Capita Bobrowski rock out with AC/DC

Capita Bobrowski has been working on the spectacular stage set for AC/DC’s ‘Black Ice’ World Tour.

The design features a 6m high ‘Rock 'n' Roll Train' (the title of the group's recent single) which sits on a special track at a sharp 14 degree incline. The show opens with a brief 'Rock 'n' Roll Train' film segment before the train actually runs down the track in a blaze of lights, smoke and pyrotechnics. Lead guitarist Angus Young then leaps out of the structure to start the show.



Malcolm Richards from the Southampton office has been working closely with Richard Hartman, ACDC's Production Manager, and Mark Fisher, the tour Art Director, on the set's various structural engineering aspects.

Malcolm – who recently advised on Paul McCartney's acclaimed concert in Tel Aviv - is also currently working on George Michael and Alicia Keys' December gigs in the Middle East. He has previously designed theatres, studios and venues such as the revamp of the famous Abbey Road studios, De Montford Hall in Leicester and Riverside Arts Centre in London.

Following the current North American leg, the ACDC tour comes to Europe for two months including dates at London 02 Arena (April 14), Manchester MEN Arena (21), Birmingham LG Arena (23) The tour then heads to South America and Japan before culminating in Australia/New Zealand in 2010.

Find out more about Capita Bobrowski

Richard Goes Out on a Limb

Richard Limb, Capita Symonds’ Director of Leisure Safety, has successfully completed a 1,700 mile solo cycle ride across Australia.

The daunting trip was along the Stuart Highway – known locally as ‘The Track’ – which stretches from Port Augusta in the south to Darwin in the north.

As the route crosses some of the remotest and hottest parts of Australia - including the infamous ‘Red Centre’ – Richard often faced distances of 150 miles between ANY human habitations, not to mention stifling temperatures of 52C

During the ride, Richard also faced forced regular bush camps; serious water shortages which meant drinking potentially contaminated rain water; lack of shelter; millions of flies and ants; and chronic inflammation of the ulna nerve thanks to the constant pressure on his hands – not to mention an inability at times to pass water, produce saliva and digest food!

Half a million pedal strokes were required, approximately 186,000 calories of energy were burned, and 500 litres of water consumed.

When asked why he did it, his reply was: “The challenge, adventure, fun and my mobile phone did not work!”

Good on y' mate!!!

Find out more about Leaisre and Event Safety from Capita Symonds

Salute For Lewis

Capita Bobrowski recently provided structural engineering for a massive 12m x 8m picture of Lewis Hamilton.

The picture – produced by contemporary British artist Ian Cook - was on display at an event to celebrate the drivers Formula One world title.

Because of the tense finish to the F1 season, the event was put on hold until the very last second, meaning the team from our Southampton office (including Simon White and Dan Rolfe) only had a couple of days to turn the project around.

The 12m high, 8m wide picture was actually drawn by remote-controlled cars with paint on their wheels. It was produced by Total Fabrications, on behalf of one of Hamilton’s sponsors - Reebok.

Capita Bobrowski’s role was to check the picture’s huge 15.5m high, 10m wide, aluminium supporting edifice, advising on guying & ballast requirements and producing the required structural report.

Coverage can also be see on the Sky News Website and on YouTube:

Capita Symonds aquired Structural and Civil Engineering consultancy NRM Bobrowski in April 2008 to form Capita Bobrowski.

Speeding into the record books

Helen Loney - a Chartered Surveyor in the Blackburn office – has smashed the British Outright Ladies Water Speed Record at the famous Coniston Water in the Lake District.

Helen reached an average speed of 125.8 mph in her Formula 1 race boat ‘Crescendo’ at the annual powerboating ‘Records Week’ event, beating the previous record of 115.1 mph.

Helen also set a new Electric Outright Water Speed World Record of 76.8 mph in ‘FireFly’, her 15 ft three point hydroplane. Helen and her team – The Electric Record Team UK – specifically designed and built the boat which they hope will one day be able to break the magical 100mph barrier.

