Based at Blossom Street in London, Skanska, together with British Land, celebrated a construction milestone at the beginning of October with a topping out ceremony.
The event marked reaching the highest point of the building and the final concrete pour with the Scandinavian good luck tradition of flying a fir tree over the building.
Since we began working on the £180 million project earlier this year, we have supported our customer with the development and roll out of a Project Charter for the project delivery team. The Charter's aim is to ‘make a difference to the lives of people working on the project, in the local community and those we interface with'. Established, managed and owned by a working group of cross-discipline project team members, the Charter sets a series of objectives covering community, mental health and wellbeing, environmental awareness, inclusion and diversity, project awards, charity and teambuilding.
Lynn Summerfield, Project Director at British Land, explains: “Skanska has truly embraced the Project Charter since becoming involved in the project. They have worked hard to create an extended project team who understands and shares our values and we have seen some amazing results so far. Alongside the Charter, we also have a community engagement strategy to communicate the importance of our local community and being empathetic to those living next to our developing site. This strategy sets out a clear plan for how we should engage and listen to our neighbours and the importance of being open, honest and personable in our approach.”
Graham Mercer, Project Director, explained: “Over the remaining two years, we are looking forward to working together with British Land to deliver our joint goals. We have created a sense of pride and want to support the people that need our help the most.
“An example of this, and one that I was really proud of, was when my team recently helped a local salon owner when she discovered her property had been vandalised overnight with graffiti. They didn’t hesitate to help her, and the windows and shutters were quickly cleaned up so she could open up, avoiding any disruption to her business. This was only possible because we have forged relationships with the local community, and we know when and how they need our help.”