Building Weekly Digest: 17 June

The month has flown by and so it's time for Building's latest print and digital edition - and there's plenty to jump into! On top of that it has been another bumper news week, with more forecasts of tender price inflation, continued concerns about supply chain resilience and the latest on a potential Countryside sale all making the headlines. Take a look at all this and more below.

The June edition is out!

The latest issue of the magazine came out today and it's absolutely jam packed with must-read content. Our cover story had to be an architectural review of the Elizabeth line's newly opened central London stations because it just looks so good! We've also chatted to the lead architect on Google's new Silicon Valley HQ and explored how an overcladding system for homes could be the answer to green retrofit. Ann Bentley also gave us a preview of next week’s launch of the Value Toolkit, a big moment in the sector’s journey towards building better, while an NBBJ and Aecom cost model on cancer care centres outlines how to deliver highly effective, technologically advanced care and support as well as research and education.

Who pays for materials price inflation?

Inflation is sending jitters through the industry, particularly among subcontractors which are being pushed to carry the risk of materials price hikes. Daniel Gayne has looked at how subcontractors suffer disproportionately from such delays, which prevent them getting revenue through the door in the short term, and in the medium term make it impossible for them starting their next project, subjecting them to further cost inflation due to the later purchase of materials. And now it has been revealed that some major contractors are very aware of just how big of a threat that is. Sir Robert McAlpine chief executive Paul Hamer told Building the firm has moved some of its supply chain onto weekly payments so concerned is it by the threat of subcontractors being unable to ride out rocketing labour and materials costs. If you want a one-stop-shop for the all the latest price changes and trends in the building materials, energy, housing and construction labour markets check out Building’s trends and prices data dashboard.

And material price pressure isn't the only concern

Arcadis has become the next consultant to tear up its tender price forecasts from just a few weeks ago as the Ukraine war continues to send construction costs barrelling northwards. The firm had predicted tender price rises this year of 5% for regional building and London building as recently as the spring. But it has been forced to put the red ink through these forecasts and now says the rises for the two will be between 8% and 10% for the remainder of 2022. Last week?Mace said it had been forced to hike its tender price forecast for the rest of this year up by nearly half saying a string of factors, including the Ukraine war and China’s zero covid policy contributed. On top of that, while construction vacancies reduced 4% in May they remain at historically high levels adding further pressure to the labour market. (Image source: shutterstock.com)

Cooking up a Storm in Dubai

Dubai’s Storm is the world’s first rollercoaster integrated directly into the structure of the building – an engineering triumph that gives thrill seekers the ride of their lives, according to our technical editor Thomas Lane reports. In the piece Calum Perey, Cundall’s lead structural engineer on the project, says: “There are a lot of indoor rollercoasters but nowhere where the coaster is the building and is one system. And this size of coaster, in such a small footprint, hasn’t been done before.” Definitely one to check out! (Picture source: Source: Emaar Entertainment)

Countryside to listen to offers following shareholder pressure

Countryside has said it will actively look at takeover bids - a clear turnaround on its stance of the past few weeks. Just last month the ￡600m-turnover housebuilder announced it had rebuffed two ‘unsolicited’ approaches from San Francisco-based ESG investor Inclusive Capital, who wanted to discuss a?possible ￡1.5bn offer?to take the firm private. This was?rebuffed by Countryside’s board leading to key shareholder Browning West calling on the firm to start a sale process. But Countryside has now backed down and says following shareholder feedback?its board “decided to conduct an orderly process to establish whether there is a bidder prepared to offer a value that the board considers compelling relative to the long-term standalone prospects as a listed company”. (Image source: shutterstock.com)

Have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine!