BakerHicks have opened a new office in York offering rail expertise including overhead line design. Portfolio Manager, Tim Moss, explains more:
“In the next five years BakerHicks will be at the forefront of organisations’ minds when they talk about a rail scheme that’s a little more complex than your average one.”
That is the message from Tim Moss, the portfolio manager at the design, engineering and project delivery company which specialises in complex infrastructure, process and built environments across the full project life cycle.
“Our extensive, multi-disciplinary experience in rail covers all aspects of the railway system including stations, depots, and safety critical operational lineside infrastructure itself including track, electrification, plant and equipment, structures and earthworks,” said Tim. “Safety and assurance are key to what we do, and we’re certified by RISQS and fully conversant with Network Rail and industry standards and processes.”
It is with good reason that Tim is confident of the impact BakerHicks can have on the rail industry with vast experience in station environment projects, a successful electrification overhead line team in Derby, and now a new specialist office in York ready to deliver dedicated rail designs for the leading companies and industry bodies.
“The office offers expertise in overhead line design and alongside electrification schemes, we are also targeting power industry projects,” added Tim. “The York office enables us to reach a new and different audience with the immediate future centred around Control Period 7 and being able to deliver in the Eastern region.
“Although we continue to expand, one thing that won’t change is the personalised touch and the fact we genuinely care about every project that we work on, with an enthusiasm and ambition to keep getting better in the rail industry.”
The company already has a fantastic platform in the industry, with among its recent success providing design services for London Underground’s train modification unit in Acton.
The team is particularly proud of its role as the main designer for the Whitechapel Station which is part of the Elizabeth Line, taking the repair and overhaul of the original Victorian façade and construction of a modern ticket hall and concourse from RIBA Stage Three to deliver the new design concept for the station through to completion.
A planted rooftop to offset some of the carbon emissions produced, an innovative underground staircase pressurisation system, achieved through extensive energy assessments and thermal analysis, are among just a few of the features that has contributed to the scheme being such as success.
“The key to us doing design better is by thinking of the end of what we’re building, how we’re building it and not just repeating the same thing time and time again,” said Tim, who has worked in the rail industry for 30 years, as well as being involved in several high-profile projects including the London 2012 Games.
“Joining BakerHicks was an opportunity to play a part in an organisation that is driving better, safer designs in the rail industry, and guiding clients through the best solutions driven by extensive knowledge, passion, and the confidence to do things a little bit differently.”
At the heart of this is its sustainability commitments. By 2030 the company has targeted being net zero carbon, working with clients to deliver only operational net zero carbon new builds, and reducing embodied carbon intensity of all new buildings and major retrofits by 50 per cent.
“Recycling materials in rail designs is vital in keeping projects as sustainable as possible,” said Tim. “The mindset has to be that materials should be recycled and if that can’t be done it should be new. Too often it is the other way around, even though rail and switches can quite easily be recycled particularly in a depot environment.
“I’d also like to see more off site fabrication and modular builds, so the quality is controlled somewhere else and brought in, ideally by rail. We are beating the drum early doors in design and that is where our mindset needs to be, setting the strategy forward which brings with it a cost saving and a huge benefit when it comes to sustainability.”
