Engineering exhibition role for Focus Consultants at V&A Museum

Ove Arup Exhibition © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Focus Consultants has played a key role in the opening of a Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) exhibition dedicated to the most influential engineer of the 20^th Century.

Revealing the untold design stories behind some of the world’s most famous buildings, such as the Sydney Opera House and the Centre Pompidou in Paris, to recent projects such as Crossrail, the exhibition is the first ever major retrospective on Ove Arup (1895-1988).

Engineering the World: Ove Arup and the Philosophy of Total Design is part of the V&A Engineering Season and is one of the most ambitious exhibitions that Focus has completed at the V&A, incorporating a bespoke mezzanine and stairlift structure, said Focus partner Eleanor Clarke. 

It is the fourth exhibition that the Nottingham-based company has worked on at the V&A in London this year alone, and follows Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear, which charted the history of underwear from the 18th century to today, Paul Strand: Photography and Film for the 20th Century and Botticelli Reimagined.

It opened just before the V&A was named the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2016, recognising the outstanding innovation, imagination and achievements of the museum throughout the preceding year. 

Focus was project manager, quantity surveyor and contract administrator for the Ove Arup exhibition, which runs until 6 November.

“Focus has been proud to have worked with the V&A on a range of exciting and informative exhibitions since 2014, reflecting our expertise in this sector,” said Eleanor. “This latest exhibition, dedicated to the work of the influential engineer Ove Arup, has been particularly ambitious and we hope visitors will enjoy the experience.

“We’re absolutely delighted to hear that the V&A Museum has recently been named as the Art Fund Museum of the Year 2016, and are so proud to have played a role in helping to provide such a rich visitor experience at this wonderful museum.”

The design and build of the Ove Arup exhibition has been project managed by the London office of East Midlands-based Focus, which opened five years ago in response to demand for its services, particularly in the museum, arts and heritage sector.

Focus, which has its headquarters at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, as well as offices in London, Leicester, and Boston and Aubourn in Lincolnshire, specialises in creative approaches to securing funding packages and delivering high quality projects across the UK. Since its creation in 1994, Focus has helped to secure more than £953 million of grant assistance for a range of projects and businesses across the UK and delivered more than £1.3 billion of projects and programmes – making it one of the most successful companies of its kind.

It has worked with virtually all the major museums in London, and many across the UK, providing support for capital projects, permanent and temporary exhibitions, and renovation schemes - developing and delivering award-winning heritage projects.

For more information, visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham based PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk 

New senior appointment at Focus Consultants

Andy White joins Focus Consultants

Focus Consultants has appointed Andy White as senior project manager to head up the healthcare team.

Andy joins Nottingham-based Focus from Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, where he was capital projects manager and before that estates services manager (forensic).

Skilled in project management, he has more than 30 years of experience in the construction and maintenance industries, including 23 in healthcare and also including management and leadership roles.

Focus partner Keith Butler said: “We are very pleased to welcome Andy to Focus Consultants, at a time when our work in the healthcare sector is expanding

“He brings vast experience of the sector and will strengthen the company’s team as we continue to grow.”

A chartered building surveyor since 1991, Andy is based in the Nottingham office of Focus, at Phoenix Business Park, and will work in conjunction with the teams across the Leicester, London and Lincolnshire offices of the company.

“Focus Consultants is a long-established company working on an extensive portfolio of projects in the healthcare and other sectors. I’m delighted to have joined the business and I’m looking forward to contributing to its continued success,” said Andy. 

Focus offers services to the property and construction industry, including building surveying, contract administration, party wall surveying, clerk of works, quantity surveying, project management, CDM services and BREEAM assessments, as well as energy calculations and modelling. 

The company also specialises in funding and economic development including area regeneration strategies, funding applications, economic impact appraisals, business plans, and research and evaluation. Since 1994 Focus has secured for clients more than £953 million of grants for projects and businesses across the UK and delivered more than £1.3 billion worth of projects and programmes – making it one of the most successful businesses of its kind in the country.

For more information about Focus Consultants, visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham based PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk 

Civic Trust Award for Focus Consultants project

Project manager Focus Consultants is celebrating after a scheme the company was involved in scooped a key Civic Trust Award.

