Acivico

Delivering Architecture, Building Consultancy, Project Management, Quantity Surveying, Building Surveying, Civil + Structural Engineering, M+E, CDM, BIM + more... Working across the Public + Private sector in Birmingham + the Midlands.

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Testing out the new #garmin to overcome the #postholidayblues #bikerunbike #bruetonparkrun #MOMathon #momsmovemore

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It is universally accepted that access to information is a liberal construct, one may equate it to a fundamental foundation of freedom. Almost everyone would agree as to the possibilities this may lead to. I say almost, as there will certainly be a section of people for whom the concept will...

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Many congratulations to our colleagues Ian Madylus (Clerk of Works), Ian Simpson (Energy Management), Steve Walker (Clerk of Works), Richard Moore (Clerk of Works) who have been presented with Limited Edition medals by client Terry Perkins in recognition of their high standard of input on the Library of Birmingham project! 

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Acivico's Yvette Stone this week awarded £537.00 to Teenage Cancer Trust. This bring our grand total raised so far to £1,749.46!

Thank you to all those who helped us raise these funds through our Annual treasure hunt; which included staff, contractor partners, colleagues from other Birmingham City Council departments, clients, family and friends, and through our Annual Charity Christmas card; with staff donating money in lieu of exchanging Christmas cards with colleagues.

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We are looking at using this innovative product on some future Architecture projects! Miniwiz's Polli-Brick uses recycled waste material and solar powered LED lighting can be incorporated into the modular system both internally & externally. How do plastic bottles transform from trash to building blocks? Watch this video to get an inside look at the production factories...

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Acivico enters the Digital Age

Imagine a building which uses building blocks made from recycled plastic…

Imagine a building with external lighting that can change colour and pulsate using a mobile phone app…

Imagine a building which is replicated as a brand throughout the world in places like China, United States and Russia…

Imagine the above building designed by…Acivico!

  Acivico was invited by Thomas Vale to join them in a £40 million bid to turn Birmingham Science Park, Aston into a world leader through the introduction of a project called the Digital Plaza. Collectively we fended off competition from 80 other companies to win this prestigious bid.

This high profile project will consist of 10,000m² of commercial floor space and will be spearheaded by the first phase: £7 million iCentrum™ building.

iCentrum™ will provide the next generation of talented people in the hi tech and digital gaming sectors with opportunities to work alongside established companies in an innovative and exciting environment.  

Detailed design work will commence shortly on iCentrum™ - progress posts to follow!

http://www.bsp-a.com/

http://www.thomasvale.com/expertise/office-spaces/digital-plaza.html

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Acivico's Featherstone School Official Opening!

Acivico Architect Olive White was delighted to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony at Featherstone school, joined by staff and pupils along with Jack Dromey MP, Councillor Penny Holbrook and Primary School Chair Sylvia MacFarlane.

The £2.3m improvements completed by Birmingham City Council's CWM framework contractor Wates Construction, consist of 8 new classrooms with ancillary accommodation and extensive refurbishments providing a new entrance, ground floor offices, a first floor Year 6 unit, new pastoral care office and a teachers preparation area.

1. Opening Ceremony 

2. One of the new classrooms

3. Classroom with exposed CLT (cross-laminated timber) interior

4. External extension with school signage

Acivico provided Architectural services along with; Project Management, Quantity Surveying, Structural, Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, CDM, Clerk of Works. 

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Congratulations to Acivico's Val Lancaster (Building Surveyor) who has been awarded a Certificate of Recognition from English Heritage Angel Awards for her work on the Bells Farm Community Centre.

  The Angel Awards were founded by Andrew Lloyd Webber to reward the efforts of people in saving their heritage, people who are passionate about saving historic buildings and treasured places which are at risk from neglect and decay.

  Bells Farm Community Centre is a Grade II* Listed Building that dates back to approximately 1300 AD.  It is thought to derive its name from Hugh de Belne who was granted land around this time by Edward I for “services as an excellent archer”.  It is now one of the oldest houses in Birmingham.

  Val worked on the recent scheme to rebuild the rear East Wing and carry out repairs to the Main Building (designed by Nick Joyce Architects in collaboration with the client, Spearhead Trust and Acivico).

  The emphasis was on saving a building that has special meaning for the community and where possible to restore the building with original materials.  Original timbers and panels, some of which are oak carved, were re-instated to some rooms where possible.

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Pupils & staff were delighted to see the improvements as Acivico Architect Andrew Fleming joined them to explore the completed £1.25m post-16 block at Victoria School & Specialist Arts College!

The developments form the initial phase of works including:

 - PHASE 1 (post-16 block) which is now complete. Comprising of the refurbishment & extension to the post-16 block, which provides new facilities for pupils with complex medical health needs, physical difficulties & cognition & learning needs.  The scheme introduces several new large areas of full height glazing to ensure views are accessible from wheelchair level, and rooflights to ensure the facilities are kept bright and airy.  New finishes are modern, hard wearing and easy to maintain.

- PHASE 2  Proposes a new build classroom (coming soon, subject to grant funding)

Click here to see Acivico's blog for more photos of this scheme during construction.

Acivico services provided: Architecture Design, CDM, Project Management, Quantity Surveying, Structural Engineering, Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, Clerk of Works (M&E & Building). 

CWM Framework Contractor – Wilmott Dixon

Contact Acivico Architect Andrew Fleming for further details 0121 675 9487 [email protected]

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BCI Award for the £11.75m Regeneration of Eastside Park sits proudly amongst the other Birmingham City Council Awards!

