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Working with the Unite Group, the leading developer and manager of student accommodation in the UK, K2 Consultancy have been appointed as Project Manager, Cost Consultant & Employer’s Agent for a landmark 1001 bedroom scheme which also incorporates a coach park in Stratford City, East London. The project will provide stunning views over the Olympic Park, offering a high standard accommodation to UK and International students studying in London.
The Building is a concrete frame structure overcladd with a precast concrete cladding panel which includes cast in brick slips and feature projecting windows. The bedrooms are being constructed traditionally but with off site manufactured bathroom pods from the UK. The Entrance into the building will be impressive with a two storey high space, sweeping stair case and glass lift which will lead to a mezzanine area offering various different zones for student study, socialising and games areas. The whole project is being built to a new Unite Specification which not only reduces the overall costs but also increases the quality of the rooms and common areas.
The Project team includes BDP, HCD Architects, Applied Energy, MPN Structural Engineers and is being constructed by the construction arm of Westfield Shopping Centres.
Last week, K2 staff went to visit the construction site and were pleased to see how well it was coming along. We were given a tour through the building, trying to visualise the final outcome of this exciting project. If you want to keep track of the construction of this residence, please click here: http://www.siteeyelive.com/monitor/newwestfield/camputer55.jpg for live webcam footage.
Who would have thought a Project Management Consultancy firm next to Gatwick Airport would have ties to a professional Canadian Tennis player, who played center court at Wimbledon this past June 2013.
Jesse Levine, 26 year old Canadian native tennis guru was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario the same city in Canada where Gillian, our newly appointed Marketing Manager’s family derives from. Both Jesse and Gillian met one another as infants and being born only months apart, they quickly became close friends.
When Jesse was 14 years old, his family made the tough decision to move to Boca Raton, Florida due primarily to his younger brother’s illness but ended up reaping huge rewards for Jesse’s tennis career.
While Jesse was visiting London to prepare for Wimbledon this past month, our Marketing Manager, and old friend of Levine’s sat down with the tennis pro to ask him a few questions. Jesse describes his feelings after his parents told him they were moving to Florida, a far distance from the capital of Canada. “I was nervous when we decided to move. It had nothing to do with my tennis it was because of my younger brother’s health. He was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis and it ended up being positive for my tennis career and for my brother especially”.
After settling in the Sunshine coast, Jesse enrolled in the University of Florida and began playing for the Florida Gators Men’s Tennis team. “I had an unbelievable season”, Jesse explains but goes on, “in order to take tennis to the next level, I had to keep playing guys at the top level. College tennis is amazing, but I felt my game was ready”. Jesse was right. His performance and ability was way above average and once pro, he represented the United States from 2007 to 2012. However, with his dual citizenship Jesse recently decided to re-establish his national affiliation with Canada and support the country he was born into. “I always felt Canadian at heart since I was born there and lived there till I was 14. The decision was not too difficult as I wanted the opportunity to place Davis Cup and the Olympics for Canada one day”.
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| Levine playing at Queens June 2013 |
Back in 2005, Jesse won the Wimbledon boys' doubles championship with his doubles partner and a few years later, while representing the United States on tour, he accomplished his most substantial victory. In June 2009 Jesse defeated World No. 24 at the time (and former World No. 1) Marat Safin at Wimbledon. This was a huge triumph for Levine and was yet another milestone to add to his budding career. To date, the highest rank Jesse’s been awarded in his tennis profession is 69 in the world playing singles, October 1st 2012. “When you make the top 100, it really changes everything. And I feel like I'm just on the other side, knocking."
Jesse has played some impressive matches and has also displayed his remarkable skills at the Australian open, French Open, US open, Queens and Wimbledon. He’s already achieved so much at 26, and still has a bright and promising future ahead of him. It's not easy being a young, athlete balancing pressures and demands of sporting competitions along with educational stresses. But Jesse has handled himself professionally as a skilled tennis player, a hard working student, and a compassionate, friend, son and brother. K2 Consultancy wishes him all the best in his future matches.
I
am a sixteen year old student and I have recently spent a few days at the
Gatwick Office of K2 Consultancy, doing work experience. I am considering a
future in engineering, and so I was keen to discover what this could lead to,
in terms of a career. I have enjoyed meeting different people during my
visit, seeing what they do everyday at
the company and learning about the many elements of the construction industry.
I have sat in on internal meetings, gaining a sense of the way small companies
operate and plan their time, as well as meeting contractors and quantity surveyors
who also have a role in the construction process. On Wednesday, I had the
opportunity to visit the office of Applied Energy for a day, a Building
Services company, where I saw the construction of buildings such as hotels,
from a different perspective, focusing on mechanical and electrical planning. I
have learnt a lot about construction, and the professional environment
generally, during my time at K2, and I would like to thank the company for
allowing me this experience. I also managed to answer the phone and transfer a
call successfully, and despite not making any cups of tea, I think this makes
my work experience a success!