SeaCity Museum in Southampton was one of 32 projects across the country to receive one of the awards, which are given to projects that make an outstanding contribution to the quality and appearance of the environment.

Focus, which is based at Phoenix Business Park in Nottingham, and has offices in Holborn, London, Endeavour Park, Boston, Princess Road East, Leicester, and Aubourn, Lincoln, was the project manager for SeaCity in conjunction with Southampton City Council.

The £15 million maritime museum opened in 2012 – 100 years after the ill-fated Titanic set sail from Southampton – and development involved converting the grade II* listed former Magistrates’ Courts adjoining the Civic Centre, Southampton City Art Gallery and the Guildhall. It is the centre piece of a major regeneration of the city’s new Cultural Quarter.

“Focus Consultants is proud to have been part of the team that developed Southampton SeaCity Museum, and we are delighted to hear the news that it has won a prestigious Civic Trust Award,” said Focus Consultants partner Steven Fletcher.

The Civic Trust Awards is the longest standing architectural and built environment awards scheme in Europe, having been established in 1959. Civic Trust Award level schemes must demonstrate excellence in architecture or design, sustainability, inclusive design and make a positive social, cultural, environmental or economic benefit to the local community.

Building constructor for SeaCity was Kier Construction and architect was Wilkinson Eyre Architects, with the exhibitions being designed by Urban Salon and installed by 8Build.

Focus Consultants supported the City Council in development of the Heritage Lottery Fund applications for round 1 and round 2 of the SeaCity project. The company acted as project manager for the whole scheme, including the building and exhibition works, and also contract administrator for the exhibition works.

Focus is a multi-disciplinary company which specialises in creative approaches to securing funding packages and delivering high quality projects across the Midlands and the UK. Focus has secured more than £900 million of grant assistance, and delivered more than £1 billion of projects and programmes since 1994.

For more information about Focus Consultants visit www.focus-consultants.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Rochester Cathedral project for Focus Consultants

Heritage and regeneration experts Focus Consultants has won a contract to act as buildings project manager on a £3 million project to conserve and repair England’s second oldest cathedral.

A team from Nottingham-based Focus, which has branches in London, Leicester, Lincoln and Boston, has been appointed as building project managers and quantity surveyors on the scheme at Rochester Cathedral, which was founded in 604.

The project will introduce new visitor displays in the crypt and library, whilst improving access to these atmospheric spaces, and showcase the cathedral’s jewel in the crown - the Textus Roffensis. Older and possibly more significant than the Magna Carta, the manuscript is currently locked away in the archives of Medway Council but the project will give this important piece of history a new home.

“This is an incredibly sensitive project, bearing in mind that Rochester Cathedral is a place of worship and the second oldest cathedral in the country,” said Steven Fletcher, partner at Focus Consultants.

“Our project manager Ellie Clarke and the whole Focus team are honoured to be conserving it for future generations and helping the public enjoy such a fascinating building. The 12th Century Textus Roffensis is a priceless and irreplaceable manuscript, soon to take its place in the cathedral’s treasury.”

The Rochester Cathedral project is the latest heritage and ecclesiastical scheme spearheaded by Focus Consultants, based at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham. Others include Lincoln Cathedral Old Palace, St. Margarets in Bradford, Nottingham’s St. Martha’s the Housewife and Greyfriars Tower, King’s Lynn.

Design work is now underway on the Rochester Cathedral scheme, which has received Heritage Lottery Funding. Work is expected to start on site during the summer of 2013, with completion expected in March 2014.

Focus Consultants specialises in creative approaches to securing funding packages and delivering high quality projects across the Midlands and the UK. Focus has secured more than £800 million of grant assistance, and delivered more than £1 billion of projects and programmes since 1994.

www.focus-consultants.co.uk

Issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Investors in Education Award for Focus Consultants

Focus Consultants has been given a special award for its commitment to providing quality work experience to young people.

The company’s Boston office was presented with an Investors in Education Award after being nominated by Boston Grammar School for offering individual programmes to its students.

Representatives from Focus Consultants received the certificate at an event organised by Lincolnshire & Rutland Education Business Partnership in Lincoln.

The partnership has worked with schools and colleges, local authorities, charities, social enterprises and private sector organisations to provide a range of co-ordinated employability skills development services to more than 1 million young people in the area since 2001.

