Balfour Beatty VINCI SYSTRA Joint Venture

Yesterday, members from our Stakeholder Team visited Pitzhanger Manor and Gallery, Ealing's leading cultural hub. Pitzhanger Manor is a Grade I listed building designed by esteemed architect, Sir John Soane, in 1800, and Pitzhanger Gallery holds a number of major exhibitions by contemporary artists and designers.   We enjoyed a fascinating tour of the “From Waste to Wonder” exhibition, which uses clay from our site at Old Oak Common in a variety of artistic creations. It was great to explore the heritage of our local area and discuss the ways we could work together as part of our community engagement and investment programs. Watch this space! https://lnkd.in/evKEfHWQ

Behind the scenes of our respect training programme!  Creating a workplace where our colleagues feel safe, valued and respected is our priority. We are proud of our inclusive culture at Old Oak Common, but recognise there is always room for improvement.  That's why last year, we launched our respect programme. We started by setting up a reporting tool where colleagues can report unacceptable behaviour, suggest areas for improvement and recognise areas where we are doing well. We also recruited 15 respect advisors, highly trained respect champions who offer confidential support to our colleagues.  Earlier this year, we held a series of listening groups and ran a site-wide survey to better understand our existing culture of inclusion and respect, and we are now using this data to develop a scenario-based digital learning programme for our whole workforce. The training will calibrate the standards of behaviour we expect and will equip staff with the skills to challenge inappropriate behaviours when they see or experience them. This week, we had the pleasure of hosting a film crew on site to film these scenarios – it is exciting to see the programme coming to life!  We will also deliver a 'Train the Trainer' programme for site supervisors to enable them to deliver the training to their teams. This approach will help us continue growing our inclusive culture and aims to drive improvements throughout our industry. A big thank you to our supply chain partner, Laing O'Rourke, who have shared our vision and also to our DE&I consultants, FAIRER Consulting and Enact Solutions Limited for bringing our vision to life. https://lnkd.in/enHP4SPg

We've started steelwork prefabrication for the Old Oak Common concourse and platform areas, where the Great Western Main Line, Heathrow Express and Elizabeth line trains will run. The steelwork will be a visible architectural feature of the station, and installation is set to start early next year. We've started with the Y columns that will support the platform canopies, and will soon move onto other steelwork elements such as the end of platform bridges and scenic lifts. As part of the design process and performance testing, mock ups were built at the VINCI Technology Centre UK Ltd – you can see images of them below. Senior Package Manager, Martin Kilbane, had the following to say: “reaching this point is the result of great effort and collaboration between HS2 (High Speed Two) Ltd, Balfour Beatty VINCI SYSTRA Joint Venture, Martifer Group, WSP and WilkinsonEyre. Producing the visual mock ups really brings the structure to life and is a great way to get a feel for the scale of what we're building.” Old Oak Common Station will be a new transport superhub in West London offering quick, reliable, and comfortable journeys to the Midlands, the North and Scotland. It will also be the 42nd stop on London’s new Elizabeth line enabling passengers to get to the West End in 10 minutes, Liverpool Street Station in 20 minutes and Heathrow, via either the Elizabeth line or the Heathrow Express, also in 10 minutes. This once industrial area is being transformed into a thriving super-connected neighbourhood and building a legacy for generations to come. 

Last week, a team of BBVS volunteers joined forces with Skanska Costain STRABAG Joint Venture to tackle the overgrown local areas around Channel Gate Road, cutting back trees, pruning bushes and removing waste. The team also cleared weeds in the cobbled alleys that adjoined residents' back gardens. The hard work paid off, and the area was transformed and refreshed at the end of the day.

