Speakeasy @ Claremont

The enduring health and safety war is now reaching its latest phase. Already organisations like the HSe are showing signs of growing tired of the criticisms they face, which is why the HSE came out fighting last year, most famously to deny it was responsible for people not being allowed to sit on Henman Hill (or whatever it is currently known as). In 2012, there will be blood.

Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed to wage war against what he calls the ‘excessive health and safety culture’ in the UK. How this is resolved in 2012 will depend very much on how various stakeholders respond to the findings of last year’s Löfstedt Review. The report was carried out by Professor Ragnar Löfstedt of Kings College, who looked at 200 pieces of health and safety law. His recommendations will aim to simplifying and streamline existing regulations, focus enforcement on higher risk businesses, clarify obligations and rebalancing the civil litigation system. That all sounds great but there is concern about what it will all mean in practice.

The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) responded to the review by claiming the Government’s views on health and safety could be problematic, especially by exempting smaller firms and the self-employed from legislation In its response ISOH says exempting from health? and safety law self-employed ?people whose jobs don’t pose a?risk to others is unnecessary and unhelpful – it’s a backward step and sends out the wrong message. It believes defining work in this way would be difficult, and could cause confusion to self-employed people and micro businesses. There isn’t long to discuss it, with a first stage deadline of June 2012, so this is another story that will run and run. All we know is that things will change significantly.

To read more health and safety related comments please click here.

Published in December 2010 and coming into force in large part in April 2012, the Localism Bill is a long planned and core platform of the coalition government. It is designed to shift the balance of power away from central government towards local government and communities. The bill has the potential to transform the structure of the UK, changing the way we own local assets and run local services. It will also have a profound effect on local property markets, both domestic and commercial although how exactly that will manifest itself continues to be the subject of debate. As is often the case with such legislation, its effects will only be known in practice, not theory.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and British Property Federation (BPF) are two organisations who have  welcomed the Localism Bill. Amongst other things the Bill will give councils greater control over business rates and give local communities more control over local planning decisions including the transfer of usage between domestic and commercial property. If implemented properly and positively, this can only be a positive step for local business and communities.

The past few years have invariably featured new or amended legislation with regards to flexible working. This year will be no exception. In 2012, the Government is due to issue its response to last year’s consultation on modern workplaces, with proposals for introducing a new system of flexible parental leave, flexible working for all employees, amendments to the Working Time Regulations to allow staff to carry-forward holiday entitlements and new measures to encourage equal pay. A response to the consultation has been delayed as a result of ‘ongoing discussions within Government’, and is now due to be published in ‘early 2012’. So watch this space.

One thing that is definitely happening in March will be new legislation in response to the revised EU Parental Leave Directive which will see the amount of unpaid parental leave available to those employees with parental responsibility increase from three to four months for each child under the age of five.

Of course, many companies have their own flexible working policies, many of which exceed their statutory requirements because they are driven by sound business thinking, especially in the way they help to recruit and retain the best staff. As is always the case with new legislation however, what actually happens as a result of its introduction is not easy to predict. Certainly it would be a shame if new legislation in this area discouraged firms from taking on staff.

The International Interior Design Association and BMW Group DesignworksUSA have announced the Best of Competition winner for the second annual Global Excellence Awards: Water Chamber in Suzhou designed by Shanghai Lv Yong Zhong Art & Design Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, China. The Global Excellence Awards is an international Interior Design competition honoring the best in Interior Design projects from around the world. The winning entry was selected from 92 international design firms from 32 countries around the globe.

The Best of Competition winner was revealed and all winners were celebrated at a special presentation during Maison&Objet on January 21, 2012 in Paris, France. The 2011 judging panel included Mari Balestrazzi, Senior Vice President of Design at Morgans Hotel Group; Julio Braga, Design Principal at IA Interior Architects; Patrick McEneany, Creative Director of BMW Group DesignworksUSA and Joey Shimoda, IIDA, CEO of Shimoda Design Group.

The judges recognized the sophisticated style and excellent design in the Best of Competition winner. “The project was elegant with restrained solution that weaved together a diverse program into a unified concept,” said Mari Balestrazzi.

See the photos of the winning scheme here.

When it comes to meeting environmental targets, the Government has got commercial property squarely in its sights. Commercial buildings are responsible for around half of the UK’s energy consumption and carbon emissions, which is why the Chancellor has targeted all buildings to be carbon neutral by 2019. It is also the reason why there is so much focus on relevant standards,  especially the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) which is currently the UK’s best known and most widely used system. The BRE reckons that around a quarter of all commercial buildings built each year are BREEAM assessed and that there are some 100,000 buildings in the UK which have been assessed under the scheme.