Our client Jim Wilson (Birmingham City Council) was nominated by Acivico for the 2013 Chamberlain Awards for his extraordinary dedication to this scheme.  This award will go to 'a person or team who has lead an initiative or project with flair and dynamism. Showing creativity with new ideas, and bravery when it comes to trying them out, they will have forged into new territory and had success where others have failed, or achieved great results when tackling a daunting challenge.'  Best of luck Jim, we certainly believe you deserve to win!

http://www.chamberlainawards.co.uk/finalists/

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Acivico & the project team collect their BCI (British Construction Industry) Award for Regeneration of Eastside Park in Birmingham!

Acivico led the scheme’s Project Management and Quantity Surveying, working closely with the project team to ensure the £11.75m scheme was completed on time and within budget!

Client:  Jim Wilson - Birmingham City Council

Designer:  Patel Taylor

Engineer:  Arup

Principal Contractor:  Wates Construction

Award Sponsor:  AJ (Architects Journal)

Click here to see the other winners!

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Acivico are delighted to announce Eastside Park as winner of the BCI (British Construction Industry) Awards for Regeneration, sponsored by AJ!

Acivico led the scheme's Project Management and Quantity Surveying, working closely with the project team to ensure the £11.75m scheme was completed on time and within budget!

Client: Birmingham City Council

Architect: Patel Taylor

Engineer: Arup

Principal Contractor: Wates Construction

http://www.bciawards.org.uk

photo credit Chris Birkett - Associate & Civil Engineer Arup

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Birmingham were recently selected to represent the UK in the European competition of Entente Florale, and were awarded Gold during the award ceremony held in Belgium last week!

Acivico's Eastside Park was also given a special award,  for 'Outstanding Public Green Space'. This European award, now sits alongside our National and Regional success and we are eagerly awaiting the announcement of the World Architecture Festival international landscape awards later this month.

  Acivico and Wates Construction worked together to construct this project - The first park to be opened in Birmingham for 130 years!

Work on the 6.2-acre park began in August 2011, and the park was officially declared open in December 2012 with the switching on of the park’s lights, which have been planned as a safety feature of the overall design.  Stretching from the city centre out into Eastside, past Curzon Street Station and Millennium Point; the park provides 14,300 square metres of landscaped green space. Although it was constructed during the wettest year in living memory, the scheme was completed bang on schedule.

Features include 310 trees, formal lawns, public squares and a 188-metre canal feature and a plaza which incorporates 21 jet fountains.

Acivico project managed the entire scheme and also provided quantity surveying and clerk of works support. We were instrumental in engaging the many stakeholders involved in this project including Birmingham City University, Millennium Point, Think Tank, BCC Highways and the Boa Academy.

As part of the graduated handover of the scheme, Acivico also helped set up a “Friends of the Park” group which will allow the park to function as a genuinely significant public space for all.

  For more information about this project contact Eastside Project Manager Vicky Smith 0121 303 6733

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY GMAC!

Acivico designed Birmingham’s Gymnastics and Martial Arts Centre (GMAC) – the city’s first bespoke gymnastics facility – is celebrating its fifth anniversary!

  Since Olympic bronze medallist Louis Smith opened the facility in 2008, GMAC has had lots to celebrate including producing Olympian, Francesca Jones, at the 2012 London Games in Rhythmic Gymnastics; its gymnastics programme has produced 12GB international performers across 4 gymnastics disciplines: men’s, women’s, Rhythmic and Tumbling; and the programme currently has 20 members in the GB National squad structure; three of the six members of the Gold medal winning England Men’s Artistic Gymnastics team at the School Games in Sheffield, were from the City of Birmingham, GMAC.

  Acivico are a multidisciplinary practice specialising in construction projects across a variety of sectors such as Sports & Leisure.  This project was completed in conjunction with contractors Thomas Vale. For more information about this project contact Design Associate Architect Mark Sloane on 0121 303 7740 or email [email protected] 

For more information on this venue click here

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Acivico's Barrow House opening ceremony ribbon cutting by resident Fergus Hennessey (who has have lived at Barrow House for an incredible 37 years!) with contractor Lovell and representatives from the Birmingham City Council Housing team.

Barrow House is the first high rise refurbishment scheme carried out under the CWM (Construction West Midlands) Framework which is managed by Acivico.

The original brief from the client was to provide a 30 year life to the block by carrying out structural repairs and external refurbishment of the block. This was expanded to include extensive internal refurbishment to all flats and communal areas. All work to be carried out by a single contractor.

The work was carried out with tenants remaining in their flats, which was particularly difficult due to this being an elderly persons block.

Residents of the block now live in warmer, weathertight, environment with new kitchens, new central heating systems, new windows, new electrical wiring and brighter communal areas.

Acivico together with Lovell Construction and our colleagues from Birmingham City Council Housing have all worked closely as a team to ensure that the project was delivered with minimum disruption to the residents. Acivico's full in-house services below were utilised ensuring the successful completion of the project:

  Full Detailed Architectural Designs

Project Management

Clerk of Works

M&E and Structural design

Building Consultancy 

Scope of Works included:

New Insulated Roof Covering

Concrete Repairs

External Wall Insulation

Render & Brickwork finish 

New double glazed windows

New entrance canopies & entrance handrails

Illuminated signage & New security lighting

Soft landscaping

New kitchens & redecoration to communal areas

New central heating systems & re-wiring to all flats

Improved ventilation & internal lighting

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Acivico’s Electrical Clerk of Works inspecting the Fun Fair at Pype Hays Park…any excuse to test out the rides!

Pype Hays Funfair opens tomorrow! https://www.facebook.com/wilkinsonsfunfair

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Acivico's Harborne Pool & Fitness centre has been shortlisted for the National Building Excellence Awards 2013! 

For more project info...

http://dcfm.acivico.co.uk/portfolio-project/harborne-fitness-centre