
completed, the 635 000ft terminal
will have 26 gates operating up to
250 flights a day. Arup is providing
full mechanical, electrical, plumbing,
and fire engineering services,
in addition to IT, security, public
address and design management
responsibilities. The expected
completion date is early 2009.
JetBlue, which commenced services
in 2000, offers low-cost flights
between numerous destinations in
the US, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Plans for a new zero-carbon
development situated in the Thames
Gateway, London, have been
announced by the Mayor of London.
The Albert Basin project will help to
demonstrate that major developments
can be designed to achieve very low
carbon emissions without increasing
standard development costs.
The first phase of development will
consist of homes and offices for 20 000
people, rising to 500 000 on completion
of all phases. Originally proposed by
Greenpeace, the project will be taken
forward by the London Development
Agency (LDA) with Peter Head, Director
of Arup, assisting in the design of the
project. Peter Head is responsible for the
Dongtan eco-city in China, which aims
to be the world’s first, with all the
buildings and infrastructure powered
by renewable energy, and self-sufficient
in water and food.
Read more about the new plans for
Dongtan on page 08
ISLAND AS
A CATALYST
FOR CHANGE
A 40-acre artificial island is under
development in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Known as ‘The Channels’, the island
will feature low and high-rise
residences in the north and south,
separated by navigable canals from
the public zone. Working alongside
Bing Thom Architects, Arup helped to
create a conceptual plan in the overall
context of a new future for Tulsa. This
focused on translating aesthetic and
environmental goals into strategies
and techniques rooted in the best of
the world’s current engineering and
sustainability practices.
For further information about the project
visit www.tulsachannels.com
Arup has acquired Rossmore Group, a
performance improvement consultancy,
as part of the growth plans for its
business consulting division. The
integration of this expertise adds
a significant new dimension to the
firm’s multi-disciplinary capability
and signals its intent to further expand
its business consulting activities.
In its ten-year existence,
Rossmore Group has helped clients
improve their business performance
by over £1.3bn and today specialises in
the fast-growing discipline of human
performance. Previously, Rossmore’s
30 psychologists, behaviourists and
operations experts have successfully
partnered with Arup on client and
research projects worldwide in corporate,
infrastructure and built environments.
Of Arup’s 7 000 staff worldwide,
over 350 are already involved in
business consulting, with services
ranging from IT strategy,
transactions advice, economics
advice, project management,
industrial performance consulting
and asset management. Arup and
Rossmore Group have identified
a number of innovative solutions
that they intend to launch following
the integration, such as ‘Design for
People’ and ‘Workplace Performance’.
Arup’s Chairman of Consulting
for Europe, Alan Belfield, says,
“The introduction of human and
organisational performance
consulting into our management
consulting portfolio comes at a time
when our clients are demanding
solutions that put people at the heart
of design and business solutions.”
For further information turn to
page 16 to read about Rossmore’s
manufacturing expertise.
Above Arup and
Rossmore Group
won a top industry
award in 2006
for their joint work
at Infast.
Left ‘The Channels’
is a new scheme for
a 40-acre artificial
island in Tulsa,
Oklahoma , USA
Vision of
the future
Below, right and far right
An enviable place to live,
Dongtan features a wealth
of green space, harbourside
living and renewable
energy from sources such
as wind turbines
D
esigned by Arup, Dongtan is situated
within a wetland area important for
wildlife and the region’s ecology. It will
run entirely on renewable energy and
uses innovative technologies to produce
building materials, supply water and recycle waste.
Arup and its client, Shanghai Industrial
Investment Company (SIIC), were recently given
approval to start building the city’s infrastructure,
several months ahead of schedule. The first phase
will involve developing 60ha for 10 000 people by
2010, with the remaining 570ha of the start-up area
of the site to accommodate 80 000 people by 2015.
Development will then continue
to create a city for up to 500 000 people.
“We are now on the critical path of going
from planning to delivery and it is important that
investors are aware of its potential,” says Project
Director Peter Head. “Some people have the
impression that it will be a city for rich people,
but that is not the case,” he says. “Its running costs
will be relatively low so people should be able to
Dongtan eco-city is a visionary city that is about to become a reality. Situated on Shanghai’s
Chongming Island, work has already begun to create the world’s first sustainable urban
environment in time for the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai. Words: Justine Harvey and
Jim Chalmers.
live a good life there and cheaply too. The business
case shows that it will be a very economical place
to live and that, as a long-term investment, it will
be more self sufficient without, for example, the
uncertainties of world energy supplies.”
“Others are sceptical that it is actually possible
to run a city sustainably,” states Head. “But it is
possible. Most of the innovations we are using
already exist and are being successfully used
around the world. We are just hand-picking
the best, perfecting them and integrating them
into an efficient self-supporting system.” In
fact, the Arup team has been researching robust
technologies for some time. One example is
a combined heat and power plant they visited
in Thailand where rice husks are transformed
into energy. They are currently evaluating and
developing this system for the eco-city.
One key aspect of Dongtan is a renewableenergy station to power the city. According to Mr
Ma, Executive Director of SIIC, “The power station
is at the heart of the Dongtan eco-city and we are
confident we have the best team working on its
development. Through low-carbon innovation and
practice, the energy station will power, heat and
cool the city using a number of different clean
energy sources. The project is designed to make use
of renewable resources to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions so that, ultimately, the negative impact
on the environment and climate change will be
greatly reduced.”
The historical footprint of Dongtan is farmland
so it is very fitting that a good deal of the food will
be grown within the city boundary, placing less
pressure on the environment from transportation,
water supplies and packaging. Vegetables will
be grown hydroponically (out of nutrient-filled
recycled water) in large illuminated buildings.
The team is working on this with New Zealand
Agricultural Engineering Services.
Vehicles will run on renewable energy, either
battery-powered or hydrogen-fuelled. “The place
will be quiet, almost silent, apart from the swoosh
of tyres on the road and the hooting of horns,”
says Head. “The ambience of the city will be
extraordinary – people will be able to open their
windows more to enjoy better ventilation, and
the parks and birds will make it feel very special.
Dongtan will be a very attractive place to live –
the lifestyle potential is stunning compared with
typical urban developments in China.”
However, Head is keen to point out that
Dongtan is not a blueprint for other cities, but
a methodology to create a new paradigm of
urban development. “Applying our methodology
elsewhere will produce a different solution in
each case,” he says. “We model all aspects of a city –
economic, social, environmental – to produce a
unique system that serves particular objectives for
that particular location, although obviously there
are some transferable aspects. We have planned
and specified the new Albert Basin zero-carbon
development in the Thames Gateway, London,
and it would have been hard to do it without the
tools and techniques we developed for Dongtan.”