Our Senior Reporting Manager, George Stefanopoulos, and Project Controls Manager, Habib K., have written an insightful article on project data in the Association for Project Management's latest Project Journal. You can register to read it here: https://lnkd.in/gdb_Wn8

Check out this amazing footage of an FPV drone flight through our huge underground station box. The box has a 1.12 mile fibre-reinforced concrete diaphragm wall around it, and 1.3 million tonnes of London clay has been removed from inside – this is enough to fill more than 300 Olympic sized swimming pools!   Now that excavation has been completed, the team can finish pouring the final sections of the base slab. When fully formed, the box will house six high-speed platforms and the station building. https://lnkd.in/gpqRbswP #HS2 #OldOakCommonStation

Last month, we were privileged to launch Pride Month with Professor Emeritus and Co-founder of LGBT+ History Month, Sue Sanders, alongside our LGBTQ+ Executive Sponsors, Brendan Seymour and Sonia Hazel. Sue presented a session on 'the power of inclusive language', exploring the power of language, unconscious bias, and ways we can communicate more inclusively.   Later in the month, we hosted a fireside chat with Dan Robertson, MD of FAIRER Consulting. Dan shared his personal and professional experience, explaining the importance of understanding the differences in lived experiences between people in the LGBTQ+ community, as well as those of different races and socio-economic backgrounds.     A group of colleagues then attended Pride in London to support the LGBTQ+ community. Whilst Pride Month is a joyous occasion, we reflected on the fact that every day of the year is an opportunity to contribute toward equity, diversity and inclusion.   Our ED&I Manager, Alpa Kapasi, commented: "within our team, we have always stood in solidarity with people from LGBTQ+ communities to educate out prejudice. The importance of language and the narrative we develop is critical to us embedding and promoting a respectful organisation. I am extremely proud, and thankful, for everyone that showed up during the month to support our colleagues and our speakers to engage in some really thought-provoking conversations around the power of language and the meaning of respect. We will continue those conversations as we grow our respectful and inclusive organisation."   https://lnkd.in/g92_2dK  #Pride #LondonPride #EDI

Last month, we volunteered at Old Oak Primary School to renovate and decorate their outdoor playground area. We completed a number of works, such as planting plant pot tyres, constructing new benches and painting the fence and play equipment. We are delighted that the nursery and reception students now have a colourful outdoor space to enjoy.   The school had the following to say about the day: "we ... were extremely lucky to have a garden makeover ... and some amazing volunteers – we hope to continue our relationship in the future."   A big thank you to Expanded and Select Plant Hire for their support.

We are incredibly proud of this milestone and our Project Director, Steve O'Sullivan, had the following to say:   “This achievement is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our team, and in particular the valuable contributions of our apprentices like Miguel. The progress here at Old Oak Common moves us one step closer to completing this key transport hub, which will enhance connectivity and drive regeneration in the area. We are excited to move forward to the next phase of construction and continue delivering this transformative project.”

Congratulations to Karolina Zelvyte, Delivery Manager from Clipfine Ltd, who has won the 'Supply Chain and Logistics' category in the 2024 Women In Construction and Engineering Awards! She had the following to say about her experience:   "The whole experience from the start was challenging, but in the most positive way. Women are not used to talking about themselves, even on a day-to-day basis, let alone in presentations. However, going through this process taught me new things about myself, and what I’m capable of. Mostly, I was left with an open jaw when reading references about myself. I think most women will relate to the fact that most days we come to work, do our job to the best of our ability, and simply go home. We then wake up, do the same the next day, and repeat the process for weeks, months, and years without thinking much of it. To hear people speaking and thinking so highly of you is an eye opening experience.   I want to say thank you to Clipfine Ltd for nominating and supporting me in these awards, and a HUGE thanks to Sophie Dumont (BBVS Senior Commercial Manager) and Diane Champion (BBVS Quality, Construction Assurance and Handover Manager) who went above and beyond to coach and mentor the finalists. The biggest thank you to Brendan Seymour (BBVS Construction Lead) who found my story so fascinating. When I won and couldn't believe it, he said he never had a single doubt that I would win. Thank you as well to Nigel Russell (Balfour Beatty CEO, HS2 Major Projects) for his warm support and congratulations. Overall, I thank everyone who was there on the night and all the finalists from BBVS for making me feel welcome and a part of the family. I want to say congratulations to all the finalists from Old Oak Common station – we are all winners!" https://lnkd.in/eu3Daiq