Helen – who owns her own Formula 1 race boat - has been racing on Windermere and Barrow-in-Furness Docks for over six years. Her team is sponsored by: Agni Motors, P.D.S Engineering, Capita Symonds, DHM, Exide Technologies, West Systems, Lunar, South Cumbria Construction Ltd and Cherry Concepts.

Find out more at http://www.electricrecordteam.com/

Capita Symonds career opportunities

There are currently 65 jobs being advertised on the Capita Symonds our website.

Roles are spread across the UK and include architect, accountant, project manager, civil engineer, environmental assistant, surveyor, mechanical engineer, planner.......the list goes on!

Why not have a look?
(To see our available roles on our website, simply click leave all the search fields blank, and then click "Search and Apply")

The lost invite of Atlantis?

This week sees the star-studded launch of the Atlantis hotel, The Palm, Dubai. A three day extraviganza will see the likes of Robert De Niro, Denzel Washington and Janet Jackson jetting in for the "the party of the decade". Apparently Tom Cruise has also booked his New Year party at the resort.

Situated in the middle of the crescent-shaped development, the 1,539-room, 46ha resort includes 17ha of water parks, beaches, luxury boutiques, restaurants, a nightclub, a spa and fitness club, and 5,600m² of meeting and function space. The jewel in it's crown is a suite costing a massive £23,000 a night!


Getting back to the point, Capita Bobrowski (Capita Symonds' Structural engineering firm) were involved in the project. The team, led by technical director Stuart Holdsworth and lead engineering technician Bruno Postle, designed, manufactured and installed 20 tensioned membrane shade structures covering 10,000m² at the complex.

Not sure where our invite to the bash is though (must have got lost in the post)!

Find out more about our involvement with the project
Read the Timesonline review
Go to the Atlantis Website

Watch the official video below:

Prince Charles visits Ebbw Valley railway

HRH Price Charles recently dropped by Ebbw Vale (South Wales) to visit the new railway line, which was project managed by Capita Symonds. The Prince even made a short journey on the train.

Find out more about the project, the visit and even a few facts about Price Charles himself!

Manchester's Spinningfield redevelopment near to completion

The £1bn Spinningfields project in Manchester city centre is now approaching completion.

A team from Capita Symonds’ Cheadle Hume office, led by Director Kevin Mitchell, has been providing structural, civil and geo-environmental engineering services on the mixed-use project for the past seven years.

The client, Allied London Properties, has also retained Capita Symonds in a monitoring/due diligence capacity on two buildings where they are not leading the structural design.

Heralded as ‘Manchester’s Canary Wharf’, the 22 acre development features high quality commercial, civic, residential, hotel, leisure and retail space including:

• 20 signature buildings - each one the result of a competition between leading international architects
• 4.6 million sq ft of high quality commercial, civic, residential, retail and open space
• Six acres of public space
• Five new public squares
• 2.37 million sq ft of Class A office space (25,000 workers will eventually occupy the site)
• 300,000 sq ft of complementary high-end retail and leisure areas
• 391 luxury apartments in the Left Bank complex
• A 24 floor complex featuring a four star hotel and luxury apartments

Kevin Mitchell, Capita Symonds, commented: “Spinningfields will set new standards for modern international city regeneration. The whole project has been designed, planned and implemented to create a development that will be the envy of London and the rest of Europe.”

Manchester is the UK’s fastest growing city. Since 1997, more than £700 million has been invested in transforming the city into one of Europe’s leading cultural and economic hubs with over £3 billion committed to major new real estate and infrastructure projects.

Honour for Museum in RCIS awards

A Capita Symonds project, the Kelvingrove New Century Project, has been commended in the global final of the RICS awards.

The awards - which brought together outstanding building projects from the UK, Europe and Australia - recognise excellence, value for money and a commitment to building conservation.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum saw off 74 other building projects for the ‘commended’ accolade in the building conservation category, narrowly missing out on the top spot to Beeleigh Abbey in Essex.

A team from the Glasgow office – led by Regional Director Gordon Malcolm – provided project and construction management on the £30m programme to refurbish the Glasgow museum, which is a category A-Listed Building and the fourth best attended museum in the UK.