Arup is also helping China to plan two
other eco-cities. “The Chinese call it a ‘new urban
“Dongtan is a step in a new direction.
Although historically it may be a small
step, it feels like a big step. It is a
much more logical use of resources
and we hope that it will inspire others
to evolve something quite radically
different in the future. We hope it
will be like the Industrial Revolution
but in a more sustainable direction.”
Peter Head, Arup Project Director on Dongtan
development paradigm’,” says Head, “and all sorts
of people around the world have contacted us and
are wanting to follow suit.” In fact, Arup has been
approached by a number of other serious property
developers from cities across the globe. “It is a very
exciting time for everyone,” says Head, “including
Arup as a firm, because Dongtan seems like the
culmination of 60 years of promoting sustainable
practice and the merging of all of our disciplines,
all rolled into one project. We already have 60
different groups from within the global Arup
organisation working on it.”
“The world has been deluding itself for too long
now about its ability to consume so much fossil
fuel and resources,” states Head. “We know that
this life isn’t ideal and that it can’t be sustained
forever so we have to find new solutions. Dongtan
is a step in a new direction. Although historically
it may be a small step, it feels like a big step. It is
a much more logical use of resources and we hope
that it will inspire others to evolve something
quite radically different in the future. We hope
it will be like the Industrial Revolution but in
a more sustainable direction.”
Interview:
Baroness Ford
Baroness Ford of Cunninghame, Chairman of the national regeneration agency English
Partnerships, has been hugely influential in promoting high-quality regeneration around the
UK. A specialist in public sector reform, she was made a Working Peer at the House of Lords
in June 2006. Interview: Matthew Bythell.
Baroness Margaret Ford, 48
Married to Professor David Bolger
Children: 3 children, aged 26, 21 & 19
Education: University of Glasgow;
MA Hons 2:1 (Arts) 1979; MPhil
(Applied Econ) 1984
Baroness Ford was first appointed
Chairman of the national
regeneration agency, English
Partnerships, in April 2002. She was
re-appointed in 2005 for a further
three-year term. Until recently she
was Deputy Chairman of Good
Practice, the publishing company
she founded. Having spent her early
career in local government and
management consultancy, she then
went on to create and build several
successful companies. She has since
worked extensively in regeneration
and is a specialist in public sector
reform and working in highly
regulated environments. She was
made a Working Peer in June 2006.
Above Baroness Ford
is working with developers,
planners and designers
to create high-quality
sustainable communities.
You have had a varied and successful
career in both the public and private
sectors to date. On reflection, did
you set out with such a career path
in mind?
Looking back, my career has to some
degree been quite accidental, never
really planned. However there has
been one constant in the roles I have
held and that is I have never passed
up an opportunity. I’m always alive
to new possibilities and in each case
where an opportunity has arisen,
looking back, three things have
always been present: the potential
of people; the power of place; and the
chance to create economic prosperity.
These seem to be common threads
throughout my career to date and
they have served me well.
You have been Chairman of English
Partnerships for nearly five years
now. How has the agency changed
in this time?
Firstly, I saw this role as a huge
opportunity in 2002 to make a real
difference to people, places and
to help create economic prosperity,
so I accepted the job and have not
looked back. English Partnerships
had quite a narrow focus up until
that time, so we changed strategic
direction to focus on creating more
sustainable communities, through
larger and more telling projects. We
are now working on over 50 major
sustainable-community projects
throughout the UK, and are doing
so in a more comprehensive way
than ever before.
How did you manage to shift the
strategic direction of the agency
so successfully?
We had a great team in place, with
very talented people like David
Higgins involved at the time. The
Board and its executives worked very
well together to review and agree the
new strategic direction and to then
lead the rest of the organisation
in making the change. I am truly
delighted with our accomplishments,
which this year alone saw over
£836 million invested in our
programme, marking our highestever recorded expenditure. Our
programme receipts were 31 percent
higher than last year and we
exceeded all of our five output
targets. Housing starts were up by
66 percent; housing completions up
26 percent; employment floorspace
up 122 percent; and private-sector
investment increased by 38 percent.
These achievements span the
whole country and demonstrate
our continued strong support
of the Government’s Sustainable
Communities Plan.
Five years ago, you had the foresight
to focus on sustainability. How has
that paid off?
We did, and we also had significant
support from the Government in
doing so. The Deputy Prime Minister,
John Prescott, has been working
tirelessly for the last ten years to
make sustainable communities
a reality in the UK. Not only do we
see this as a way to improve quality
of life, but also as a very real way of
tackling climate change. I have to
pay tribute to the Deputy Prime
Minister for the momentum he has
given us in this arena. We are now
working with a set of Ministers who
share his passion for sustainability
and are working very hard in
ensuring the built environment
meets the sustainability agenda.
You must have been very proud
to receive your Peerage?
I was very deeply honoured.
Given my focus, I saw this as a great
opportunity to be an advocate in
the House of Lords for the built
environment, for sustainability, for
education, and for developing talent
and skills. As a Working Peer, I have
the opportunity to assess both policy
and practice and I am delighted to be
in a position to do just that. Overall,
we have seen a sea change in the
seriousness and vigour with which
the Government is tackling the
sustainability agenda at all levels
and across all departments.
So what is next for English
Partnerships?
The Government is currently
considering creating a new national
investment agency, of which English
Partnerships would form a part. We
would welcome this development
and see it as a significant opportunity
to ensure a coherent approach in
delivering new housing and mixed
sustainable communities. We are
very hopeful that the Secretary
of State will agree to the creation
of this new investment agency,
which will have the scale, scope and
potential for creating and delivering
affordable housing and sustainable
communities and meeting the
Government’s priorities around
social mobility, economic inclusion
and quality living environments.
It would become a key partner for
local government in place-making
and delivery of genuine highquality communities.
Can you elaborate on the notion
of ‘quality’ that you’ve mentioned
several times in our conversation?
Quality is fundamental to
everything we are doing at English
Partnerships. I was brought up
in 1960s social housing and it was
principally about quantity in postwar UK. What we must do this
time is to learn from that experience
and make sure that we incorporate
high quality characteristics to
our developments: design, space
standards, security, useable pleasant
public space and energy conservation.
Three years ago, English Partnerships
made a conscious decision to put
quality at the top of its agenda. Now
we look at quality before financial
decisions to help raise the bar much
higher across our entire operation.
Now, for example, suppliers who
want to work with us are assessed for
quality before any financial appraisal
is made. We are putting our money
where our mouth is to ensure that
we do not consign future generations
of families to a failed model. I firmly
believe that young people will have
better chances in life if they are
living in a quality environment.
