ProCon Events

The Future of the City Centre

The city centre plays a fundamental role in enabling exchange and interaction. It is the site of exchange not only of goods and services but also information and ideas, a place where work interacts with leisure and play, and where people’s lives intersect.

But that role has been under immense and sustained pressure as new ways of conducting retail have eroded the functions of the city centre and now with COVID-19 new ways of working. So what is the future of the City Centre?

Using Leicester as an example, Louise Seymour will look at recent development trends, increased city centre living, the focus on public realm, the office market (and its critical importance to the city centre), and take us up to where we were before COVID, and where Leicester City Council are focussing their investment going forward.

Sarah Harrison will then focus on retail; where we are now, future trends, but she will also pick up on Tourism and leisure and what next in these aspects.

WEBINAR - Building Safety Regulations – a review of changes and the implications

On 20 January 2020 Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick announced new measures to improve building safety standards, described as: ‘the biggest change in building safety for a generation’.

The changes, following the Grenfell Tower fire, include:
• The immediate creation of a new Building Safety Regulator within the Health and Safety Executive.
• Clarified and consolidated advice for building owners.
• An update on fire sprinklers.
• A consultation on extending the ban on combustible materials to buildings below 18 metres.
• A response to Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry.
• Naming building owners where remediation has not started to remove unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding.

We have put together a panel of experts who will give an insight into these changes and the impact on the building industry.

Paul Meadows from Salus Approved Inspectors will provide an overview of current Building Regulations and highlight the proposed changes with a focus on fire regulations. Whilst Kanti Chhapi from architects, Stephen George + Partners and Darren Wallace from contractor, Stepnell will provide their insights and how the changes will impact on current and future planning and developments.

There will be a Q&A session after the presentations.

WEBINAR - Planning Regulation Changes – what they are and what they mean in practice

This webinar will provide an overview of some of the recent planning changes announced by the Government including changes to permitted development rights and use classes, as well as a look at the Planning White Paper: Planning For The Future, which the Prime Minister described as “Radical reform unlike anything we have seen since the Second World War”.

Paul Wakefield from Shakespeare Martineau will look at the White Paper and give some thoughts as to whether the proposed changes are as radical as the prime minister would have us believe, and together with Tony Aspbury of Aspbury Planning they will look at the changes announced to use classes and permitted development which took effect at the beginning of September and what those will mean in practice.

There will also be the opportunity to ask questions of Paul and Tony after their presentations.

WEBINAR - ROMO Fabrics presentation and site tour

ROMO Fabrics is a fifth-generation family run business based in Nottinghamshire. They are a market leader in designer fabrics and wallcoverings. In 2016, the company started the search for an architect to design a new global HQ, merging four existing sites.

Maber was appointed to take this project forward. The brief was to design a quality, contemporary building to reflect the ROMO Group values for distinctive design but at the same time reflect their honesty and caring ethos. The building needed to have a wow factor to impress customers and visitors but also be an outstanding place to work for their 350 plus employees.

Hear from Maber Architects about this project and watch a site tour to see the progress of the build. A panel comprising of representatives from Maber, CPW, PML Construction Management and BSP Consulting will also be on hand live to answer any questions.