October 31, 2011
Harmonix awarded Royal Horseguards Hotel
We were awarded the 9th floor bedroom conversion at The Royal Horseguards Hotel this month. The bedroom conversion is from an existing office floor. The works comprise of alterations to existing layout including forming new walls, services, ceilings, finishes, fitting, furniture etc. Also included is the construction of a new link corridor including entire structures i.e. new walls, roof, floor structure, finishes, windows, doors and carpets.
Offering supreme luxury and panoramic views over the River Thames and the London Eye, The Royal Horseguards is a true London icon.
September 28, 2011
Harmonix awarded another project! Sheldon Square, Paddington.
Harmonix were awarded the refurbishment of the reception area and 7th floor at Sheldon Square in Paddington.
Paddington Central is a mixed used development and already well established in Central London. It is set around Sheldon Square which is host to Restaurants, Bars and premier businesses.
We look forward to working with CB Richard Ellis to create a fresh and modern working environment to befit with the surroundings of the Square.
September 19, 2011
Little Britain Challenge Cup 2011
Like every year Harmonix enter for the LBCC which takes place in Cowes on the Isle of Wight. This year we decided we needed a change and opted for a bigger boat in the form of Euphorix!
Boy did our team work hard this year, all my Elvis’s did me so proud! I wont let you know the results, just that it’s the taking part that counts!
We hope to come back with a vengeance next year and are recruiting now, if you think you can take on the challenge please get in contact!
August 15, 2011
Harmonix awarded Lensbury Hotel, Teddington
The Lensbury Club and Hotel nestles on the banks of the River Thames in Teddington Surrey, offering its members all manner of leisure activities ranging from tennis and golf, to spa and beauty and sailing on the Thames itself.
Harmonix Construction have been appointed to convert the clubs East wing from staff offices and banqueting rooms in to 24 bedroom suits finished to a superior standard, offering air conditioned rooms with contemporary décor.
The project is programmed to be completed within 14 weeks, with the Hotel opening its doors to the wing in early November 2011.
August 08, 2011
Harmonix awarded London Marathon Playing Fields
Harmonix were awarded the redevelopment of the ground and first floors at The London Marathon Playing Fields in Greenford.
The project is a complete strip out and refurbishment of the existing building to create new changing areas, shower rooms, a club room and bar area to facilitate West London Rugby Club and Sport England.
We started on site at the beginning of August and will be completing in January 2012.
July 04, 2011
Fore!!!
We held our Stephen Hawkes Memorial Golf Day at the Mannings Heath Golf Club in West Sussex on Friday 1st July. Like many years, we had great weather and even better company!
The day started off with breakfast at The South Lodge Hotel for an introduction to the VPAR scoring system. Results can be found on
The Par 72 Waterfall Course presents an immaculate test to every level of golfer, which complimented our Golf Day perfectly. There were a number of challenging holes, including an exceptional set of par threes; the 5th, with its elevated tee way above the bowl-shaped green; the 10th, also elevated and aptly names ’The Waterfall’ (chosen as our Nearest the Pin and won by our very own Troy Hunter) and the 14th, with the tees nestled into the wood and a green way below that hides many a danger.
There were no fewer than 11 holes where water came into play, but the beauty of the matured woodland and undulating terrain soon made you forget about that lost ball!
The Waterfall Course at Mannings Heath will undoubtedly go down as one of the finest we’ve played on our Golf Day and is a good contender for a return visit, if not next year, soon thereafter.
As our teams came off the 18th hole they were greated with a drink to enjoy the last of the afternoon sun and then it was back to The South Lodge Hotel for a quick change before a wondeful 3 course dinner. Everything there after is a blur!
Congratulations to Andy Stone of MMP who was our overal winner and we hope you enjoy your prize!
Thank you to everyone that attended and thank you to the amazing team at Exclusive Golf for making the day perfect with their personal touch!
April 28, 2011
Tribute to Paul Morris
It is with deepest regret that we announce the passing of Paul Morris.
Paul was a popular and valued member of the Harmonix team for the past 8 years. All those that have been involved with Harmonix projects during that period will no doubt have their own memories of Paul, as he was an integral part of day to day “on site” life.
Paul will be sadly missed and fondly remembered.
April 18, 2011
Harmonix Eastern have won a Considerate Constructors Scheme Award!
Harmonix were invited to attend the Considerate Constructors Scheme’s 2011 National Site Awards on 14th April.
We were selected from 8500 eligible sites to win a Bronze Award for our Skyline 120, NX4 Site.
The Award is given to the highest scoring of sites that are recognised for excellent standards of consideration towards their workforce, their neighbours and the environment.
