Commercial Team make way for Santa.... !

Rob Kenyon, Site Surveyor at Woodland Court has been doing the final checks to the chimney in preparation for the 25th December.

 

Each member of team at Woodland Court have asked for the same thing from Santa... GOOD WEATHER FOR NEXT YEAR!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

After a long year of working very hard, the team here at Woodland Court will be taking a short break over the festive period to recharge our batteries.  We will be closing down for Christmas on the 21st December, and we will be re-open for business on the 2nd January 2013.

Can we please ask that if any of our neighbours see anything untoward on our site, then please can they notify our CCTV monitoring company - contact details are given on the hoarding of our site.  If it's an emergency that requires immediate attention, then please dial 999.

We hope everyone has a joyful and pleasant Christmas and a prosperous new year!

Featuring Woodland Court!

Here at Woodland Court we have now installed the first part of the Water Feature and have re-used the existing Woodland Court Gate Piers as part of the Recycling Scheme. Once completed the feature will have recycled water pumped through the top of the stone.

 

 

 

New MD visits Woodland Court

We had a visit yesterday from our new National MD, Andy Hobart, and our Regional Director Joanne Jamieson, both Joanne and Andy are both looking forward to the completion of the first extra care facility.

 

All brickwork to the elevations on Woodland Court have now been completed. And last week the chimney fitted into place. Now this has been done, more of the scaffold can now be stripped and further external work can progress.

 

 

 

 

Keeping you in the loop...

Bus stop improvements on Staincliffe Road, Dewsbury.

Kirklees Council is planning to carry out improvement work to two bus stops on Staincliffe Road. The bus stop improvements are required as part of the Woodland Court Extra Care housing scheme on School Lane which is currently being built. 

The works will be carried out on bus stop BS61210 which is outside the Gladstone Court homes and BS16216 which is the adjacent to Woodland Court. There will be a new fully enclosed bus shelter outside Gladstone Court and a new cantilever bus shelter adjacent to Woodland Court. Please take a look at the enclosed plans that show the bus stop proposals.

The bus stops will have new high boarder kerbs installed to make it easier for wheelchair users and people with poor mobility to get on and off the bus. New yellow bus stop clearway markings are also going to be put down on the road to prevent vehicles parking near the bus stops. This will allow buses to park alongside the boarder kerbs every time and make sure that access to the local bus service is maintained.

The Woodland Court Extra Care housing scheme is part of the Kirklees Excellent Homes for Life Project which will build 466 new homes for rent across Kirklees. For further information on the Excellent Homes for Life project please visit www.kirklees.gov.uk/excellent homes or telephone 01484 225210 to speak to a member of the team.

If you have any questions or comments about the highway proposals, please telephone Rashid Mahmood on: 01484 225633 or email: Rashid.Mahmood@kirklees.gov.uk no later than the
14 December 2012. If you need to contact us outside normal office hours, you can ring Streetscene Customer Care on 01484 414 700.

Funder Words are Go... !

 

The Woodland Court site team were today visited by John Gilmore, the General Manager of John Laing and a consortium of funders. The team were escorted around the scheme and were very complimentary on how it has progressed since their last visit.

It'll be All White on the night!

The Hygiene Kitchen is well in progress and all of the white hygiene boards are now installed. The catering equipment will be in place for Christmas.

 

Gas Reinforcement to School Lane

Enterprise have informed Wates that they will be commencing the medium pressure gas main renewal from Monday 19th November.  These works will unfortunately cause some disruption, but as ever we aim to keep any disruption to the local areas to a minimum.

 

Going Potty !

Now all the building is complete, we will be finishing the chimney off and fitting the chimney pots on Wednesday, we are all looking forward to this, as it enables further scaffolding to be stripped to make way for the external works.

Over the next week or two Crossway Scaffolding will be progressively stripping scaffolding to the external of the building after cleaning has taken place.

We are all looking forward to seeing the scaffold down, which will enable the external groundworks to commence...

 

 

Wates Family Visit

On Halloween the team at Woodland Court escorted John Wates around the site, highlighting the performance of the scheme to date.  Mr Wates made some favourable comments to the team on his tour of the site, and complemented them on their endeavours to complete on programme.

 

We would like to thank all our operatives and colleagues that make these visits such a pleasant occasion.  Well done to all!

Tree Planting

This week Wates has agreed a date with their landscaping contractor for when the trees will be planted. So for any one who is interested and would like to pencil the date their diaries it is the 22nd of November. The team here at Woodland Court have agreed that similar trees will be planted to match the existing trees already on site.