Do you have the support of the
private sector in this approach?
Yes, absolutely. For example, there
has been a sea change in the
outlook of some of the volume house
builders in the last few years. In
1998, we introduced the Millennium
Communities Programme which
introduced comprehensive new
standards to encourage quality, and
I firmly believe that the programme
has led the industry. Earlier this
year, I was very pleased to recruit
John Callcutt as Chief Executive
of English Partnerships. His longstanding experience in the house
building industry will help us to
work with house builders to explore
new investment and delivery models.
down to intelligent development,
high-quality master-planning and
effective use of land resource.
Have other Government
departments responded in the
same way as the private sector
to your new quality standards?
Overall, because of the importance
placed on sustainability by the
Cabinet, the approach has been
supported across Central
Government. However, local
government is a key driver and
can do so much more in delivering
our approach directly into
communities. Take the Mayor
of London, for example: because
of the powers that reside locally,
Where is the balance of investment
going into regeneration today, in the
North or South?
We have developed a very balanced
programme across the UK, but
in recent years have invested more
in the Midlands and the North than
we have in the South. However,
we work where the economic case
is compelling and to date, there has
been a strong portfolio of activity
outside of the South East. Our work is
quite varied. For example, one project
in Bath is not about regeneration but
about land stabilisation. In Liverpool,
“We are putting our money where
our mouth is to ensure that we
do not consign future generations
of families to a failed model. I firmly
believe that young people will
have better chances in life if they
are living in a quality environment.”
Baroness Ford of Cunninghame, Working Peer
and Chairman of English Partnerships
the Mayor and his office have been
able to go so much further in tackling
sustainable development and climate
change. He has obliged developers
to keep raising the bar and in so doing
has some cracking exemplar projects,
where renewable energy, sustainable
buildings, quality environments
and very high standards of design
are all being used. I see local
government having huge levers
to pull in driving sustainability.
How are you planning to
regenerate some of these 1960s
estates you’ve mentioned?
The reality is that these estates are
actually low density with redundant
public space. Our work in Greenwich
with Berkeley Homes provides a
model and methodology on which
to base further regeneration projects
in the UK. This particular project
has shown that you can replace 1500
homes with 4500 quality homes,
while at the same time providing
better public services, more open
space, improved infrastructure
and mixed-use development. It is all
regeneration is important to create
prosperity and a sense of place.
In Yorkshire, we are helping to turn
a disused coal field into a mixeduse development. We work where
it matters and help to provide
sensible solutions that meet local
market conditions.
Tell us a bit about you: what is
Margaret Ford like to work for and
can you ever relax?
I am very impatient for progress
and try to find solutions to problems.
I try very hard to focus on what
matters and to not get side-tracked
with other issues. And I do try to
see the upside. As I mentioned before,
I am opportunistic and encourage
my colleagues to be creative. From
my time as a management consultant
I learned how to value my time.
I continue to use this philosophy
to help me manage my time as
effectively as possible. But I can relax.
I switch off very easily and have a
great family and set of friends with
whom I spend as much free time
as possible. I can still have fun!
TIME TO
START
PLANNING
Despite considerable investment in business continuity planning over the last decade, almost
60% of senior managers in the UK are still unsure whether their organisations would survive
a major disruption. A recent survey by Arup suggests that organisations, both private and
public, need to re-think their resilience strategies. Words: Matthew Bythell.
Left The Buncefield oil depot
fire in December 2005 was
the biggest fire in peacetime
Britain. Some local
businesses were severely
damaged in the blast,
while others closed down
afterwards or suffered
job losses, relocations, or
rental increases ranging
from 5 to 100%
“We know that many organisations have
invested in business continuity planning
but we believe that many of these
systems need upgrading and integrating
to ensure that they are more agile and
sensitive to different types of threat.”
Henrik Kiertzner, corporate resilience leader, Arup
B
ack in Spring 2006, Arup was asked
by a major water utility to help it
benchmark its business continuity
plans against other market-leading
firms across a range of industries.
“The exercise offered a powerful
insight into best practice across the UK,”
says Arup’s corporate resilience leader Henrik
Kiertzner. “But we wanted to know more and
needed to build a UK-wide view of how prepared
British business really is.”
The findings surprised Kiertzner and his
team. Despite the conventional view that most
organisations were well prepared to deal
with, and bounce back after an incident, they
identified a deep stream of uncertainty among
senior management. Of the 400 organisations
interviewed, over half had never considered
ways to mitigate potential vulnerabilities in the
system, relying on a ‘response’ strategy as
opposed to a ‘mitigate’ model to avoid disruption.
“Our research captured four key issues that
are widely misunderstood by business,” says
Kiertzner, “and each of them has the potential
to create a crisis across a company.”
First, the researchers found that on average
a company has between two and five different
approaches to business protection, ranging from
business continuity planning through to disaster
recovery, emergency planning and fire safety.
These systems are rarely integrated or even
reviewed collectively to see how they can prevent
and respond to disruption. According to Kiertzner,
“At the moment, having multiple systems in place
can be just as dangerous as having none if they
are not sufficiently watertight to ensure
vulnerabilities don’t fall between the cracks.”
Second, a series of ‘under the radar’ issues,
such as supply chain disruptions, industrial
relations issues, absenteeism, IT system
A new approach to corporate resilience:
•Don’t rely on annual business continuity planning
•Encourage staff to identify and remove hidden
threats in the business chain
•Give stakeholders greater confidence in your
preparations by promoting resilience
•Join up your business protection systems
•Be able to adapt quickly to any unforeseen
events and disruption
•Effectively anticipate and respond
to market changes.
difficulties, and ineffectual security, can quickly
become threats to an organisation. According to
Kiertzner, “The cumulative effect of small frictions
across a business can mean that it is in a constant
state of crisis, making it even more difficult to
respond to a real crisis if it happens.”
Third, the team found that employees (79%)
needed greater assurance of protection from major
threats by their organisations, and interestingly
most employees (92%) felt that almost everyone
in their firm has a role to play in protecting the
organisation, but needed business leaders to
take responsibility for protecting them against
pandemics (74% of organisations have yet to
consider the implications of avian flu) and other
forms of disruption.
Fourth, Kiertzner found that the traditional
business continuity approaches aren’t keeping
pace with the ever-changing world. He explains
that, “despite the speed of change in the current
business environment, 66 percent of businesses
still aren’t giving their managers any time or
encouragement to root out and mitigate potential
vulnerabilities, instead relying on annual business
continuity planning exercises that can age very
quickly.” And there are numerous disruptions to
consider, not just the obvious ones like terrorism
and flood, such as fraud, not keeping up with the
latest technologies, extreme temperature changes,
and even football matches and lightning (Ericsson
lost £450M after lightning destroyed their
manufacturing plant).