We feel priveleged to have been recognised and awarded for one of our projects and strive to continue with the same standards.
February 09, 2011
Harmonix complete £2m West End apartments
The old vacant office space in this building on Great Marlborough Street has now been transformed into 10 stunning apartments.
The works consisted of the conversion and extension of the five upper floors including a new mansard roof. Harmonix completely rebuilt the rear parapet walls and flats roofs, and formed the new carcass mansard roof.
The elevations were chemically cleaned to restore the building to it’s orginal colours, whilst a vast majority of the existing brickwork was re-pointed. Further works included new cast iron rain water pipes throughout, minor masonry decoation and the installation of new handmade sash windows.
Harmonix installed new partitions and ceilings throughout, all incorparating various services. Anabundance of joinery floods the apartments with Kahrs wooden flooring, doors, architraves and skirting. The kitchens are beposke and were design purposely for this project.
These 10 apartments are fresh and modern but befitting with the settings of the West End.
January 24, 2011
Harmonix Eastern Expanding!
Harmonix Eastern was established in March 2009 and has been doing well ever since.
We want to strengthen our presence in the Essex, Hertfordshire and South Cambridgeshire region; we are currently working in Basildon, Braintree and Highgate on interesting and challenging projects for new and repeat business clients.
Please do not hesitate to contact us about Harmonix Eastern!
Giles Langan
Eastern Director
“Harmonix Eastern is a local business, with local people, best placed to bring our core business strengths to the Herts, Essex and surrounding areas”
January 10, 2011
Happy New Year!
Harmonix would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!
Back to work and back to business! We are really looking forward to this year and would love to hear from you so please do not hesitate to contact our head office on 020 7636 4927. A member of our team will always be happy to talk to you what ever the enquiry!
November 23, 2010
We are transforming our Sub-Contractor database so make sure your on the list!
We are currently in the process of completely overhauling our Sub-Contractor database. If you are a Sub-Contractor and would like to be included on our database, please can you email Hannah to request a questionnaire.
"I am always happy to hear from our current Sub-Contractor’s or new contacts, so please get in touch."
November 05, 2010
Harmonix complete New Bond Street and awarded more!
We have now fully completed the full refurbishment of two floors of prime office space in the heart of London’s premier street, ahead of programme.
These offices have been transformed into bright, open spaces and the floors were finished to a high standard.
Having delivered this project to such a high standard, which was reiterated by our Client, we were awarded the refurbishment of the common parts within the building.
The works included, complete decoration of the 6 floors of the main staircase, all landings and the lobby which serves each floor.
In addition, the main entrance lobby was fully refurbished to create a more contemporary welcoming environment to compliment the standard of the new office floors.
These works were completed in 3 weeks, whislt the building was occupied.
October 29, 2010
Harmonix Eastern awarded two new projects!
Highgate, North London
The Highgate project is a contemporary extension to a rustic dwelling, complex in nature by the enclosed access to the rear garden for the construction of an RC basement burrowing under the occupied premises to create as much basement space as possible and then cladding the new basement and ground elevations in glass allowing a beautiful view over Fitzroy Park.
The contemporary architecture extends internally with clean lines, glass partitions and concealed hi-fi, wi-fi and heating.
The project contract value is £290k and programmed completion is in April 2011.
Gardner Aerospace, Basildon
As a part of Gardner’s aeroplane and helicopter part manufacturing expansion programme, Harmonix Eastern is helping fit out the Basildon plant.
This project is phased, very quick and in a fully occupied, busy and controlled environment.
Over the four phases we are constructing nine small towercrane bases, machine bases, a cladded extension, bunded external pits and security fencing and gates.
October 25, 2010
Welcome to the team!
Harmonix would like to welcome Gearoid Keane to the Harmonix team.
He will be based in our head office so do not hesitate to contact him should you have any enquiries regarding new or current projects.
Gearoid Keane
Assistant Quantity Surveyor
September 30, 2010
Harmonix Eastern complete Office and Warehouse development at NX4 in Braintree
This new build office and warehouse facility, NX4, forms part of the Nexus development at the Skyline 120 business park located to the south of Braintree. The £2.8m project was designed by Paul Johnson Architects and Tweeds were acting as the employer’s agent and quantity surveyor.
The works comprise the design and construction of a large warehouse building totalling 67,270 sq ft gross internal areas, the design and installation of 6,000 pallet storage spaces and narrow aisle racking system. The internal fit out included the construction of high specification air conditioned office, conference and canteen facilities. The design and installation of CCTV, Fire and Intruder alarm systems. The external site works include car and bicycle parking, service areas, service yards, landscaping, external refuse storage areas and associated services and drainage. With the addition of estate access road to allow for future development.