Courtesy Please!

On Thursday 18th October 2012 between the hours of 1pm and 5pm, could we please ask all our neighbours, operatives, suppliers and staff to be courteous to the funeral cortege of Major Henry Baker of 123 School Lane, Dewsbury.

We will have a member of staff patrolling the area the junction of School Crescent to ensure the cortege is not impeded.

May we all offer our condolences on this sad occasion.

Enterprise Gas works

Further to discussions with Kirklees highways department this week, we can confirm that Enterprise will be conducting trial holes over the medium pressure gas main along School Lane and Staincliffe Road, this is the initial works of the gas main replacement which is due to commence in November and will run through until March 2013.

There will be a number of road closures along School Lane and diversions will be posted locally by Enterprise and Kirklees Highways.

The works being conducted by Enterprise are not in connection with the new development as they are the scheduled replacement of aging gas mains, we will endeavour to work alongside Enterprise and Kirklees Highways to minimalise disruption caused by the works.

Exco Board Site Visit

Ian Burnett  (Living Space Managing Director) and Huw Davies ( Wates Group Financial Director) visited Woodland Court earlier this week, Both the board members walked the site and were very complementary about the teams progress.

We look forward to further visits from Wates Directors as the scheme progresses.

Last week Woodland Court saw a member of the Considerate Constructors assess our site. The scheme looks at how a construction site can be considerate towards site personnel and the surrounding environment and its neighbours. Darran Morrison the Project Manager on Woodland Court was awarded a certificate of performance beyond compliance much to the delight of everyone on site who helped contribute to the excellent way Woodland Court is run.

Community Day 2012

The Woodland Court team joined in with their colleagues last week to clean up an open space area in Birstall.

Sam Bray headed the Woodland Court team that cleared the space, which is used constantly by the community. Praise goes out to all the team who worked in some treacherous weather to complete the task !

Car Parking...

We have requested all our contractors be courteous when parking outside the site.  We have arranged for road cones to be placed, and have implemented a 'No Parking Zone' on one side of the road to enable traffic to pass un-impeded.

 

We have also negotiated an off site parking facility in an attempt to facilitate the ever increasing numbers of workers on site.

 

Progress on Woodland Court...

We have made some great progress over the past three weeks, and have commenced plastering in areas 4 and 3.

 

The sprinklers, mechanical and electrical are all progressing well, we have no more than 3 weeks' brickwork left on areas A, B and C, making way for progressive scaffold stripping by the end of October.

 

 

Introducing...

The wates team at Woodland Court welcomed the arrival of a new Site Manager - Paul Stogdale. Paul will assist the team on site to deliver the project on time and within budget, keeping a close eye on the quality and workmanship of the sub-contractors to ensure that the project is delivered to highest standard.

Let there be light

Works to the atrium are progressing in line with programme, with plastering now commencing in this area.

 

PRP Architects have designed the Atrium area to provide natural lighting though all three floors.

 

 

 

Right First Time

Kirklees Production Managers met earlier this week to ensure all properties constructed on the Excellent Homes for Living scheme are constructed to the same high quality standard throughout.

The meeting was chaired and facilitated by Martin Thomas, and attended by all production staff employed on the Kirklees project.

Many thanks to the two Andrews at Hare Park who hosted the event.

Coming to an End

By the end of this week all works to the timber frame will be completed. The men have worked through all kinds of weather to get the building completed in order for the follow on trades to commence the internal work by the contractual deadline.

Once the roof trusses are completed the roofing contractor will then be able to tile the entire roof which will make the building watertight.

 

Treesey Does It

The site team here at Woodland Court have agreed with Palmers, who have been selected as the preferred contractor to landscape the grounds, which trees will be planted around the site. Darran Morrison, Project Manager for Woodland Court said ' it is essential that the new trees match the existing sycamore and cherry trees so it looks like the new trees have been here for a long time. Planting season for trees and shrubs is normally during the month of October.

 

 

Water Feature

The site team at Woodland Court have utilised the existing stone pillars that made up part of the site boundary and decided that a water feature should be made and installed in the garden for the residents at Woodland Court to enjoy. A specialist company will visit the site where they will install pipes down the middle of the pillars to create a feature which will be unique to the gardens here at Woodland Court. 

YEDL Works

During the next few weeks there will be YEDL road works taking place on Staincliffe Road opposite the site to allow the permanent electric supply to be installed on site. Once the works are complete it allows the team at Woodland Court to start fitting permanent lighting to the rooms and corridors.

