Comar Delivering Tall Building Solutions

Stephen Ledbetter, CWCT: Testing Implications - (Web Link CWCT)

Stephen is the Chairman of the Centre for Window and Cladding Technology (CWCT) and has been at the heart of development of its standards, training and research reports. Stephen discussed the type of testing that the external envelope must undertake to ensure the longevity of the project.

Chris Wilkinson, Wilkinson Eyre Architects: Architectural Design - (Web Link Wilkinson Eyre Architects)

Chris Wilkinson is a principal and founder of Wilkinson Eyre Architects. The work of the practice has been extensively published and has received over 100 design awards including the RIBA Stirling Prize for an unprecedented two consecutive years in 2001 and 2002. Notable projects include Stratford Regional Station, Explore@Bristol, Dyson Headquarters, Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Magna, The Empress State Building, The National Waterfront Museum in Swansea and, most recently, the Guangzhou West Tower in south-east China. Chris. with his international experience of Tall Buildings took the audience through tallest buildings in the world and discussed forward thinking of the rest of the world in tall buildings.

Neven Sidor, Grimshaws: Outside in, Inside Out - (Web link Grimshaws)

Neven, from Grimshaws is the Director of the Minerva Tower, a stunning building which has received planning permission in London and will provide over a 1M square feet of space. Other notable projects have included: Waterloo International Terminal, Sainsbury's in Camden Town and two office developments in the City, 25 Gresham Street and the Minerva Building. In Europe they include the Frankfurt Messehalle 3, Ludwig Erhard Haus in Berlin and the Ijburg Bridges in Amsterdam. Neven took forward the tall building theme with a live London project and went into fascinating detail of how design is shaped through constraint as well as flair.

Mohsen Zikri, ARUP: Delivering Sustainable Buildings - (Web Link ARUP)

Mohsen Zikri is a Director of Ove Arup & Partners in London. He is a Chartered Engineer with a distinguished career in designing landmark and award winning buildings in the UK and overseas. He has worked with international clients and architects. This includes Foster & Partners, Rem Koolhaas, Jean Nouvel, Skidmore Owen & Merrill, Terry Farrell & Partners, Herzog & de Meuron, Dominique Perrault and Rafael Vinoly. He also co-authored the new Design Guide for Tall Buildings for the British Council of Offices (BCO) in the UK. Mohsen took the seminar further into the engineering strategies of the building and how ARUP, with their long international expertise, have created models to deliver sustainable tall buildings, Mohsen took us to the future with the concept of vertical cities.

Bram Hannessen, Comar-EFT: Supplying Tall Building Products

Bram Hannessen is Managing Director of EFT Euro Façade Technology & Systems based in the Netherlands. He got his experience in design, sales management and general management over the last 30 years in the aluminium systems business. Bram was responsible for business development and export for Reynolds Architectural Systems, establishing business units in UK /Ireland, Poland & Austria. Together with its overseas partner/clients, several prestigious projects in Israel have been completed and several projects are currently under construction in Israel, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. Bram discussed the detail of supplying a product into the chain, early involvement in the design phase, the design concept in product detail, fabrication and on-site installation.

Jack Pringle, RIBA President: Question & Answers - (Web Link RIBA)

Jack Pringle is the RIBA President 2005-2007. He is a partner in Pringle Brandon, which is a practice specialising in office and hotel projects, and a Director of Pringle Brandon Consulting which advises on strategic space issues. Jack is currently leading the design of the fit-out for Allen and Overy's new London office in Spitalfields.

Jack first served on the RIBA Council in 1981 and has sat on Education, Practice and Contracts Committees. In 2002/3 he was Vice President for Education and in 2003/5 he chaired the RIBA's Professional Services Company. Jack closed the Tall Building Seminar, taking questions from the audience and posing them to the distinguished speaker panel.