“Our findings contradict the popular view that
organisations have sufficient processes in place to
protect their people, systems and assets. We believe
more can and needs to be done,” adds Kiertzner.
Arup brought together a multidisciplinary
team from across its management, security, risk,
threat, logistics, water, fire and technology
practices to review the research findings. It then
worked with the original water utility company
to develop an innovative approach, which
highlighted areas for operational performance
improvement, helping the company to gain
financially and improve its long-term resilience.
“We were able to develop a new and individual
approach to protecting people and assets,” says
Kiertzner. “It can save money through performance
improvement, reduce duplication and improve
staff retention. We know that many organisations
have invested in business continuity planning
but we believe they may need upgrading and
integrating to ensure that they are more agile
and sensitive to different types of threat.”
CASE STUDY: CABINET OFFICE
EMERGENCY PLANNING COLLEGE
Arup is a commercial partner of the Cabinet
Office Emergency Planning College, helping them
to develop doctrines on strategic risk, emergency
planning for police and fire services and ensuring
there is consistency throughout these operations.
Arup recently helped produce the first draft of the
report ‘Safety in the Complex Built Environment’.
For a copy of Arup’s research summary, or for more
information about resilient business, contact
[email protected]
Making
education
pay
The UK Government is pushing for all universities to become financially sustainable by 2012.
This controversial process is being implemented in universities across the country, but the
strategic implications are only just emerging. Words: Justine Harvey.
U
nder a new UK Government
initiative universities are to recover
the full cost of research by
implementing a new costing system,
known as Full Economic Costing
or FEC. At present, universities
recover less than 50% of the FEC of research, so
understandably they are concerned about what
the future holds. Many simply do not have the
tools in place to manage the move towards a higher
degree of financial sustainability.
Academics are concerned that they are being
forced to charge clients higher fees, making them
less competitive in the global research
marketplace, particularly for industrial contracts.
Charities fund a substantial amount of research
in the UK but do not currently contribute towards
overheads; they are concerned that FEC may put
pressure on them to do so thereby decreasing the
volume of research that they can fund.
Currently university overheads/infrastructure
is funded from a number of sources including
Central Government grants, various Government
departments, research bodies and private sector
sponsors. However Government department
budgets have not been increased in order to fund
the FEC of university research so it is inevitable
that the volume of research will be reduced.
“There are a lot of unknowns for the education
sector at the moment,” says Arup Director Dr
Peter Gist, a specialist in business strategy and
economics. “Some universities have gone a long
way towards implementing the new system,
while others have only performed the minimum
to meet requirements and haven’t begun to
address the strategic implications for pricing
research. FEC doesn’t mean that every individual
project has to cover its costs. But it does mean that
universities will have to make strategic decisions
How will university research projects
become self-sustainable?
They may have to:
•change some of the types of research
they perform
•raise money by charging for the use
of research facilities
•share facilities with universities whose
costs are lower
•sell parts of their estates that are
uneconomic and/or non-beneficial
•bid collaboratively with other universities
to get more value into research projects.
about which projects they want to undertake
because they value the research – even if they
make an accounting loss.”
Private sector sponsors are also demanding
greater transparency and accountability within
the public sector, which means that there is
a tighter correlation between what universities
receive financially and how they perform.
“Whether we like it or not,” states Dr Gist,
“higher education will have to adopt a more
commercial approach.”
CASE STUDY:
IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON, UK
Since November 2004 Dr Gist and the Arup team
have been helping Imperial College London to
implement the new FEC costing system for their
£177M annual research programme. While many
universities are presently using a disparate range
of existing costing software tools, Imperial College
has adopted new software, such as InfoEd and
Oracle Grants, to help researchers with costing
their projects and tracking funds once projects
have started. They have also adopted a version
of the project management approach, Prince2,
to organise the whole implementation programme.
“We now have a consistency of data,” states Dr John
Green, Imperial College’s Chief Co-ordinating
Officer. “Which saves time and money and makes
the process much more efficient.”
Traditionally, universities haven’t had rigorous
costing processes so this new system is an anathema
to many free-thinking academics. “Academia has
a totally different culture to the commercial
marketplace,” says Dr Green. “The concept of price
and cost is often new, so cultural change within
the organisation is significant.” Fortunately,
many of the project team quickly realised how
complicated the process was and that the new
process gave clarity and ensured nothing was
neglected. “Overall the process has been hugely
successful,” says Dr Green. “It has helped to ensure
that thousands of researchers were working
together, kept informed and meeting deadlines.
Furthermore, the financial modelling we have
undertaken with Arup has enabled us to work
out which types of research and which facilities
were recovering FEC, and to work out if recovery
will be possible by 2012. All indications show
that it is achievable.”
Imperial College is now a benchmark for other
universities to aspire to and it has given approval
for Arup to use this approach to advise other
universities. “This process is making universities
think carefully about what value they provide to
their research sponsors,” says Dr Gist. “Of course,
research is commissioned not just on price, but on
quality, reputation and reliability. If it is managed
well FEC can be used to improve the quality of
research we provide in the UK so everyone will
benefit in the long-term.”
For further information contact [email protected]
or [email protected]
MADE IN
BRITAIN
The UK has lost over one million manufacturing
jobs in the last five years. In the 1940s, 50%
of the nation’s work-force were employed in
manufacturing. Today that figure is just 15%.
Is there a way back for British manufacturing?
Words: Justine Harvey.
Much has been said about the decline of UK
manufacturing and whether there is any serious
hope of reversing the trend. According to Tim
Hawley, Director at Rossmore Group, part of
Arup “The answer is yes and no. Our economy
is mature and we have developed higher lifestyle
expectations, so we can’t compete with emerging
economies on direct labour costs, therefore we
have to move up the food chain. It’s a matter
of progression.” But Hawley also thinks that
manufacturing should not have declined
so quickly. “You can’t turn back the clock, but
I wouldn’t like to see UK manufacturing drop
any further and I see no reason why it should.”
The UK is currently trapped between
high value-added manufacturing countries
like Germany and the USA on one side, and cheap
labour countries like China on the other. “We
need to let go of the middle position and focus on
innovation to create and recreate products that
respond to the ever-changing marketplace,” states
Hawley. Research from the London School of
Economics suggests that UK productivity is almost
40% lower than in the US and 20% lower than in
France and Germany. “We need to match the
Germans in capital investment by using high-tech
machinery and robots to reduce labour content.