Caught in the Net!!!

Whilst roofing works have been taking place here at Westmoor, every possible precaution has to be taken to ensure the safety of the men working on the roof.  The site team on Westmoor have had safety nets installed underneath the roof trusses, so in the unlikely event that one of the workmen should fall they will be caught in the safety net, thus preventing them from major injury.

 

The site team take site safety very seriously, and we like to go the extra mile to ensure that our site is the safest around.

 

 

Glazy Days....

This week saw the installation of the atrium glass to the site at Woodland Court.

 

This section of the building allows natural light to penetrate all the way down to the ground floor, and lets residents enjoy any days where venturing outside may not be possible due to bad weather. 

 

The atrium will have Automatic Opening Vents (AOV's) installed, which will automatically open when the inside temperature gets above a certain level, to ensure the residents inside don't overheat.

 

 

 

Building Futures

Earlier today Darran Morrison (Project Manager), presented the successful trainees who have completed the Wates Building Futures course with their certification for the scheme.

 

The presentation was attended by members of Kirklees Council, Wates and Build.  Green Future Building held the course at their premises in Kirklees, and the planters made by the candidates have been donated to a local charity.

 

 

We'll Meet Again!

This week finally saw the conclusion of the slab on Woodland Court, with the sole plates and ground floor panels being erected on Monday, our target of hitting the end of September weathertight is now in sight..!

 

 

Important Notice

This week saw the roofing contractor start to felt and latt the roof at Woodland Court.  It's a welcome sight for all involved at Woodland Court to see the roof being constructed, as it allows the building to dry out after the heavy downpours which have plagued the site team, and also allow the following trades to commence works inside the building.

 

 

Tradeck

The lads on site have efficiently installed the tradeck (pictured) to reduce the risk from working at height.  The material is lightweight and made from a sustainable source...

 

 

Roof Construction

We have now commenced the falls on the flat areas of the roof and installed the steelwork which carries the glazing units over the atrium...

 

 

Lift Off !

Despite the issues of heavy rain and high winds, the timber frame company on Woodland Court lifted their first section of roof last week. 

To reduce the issues of working at height, manageable sections have been lifted in-situ...

 

Chequed Out at Woodland

On Wednesday, John Gilmore (General Manager of John Laing) visited our site with the bankers who are funding the Kirklees Excellent Homes for Life project.  John and the seven funders were escorted around the site by project leaders Martin Thomas and Mark Swift, before leaving for another local scheme on Lobley Street, Heckmondwike, which is also part of the Kirklees scheme.  Feedback was favourable on both schemes.

Working at Height

As part of our commitment to zero harm and ensuring all our operatives return home safely, our timber frame erectors construct the roof sections on the floor slab, thus helping to reduce the time spent working at height.

 

 

 

Jubilee

As the site closed for the Jubilee celebrations, our Production Team have been reflecting on the progress made since our start on site.

One team member suggested we build an arc rather than a timber framed building as it would come in more useful!  A good break was had by all and it was great to get back on with the timber frame erection this week.

 

We are progressing well and are targeting our first section of roof  to be installed as programme early next week.

 

Watch this space for news on our topping out of the first roof section!

This week has seen the completion of the ground floor timber wall panels for Woodland Court. Due to her Majesty the Queen, who very kindly gave the population another day off, work recommenced on Wednesday of this week.  Even so the guys responsible for erecting the timber frame have braved the foul English weather, and have completed the ground floor section ready for the rest of the first floor cassettes to be laid.

Operatives Use Inertia System

The operatives are using an Inertia System to prevent falls whilst installing floor cassettes on Woodland Court.

 

 

Pygmy Goats now at Home.

Russ Dudley, Robert Frost and Robert Kenyon recently called into our neighbouring Care Home to check up on the works done by the team from Westmoor House to provide sensory therapy for the patients with dementia, the team provided a playground, pens, and a shed to store the feed for the goats, as well as forming their new home and it seems as though the goats Stan and Olly named after the famous duo are settling in well.

 

 

Drainage Repairs on School Lane

Yorkshire Water will be closing School Lane next week (from Monday 28 May), to conduct drainage repairs.  This work has nothing to do with Wates, and any complaints should be directed to to Drains Aid (tel. 0844 902 2975), as detailed in our previous blog posting on 1 May.

Up, Up and Away.

