With a clutch of awards, including a RIBA National Award 2015, the 2015 Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year, and shortlisted for the RIBA Sterling prize, the extension to the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester is a masterpiece of transparency and integration with its exterior parkland space. A JCT Standard Building Contract provided the contract solution. The University of Manchester’s Whitworth Gallery first opened in 1908, and was designed by J.W. Beaumont. The north-south facing façade is the original red brick and terracotta, neo-Jacobean…

The client-driven community housing development, 1-6 Copper Lane, is an innovative and highly collaborative solution to the problem of finding affordable housing in London. As with many innovative and inspirational projects JCT was the contract of choice, the Intermediate Building Contract provided the solution here. 1-6 Copper Lane is London’s first purpose-built co-housing scheme. Located in Stoke Newington, in the north of the city, the development consists of six homes that approach lifestyle choice and economics in such a way to make home ownership more…

The Vehicle Operator and Services Agency’s (VOSA) £5.8m heavy goods vehicle testing centre outside Bristol This is the first project constructed in the UK using the JCT-Constructing Excellence (JCT/CE) contract. Developed by JCT in collaboration with Constructing Excellence, the contract promotes collaborative and integrated working, providing a single contract form to regulate all the relationships involved in a project. It makes the delivery of a project the joint mission of the entire project team. “Wow, we finally have a contract that is small, in plain…

Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) has decided to use the JCT Constructing Excellence Contract (JCT-CE) for its building conservation and improvements programme. HRP is using the contract together with the JCT-CE Project Team Agreement and is in the pilot year of a three-year programme of works. HRP is one of a growing list of clients embracing collaboration and adopting the JCT – Constructing Excellence Contract to achieve its objectives. HRP chose JCT – Constructing Excellence because of the way it integrates the team, the way it…

One of London’s most recognisable landmarks, 30 St Mary Axe (affectionately called “the Gherkin”) was built under a JCT contract. The 76,400 square metres project was commissioned by Swiss Re to replace the Baltic Exchange, which had been damaged by an IRA bomb in 1992. When planners realised the Exchange could not be recovered, they agreed to consider plans that were architecturally significant and unique. They sought an innovative, functional building that would not be too imposing on the traditionally narrow London streetscape. The Gherkin…

The 14,500 seat stand at this world-renowned stadium was completed in 2005 for Surrey County Cricket Club by Taylor Woodrow under a JCT Major Project Construction Contract. The £25m project involved the replacement of the existing stands with a new multi-level building with four seating tiers, three levels of hospitality lounges and an open promenade terrace. The original concept was developed by HOK SVE, with The Miller Partnership completing the detailed design, interior and landscaping. The sweeping aerofoil roof provides a setting and focus for…

The City of London’s newest, and highest, addition to its skyline was built using a JCT Major Project Construction Contract. The 230m high Heron Tower, completed earlier this year, replaced Tower 42, the former NatWest Tower, as the City’s highest building. It is the third-highest building in London after Canary Wharf and The Shard, due for completion next year and a project also using a JCT form of contract. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, Heron Tower is 46 storeys tall with a restaurant, sky bar…

In the film ‘Field of Dreams’, Kevin Costner’s character Ray Kinsella is told in his corn field that “if you build it, he will come”. This was referring to the construction of a baseball field that will re-unite him with his late, estranged father. Following this premonition, Ray has to undergo a series of challenges in order to pull off this beyond-the-grave feat. In the face of financial ruin and the doubt of his peers, Ray ultimately succeeds to bring about Hollywood’s most epic father-and-son…