In the UK we tend to off-shore to China, and yet
Germany is the largest exporter of manufactured
goods in the world, so there is no reason why we
can’t do it.” Hawley believes that while off-shoring
manufacturing suits labour-intensive products,
it is not always the best solution. “It’s not always
practical to send manufacturing to China because
you have to be market responsive with certain
products such as high-technology items, and you
need to protect intellectual property.”
Retaining some production closer to home
also reduces supply-chain complexity and risk.
There are big benefits to sourcing from low-cost
economies, but organisations need to become
very good at constantly managing and reviewing
the cost and opportunities, along with weighing
up the risk exposure. “This makes logistics very
complicated and very vulnerable, particularly if
there are long lead times. You may remember when
Sony PlayStation 2 got stuck in transportation on
the Suez Canal? It hit market share over a critical
Christmas sales period. It is alright if it works, but
there are increasing risks from terrorism.”
Last year the International Maritime Organization
highlighted the vulnerability of the international
shipping supply chain to terrorism and the
measures being put in place to address security.
Sustainability is also becoming an increasingly
important issue with the threat of global warming
and environmental disasters making global supply
chains a risk. According to Hawley, “Currently
most companies move their manufacturing
to wherever it is financially viable and often
where the environmental legislation is most
accommodating, without taking account of the
local environmental effects. It seems to be a
case of just moving the problems elsewhere so we
don’t incur the environmental burden at home,
but we need to remember that we’re still polluting
the same atmosphere. There is currently a lack
of joined-up thinking, but as global warming gets
worse and the world becomes more interconnected,
there will be more of a ripple effect and we will
have to take responsibility on a global scale.”
Other improvements can be made to reduce
the need to off-shore. As well as capital investment,
productivity can also be improved by lean
manufacturing models and quality approaches
like Six Sigma. Processes need to be tightly
Techniques for manufacturing success
•Improve people performance by adopting
new techniques, changing culture and best practice, helping people to solve problems
out, and improving customer service
•Apply lean manufacturing techniques to take variability out of the process
•Become agile and market responsive:
companies need to respond to the consumer
•Reconfigure supply chains:
optimise locations to be flexible
•Retain intellectual property close to home
to avoid copyright fraud
•See capital investment as an investment
in the future
•Embrace the benefits of low-cost economies
controlled to narrow variation on the production
line so you end up with better quality goods.
“One example of successful lean manufacturing
in the UK is the Nissan car factory in Sunderland,”
comments Hawley. “It’s just a shame that this
progress was not home grown, but we should learn
from this. We can all do it.”
Another productivity weakness relates
to management attitudes. “We do suffer from a
lot of traditional working practice legacy issues
in our mature industries, where there are many
restrictive practices, both formalised and cultural
attitudes like, ‘I can’t operate that machine
because it’s outside my grade,’ or, ‘Sorry can’t
do that, I’m on a break.’ Labour practices need
to be more flexible and focused on problemsolving. Employees should be salaried, not
waged, team-focused, self-managing, and able
to operate a variety of machines. Why is a
company like Toyota able to do it and not Rover?
One of the reasons is that Toyota came into the
UK and trained people not associated with the
car industry, but were assessed for the right
aptitude. They knew that culturally the mindset
would be different.”
While lean is good, companies also have
to be agile and responsive to the marketplace.
Innovation is the key to future manufacturing
success. “We need to design new innovative
products or refresh existing products that
are responsive to the consumer,” says Hawley.
“We need to drive product change, be ahead
of the competition and keep the market fresh
with new ideas. This means we have to effectively
educate our young people to ensure that we
produce the next generation of ground-breaking
scientists, engineers and inventors.”
Rossmore and Arup have recently been
assisting major companies (see case study, overleaf )
to make some of these changes. “We help
companies adopt new processes and thinking.
Our history is in manufacturing, operations and
business psychology, so we are in a good position
to help change the mindset, rather than just
processes. It is unlikely UK manufacturing will
grow in the coming years because we have lost
too much, but if we are clever at what we do and
adopt some of these methods, we should be able
to stay at our current level and do it well.”
MADE IN BRITAIN
CASE STUDY
A REVERSAL OF FORTUNE:
THE INFAST STORY
A hostile assignment faced Matt Cooper when
he started his job at Pontefract-based fastener
manufacturers Philidas and sister company GKS
Centrepiece in Smethwick, UK. In the face of
increased competition from low-cost East Asian
suppliers and escalating raw material prices,
turnover in the manufacturing business had
declined from £20M to around £16M, and losses
were mounting. Faced with a difficult decision,
parent company Infast, a £180M-turnover inventory
management group, decided to cut their losses
and re-source production to East Asia with the loss
of several hundred UK jobs. Cooper’s job, as Senior
Consultant for the joint Arup and Rossmore team,
was to close them down. “The employees felt a
little disenfranchised to say the least,” says Cooper.
Robert Sternick, ex-CEO of Infast, said, “I was
expecting a strike, mass exits, a slowdown, problems
with suppliers and pressure by the unions, but
none of that happened. A strike would have killed
us. The employees felt deceived by the company
but bringing in a neutral firm meant we could
go through the closing down process properly.”
The two manufacturing businesses supplied
many of Europe’s major industrial manufacturers
and automotive OEMs (Original Equipment
Manufacturers) including Ford, Nissan and Jaguar.
Cooper says, “Aside from the employee and union
problems, failure to supply customers would
have caused stoppages and there would have been
a huge client backlash, so we had to find a workable
solution fast.”
Cooper’s team worked with the staff to try
and find out what was going wrong. “I kept telling
the employees that we had to work together if
there was any chance of saving the business,” he
says. “We showed them margins, sales figures,
profits and more importantly losses; we posted
visible measures so they could understand
what was going on. We also introduced stepped
productivity bonuses. They started to believe that
we were working in their best interest and pulled
the stops out to make the company profitable.”
Repeaters and strangers
The Rossmore/Arup team quickly realised that
while significant savings could be made on
high-volume standard parts, specialist and niche
components presented more of a challenge – some
parts were quoted at over 600% more than the
UK manufactured price. “We realised that there
was a good argument to keep the UK business
going if only we could stop the losses. Margin
analysis showed that the high-volume parts were
losing money by trying to compete head-on with
suppliers from East Asia. But Infast had a
reputation for supplying high-quality parts on
time, so we advised that they should import only
the high-volume low-margin parts from East Asia
and manufacture the rest in the UK,” says Cooper.
“I knew it was going to be tough,” says Sternick,
“but the Rossmore/Arup team really dissected the
information to find what we needed. We considered
the worst case scenarios and gave ourselves a
six month window to close the companies and
transfer, so it was a huge bonus that we actually
turned them around and sold both businesses
within six months. Rossmore/Arup and the
employees really came through.”
