BWB Consulting - Integrated Engineering and Environmental Consultants

Consulting Engineers BWB have been retained to provide consultancy services for a prestigious multi-million pound development scheme that will transform a 17 hectare (42 acre) site at the heart of Nottingham's Eastside Regeneration Zone - acknowledged as one of the UK's most important current urban regeneration projects.

The Nottingham based multi-disciplinary environmental and engineering consultancy has been appointed by Eastside and City Developments Ltd (EandCD) to provide civil and transportation engineering services for the development, projected to have a final gross development value in the region of £900m. The proposed scheme is located to the east of the city's historic centre.

In January, Nottingham City Council resolved to grant consent for the first part of the scheme,known as The Island. This will comprise almost three million sq ft of integrated, mixed use space located to the southern end of the wider Eastside Regeneration Zone. The Island is bounded by Manvers Street, London Road and Evelyn Street with railway lines forming the southern boundary. The site benefits particularly from its connectivity to Nottingham's mainline rail station and commercial centre. It also lies close to the districts of St Ann's and Sneinton and will go some way to reintegrating the communities in these areas with the city centre.

Malcolm Wright, Managing Director of BWB Consulting, said: ´We were initially commissioned by EandCD in Summer 2003 to assist with masterplanning and feasibility studies for a much larger scheme incorporating The Island and the Bus Depot and Sneinton Market sites to the north. The Island is a former industrial area whose regeneration will be key to Nottingham's future. Our on-going involvement in such a prestigious project recognises our expertise in providing multi-disciplinary advice for urban regeneration projects. We have worked closely with the Client and other appointed professionals to develop a visionary but deliverable masterplan. We are extremely proud of our work in resolving the complex civil engineering and transportation issues associated with such a major project.´

´Eastside will lead the way in creating a new urban community, adding a new vibrancy to the city and ultimately bringing thousands of new residents and office workers to a previously neglected area of Nottingham. This is a long-term project that will create a lively and exciting new quarter for the city and provide a new lease of life for all those involved.´

An outline planning application for The Island scheme was submitted in June 2004 and Nottingham City Council resolved to grant permission in January 2005. The application was for a total of2.9 million sq ft of mixed-use development with 4,376 car parking spaces. This includes approximately 1.4 million sq ft of new office space, 1.3 million sq ft of new apartments, 127,000 sq ft of retail space and 44,000 sq ft of leisure space to include bars and restaurants all set within a high quality purpose designed urban landscape.

BWB have provided the engineering advice that has shaped and guided the evolution of the masterplan. This has included establishing the form and layout of the site access junctions and internal roads, footways and cycleways, and possible options for extending an adjacent canal into the site to create a central water feature within the park area that will form the heart of the scheme.

In addition, the scheme layout has been devised to accommodate the possible future construction of an extension to theNottingham Express Transit system that could serve this site and the adjacent Waterside area to the south. In the short term, part of the possible tram route will be utilised as a bus and footway/cycleway corridor through the site linking London Road to Manvers Street. BWB's Transport Engineers prepared the comprehensive Transport Assessment that formed a key part of the Environmental Statement that supported the planning application. BWB's Civil Engineers undertook the Drainage Strategy and Flood Risk Assessment work that formed important sections of the Environmental Statement.

Jerry Holmes, EandCD's Development Director, said: ´Nottingham is one of the UK's fastest growing cities and one of the UK's eight Government designated core cities and drivers of the economy outside London. It was imperative we appointed the right people to achieve such a significant result that will help to secure the future of Nottingham. BWB have made an outstanding contribution to this project. They have demonstrated commercial awareness, pragmatism and technical expertise - qualities that are essential for a scheme of this magnitude and complexity. They are an invaluable part of our team.´

The key members of the Eastside and City Development consortium are Roxylight, a developer with an outstanding track record of commercially successful urban development projects, Laing O'Rourke, one of the UK's leading construction companies and the Property Finance Team at Barclays Bank. Hopkins Architects are instructed to carry out masterplanning and architectural design for the project.