The project, which was awarded Scotland’s largest single Heritage Lottery Grant, won the ‘Building Conservation’ category at the RICS Scotland awards earlier this year.

RICS Scotland Director Graeme Hartley said: “To be commended in a global awards final shows Scotland has world-class building projects. The judges were impressed by the scale and care taken to successfully deliver a very demanding project like Kelvingrove. As a category A-listed building, the team had to be careful to safeguard and enhance the building and its surroundings whilst bringing it into the 21st century. The number of visitors to Kelvingrove endorses the success of the project”.

Well done!

In-tune with our clients

Capita Symonds’ Health and Safety team, led by Director Nigel Daly, has launched a new service aimed at the classical music industry.

Although they are better known for their construction health and safety services for clients such as Grosvenor Estates, Morley, Aviva Investors, and Westfield, Director Nigel Daly recently recognised the need to broaden the team’s offering.

New recruit Jayne Sutton, herself a professional musician and classically trained trumpet player, hit upon the idea of offering occupational health and safety services to the classical music industry.

As a result, the team has now launched a tailored service that guides orchestra and theatre managers through complex health and safety legislation, enabling them to successfully implement a comprehensive strategy which protects both employees and employers.

Jayne says: “Since The Association of British Orchestras set out its code of best practice – the Healthy Orchestra Charter – it has become vital for orchestras to take a more proactive approach in tackling the wide variety of ailments that can afflict modern musicians. What’s more, with the Control of Noise at Work Regulations also applying to the music and entertainment industries for the first time, there are more regulations governing health and safety in the music industry than ever before.”

Also the ABO has also asked Capita Symonds to attend its annual conference which will be held in the Capita Architecture-designed Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. The exclusive event is one of the highlights in the classical music calendar and will be attended by approximately 450 senior executives and board members from the various UK orchestras.

We wish them all the best of luck for their new venture.

Best foot forward

Blackburn’s Casualty Reduction Team once again supported the recent national ‘Walk to School’ campaign.

The campaign began with School Travel Officer Cheryl Sandford (pictured left) delivering presentations about the benefits of walking to school to pupils at four local Blackburn schools.

The children were then provided with their very own ‘travel passports’ which are stamped every time they walk to school. To ensure that the campaign was accessible to all pupils a ’park and stride’ element was also introduced for those who need to travel by car, enabling them to walk the final part of the route to school.

The Walk to School Campaign is run by the charity Living Streets with funding from Department for Transport and the BIG Lottery fund. It asks parents, pupils and teachers to think about their journey to and from school and the many benefits of making it on foot.

Find out more about Capita Symonds' Road Safety Team

Blooming Marvellous

Capita Lovejoy’s Aviva Garden project has won the prestigious James Miller Trophy at the 'Flowers In The City' awards.


The Lord Mayor of London, Mr Alderman David Lewis, presented David Blackwood-Murray of Capita Lovejoy with the award at a reception at The Mansion House in London.

The Flowers in the City Campaign, which aims to “beautify” the City, was launched over forty years ago by the Worshipful Company of Gardeners in conjunction with the Corporation of London.

Whilst the Corporation maintains a considerable number of gardens and floral displays throughout the City via it's Parks and Gardens department, the Flowers in the City Campaign targets the private sector, rewarding a variety of individuals and companies.

A team from Capita Lovejoy designed the private garden at Aviva’s headquarters in St Helen's Square, London. Installed by Willerby Landscapes, the garden was conceived as an ‘oasis to celebrate life and vitality’ and provides a stunning visual amenity for visitors and staff at the adjacent Aviva Tower.

The garden is a clear, calm space structured by the use of trees, hedges and stepped terraces. Sculptural walls provide enclosure to the garden whilst permitting views into the space from an undershaft along its north boundary. A wall of slatted timber then provides a contrasting, textured finish along the southern edge of the garden while ‘Art Walls’ create a dynamic feature amongst the planting and beneath the canopy of the trees throughout the day and night.

Capita Symonds acquired land planning consultancy Lovejoy in March 2008, to form Capita Lovejoy.

Find out more about our land planning service from Capita Lovejoy