This post was written by Annabella, a student who chose to gain hands-on experience in our Gatwick offices at K2 Consultancy.
Santander vs. K2
Staff at K2 gave it their all when they participated in the
semi-final football match against rivals Santander. We took the lead early
scoring the first goal of the game but in the end were defeated by 2 points.
The boys played hard and proved that they work well as a team, both in and out
of the office. Well done!
Final Score: 6-4
Since April 2012 Project Managers from K2 Consultancy have been leading a team of construction professionals to consult and rebuild an old country estate in Winchester. The project is a unique one for K2, working for a private client in the far depth of the countryside on what turned out to be a historic landmark with a haunted past.
Leaving our offices next to Gatwick airport, we drove through quaint, ancient villages that looked basically untouched and drove through South Downs National park. Recognised as a region of exceptional beauty, our project known legendarily as “Mundy’s House” resides within this extraordinary piece of land.
The area is festooned with history and the town itself as old-fashioned and pleasant as anyone could ever expect. Strolling along the main pathway to the house, I was greeted with a plot of land dating back over hundreds of years and feelings of past lives lived. This is where our journey really began. The historic period of the birth of Mundy’s House gave way to a number of legends still told by the town folk today.
From the moment we arrived on site, it was as if we were transported back in time. There was an exquisite, large garden that surrounded the estate and a man made body of water filled with geese, ducks and other serene wildlife. The house itself was in the process of being restored but I could imagine what it would have looked like in a past age. As we walked through the construction site, project manager, Tim Humpage helped us visualize how the final layout of the house will appear in essence of its former glory.
I ventured down the back garden near the quaint duck pond and came across a long pathway beneath a forest known as Mundy’s Bottom. It was at the edge of this woodland where a history of legends and ghost stories were aplenty.
As the legend goes, Mundy’s bottom, a grassy pathway behind the estate, lay on a route taken by discharged sailors in the 1700s. It was told that Betty Mundy lured in these exhausted sailors and murdered them for their wages. Speculation has it that the spirit of a long-dead navy sailor still walks along the trail in the wee hours of darkness.
Another story depicts Betty as part of a press gang where she would once again use temptation to demand attention from farm labourers. After luring them in, she’d take them for a stroll in the woods and shortly after, the gang would ambush the pour labourer while Betty received her promised commission.
The final myth surrounding Mundy’s House is of greater betrayal. Apparently, Betty was caught cursing a herd of cattle which didn’t go over well with the devoted locals. Angry farmers took matters into their own hands and decided to burn Mundy’s House to the ground while she was still inside it. It was believed that Betty had valued gold and the spiteful neighbours searched long and hard for her rumoured treasure after her murder, but found nothing.
No one will ever really know whether or not the legends of Mundy’s House bare any truth. What we do know is the village and Mundy’s Bottom has experienced a past that no human alive today has bared witness too. Now, all we can do is expose these eerie tales and like our Project Managers at K2, attempt to restore an old country house and begin to create new stories and memories of an ancient manor.
Finishing up some final bits and pieces for the Hale Village, London Project
K2 Consultancy Ltd was registered in November 2001 - 10 years ago, seems like yesterday!
Over the last 10 years we have had great support from our clients, staff and fellow industry colleagues. We have also had some significant project sucesses, including:
- Gatwick Airport - Pier 6, South Terminal IDL
- Hale Village, Tottenham, London
- Horsham Hospital Redevelopment
- Port of Sheerness
- Unite - Woburn Place, Kirby Street
- BMW
- Teva Pharmaceuticals
- Glive,Guildford
- Cheshire Police Tactical Training Unit
- Premier Inn, Southwark
- East Surrey Hospital, Redhill
Despite the current doom and gloom we are focussed on continued growth and optomistic that a business offering a highly professional and personalised service will outperform others.
Our first few years were spent working almost exclusively for BAA at Gatwick. Then in 2005 we approached Horsham Hospital and won a job to look after their redevlopment. By that time we were a team of 4! In 2007 I pursuaded my now business partner Matthew Loughlin to join. We had worked together in PCM and I knew that Matthew would help grow the Company. Sure enough we grew fairly quickly to a team of about 12 before the financial crisis hit. Overdue fees owed on one of our largest projects nearly wiped us out - but we survived! Not only have we survived one of the deepest recessions this country has seen we have continued to grow to a team of 22 today. I have no doubt this is due to the hard work and professionalism of all of our staff. Thankyou.
Here'sto the next 10.
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