NEWS
AT HAMILTON ARCHITECTS
Team Building Day
On Friday 20th June 2008 staff from Hamilton
Architects Belfast, Derry and Dublin offices
enjoyed a day of team building and outdoor
pursuits at Lurgaboy Adventure Centre in Armagh.
At Lurgaboy programmes are designed to build
morale and develop skills such as communication,
planning and leadership. With activities including
tug of war, crate stack challenge, ‘All
Aboard’ and ‘Leap of Faith’ it
was certainly a challenging but enjoyable day
for all team members. ‘Leap of Faith’ involved
climbing up a wobbly pole and standing on an
A4 size piece of wood before jumping for a
trapeze bar 14m off the ground. Some members
of the group were afraid of heights but with
encouragement and support from their colleagues
everyone completed the task, showing that team
spirit and morale really can push individuals
to perform tasks they had previously considered
impossible! ‘All Aboard’ was another
true test of teamwork and trust with the objective
to get 4 people to climb a 14m pole and stand
on a small platform, hold hands and lean back!
After a delicious lunch everyone got to have
a go on ‘Ireland’s longest zip
wire’ which definitely got the adrenalin
pumping before trying out the low level ropes
course. A lovely meal at The Stonebridge restaurant
in Richhill finished off the day nicely!
New Belfast Stena Terminal Officially
Open
The Hamilton Architects designed Stena
Line Terminal was officially opened on
the 4th of June 2008 by First Minister Rt Hon
Dr Ian Paisley, Deputy First Minister Martin
McGuinness and Scotland’s First Minister
Alex Salmond. They were among 250 invited guests
there to see the launch of the Victoria Terminal
4 which is part of the new £37m Port
Complex on Westbank Road, Belfast. The brand
new terminal
provides HSS passengers with a modern, comfortable
departure lounge including a barista coffee
house.
The new 3 storey 35,000 sq ft facility was
described by Stena Line’s Global CEO, Gunnar Blomdahl’ as
a ‘a striking modern facility that reflects
the future of ferry travel in this country’.
Hamilton
Architects have been responsible for all the
major ferry terminals in this country,
including the previous Stena HSS terminal, Norfolk
Line, Seacat and Larne terminals.
They are also
currently working on Pier
Head Ferry Terminal in Liverpool.
Hamilton
Architects nearly win Dragon Boat Race 1st
June 2008
Employees from Hamilton Architects
entered into the spirit of the Chinese culture
by entering
a team in the Dragon Boat Festival on the River
Lagan. Finishing second out of eleven teams they
showed an impressive display of teamwork and
determination.
Dragon Boat Festivals take place all over the
world where Chinese communities have settled
and this one was organised by the Chinese Welfare
Association in Belfast to raise money towards
the Sichuan Earthquake Appeal. With Martial Arts
displays, traditional Lion dances and delicious
Chinese food to sample it was a great day out
for all those who attended.
STORMONT NEW-BUILD OFFICES,
BELFAST
Hamilton Architects have lodged a planning
application for a new 9 storey office block
in the Stormont Estate. The building, which
has a gross area of approximately
390,000 sq ft, will replace existing office accommodation on the site including
Dundonald House. Under these proposals Dundonald House would be demolished
and its site returned to green space. Hamilton
architects also provided a new master
plan for the estate as part of this commission. The building is designed to
be as environmentally sustainable as possible.
We are confident that a BREEAM “excellent” rating
can be achieved with this design.
Cork
Racecourse
Construction work commenced in February 2008
on a new stand at Cork
Racecourse in Mallow,
Co Cork. The €5m project includes a 200
seat restaurant at first floor level with bar,
fast food, and betting facilities on the ground
floor. The stand has been designed to match
the existing facilities which were completed
in 1997.
The new facility is expected to be complete
in time for the first Autumn racing festival
on
18th and 19th October 2008.
Belfast HSC Trust Framework
Hamilton
Architects have been appointed onto a consultant
framework at the new Belfast
HSC Trust. The Trust
is the amalgamation of 6 individual trusts and
includes the Royal Hospitals, Belfast City Hospital,
Musgrave Park Hospital, Forster Green Hospital
, Muckamore Abbey Hospital and Knockbracken Healthcare
Park. Belfast HSC Trust is the largest healthcare
trust in the UK. The framework, which is for
the next 4 years, is for projects up to the value
of £1m. This is in addition to the framework
for Belfast HSC Trust that Hamilton Architects
were appointed to in 2006 for projects between
the value of £1m and £10m.
"FERRY 'CROSS
THE MERSEY"
Work
has commenced on the Hamilton Architects’ designed
Ferry Terminal at Pier Head, Liverpool. The
site is within a World Heritage Site and
is centered in the Pier Head plaza in front
of
the world famous Liver building. The steel
frame will be erected in the early months
of 2008 with completion expected in September
2008. The construction site can be
viewed via this live
webcam link.
Major health accolade scoop
Hamilton
Architects won a sustainable design award at
the prestigious national Building
Better
Healthcare Awards ceremony in London on 8th
November 2007. This follows the award earlier
in the year
from the RICS in the Sustainable Design category.
Ulster Museum project
update
The good
news for the Ulster
Museum continues. Further
to the successful decant of over 800,000
artefacts from the museum into the Hamilton Architects’ purpose
designed storage facilities the builders
have moved in. Patton Construction commenced
work
in September 2007 and are on programme for
completion in Summer 2009.
Major cultural project success.
Hamilton Architects
were appointed as architects for the refurbishment
of the much loved Crescent
Arts Centre in Belfast. The £4.5m
project will protect and enhance the grade
B1 listed building and augment
the facilities with the inclusion of a new experimental
theatre space.
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