Lime stabilisation was used during the foundation stages as a greener alternative to quarried material. This helped in our BREAAM status in combination with responsible sourcing of sustainable materials.
This project has been our fourth office/warehouse facility on the business park constructed for our client Countryside Properties. The project strengthens Harmonix Eastern’s presence in the Essex, Hertfordshire and South Cambridgeshire area. NX4 was completed this Autumn, 4 weeks ahead of programme.
September 20, 2010
Ahoy there shipmates!
We look forward to the sailing weekend every year and with a fantastic crew and great weather, The Little Britain Challenge Cup did not disappoint in 2010!
We were most successful in our third race on Friday, coming 4th in our class. Although we didn’t come back with any silverware this year, it’s the taking part that count’s! (That’s what we keep telling ourselves).
"I was most impressed by Hank’s pro active kite flying and Giles’ very persuasive guidance in the cockpit - needless to say the sensitive weight distribution by Matt, Darren and Roger were second to none!" - Stephen Atkinson, Director of Aukett Fitzroy Robinson
As always, the evening entertainment was spectacular with a ’Greek’ night on Friday and performances from the famous father and son act, Stavros Flatley.
Harmonix are preparing for a comeback victory in 2011!
September 13, 2010
Harmonix complete MacDonald Hotel in Windsor
Harmonix have completed the 126 bedroom hotel and associated corridors for MacDonald Hotels Ltd in Windsor. The value of the project was £2.3m and was delivered in 18 weeks.
Already having hotel experience, Harmonix relished taking part on this project.
The shell was made up of a listed building and a new extension. The existing building has listed beams and staircases which were carefully restored. The executive suites had a particularly high specification and upon commencing we quickly ascertained that there would need to be further consideration to achieve the outline design requirement of the client. Our management quickly pulled the team together to resolve the issues, working hand in hand with the Architect and Services Contractor to minimise any possible delays.
We had a number of late instructions from the client which included the formation of staff areas within the basement, secondary glazing to the existing front of the building and the restoration of these windows are to name a few but we successfully managed and brought the client value in adding these areas on brief and within budget.
This challenging project was delivered to the highest standards within a tight timescale.
September 10, 2010
Harmonix awarded refurbishment in New Bond Street
Harmonix have been awarded the contract to refurbish two floors of prime office space in London’s highly desirable New Bond Street. The design brief is to transform two tired and dilapidated office floors into clean, open and bright space befitting the glamour of the surroundings.
The scope of works will include returning both spaces back to open plan, the installation of a new air conditioning system and lighting scheme. Finishes will be fresh and simple to create contemporary, light work spaces.
September 09, 2010
Mansard roof completed on Great Marlborough Street adding on an extra floor!
The original pitched roof at Great Marlborough Street was removed to incorporate an additional floor with a mansard roof.
The vertical slope of this welsh slate roof, with its numerous dormer windows has created additional habitable space, an important client request, given the valuable location of this building. To safely facilitate these works the chimney stack running up the centre of the building was taken down approximately 3 meters from their highest point and later rebuilt in accordance with its original design, involving several courses of special architectural bricks.
Efforts were made to salvage the original welsh slates, however, owing to their poor condition it was deemed to be better to instead replace these slates with new ones. The edges of this roof as well as the parapet have been finished with decorative leadwork which has also been utilised around the dormer windows.
At the top of the mansard roof is a flat asphalt section where the solar heating panels are positioned as well as a mansafe system to facilitate safe access.
March 16, 2010
Harmonix Eastern Awarded Office and Warehouse at NX4, Skyline 120, Braintree
Harmonix Eastern Ltd, a subsidiary of Harmonix Construction Ltd announces today the award of a new build office and warehouse facility. The NX4 building forms part of the Nexus development at the Skyline 120 business park located to the South of Braintree. This project will be our fourth office/warehouse facility on the business park constructed for the client Countryside Properties. The project award strengthens Harmonix Eastern’s presence in the Essex, Hertfordshire and South Cambridgeshire area.
The £2.5m project was designed by Paul Johnson Architects and Tweeds are acting as the employer’s agent and quantity surveyor.
The works comprise the design and construction of a large warehouse building totalling 67,270 sq ft and gross internal areas, including ancillary internal partitioned space. External site works include car and bicycle parking, service access, service yards, landscaping, external refuse storage areas and associated services and drainage. The project is due to be completed in October of this year.
NX4 will be built on a clay greenfield site where lime stabilisation will be used during the foundation stage as a greener alternative to quarried material.