Claire Flavell, work-related learning manager at Lincolnshire & Rutland Education Business Partnership, said: “Employer support continues to play a vital role in the development of our next generation. The advice, support and guidance received through work experience assists our young people to make informed choices based upon raised awareness and first-hand experience. This would not be possible without the support of our local employers, like Focus Consultants.”

Focus Consultants, which specialises in project management, construction and property services, and regeneration, has offices in Endeavour Park, Boston, as well as Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, Princess Road East, Leicester, Aubourn, Lincoln, and Holborn, London.

The company designed individual programmes to suit the skills and interests of the 17-year-old and 15-year-old boys who spent time at Focus on work experience during 2011 and 2012.

Partner at Focus Consultants’ Lincolnshire offices Trevor Newton said: “We are pleased to help the younger generation by offering work experience, and proud that our commitment has been recognised with an Investors in Education Award.”

Focus was one of 83 businesses nominated by 68 schools in Lincolnshire and Rutland to receive the award from more than 8,000 organisations who hosted work experience students during 2011/12.

www.focus-consultants.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Anchors away for Focus Consultants’ latest museum project which features the Titanic story

East Midlands-based project managers Focus Consultants played a major role in the opening this week of a new £15 million maritime museum featuring the story of the Titanic.

The new SeaCity Museum in Southampton was unveiled exactly 100 years after the ill-fated ship set sail from the city on her maiden voyage. Five days later she sank in the Atlantic Ocean, off Newfoundland, with the loss of more than 1,500 lives.

Focus Consultants, based in Nottingham and with offices in London, Leicester, Lincoln and Boston, has been project manager for the new museum scheme in conjunction with Southampton City Council.

The development involved converting the grade II listed former Magistrates’ Courts adjoining the Civic Centre, Southampton City Art Gallery and the Guildhall, and is the centre piece of a major regeneration of the city’s new Cultural Quarter.

“This has been a tremendously exciting project to be involved in, and we are very proud of the new SeaCity Museum, which represents a real asset to the maritime heritage of Southampton and its tourist attractions,” said Focus Consultants partner Steven Fletcher.

“The team at Focus Consultants has wide experience of both heritage and tourism schemes, and SeaCity Museum is a combination of the two. It’s expected to attract thousands of visitors, and 2012 is a particularly significant year for the museum to open, given that it’s exactly 100 years after the Titanic went down and it’s such a momentous event in Southampton’s history.”

Focus Consultants developed the Heritage Lottery Fund application for stage 1 and stage 2 of the project along with Southampton City Council. The company acted as project manager for the whole scheme, including the building and exhibition works, and also contract administrator for the exhibition works.

The SeaCity Museum features two permanent exhibitions focusing on Southampton’s Titanic story and the city’s role as a gateway to the world, as well as a special exhibition marking the centenary of the Titanic disaster. It has been designed and built to engage visitors of all ages with exciting interactives throughout its three galleries: Gateway to the World, Southampton’s Titanic Story and Titanic the Legend.

The museum, which was opened by British rowing champion and double Olympic gold medallist James Cracknell, is expected to attract 150,000 visitors every year.

Building constructor was Kier Construction and architect was Wilkinson Eyre Architects, with the exhibitions being designed by Urban Salon and installed by 8Build.

Focus Consultants, which has its head office at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, specialises in creative approaches to securing funding packages and delivering high quality projects across the UK.

Since its creation in 1994, Focus has secured over £800 million of grant assistance, and delivered more than £1 billion of projects and programmes - including enterprise support, innovation, culture, health, regeneration, affordable homes and energy carbon sustainability projects.

Representatives from Focus attended the official opening of SeaCity Museum, which took place on April 10th.

Focus has offices at Phoenix Business Park, Nottingham, Endeavour Park, Boston, Princess Road East, Leicester, Aubourn, Lincoln, and Holborn, London.

The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded Southampton City Council £4.9 million towards the attraction. The remainder of the £15 million was raised raised by the council. A Southampton Cultural Development Trust has also been formed to raise funds towards SeaCity Museum and other aspects of the Cultural Quarter.

www.focus-consultants.co.uk

Issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR
www.perfect10pr.co.uk