The self erecting crane is finally in its location, the boom is 41m in length and can lift at its extremities 1000kg, the crane will be used over the next 19 weeks to lift the timber frame to its location.

 

 

Installation of Gas Membrane

Area two last week had the gas membrane fitted, ready for the pour on Tuesday.  That leaves one more section to complete... let's hope the weather stays with us as we attempt to complete floors to the building by the end of the month.

 

Soleplates can be seen ready for the installation of the timber frame, and our crane to locate these is being erected in the background.

 

A busy week at Woodland Court!

 

 

Making Ready for the Frame

We have managed to pour the slab this week and erect scaffolding ready for the timber frame, which is due next Monday (21st).  The final part of the block and beams will be laid on Friday, and the slab poured next Monday.  Lets hope the weather improves so we can make some further progress !

Westmoor Primary School Presentation

Robert Frost (Trainee of the Year), Mark Ashcroft and Dave Thompson recently presented the winners of the Wates site safety poster competition with their prizes.  The presentation was well received, with all participants receiving a small prize, and the lucky six winners receiving book vouchers.

Pictured at the back are Rob Frost and Kim John (Head of Westmoor Primary), and at the front from left to right, Huzaifa Rauf, Ella Whitehead, Yusuf Fronkarolia, Holly Loftus, Elise Jones, and Leon Smithson.

Anyone for Cake!!!

Following the poster competition at Westmoor Junior School,  Robert Frost (Wates Production Trainee) presented to Miss John the head teacher, a cake generously donated by Mick Ruane from Kirklees Council, to thank both the children and Miss John for allowing Wates to help educate the children on building site safety.

 

The results of the poster competition will be announced shortly... so watch this space!!!!!

Yorkshire Water Works on School Lane

Yorkshire Water conducted a letter drop yesterday (Mon 1 May), and have informed residents that they will be renewing an old sewer to School Lane later this week.  This work is not connected with Wates, although we will endeavour to facilitate the works to cause minimal inconvenience.

Works will commence on the 2nd May 2012 and will take approximately 2 to 3 days.

We are Family...!

We were privileged earlier today to receive a surprise visit from Tim Wates, and our Regional Managing Director Joanne Jamieson.  

 

Tim and Joanne were pictured with the site team on Woodland Court, after a flying visit to our other sites on the Kirklees Excellent Homes for Life scheme.

 

 

 

Considerate Contractors visit Woodland Court

The site team received an inspection from the Considerate Contractors Scheme auditor earlier this week, and we are pleased to confirm that it was received well.  Some very positive comments were received from the auditor Philip Power, which is a credit to all the site team who have worked proactively with the local community over the past four months.

 

Our scores will be published in the next two weeks... watch this space !

 

And the winner is.....!

Liz Jefferson and Mick Ruane from Kirklees Council assisted the site team in the final marking of the poster competition earlier today, with the lucky winner being Holly Loftus from Class 8 at Westmoor Primary School.

 

The quality of some of the entries were fantastic, and we wish there could be more winners as all the children deserved a prize.

 

Holly and the other 5 runner ups will receive their book vouchers in the very near future, and the posters will be made into signs on our site hoarding within the next two weeks.

 

 

Poster Update

The results for the poster competition held at Westmoor Primary School are due in next week.  Watch out for the lucky six who will have their posters placed on the site hoardings!

April Showers

We've had more than our fair share of rain this week on Woodland Court.  However, this hasn't stopped CB precast completing the area of flooring on programme for Friday... well done lads !

 

Unfortunately the bricklayers have had a short week, which has put the next phase of beams into May.

Floors R Us ...!

Earlier this week we commenced laying floor beams on the Staincliffe Road elevation.  The area up to the lift shaft will be complete by Friday!

 

 

Any Suggestions ???

The team here at Woodland Court have recently installed a suggestions box on School Lane.  This is for local residents who have any queries or suggestions they may have about our site.

 

As an affiliated member of the Considerate Constructors Scheme, we have a duty to make sure we take the views and opinions of our neighbours very seriously, and to ensure we cause as little disruption as possible to the local community.

 

We look forward to hearing from you !

Substructure brickwork continues on Woodland Court in readiness for our pre-cast floor beams, due on 16th April.  Local supplier CB Precast will supply and install the floor, prior to our timber frame construction in early May.

 

Wates are committed to using local labour, with companies such as Progress, CCTV Monitoring and bricklaying contractor C & I Smith - all based locally and employing local staff.