March 01, 2010
Harmonix fit out 127 bedrooms for new Macdonald Hotel in Windsor
Work has begun on a contract to fit out 126 bedrooms and associated corridors for Macdonald Hotels Ltd at their new 4* hotel in Windsor. The £2.3m contract is to be delivered to an 18 week programme.
Harmonix’ appointment on this project builds on previous hotel experience in the area, having completed the construction and fit-out of a new hotel for Bicester Golf and Country Club in Oxfordshire.
Commenting on the contract award today, Harmonix Director, John Farragher, said: ‘We are delighted to have been selected to help deliver this contract for Macdonald Hotels and look forward to strengthening the Macdonald Hotels’ portfolio with the opening of their new Windsor hotel.’
January 07, 2010
Harmonix awarded £2m Residential Project for Shaftesbury Carnaby Ltd
Harmonix has been awarded a £2m contract to renovate 10,800ft2 of vacant space at 37-39 Great Marlborough Street for Shaftesbury Carnaby Ltd.
The works consist of the conversion and extension of the five upper floors of an existing six storey mixed-use building into 10 apartments including the repair and recovering of a low level flat roof on an adjacent building.Further work is required to the ground floor entrance corridor, the basement stairs and basement stair lobby. The site is extremely confined and located just south of Oxford Circus. A coffee shop and pub on the ground floor will remain open during the works.
The 10 apartments were designed by Colwyn Foulkes, who have worked with Harmonix on a number of projects in the past.
Commenting on the contract award today, Harmonix Director, John Farragher, said:
‘We are delighted to have been selected to help deliver this contract, and look forward to working with the client Shaftesbury Carnaby Ltd as well as project managers, Single Point Project Management and quantity surveyors, Michael Edwards & Associates (MEA), for the first time.The challenges presented by this project involve providing a temporary roof, removing the existing roof and then constructing a new floor to provide further accommodation whilst working on an extremely tight site within the heart of London’s West End.’
December 18, 2009
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all at Harmonix
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all at Harmonix. We hope you received our Christmas eCard, if not please sign up to our eNewsletter on the link at the bottom right of this page.
Stan Ainslie one of our Construction Managers had his 5 minutes of fame on this programme shown on BBC1 on 8th December 2009. He bought a Hertfordshire house in an auction in June of this year for £231,000 which was only 12 years old but had been badly neglected and was very smelly! He redecorated, and replaced the carpets and bathroom fittings and then the house was revalued. You’ll have to watch the show to find out if he made a profit!
October 29, 2009
Works Complete at Access Self Storage, Wandsworth
Works are now complete at a mixed use scheme for Access Self Storage in Wandsworth. The work comprised the design and build of a new office and self-storage facility on a brownfield site. Once the basement shell was completed by the groundworks contractor, Harmonix constructed two upper levels of mixed use areas with serviced offices, showrooms and training facilities. Then fitting out of the basement levels began. An overlap of 7 to 8 weeks between the basement shell works and the rest of the construction was suggested by Harmonix in order to reduce programme. This facility is the largest underground self storage facility in the UK with three basement levels.
As with most Access Self Storage projects the site is located in a residential area and between two busy roads. The local council required the pavement that had been closed off outside the site to be re-opened for the Wimbledon Tennis Championships.
The Project Manager, Graham Thompson sent letters to local residents to introduce the company and provided a contact number for residents who had concerns during the construction period. Harmonix also liaised closely with the Environmental health department.
Daily meetings took place between the groundworks contractor and Harmonix to ensure that close communication between the contractors was maintained during the handover period.
A phased handover was arranged with Access Storage in order that some of the completed bins could be handed over earlier.
Harmonix is considered to be the Market Leader in the UK for fitting out storage facilities and the team was able to bring their extensive experience to the Wandsworth project.
September 21, 2009
Little Britain 2009 : Less Starboard - More Port
Harmonix took to the seas for the 8th year running in September in an attempt to hold on to the title of winner of the J109 class. We achieved third place which is still a commendable achievement. (We kept quiet about the fact there was only 6 boats in our class this year!)
Little Britain was my first time sailing in a race and any pre-conceptions I’d had of relaxing on deck cocktail in hand vanished as soon as we left port for our first race on the Thursday afternoon.
The sea was blue, the sky was blue and the air was certainly turned blue once we attempted to put the spinnaker up! I was tasked with writing down the course as it was announced over the radio which was a challenge in itself when the boat was tipping at an 80° angle.
With Nick Foulkes of Colwyn Foulkes as helmsman and Giles Holder of Laxton Properties getting soaked on the foredeck that left Giles and Troy on the ropes while the rest of us had the most crucial job of weighting the boat.