“I’ve worked with a lot of consultants who
work on the sidelines, but Rossmore/Arup didn’t
just talk about it, they rolled up their sleeves
and actually did the work, operating from within
the company. Communication was essential; we
were clear with each other and there were no egos.
The team said, ‘these are the problems, let’s work
it out’, and they fought their ground if necessary
and didn’t back down if it was a good viewpoint.
They had an entrepreneurial spirit for wanting
to succeed in a difficult circumstance.”
Turnaround success
Against the odds, Infast became a UK
manufacturing success story. Major losses were
converted to operational profits within six months
and the manufacturing businesses were sold
with no redundancies. Infast doubled its share
Below Against the odds,
Infast became a UK
manufacturing success
price in eight months, and was sold to the £3bn
Anixter group. Recognition came earlier this year
when the client/consultant team received the
Gold Award for operational improvement by the
Management Consultancies Association.
Since selling Infast to Anixter, Sternick
has set up a new company called Ideas3 to help
companies invent or reinvent innovative products.
Cooper and his team are now working with the
new company to dev˙elop and bring these ideas
to market.
GKS was sold to Armstrong, and Philidas
to an entrepreneur called Roy Jones. Both
businesses have gone from strength to strength.
“This was a great reversal of fortune,”
says Cooper. “Rather than shutting down UK
businesses and sourcing from China, we’re now
exporting parts to China.” Sternick agrees: “The
UK spawned the Industrial Revolution through
innovation. We need to continually innovate to
provide customers with better products and we need
to continuously protect that intellectual capital
and nurture an industry that embraces innovation.
My experience with Infast suggests that not only
can UK manufacturing survive but we can
compete on the global playing field.”
For more information contact [email protected]
or [email protected]. For further information
about Ideas3 visit: www.ideas3.co.uk.
At a glance:
Corporate Responsibility
Concern over the sustainability of the planet’s resources and evidence of climate change has put
the role of business into sharp focus. Corporate responsibility expert Jonathan Ben-Ami offers
an insight into this fast growing discipline.
WHY IS CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
SO IMPORTANT?
We all know that companies have a significant
and often long-lasting impact on the world around
them through their operations, distribution of
products or provision of services. To succeed, they
interact with key stakeholders such as employees,
customers, investors, local communities, suppliers
and others. Corporate responsibility is about
managing the impact of this interaction to not
only add value to the organisation but to help
increase the wider economic, environmental
and social benefits now and over the longer term.
WHAT ARE THE BUSINESS BENEFITS?
Organisations are now realising that being
responsible has clear financial benefits and can
also assist them in building links with policymakers, aid in innovation, help to motivate and
retain employees, and build corporate reputation
and enhance competitiveness. In today’s highly
competitive marketplace, the importance of
ensuring a positive impact can be crucial to both
the reputation of the organisation and its overall
strategic success.
We see many organisations taking their role
seriously, viewing corporate responsibility as
an opportunity to attract employees, customers
and investors. There are many examples of how
being responsible has delivered both economic
and reputation gain. Perhaps less well-known
are the human resource benefits. Research by
the University of Santa Barbara found that the
majority of MBA students in schools across North
America and Europe are willing to forgo some
financial benefits to work for an organisation with
a better reputation for corporate responsibility
and ethics.
HOW IS CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
PERFORMANCE REPORTED?
Companies have voluntarily reported on their
progress in minimising their environmental
footprints and maximising their contribution to
society. With the advent of the Global Reporting
Initiative (GRI) framework and various stockmarket reporting indices, such as the Dow Jones
Sustainability Indexes, stakeholders are more
able to compare corporate responsibility
performance of organisations. The increasing
use of key performance indicators is also making
reporting a more transparent process.
HAS THE VOLUNTARY APPROACH WORKED?
Many organisations believe that the voluntary
approach to corporate responsibility has failed,
and have called extensively for new legislation to
reinforce the view that profits can only be made
in the context of being responsible. Back in 2000,
the UK Prime Minister challenged the FTSE 350
companies to present environmental reports by
the end of the year, yet less than a quarter did.
Even today, only 50% of firms now do so, so you
might conclude that voluntary reporting has
only been partially successful.
WHAT ABOUT REGULATION?
This is a complex area. Some reporting
requirements are already in place but we expect
the UK Government to introduce further
legislation later this year. Within the UK, we are
now seeing the first companies to disclose under
the new reporting requirements set out in the
Business Review, obligations which arise out
of the EU’s Accounts Modernisation Directive.
The Company Law Reform Bill is expected to
be enacted shortly in the UK and, if approved, it
will undoubtedly increase the requirements for
companies to report on non-financial ‘material’
issues. Perhaps more importantly, it will assert
that company directors will have a duty to more
carefully consider the impacts of their business
on people and the environment.
WHAT DOES ARUP OFFER?
With our experience and understanding of the
built environment, commitment to sustainability
and our ability to integrate business, technical
and environment consulting, we are able to
help organisations benefit from corporate
responsibility. We help companies to understand
the implications of EU and UK legislation and
the business benefits; and then work with them
to develop and implement successful corporate
responsibility strategies.
Review:
Who was Ove Arup?
Innovations
New ideas from Arup’s design and technology studios.
REDUCING
WIND SWAY
IN TALL
BUILDINGS
A review of the first biography dedicated to Ove Arup. Words: Sally Quigg.
OVE ARUP:
MASTERBUILDER OF
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
BY PETER JONES
In his biography, ‘Ove Arup:
Masterbuilder of the Twentieth
Century’, Peter Jones tells the story
of the charming, idiosyncratic
“Dane of formidable intellect”
who, in his lifetime, changed the
assumptions of architects and
engineers throughout the world.
Ove’s conviction in the seamless
integration of architecture and
engineering guided him throughout
his professional life and continues
to thrive through the legacy of Arup,
the consulting engineering firm
he founded sixty years ago.
Ove tells part of this story himself,
with the author making liberal use
of the prolific archive of letters and
writings, preserved by the Arup
family, throughout the book. This
undoubtedly adds depth to the
biography, but at times the clamour
of multiple contemporary voices has
a disruptive effect on the narrative.
Ove’s story is compelling as
much for the period of time it spans
as for the insight it offers into a
highly successful, global business
established according to a strong set
of ideals and subsequently given, in
trust, to its employees. The chapters
covering the Second World War
and the Sydney Opera House are eyeopening in their examination of the
planning priorities of governments,
developers and the very complicated
relationship between architects
and engineers – priorities which
many could be more aware of when
planning their built environment.
