Belfast City Airport Proposed Runway Extension

Belfast City Airport Proposed Runway Extension Client: Belfast City Airport & Strategic Planning Corvus Consulting carried out Ecological Impact Assessment of Belfast City Airport's Proposed 590m runway extension.   Located adjacent to Belfast Lough SPA, extensive bird surveys and a range of ecological impact assessments were carried out by Corvus personnel.   The current length of the runway restricts the amount of fuel and number of passengers permitted to be carried by some aircraft. The result is that the airlines can only fly from short-haul destinations mainly within the UK at less than full passenger capacity.   An extended runway will facilitate flights to a wider range of European destinations.

Knockroon Scottish Sustainable Communities Initiative: Exemplar Development

Knockroon Exemplar Sustainable Community Initiative Client: The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment Corvus carried out EcIA & Mitigation design for the Knockroon New Neighbourhood on behalf of the Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment. Selected as an exemplar project by Government's Scottish Sustainable Communities Initiative, Knockroon will be more than a housing estate. It will be a neighbourhood: a neighbourhood incorporating homes, shops to serve local and daily needs and workplaces for people wishing to start small businesses. The new community will be built as a walkable neighbourhood with a mix of types and sizes of housing. It will include sustainable urban drainage, renewable energy, local food strategies, building and heritage skills training and education, natural landscaping using native plants and architecture and urban spaces derived from a study of towns throughout Ayrshire.

Ballyclare Western Relief Road & Ecological Masterplanning

Ballyclare Western Relief Road & Sustainability Masterplanning Client: KPL & Turley Associates Corvus Consulting carried out EcIA, Appropriate Assessment and mitigation design for the proposed Ballyclare Western Relief Road and assisted with spataial and sustainability masterplanning for the associated urban extension.   For the first time in Northern Ireland, a major infrastructure project and associated urban extension will be designed with ecological sustainability at the heart of the design ethos. The ambitious £400 million project will see the construction of a by-pass road to the west of the town, and more than 2,000 new homes built in the area over the next 15 to 20 years. South Antrim MP William McCrea, local MLAs and councillors attended the launch event at the council's civic headquarters. The scheme, which has already been submitted to Planning Service, will include the construction of a relief road running from the A57 Templepatrick Road to the Rashee Road.

DBFO1 Environmental Management

DBFO1 Environmental Management: M1/M2/M3/M5   Client: Highway Maintenance Management JV   Corvus are retained as Environmental monitoring and management consultants to the DBFO1 network in Northern Ireland. Comprising 75km of the most trafficked motorways in the area, bespoke environmental management GIS tools and databases have been designed and implemented.   The practice has worked with HMM to develop and launched a GIS system designed to improve environmental management and communications between all team members involved in the M1/M2/M3/M5 motorways. Designed to be straightforward to use, the system provides for the simple dissemination and integration of environmental information of importance to network designers.

Lough Erne Golf Resort

Lough Erne Golf Resort   Client: Lough Erne Golf Resort     Corvus were engaged to carry out detailed protected species surveys, EcIA,mitigation design and protected species relocations during the planning and construction of  the prestigious Lough Erne Golf Resort and 5 Star Hotel. Located next to the ecologically sensitive Lough Erne complex, ecological and habitat management plans were negotiated with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and artificial otter holts, badger setts and bat hibernaculae constructed.   Since opening in 2008, the Nick Faldo designed Lough Erne Resort has quickly become the premier golfing destination in the North of Ireland.

Comber Community Greenway

Comber Community Greenway   Client: Sustrans   Corvus provided a range of ecological and environmental services to the Comber Community Greenway Project. Covering a 7 mile route through ecologically sensitive terrestrial and riverine habitats, a sensitive approach to route selection and environmental protection was required. Corvus carried out detailed survey works for bats, badgers, otters and birds, and provided licensed relocation works and mitigation design as required. In order to ensure that no environmental damage arose from the proposal, Corvus liaised closely with the appointed contractor to develop appropriate construction management plans, method statements and appropriate environmental protection measures.   Works carried out by Corvus were recognised in 2009 when the project was awarded first prize in the Mobility Category of the IV European Greenways Awards organised by the European Greenways Association. The award aims to promote the best of Europe’s routes that are designed to take non-motorised traffic, otherwise known as ‘greenways’. The Comber Greenway was selected from 21 nominations from 10 countries. The judges particularly praised the quality of the route, the environmental protection measures applied during construction, and the links that were made with local communities.