After an afternoon of sailing it was swiftly onto the ale – ing part of the weekend. Ron Coll from Tweeds and Graeme Hodgkinson from Cushman and Wakefield joined us for the next two days of sailing.
On Saturday’s gala dinner, John Farragher and our guest Nick Mayger of Peter Lawrence Stallworthy won a skydive with the red arrows, after winning the bids in the silent auction. We are all looking forward to watching them both jump out of a plane at 13,000ft next May!
We were pleased to collect our third place trophy and will be at Little Britain 2010 to reclaim our rightful position as winners.
2009 is a significant year for Harmonix. We are proud to say that we’ve been in business for ten years. Ten happy years of controlled growth and contented clients.
In 1999 Harmonix Construction came into being, set up by three directors who have worked extensively for major contractors. From its inception Harmonix broke the mould with a flat, management structure and open lines of communication. ’We wanted to be different!’ We were tired of the way the industry was perceived by many of our clients. Large contractors had lost their way, becoming adversarial and confrontational. We called ourselves Harmnonix to emphasise our desire to work in harmony with all members of the project team.
So who’s going to buy us a drink?
July 21, 2009
Right on Time Again
Three more satisfied customers, one new and two repeat business opportunities converted into successfully completed projects. Many thanks to both the Consultants and Construction teams involved in these buildings.
- Access Self Storage Wandsworth Phase 1 – June 09
- 37-39 Lime St, Bank – July 09
- Access Self Storage Stevenage – May 09
July 07, 2009
Harmonix Supports 'Get Britain Building'
Harmonix fully supports the ‘Get Britain Building’ Campaign. Go to http://www.getbritainbuilding.org/ to join the campaign.
Hot off the press this is the official response from the government from the petition asking:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to get Britain Building.”
“The Government is acutely aware that economic conditions are difficult at the moment and that the construction industry is finding this particularly challenging on a number of different fronts, and is doing all it can to create the conditions in which the UK construction industry can flourish and succeed.
The Government is aware of the proposals put forward under the “Get Britain Building” campaign. Ministers have frequent contact with the industry, largely through the Strategic Forum for Construction and the CBI Construction Council, which enables constructive strategic dialogue to take place on the issues which need to be addressed.
On 2 September the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) announced a package of measures to stimulate the housing market including, among other things:
an offer to housebuilders to buy up new properties that they are finding hard to sell;
CLG has also looked at investment in social housing and regeneration programmes – to support those projects which may be at risk. CLG has brought forward £400 million to invest in new social housing over the next two years; and
the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that, for a one year period, stamp duty land tax will not apply to purchases of residential property of £175,000 or less and this was extended in the Budget to the end of 2009.
More information on the packages can be found on the Communities and Local Government website at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/950558 .
On construction projects generally, in the Pre-Budget Report of November 2008, the Government announced that it would be bringing forward £3 billion of public expenditure to be spent on motorways, schools, GPs’ surgeries, flood defences, and improving the energy efficiency of the existing housing stock. In addition, the Government recently announced a scheme to help PFI projects, already in the pipeline but encountering difficulty obtaining finance, to access appropriate finance. This will ensure that £13 billion of public investment infrastructure projects will be protected.
The April 2009 budget itself also included nearly £600 million to help housing with the addition of up to 10,000 new homes. Of this, £400m has been allocated to assist stalled housing developments and development finance through reducing up-front costs; £100m to local authorities for energy efficient housing; and £80m for the HomeBuy Direct mortgage equity scheme. In addition, £50 million has been allocated for armed forces accommodation.
On the Olympics, The Olympic Delivery Authority, a non-departmental public body, are bound by EU public procurement rules which require that Olympic contracts are open to all suppliers irrespective of country of origin. That said 98 % of the 800 + companies that have won £3.5 billion worth of work directly supplying the ODA are based in the UK.”
June 29, 2009
Harmonix Construction Unveils New Brand Identity
Harmonix has launched a new corporate identity to reflect the company’s evolution and to bring a visual unity to branding across all parts of the business.
John Farragher, Harmonix’ Director says: ‘Harmonix Construction has grown over the last 10 years. It is therefore fitting that our market-leading reputation for hassle-free contracting, innovation and success is reflected in a new corporate logo that represents the company’s progress and even in these bleak economic times, confidence in our future’
As well as a new logo we have also launched our ‘less is more’ philosophy which really sums up Harmonix’ approach to business. We have put these straplines on everything from our business cards to our hard hats. A taster of our straplines follows, but there are many more:
Less opaque – More transparent
Less maybe – More definitely
Less hassle – More harmony
Less shirking – More working
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