BREEAM has been the subject of quite some criticism in the past but has been revised extensively over the last few years.  The scheme was re-launched for new buildings in 2011 and a version for refurbishments and fit-outs is being developed for launch in 2012.

Doubtless BRE is very much aware of the Ska fit-out rating system launched by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors in 2009 and revised in March 2011. Having competing standards does not always help firms to understand their obligations in this remorselessly complex area, but the new standards are a welcome development nonetheless.

To have a look at one of Claremont’s BREEAM projects please click here.

To coincide with the Government’s Innovation and Research Strategy for Growth, The Design Council have published their own set of facts, figures and practical plans for growth. The purpose of this design plan is to bring the design elements of the Innovation and Research Strategy together in one place and to communicate these as widely as possible across design, industry, government and education. The aim is to provide a useful strategic framework for organisations, institutions and individual businesses with an interest in making design-led innovation happen on the ground.

Design can help organisations transform their performance, from business product innovation, to the commercialisation of science and the delivery of public services. That is why design forms an integral part of the Government’s plans for innovation and growth and features strongly in our Innovation and Research Strategy for Growth. The UK has the potential to succeed globally but to do so we must harness our strengths. Design is undoubtedly an area where we are amongst the best in the world, with potential to do even better.” Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister for and Science

For more information, click here Design Council

The exquisite Minton Floor in the Great Hall of St George’s Hall will be on public display from Saturday 7 to Sunday 22 January – uncovered for the first time since January 2009. And for the first time in more than ten years, visitors who pre-book a tour will be given special shoe coverings and get the opportunity to walk across the floor.

Consisting of 30,000 beautifully hand crafted rare tiles, the immaculately preserved surface depicts the city’s coat of arms, sea nymphs, boys on dolphins and tritons. The mosaic was covered in the 1860s to provide a more hardwearing surface for dancing and has only been unveiled a handful of times since.

Liverpool’s Lord Mayor, Councillor Frank Prendergast said: “Everywhere you go in St. George’s Hall there is a stunning architecture or a stunning piece of art on display, but the Minton tiles are particularly special as they aren’t on permanent display so it’s a real treat to see the beautiful detail of the floor up close.

“The Hall is one of Liverpool’s greatest cultural assets and we want to do as much as we can to encourage people to come and visit this Grade I listed building. “Many people don’t realise what a gem they have on their doorstep, so we hope by unveiling the floor once again we’ll attract thousands of new visitors who will come and experience the fantastic culture and history the Hall has to offer.”

The Hall will be open from 10am to 5pm every day, and although booking isn’t necessary, there is a £1 admission fee for adults, while under 16s go free.For further information please see www.stgeorgesliverpool.co.uk or book onto a tour by calling the Heritage Centre on 0151 225 6909

The prolific 20th Century American artist Norman Rockwell produced a vast body of work that has allowed him to bridge the habitual divide between critical acclaim and popular appeal. He was often derided in his own time, most commonly for applying his recognised brilliant technique to illustrating books, magazines and posters. Even so, he was a tireless chronicler of American life and subsequent critics have been far kinder to his 4000 or so works . The panache of his work means he could even get away with what to modern eyes looks like a clichéd idea of a flirtatious window cleaner giving a young secretary the glad eye in this illustration for the cover of 1960 issue of the Saturday Evening Post.

Jason de Caires Taylor first gained recognition in 2006 when he created the world’s first underwater sculpture park in Grenada. The sculptures are situated in fairly shallow and clear waters on a coral reef to allow divers and snorkellers the chance to explore them. As well as engaging pieces in their own right, their siting also means that over time they will be colonised and devoured by coral, inherently ephemeral and attuned to nature. The figure of the man at his desk gamely plugging on with his work has an otherworldly feel.

Dominican friars first arrived at Treviso in Northern Italy in the 13th Century, where they founded the Church of San  Nicolò. In the mid 14th Century they commissioned the artist Tomaso da Modena to create a fresco in the chapter room of the church depicting forty famous monks of the order in their cells and hard at it at their desks. Cloistered life lends itself to focussing on meeting a string of often menial tasks and if it wasn’t for the monastic garb they look like they would fit straight in to a modern office. To have a look at the work please click here.