NEW DIMENSIONS FROM ARUP NO.1

Transcription

1 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

2 Contents: 02_Editorial John Miles, Chair of Arup s Consulting business, introduces the first issue of A2. 03_News 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 first eco-city gets the go-ahead 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. 10_Interview Matthew Bythell discusses urban regeneration with Baroness Ford of Cunninghame, Chair of regeneration agency English Partnerships. 12_Business resilience: time to start planning Henrik Kiertzner explains a new approach to business resilience and how to future-proof your organisation. 14_Making education pay The UK Government is pushing for all universities to become financially sustainable by This controversial process is being implemented in universities across the country, but the strategic implications are only just emerging. 16_Made in Britain Tim Hawley suggests a future for British manufacturing and Matt Cooper and Robert Sternick provide a case study account of an awardwinning manufacturing turnaround. 19_At a glance: Corporate Responsibility Jonathan Ben-Ami provides a 60-second guide to corporate responsibility. 20_Review A look at the new biography, Ove Arup Masterbuilder of the 20th Century, by Peter Jones. 21_Innovations 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

3 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. 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 a2@arup.com News A round-up of news from around the Arup world. 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 BUSINESS PUSHES FOR LEGACY 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. 02 A² magazine ISSUE 1 A² magazine ISSUE 1 03

4 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. 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. 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 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. 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 For more details contact Below City modelling of Ancoats urban village, UK Above The plan for Songdo includes a system of canals for transport and recreation 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. HOT HOUSE 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. 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 04 A² magazine ISSUE 1 A² magazine ISSUE 1 0

5 Above The new JetBlue Airways terminal building at JFK Airport, New York FACELIFT FOR PEAK TOWER 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 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 ft 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 JetBlue, which commenced services in 2000, offers low-cost flights between numerous destinations in the US, Mexico and the Caribbean. THE ALBERT BASIN 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 people, rising to 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 Left The iconic Peak Tower in Hong Kong has been given a HK$100M facelift Below Toledo s new glass pavilion in Ohio, USA GLASS PAVILION IN TOLEDO More than 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 THE CLIMATE GROUP 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. 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 ACQUISITION ADDS NEW CAPABILITY 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 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 06 A² magazine ISSUE 1 A² magazine ISSUE 1 0

6 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 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. Designed 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 people by 2010, with the remaining 570ha of the start-up area of the site to accommodate people by Development will then continue to create a city for up to 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 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 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. 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. 08 A² magazine ISSUE 1 A² magazine ISSUE 1 09

7 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 Interview: Matthew Bythell. Above Baroness Ford is working with developers, planners and designers to create high-quality sustainable communities. 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 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 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. 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, down to intelligent development, high-quality master-planning and effective use of land resource. 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! 10 A² magazine ISSUE 1 A² magazine ISSUE 1 11

8 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% Back 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 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 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 henrik.kiertzner@arup.com 12 A² magazine ISSUE 1 A² magazine ISSUE 1 13

9 Making education pay The UK Government is pushing for all universities to become financially sustainable by This controversial process is being implemented in universities across the country, but the strategic implications are only just emerging. Words: Justine Harvey. Under 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 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 peter.gist@arup.com or j.green@imperial.ac.uk 14 A² magazine ISSUE 1 A² magazine ISSUE 1 15

10 MADE IN 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 BRITAIN 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 France and Germany. We need to match the Last year the International Maritime Organization aptitude. They knew that culturally the mindset The UK has lost over one million manufacturing Germans in capital investment by using high-tech highlighted the vulnerability of the international would be different. machinery and robots to reduce labour content. shipping supply chain to terrorism and the While lean is good, companies also have In the UK we tend to off-shore to China, and yet measures being put in place to address security. to be agile and responsive to the marketplace. jobs in the last five years. In the 1940s, 50% Germany is the largest exporter of manufactured Sustainability is also becoming an increasingly Innovation is the key to future manufacturing goods in the world, so there is no reason why we important issue with the threat of global warming success. We need to design new innovative can t do it. Hawley believes that while off-shoring and environmental disasters making global supply products or refresh existing products that of the nation s work-force were employed in manufacturing suits labour-intensive products, chains a risk. According to Hawley, Currently are responsive to the consumer, says Hawley. it is not always the best solution. It s not always most companies move their manufacturing We need to drive product change, be ahead practical to send manufacturing to China because to wherever it is financially viable and often of the competition and keep the market fresh manufacturing. Today that figure is just 15%. you have to be market responsive with certain where the environmental legislation is most with new ideas. This means we have to effectively products such as high-technology items, and you accommodating, without taking account of the educate our young people to ensure that we need to protect intellectual property. local environmental effects. It seems to be a produce the next generation of ground-breaking Is there a way back for British manufacturing? Retaining some production closer to home case of just moving the problems elsewhere so we scientists, engineers and inventors. also reduces supply-chain complexity and risk. don t incur the environmental burden at home, Rossmore and Arup have recently been There are big benefits to sourcing from low-cost but we need to remember that we re still polluting assisting major companies (see case study, overleaf ) Words: Justine Harvey. economies, but organisations need to become the same atmosphere. There is currently a lack to make some of these changes. We help 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 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. 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 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. 16 A² magazine ISSUE 1 A² magazine ISSUE 1 17

11 MADE IN BRITAIN CASE STUDY Below Against the odds, Infast became a UK manufacturing success At a glance: Corporate Responsibility 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 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 tim.hawley@arup.com or matt.cooper@arup.com. For further information about Ideas3 visit: 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. 18 A² magazine ISSUE 1 A² magazine ISSUE 1 19

12 Review: Who was Ove Arup? 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 Publisher: Yale University Press Above An early sketch of the Sydney Opera House, Left Ove Arup Innovations New ideas from Arup s design and technology studios. Below New damping system reduces wind sway in tall buildings REDUCING 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 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 Above The latest concept in ecological car design 20 A² magazine ISSUE 1 A² magazine ISSUE 1 21

13 Right Relief glass façade on the Tate Modern s new extension Below right Computer-controlled pavement device Right Chester City Council s rationalised building geometry 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 org.uk/modern/transformingtm/ 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 saving on the predicted cladding costs. Visit for more details. 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. FASTER, EASIER & MORE INTUITIVE 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 , are in one place and easy to find. 30-day trial copies are available from 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 Above New apartment layouts give designers flexibility 22 A² magazine ISSUE 1 A² magazine ISSUE 1 23

14 Below The striking Torni wash basin is made from recycled plastic 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 for more information. WALKING ON PAPER 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 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 Left Curvaceous Euro Seat will make transport terminals more comfortable Below The elegant glass seat appears to float For more information about any Arup innovations please a2@arup.com 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 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 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 a2@arup.com. We welcome your feedback Please send us a letter, comment or request by ing a2@arup.com or write to Matthew Bythell, Arup, 6th Floor, 13 Fitzroy Street, London, W1T 4BQ

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