The portrait painted of Ove is that
of a man who was always destined
for great things. His decision to
turn to structural engineering –
and the revolution that he inspired
in this field in his insistence on
“total architecture” – was born from
a feeling that he would not achieve
distinction in music or philosophy,
two great passions that remained
with him throughout his 88 years.
Whatever their merit, Ove’s
philosophical ponderings, which
he meticulously set down on
paper throughout his life, offer an
invaluable insight into the man,
and the legacy that lives on in the
firm of designers and business
consultants that bears his name.
ISBN 0-300-11296-3
Publisher: Yale University Press
www.yalebooks.co.uk
Above An early sketch of the
Sydney Opera House, 1956-7
Left Ove Arup
Below New damping
system reduces wind
sway in tall buildings
If you’ve ever stood near the top of
a tall building when it has swayed
in the wind, you’ll understand why
a new and cost-effective system that
reduces this motion is important.
Arup’s trademarked damped
outrigger system is a new application
of the same technology that was
used to resolve the swaying of the
Millennium Bridge in London.
Outrigger walls projecting from
the building’s core, and moving
independently of the floors in the
vertical direction, are connected
to the perimeter columns by means
of viscous dampers. This increases
the level of damping that can
be achieved in a more economical
and reliable manner than other
existing methods.
When used on the St Francis
Towers in Manila, twin 60-storey
towers that are the highest
residential buildings in the Philippines,
the client saved between US$5M
and $10M in construction costs. The
system also takes up less space than
conventional tuned mass or liquid
dampers, providing more net floor
area, and resulting in greater income
potential for the client. The system
has patents pending.
RADICAL NEW
URBAN TRANSPORT
Above The latest
concept in ecological
car design
A new concept in ecological vehicle design goes beyond just tackling road
congestion and pollution, it also completely re-thinks personal transport
strategies for the urban environment.
A drive to reduce energy consumption and improve sustainability has
led Arup to examine ways of achieving these goals. They are working on
a number of concepts, one of which, for use in urban areas, aims to be 100%
recyclable, safe, efficient and cost-effective.
Rather than individual ownership, the vehicle is part of an urban transport
strategy that provides on-demand supply accessible to all and is operated by
local authorities or private enterprises. This system requires fewer vehicles
with greater utilisation rates and greater control over fleet maintenance.
The vehicle features ultra-low embodied energy and is powered by an
electric drive system, using lithium ion batteries to provide a 120km range
with zero tail pipe emissions. Advanced communication, sensing and control
systems provide greater flexibility in its operation and usage.
The design team believes that there must be a step change in transport
systems to respond to the world’s growing environmental problems. “This
thinking must go beyond the development of a simple technical specification
for a new class of vehicle,” says Arup Director Neil Ridley. “It must re-think
the social and economic context within which personal transport can
be made available to the ultimate user – the city-dwellers of the future.”
The concept is now undergoing further development for deployment
into various parts of the world, including Europe and China by 2010.
Right
Relief glass façade
on the Tate Modern’s
new extension
Below right
Computer-controlled
pavement device
FASTER,
EASIER
& MORE
INTUITIVE
THOROUGHLY
MODERN
TATE
Now one of London’s most successful
art centres, the Tate Modern is
planning a new extension in time
for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Designed by the building’s original
architects, Herzog and de Meuron,
and engineered by Arup, the
extension relies on a complex and
challenging form, which results
in high cladding costs.
In close collaboration with
the architects, Arup’s façades and
materials experts worked on the
scheme design to produce cladding
that realises the complex form,
whilst also being commercially
attractive. Both significantly aided
the scheme’s compliance to an
aggressive cost plan.
The new scheme was recently
successfully unveiled to the public.
For further information visit www.tate.
org.uk/modern/transformingtm/
Oasys, Arup’s software house, has
launched Version 4 of the popular
‘Mail Manager’ tool. Version 4 has
a host of improvements in terms of
the user interface and general ease
of use. The search facility has also
been improved to be both faster
and more intuitive, incorporating
a preview pane to speed up the
process of finding the right messages.
In addition, Version 4 now adapts
to each user, giving a customised
shortlist of suggested filing locations
based on previous behaviour,
making it even quicker and simpler
to choose where to save messages.
Mail Manager has become
essential to Arup’s operations and
has helped to sharpen the company’s
quality assurance procedures,
ensuring that all project-related
correspondence, whether
spreadsheets, reports or email,
are in one place and easy to find.
30-day trial copies are available from
www.oasys-software.com/mailmanager
GORSE
STACKS
A SAVING
Arup’s façades specialists have helped to
drive down design and manufacturing
costs on Gorse Stacks, an iconic
new office building for Chester City
Council in the UK.
Arup was invited to join the design
team, led by Ian Simpson Architects
for developer ING, to rationalise
the building’s dramatic form, which
consists of an apparently random series
of angled facets. Unfortunately, this
randomness also results in façade
costs being a significant percentage
of the total building cost, so Arup
rationalised the angles, defined panel
repetition, then remodelled the
building until the new version resulted
in a similar aesthetic to the architect’s
original concept. The iconic spirit of
the scheme was retained, but façade
costs dropped by approximately 10%,
equating to an estimated £400 000
saving on the predicted cladding costs.
Visit www.chester.gov.uk/gorsestacks/
for more details.
Right Chester City
Council’s rationalised
building geometry
PREVENTING
PEDESTRIAN
HAZARDS
Scientists are using a computercontrolled surface to recreate all
sorts of pedestrian hazards, with
the aim of making our streets
more user-friendly. This artificial
pavement covers 80mµ of floor
space and is supported by 208
mechanical legs which can change
its slope and evenness.
The project, known as ‘PAMELA’
(the Pedestrian Accessibility &
Movement Environment Laboratory),
has adjustable lighting and noise
conditions. This supports scenarios
ranging from street-lit midnight
scenes to a dawn landscape
accompanied by birdsong. Volunteers
navigate their way around hazards
such as steps and holes whilst
their heart rates, eye movements
and geographical positions are
monitored automatically.
Arup designed the adjustable
pavement device and associated
facilities for University College
London. UCL’s researchers will use
the facility to generate data that
should lead to design improvements
of pavements, footways and
concourses. It will enable new ideas
and products to be tested under
controlled conditions. This will
inform design decisions on issues
such as surface types, colours,
smoothness, slopes and lighting;
and will be particularly useful
in improving disability awareness.
SOUNDSCAPE
DESIGN
FOR URBAN
SPACES
‘Soundscape’ is an innovative new
design tool being used to improve
and manage the sound in our cities
and civic spaces. It builds on the
established regulatory framework
for controlling noise but goes on
to evaluate the remaining sounds.
These are preserved and/or reshaped
to create attractive, stimulating
and healthy acoustic environments,
appropriate to the location and
its community.
