News

The NHS Forest is an initiative coordinated by the charity, the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare. Established in 2009, the initiative aims to:
• improve the health and wellbeing of staff, patients and local communities through increasing access to green space on or near to NHS land
• spark projects that bring together professionals and volunteers to use new and existing woodland for art, food crops, reflective or exercise spaces and to encourage biodiversity
• highlight innovative ideas to encourage the use of green space for therapeutic purposes, including social prescribing.

In 2022, DSSR supported the NHS Forest by sponsoring 500 trees. The whole team is grateful for this contribution, and the trees were planted at Milnrow and Newhay Medical Centre in Rochdale. This new site has been designed to the highest environmental standards and the local community enjoyed a planting day for the NHS Forest trees despite rainy weather. Pupils from three schools were involved in planting an orchard, hedgerows and woodland.

The trees provided by the NHS Forest sponsorship scheme are whips – small specimens of one to two years of age, typically up to 80cm tall, depending on species. All trees are native British broadleaves, which enhance biodiversity and local wildlife. Recent plantings have included silver birch, hornbeam, hazel, beech, ash, wild cherry, English oak, whitebeam, rowan (mountain ash), and lime trees, all sourced from reputable wholesalers. The cost per tree includes coordinating the supply, delivery, planting, and where appropriate a biodegradable tree guard and stake.

The mix of species frequently included in planting schemes is influenced by local biological factors and local choice. The planting specification also varies between sites; larger scale woodland creation initiatives tend to favour a more intense coverage of smaller trees, while smaller schemes will use fewer, larger specimens. Trees are typically planted bare-rooted, which requires them to be planted between October and March when the trees are dormant and there is less risk of the roots drying out. This gives the trees the best chance of establishing and thriving.

This project is funded by the Trees Call to Action Fund. The fund was developed by Defra in partnership with the Forestry Commission and is being delivered by the Heritage Fund.

DSSR Building Consultants are dedicated to promoting, improving and supporting the mental health of our staff. In conjunction with this commitment to our colleagues, we are delighted to be able to help and support our local charities and community.

In light of this, our DSSR Harrogate office is in the fortunate position to be able to donate £600 to ‘Mind in Harrogate District’, an independent charity founded in 1973, run by local people for local people, affiliated with National Mind and the Mind federation.

Even though 1 in 4 people have mental health problems, most of us don’t get the help we need. ‘Mind in Harrogate District’ offers a number of support services to anyone struggling with their mental health.

Courtesy of Goodson Associates, we can now show the completed de-kit facility we helped to design for Co-operative.

DSSR provided performance duties including establishing concept design, utility applications and planning stage building performance modelling to meet the energy legislative requirements for the COOP new Build De-Kit facility at Newhouse.

The new industrial facility looks immaculate and we are very proud to have been part of the design team.

Click on the button below to read the full case study.

The DSSR team in Glasgow was recently treated to ten-pin bowling!

What followed was a surprising amount of strikes, a respectable amount of spares, and not as many gutterballs as there should have been with the free drinks promotion.

Thank you to the team at Bowlarama for a fantastic event, and the DSSR social committee for organising yet another excellent team building session.

Congratulations to the team winners of Stuart and Paul!

DSSR is pleased to see the application was submitted and validated for a 420,000 sq ft unit at Omega West.

This is the final phase of the 2.2m sq ft scheme, with DSSR acting as building services consultant, following the grant of planning permission by the SoS in November 2021.

DSSR is excited to see the 4th building at the Omega West Development reach this key stage. With a BREEAM Excellent Certification and EPC A rating being key targets that DSSR are helping to deliver, this is expected to be another high-quality development demonstrating best sustainability practice.

– Fiona Williamson, DSSR Regional Director

Please join us in congratulating DSSR Associate, Tony Williamson, who after a 40-year career (including 16 years with DSSR), has officially hung up his Ductulator and decided to enjoy early retirement.

Tony is greatly loved across DSSR for his warmth, humour, and endearing personality—to say nothing of his wide breadth of engineering knowledge, attention to detail and preparedness, and the outstanding organisational skills he demonstrated across the unbelievable range of projects he has been involved in across the world.

Everyone at DSSR wishes him an excellent and well-deserved retirement.

Recently, Kirsten and Bill visited a local charity, Possobilities with a view to helping them out with some sponsorship.

Over the last 33 years, Possobilities has developed into one of the most respected voluntary organisations in Glasgow. They have a proven track record of offering support and respite to disabled and vulnerable people in our community.

Possobilities give members with disabilities access to the resources they require and support them to grow, learn and develop so that they can achieve their goals within society rather than feel isolated in their own homes. Their purpose-built centre at Possobilities gives their members confidence to grow in a safe environment at their own pace while also encouraging them to try new things.

When we visited, they were contemplating whether or not they could afford Easter, so staff in Glasgow had a whip-round and delivered over 100 eggs in time to brighten up their easter.

We will be doing more with this excellent charity; they are clearly operating at the margins where small donations can make a big difference. We’ll keep you in touch with our plans as they develop.

DSSR Harrogate office was given the opportunity to provide consultation and design services to replace the Cathedral’s existing fire alarm system; a complex project with a key focus of maintaining the aesthetic heritage of this beautiful, historic building.

The existing fire alarm system had significantly exceeded its expected lifespan and needed replacing to ensure that a building of this historical importance and stature was protected from fire.

For this project, a combination of point detectors were used in key areas; the library and in each tower, while infrared beam detectors were used to cover the larger space within the main Cathedral Hall. To maintain the appearance of the building, fire alarm devices were installed in discreet locations and colour matched to their background to ensure they were as unobtrusive as possible.

Working closely with the client was crucial in this complex project in order to reassure all parties concerned that wireless fire detection technology was suitable and reliable and was therefore a robust and fail-safe system to install.

Once the installation of the system was complete, a smoke and incense test was undertaken with the client and fire brigade. This was to ensure that false alarms would be avoided by the normal functions of the building, and that early detection would be achieved.

This is an exciting role, within a successful and long-established company, which offers creative freedom, a varied workload, and a supportive environment in which to develop your abilities.

• Depending on the candidate’s preference, this can be a Full or Part-time role (minimum 22.5 hours per week)
• Based in Manchester Office, Trafford House, Chester Road, Stretford, M32 0RS
• Relevant experience in a similar role and an understanding of engineering/building services is preferred, however previous experience is not essential nor a barrier to being successful in this position.
• All applicants will be considered without bias, and all necessary training will be provided to the successful candidate.