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The Architecture Drawing Prize 2019, was sponsored by William Hare and curated by World Architecture Festival, Sir John Soane’s Museum and Make Architects. The Prize embraced the creative use of digital tools and digitally produced renderings, while recognising the enduring importance of hand drawing.

The overall winner Anton Markus Pasing was awarded the prize at the annual World Architecture Festival in Amsterdam, for his work entitled ‘City in a box: paradox memories’.

“William Hare are honoured to have sponsored The Architecture Drawing Prize, celebrating the important art and skill of architectural drawing,” Gary Simmons, William Hare Chief Engineer and 2019 judging panel member.

The winners and commended works are on display at a dedicated exhibition at the Sir John Soane’s Museum in London between Wednesday 15^th January and Sunday 16^th February 2020.

Past projects that have helped shape the capital’s skyline include the ‘Walkie-Talkie’ and the Olympic Stadium roof transformation. Now ongoing developments – including The Scalpel at 52 Lime Street and the 40-storey skyscraper at 100 Bishopsgate – will both include steel manufactured by British Steel.

David Hodgkiss OBE, William Hare Group’s CEO, said: “We are delighted to have agreed our contract with British Steel, ensuring we continue to supply market-leading products to our customers.

The construction market is a very demanding one and William Hare, and in turn our clients, demand all the materials we use meet the highest specifications.

It is also pleasing that we can support UK manufacturing but we are not using British Steel sections in major projects for sentimental reasons. We are doing so because of the quality of the steel they manufacture and the delivery service they provide.”

British Steel was launched on June 1 after it was purchased from Tata Steel by the family investment office Greybull Capital.

And British Steel’s Commercial Director, Peter Hogg, said: “We’re all proud that William Hare selected British Steel to form this type of partnership, it is a great show of confidence in our employees and their capability.

William Hare has a global reputation for excellence, the evidence of which can be seen in the skylines of cities throughout the world.”

The steel is made at British Steel’s Scunthorpe site and the biggest sections are rolled at its Teesside Beam Mill.

100 Bishopsgate is a 40-storey office tower being developed by Brookfield and constructed by Multiplex in the heart of the city of London. The impressive development will transition from a parallelogram at its base to a rectangle at its top. British Steel is supplying WH UK with 3,500 tonnes of steel for this project.

The Scalpel is a 36-storey office building located on Lime Street in London. British Steel is supplying WH UK with 1,000 tonnes of steel for this project.

William Hare successfully completed the external audit to confirm that the company satisfies the requirements of BIM Level 2 to PAS 1192-2:2013. The company is the first steelwork contractor, and the first Tier 2 contractor in the supply chain, to gain certification.

David Hodgkiss OBE; WHG’s C.E.O. said; “We are committed to being a world leader in the use of BIM and using this approach to the maximum possible extent to ensure optimum project delivery for our clients.”

The certification comes in a long line of industry firsts for WHG, who were the first Steelwork Contractor to achieve CE Marking for both factory and site operations in the UK, the first to achieve CEMARS certification, ESOS certification and the only Steelwork Contractor to currently hold the BES6001 certification to the level of ‘Very Good’. The Group’s UAE fabrication facility is also believed to be the first to achieve CE Marking in the region.

David Lowry, Business Development Manager at Ocean Certification, commented: “William Hare is the first manufacturing organisation that has gained certification with us, so from our point of view they are definitely ahead of the game.”

The auditor, David Robinson from Ocean Certification Limited, has commented that “The staff interviewed showed an understanding of BIM in practice – it was clear that there was strong commitment to the principles of digital design and compliance with client information requirements”.

Using BIM, WHG are able to economically deliver schemes using lean fabrication and erection processes to achieve shorter lead times and the highest quality standards. As a Group we are committed to the use of BIM throughout all aspects of business operations and the supply chain.

Mr Osborne praised the company and added: “The economy is growing and the leaders of William Hare are telling me that they are now hiring more people and training more apprentices.”

The Wigan based structural steel fabrication facility, which produces up to 10,000 tonnes of fabricated steel a year, entered administration on 17th November 2014, jeopardising the jobs of some 60 highly skilled employees and apprentices.

The acquisition has safeguarded the future of the employees; many of whom are long serving and experienced in fabrication, plating and welding of structural steel. The new subsidiary company will continue to operate from Wigan.

Commenting on the acquisition, David Hodgkiss OBE said; “We are pleased to have safeguarded this quality workforce and look forward to using their capability to increase the Group’s capacity to meet growing UK demand. William Hare Group’s global presence continues to benefit from its investment in people, systems and capital, placing it on track to benefit from the UK market recovery.”