Hilden Mill Redevelopment

Hilden Mill Redevelopment   Client: Galliard/Turley Associates   The NI Environment Minister Edwin Poots has given planning approval for 600 homes to be created at the former Barbour thread factory near Lisburn. The project will involve converting the listed parts of the factory in Hilden and demolishing other buildings. Corvus provided EcIA, protected species surveys, invasive species survey and eradication services and mitigation design to the project. As well as apartments the scheme is due to include offices, light industrial units and a museum. The development is ultimately owned by Galliard Homes, an Essex-based property developer. Mr Poots said the £100m scheme will help generate jobs as well as improving public amenities along the River Lagan. Clyde Shanks, of Turley Associates (lead planning consultants for the project), said his clients were delighted that the scheme had been given the go-ahead. "The development will put vitality back into the area and provide an excellent modern living and working environment that will reflect the historical importance of the site yet inject an exciting new future" he added.

Sirocco Quays

Sirocco Quays Mixed Use Development   Client: Carvill Group   Corvus provided EcIA, Appropriate Assessment and mitigation design services to the £600m Sirocco Quays redevelopment in Belfast. The ambitious, 16-acre waterfront scheme by award-winning developers The Carvill Group is to transform a rundown factory site into a "unique riverside community" in the east of the city. The scheme will eventually include a hotel, childcare facilities, a care home for the elderly, a supermarket and doctors' surgery all on-site. Sirocco Quays has impressive 'green' credentials, too, with waste management systems which will encourage recycling, ecological enhancements for birds and other wildlife, the use of renewable technologies and a subsidised car club for residents. In addition, the development was planned around open spaces, one of which will be a public park within the city centre - second only in size to the grounds of the City Hall. The historic Sirocco site is the last in the city centre with river frontage and completes the Laganside project - one of the most prestigious in Europe.

South Western Acute Hospital

South Western Acute Hospital   Client: FCC/Interserve & Strategic Planning   Corvus were selected by FCC/Interserve PLC/Cyril Sweett PLC to provide ecological surveys, impact assessments and mitigation design services for their £290m South Western Hospital PFI Bid. Assessing the proposed ecological impact of the proposed hospital was carried out in tandem with the provision of design advice aimed at enabling the requirements of the client to be met within an overall key design requirement of significantly increasing biodiversity on site while attaining a high BREEAM rating.   Surveys indicated that ecological interest on site was lower than would ordinarily be expected for the site. The problems giving rise to this situation were identified by Corvus and addressed by planning mitigation within the operational framework required of a major regional hospital. The design put forward by the team was selected as the best option in open competition and the project awarded to FCC/Interserve PLC/Cyril Sweett PLC in September 2008. The design was praised by planners for effective integration of planning, operational and sustainability issues.

Titanic Signature Project

Titanic Signature Project Ecological Sustainability Assessment   Client: Harcourt Construction     Corvus are providing ecological sustainability assessment and advice to the iconic Titanic Signature Project.        In an area steeped in history, the signature Project forms a central part of the development of Titanic Quarter. The state-of-the-art building, designed by leading international architects and designers will include a ‘Titanic Experience' exhibition, a ‘Flying Theatre' which allows visitors a birds eye view across Northern Ireland, a Titanic-themed banqueting suite and a community arts facility for local exhibitions, performances and conferences. The project will also include the restoration of the Titanic and Olympic slipways, the Thompson Dock and Harland and Wolff's former Headquarters building. The Titanic Signature Project will bring alive the area's history, and will attract visitors from across the world. Belfast Harbour Commissioners and the Northern Ireland Executive have committed £65m to create the £90m landmark Titanic Signature building at the head of the Titanic's slipway. It is anticipated that construction on this iconic £90m project has commenced in early 2009 and is expected to be completed by the first quarter in 2012 in time for RMS Titanic's centenary.