It's been a quiet week on Woodland Court, with the most atrocious conditions on Wednesday - we had to close the site due to safety concerns for our operatives.  Staff stayed on in the office to make ready for a fresh start on Thursday.

In anticipation of a welcome Easter break, we're letting all our followers know that Woodland Court will be closed on Thursday, with a prompt return to work on Tuesday 10th April.  During that week, we're hoping to place our first floor beams along Staincliffe Road and complete the final retaining wall on site.

We would like to wish you all a happy Easter !

Our Trainee of the Year, Robert Frost, met with Ivor Goodsite and Miss John (Headteacher) on Monday at Westmoor Primary School to invite the 290 children in assembly to partake in our poster competition.  During the assembly, both Ivor and Robert gave a presentation on site safety for children - highlighting the dangers of playing on a building site.  Watch this space for our poster competition winners!

 

 

On a recent visit to Westmoor House, Ivor Goodsite was the first person to use the new biometric turnstile.  This allows operatives to enter and exit the site by using a fingerprint !  The new biometric turnstile will allow Wates to record all who are on site, compile data on the hours worked and establish the site's carbon footprint.

 

 

Ivor Goodsite visited Westmoor House last week on his way to Westmoor Primary School.  Ivor was very impressed with the site, especially the Near Miss campaign.  This Wates campaign urges all operatives and visitors to identify any observations that qualify as a Near Miss, and the campaign is proven to reduce the amount of accidents which may occur on site.

 

 

The team at Woodland Court are ready to concrete the plant room floor.  This floor has to be power floated, so we are letting our neighbours know in advance that we may be working a little later than usual tonight (Friday 16th), dependant on how quick the concrete sets!

 

We have recently arranged to visit one of our local schools, Westmoor Primary School, to involve the children on our initiative for site safety.  The children will be involved in a site safety poster competition, with the winner receiving some book vouchers.

The competition ends by half term and Ivor Goodsite will be along to judge

the competition.

We're turning a corner!!!!

This week sees the completion of retaining wall one.  This is one of nine large retaining walls which will be constructed on the site here at Westmoor, many of which are of a cuved nature (such as the on shown in the picture).  It takes a lot of skill and preparation to make these walls curved, but we have the right men on the job, and once the stonework is built in front of the retaining wall, it will become a valued feature of Woodland Court.

The weather here has been on our side, which has allowed work to progress very well.

The Plant Room

No... its not what you think !  The plant room is the part of Woodland Court where all the boilers are situated to provide warm water to the building.  As you can see, there is a lot of work to be done to construct the walls - its not as easy as you might think.  The plant room is partly situated below ground, which means that extra thought, attention and design has to go into the walls that make up the plant room - hence why there is so much steel involved, so as to hold back the large amounts of earth at the back of the walls.  As ever, we have the right men on the job to make sure the walls are completed on time, and in a safe manner.

Favourable weather gives us further opportunity to press ahead to programme.  This week has seen us complete the permanent gas connection.  In an attempt to alleviate parking on Staincliffe Road, the main surface water storage cells have also been installed, keeping to our commitment to provide on site parking by the end of March.

 

We have relocated our welfare set up this week, and should be moving the cabins on Staincliffe Road by Friday 9th.

This week on Woodland Court, the double lift shaft which will eventually house two 13 person lifts has been installed.  Sitting some 14 metres above ground level, our sub-contractor supplied and installed the pre-cast concrete core in just five hours!

In the background, the highway retaining walls are well under construction, and should be totally complete within two weeks. 

Woodland court have embraced Wates latest safety initative "Blue Helmets". 

The initative enables Wates to confirm that all our contractors supervisors are competent by means of a one to one interview.  If they are successful, they are issued with the distinctive Blue Helmet to wear that identifies them from other operatives. 

Woodland Court Car Parking

We have now completed the main drainage connections on School Lane, and have requested our contractors park on School Lane until the proposed gas connection, which is due on the 27th February.  We have the new entrance to form, and YEDL have some diversionary work to do in School Lane before we can start using our on site car parking.

 

Our permanent welfare set up is due on the 28th-29th February, which should also create some extra on site parking off Staincliffe Road.

 

Our aim is to be a considerate contractor, and we will promote this wherever possible during the construction phase of Woodland Court.

The Woodland Court team played host to Councillor David Sheard (Cabinet member for Regeneration & Housing), Joanne Jamieson (Managing Director Wates East) and Liz Jefferson (Principal Project Manager for Kirklees Council) for the ceremonial sod cutting earlier this week.