Soundscape design and
evaluation of new sounds can also
be introduced to improve a
soundscape environment, including
‘active’ water features and sonic
art. The design process benefits
from Arup’s innovative ‘SoundLab’
where the existing and reshaped
soundscapes can be accurately
synthesized (as a true 3D sound field)
enabling decision-makers to listen
to and influence the design before
it is built.
This approach is seen as one
of the keys to the next wave of urban
regeneration by providing the right
environment for family housing and
recreation space, whilst maintaining
the ‘buzz’ of a thriving energetic city
in other locations.
The research is being tested in the
UK as part of a series of projects for
the Greater London Authority (GLA)
and Leeds City Council by Arup.
GIVING
ARCHITECTS
DESIGN
FREEDOM
Due to current safety regulations
the layouts of traditional apartments
don’t allow for any originality of
design, resulting in the same layouts
being used repeatedly.
However, a flexible and innovative
new range of apartment designs
has been developed by Arup, which
maintain safety levels whilst
minimising the commercial and
approvals risk. Having gained
national type approval, developers
and architects throughout England
and Wales can now enjoy a level of
freedom not previously experienced.
Arup has approval for 15 apartment
design rules. Each apartment is based
on a set of rules and not on specific
drawings. The designs also improve
the use of space; bedrooms are
accessed from the lounge areas, travel
distances are reduced and open-plan
living space is extended.
MAKING
BUILDINGS
SAFER
Following intensive research and
development, a new performancebased fire tool has been developed by
Arup which makes it possible to predetermine a structure’s response to fire
through the design.
This new concept enables
designers to determine a realistic fire
scenario, calculate the heat transfer
to the structure for the duration of
the incident and quantify its response.
This approach means building
occupants and fire fighters are
not solely reliant on traditional fireproofing methods, resulting in
lower construction costs. This new
understanding, along with client
demand – particularly high since
the events at the World Trade Center
in New York – has resulted in a
dedicated service within Arup’s
structural fire engineering team.
Another new tool called ‘Firegrid’
is an intelligent fire response system
currently being developed. Firegrid
enables fire fighters to respond
more effectively to fire incidents by
providing emergency services with
information that predicts a building’s
response to fire. The methodologies
being developed can also be
extended to other hazards such as
environmental incidents, natural
disasters and acts of terrorism.
Arup is part of the FireGrid consortium,
led by the Building Research
Establishment. Visit www.firegrid.org
Above
New apartment
layouts give
designers flexibility
BATHING IN
THE BROOK
The ‘Puro’ is a new contemporary
spa bath made from recycled
industrial waste. Once converted into
a polymer, this material produces
a bath that is both silky and warm
to touch. Other appealing features in
the bath include a bubbling waterfall,
which cascades down one end
massaging the bather’s feet, and an
ergonomic sloping back support.
The recycled polymer material
is also 100% recyclable, extremely
durable and can be renewed by
slight sanding if necessary. The name
Puro means ‘brook’ in Finnish. The
bath was designed by Arup’s product
design team together with Finnish
company, Durat.
Arup has also collaborated
with Durat to develop the cylindrical
‘Torni’ wash basin. The design is
a startling departure from that
of traditional commercial vanity
basins. Free-standing, it has builtin storage and, like the Puro, is also
made from recycled plastics. The
Torni is available in an assortment
of striking colours.
Go to www.durat.com for more information.
Below The striking
Torni wash basin
is made from
recycled plastic
WALKING
ON PAPER
Left Curvaceous
Euro Seat will make
transport terminals
more comfortable
Below The elegant
glass seat appears
to float
Technik–Floor is a new stone flooring
system produced from 95% recycled
paper. Made up of tile modules placed
on height-adjustable steel pedestals,
each recycled tile is laminated with
a stone/ceramic layer, and joined
together via a tongue and groove joint.
Cost-neutral in comparison with
wet cement floor systems, it can be
constructed quickly to meet deadlines
and is an ideal flooring alternative for
airport concourses, shopping centres,
town halls, galleries, and large office
lobbies. Arup’s product design team
developed the system in collaboration
with Lindner and Grants.
For further information visit
www.lindner.ag
FLOATING
ON AIR
Two new innovative glass benches
appear to float on air. The ‘Cartesian’
seat follows the traditional form of a
rectangular bench, but is made from
layered sheets of glass, supported
off-centre by a stainless steel plate.
The ‘Zoomorphic’ seat is shaped like
a surfboard and has circular holes
of varying sizes cut into each section
to create a ‘cigar’ effect running the
length of the bench, which can be
artificially illuminated.
The seating was designed
specifically for private clients by
Arup’s architectural practice.
MASS
MARKET
APPEAL
The ‘Euro Seat’ is a new aluminium
seating system designed initially
for transport terminals. The design
was originally conceived in response
to a brief set by RLE International,
however Arup’s product design team,
having seen the commercial
opportunities in making this system
available to the mass market, formed
a global partnership with Camatic
and Asia Aluminium to produce the
system. The first system will be on
sale in March 2007.
For more information
about any Arup
innovations please
email [email protected]
NEXT ISSUE
DESIGN FOR PEOPLE: The future challenges of design
TECHNOLOGY IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: Three new innovations
SURVIVE VS THRIVE: How business leaders are responding to the drivers of change
ECO-CITIES: Performance outcomes identified
Design: Studio8 Design
Printing: Granite
The paper used for this publication is produced
using Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF) bleached
pulp. The text is printed on paper manufactured
using a combination of genuine recycled fibres
and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified
pulp derived from sustainable sources.
Cert no. TT-COC-002238
With the exception of the images listed below,
all images belong to Arup and are reproduced
by permission of Arup:
Cover: Shanghai Industrial Investment
(Holdings) Co.(SIIC). 03: British Energy.
04: New East Manchester. 05: Kohn Pedersen
Fox Associates Pc. 06: The Port Authority of
New York & New Jersey; Arup/Marcel Lam;
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
(PANYNJ). 07: Bing Thom Architects. 10: Peter
Whyte. 12: Getty Images. 14: Shonagh Rae. 18:
Paul White. 19: Getty Images. 20: Jørn Utzon
(Sydney Opera House). 22: Herzog & de Meuron.
Published by Arup
13 Fitzroy Street, London, W1T 4BQ.
© Arup 2006. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part prohibited
without prior permission.
Free subscription
Aµ is published three times a year by Arup. If you
would like to regularly receive free copies of the
magazine, please email: [email protected].
We welcome your feedback
Please send us a letter, comment or request
by emailing [email protected] or write to
Matthew Bythell, Arup, 6th Floor, 13 Fitzroy
Street, London, W1T 4BQ

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