Everyone at Apollo would like to send all colleagues and clients Season”s Greetings for a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year in 2012.

Apollo will be making a donation to their chosen charity, the East Anglian Air Ambulance Service, instead of sending Christmas cards this year.  The 365 day-a-year life saving service is continuing to expand its services to provide the highest standard of emergency medical care to patients all over the East of England.

To make a donation visit www.eastanglianairambulance.org.uk.

Apollo Capital Projects were especially proud to share the invitation to the opening with many of the people involved in the project over the last 12 years and many of the surgery patients and local business people were also welcomed by the practice.

The Cabinet Secretary arrived at the surgery at 8.00am and was welcomed by Dr. Ronald Wolfe and introduced to Dr. Mary Shields and Dr. Robin Dale. The party then made their way into the waiting area to look at the timeline art work which documents the surgery from its original opening in 1945 until the present day, illustrating major local events along the way. The group then toured the upper floor and met with a patient group who contributed to the design of the new surgery. This gave the other guests an opportunity to have a look around the waiting area, where the furniture has been lovingly built using wood felled on site. It also gave everyone the chance to have a bit of a chinwag!

Dr. Wolfe gave a lovely speech, thanking everyone involved in the project, particularly Apollo Capital Projects saying, ‘ We are very fortunate and grateful to have been provided  with such a wonderful building which is light and spacious and finished to such a high standard, incorporating lots of features of local history in its design.’

Before unveiling the commemorative plaque, the Cabinet Secretary took the time to mention that she had been involved with the project for a quite a while and was delighted to officially open the surgery. She declared that the spaces designed were wonderful and exceeded her expectations and was especially proud as Kinning Park is within her constituency, saying ‘This new building will help enable the practice to deliver high quality, safe services to their patients, while also ensuring improved access to primary care services’. The commemorative plaque was then unveiled, pictures were taken and a delicious buffet breakfast was enjoyed by all.

It’s also worth noting that the Cabinet Secretary mentioned Rutland Surgery on Twitter, tweeting ‘Delighted to have officially opened Rutland Medical Practice this morning. Fantastic facility for Govan and the South Side’.

The photo opposite shows the Cabinet Secretary (centre) opening the plaque with Dr Ron Wolfe on the right hand side, accompanied by doctors and staff.

The new building, currently under construction, will be known as the  Glanrafon Medical Centre;  Canolfan Feddygol Glanrafon Medical Centre. The site has frontage to Glanrafon Rd but has its main access from the New Street car park in the centre of Mold.

Building work is progressing well with the rendering of the elevations and installation of zinc cladding to complement the stone walls. The scaffolding is due to come down before Christmas which will make way for the commencement of works to the external areas including the car parking, paving and boundary details.

Decoration of internal rooms is beginning which was a welcome sight when both practices paid a visit earlier this month to take another look around the building and see how their own rooms were shaping up. Everyone was delighted with the progress and could now finally see an end in sight.

We have, together with RL Davies our contractor, made contact with the local primary school located just behind the building (Ysgol Gymraeg Glanrafon) and the pupils have agreed to assist with the creation of some art work to be permanently displayed within the new building. RL Davies has undertaken a “safety around building sites” talk to the school which was very well received by the children and appreciated by the headmistress, Miss Llinos Mary Jones.

The building’s interior design has been finalised with the practices; it will include the encapsulation of the former hawthorne hedge from the site into a series of glass panels within the entrance lobby and the first floor balustrade. In addition, a local photographer has been commissioned to capture some of the local beauty of Mold and the surrounding countryside which will be displayed within the building.

Following the appointment  last month of Bradford based  Bermar Building, construction works have now got off to a flying start. The building site is less than half a mile from Bermar”s head office and just across the road from the existing surgery premises of the Carlton Medical practice.

The 800m2, 2 storey facility, with a  striking  contemporary design, will ensure that this building will become a significant  focal point for the  local community of Girlington. It’s construction is designed to achieve a BREEAM rating of Excellent.

The  Carlton Medical Practice, together with Lloyds pharmacy, will take up occupation  next summer.

The whole Apollo team descended on Glasgow last week to have a guided tour around the recently completed Rutland Surgery in Kinning Park, Govan.

As we reported in an earlier news article, with an unprecedented 12 years in the planning process, without exception, everyone was very impressed by the design, attention to detail and quality of the finish in this new development, long awaited by the staff and patients – most notably the skills that are clearly evident by the re-use of the timber from the trees that were originally on the site, namely, poplar, Swedish white and lime, crafted by a local charity into the curved reception area wall and desk. The length of the reception area wall also boasts a graphic timeline of the history of the Surgery and its staff over the last 50 odd years.

After a successful trip north of the border the new week started on a positive note with the receipt of a very pleasing ‘thank you’ note from Dr Ron Wolfe, GP Partner at the  Rutland Surgery, thanking the Apollo team for their ‘fantastic input’ and indeed ‘sticking with us throughout the years’.        

More photos and information on the Rutland Surgery, as well as the forthcoming official opening ceremony, will be posted soon.

A recent edition of Lochaber Life featured an independent view on how successful the Fort William  Health Centre has been for the local community, four years on from completion and the formal opening by Prince Edward in October 2007.

Commenting on the design features, both external and internal, the writer, James Holden, former Head of Roads & Transportation at Leicestershire Council, highlights the benefits of the light, airy space, with high windows, stained glass and cheery artwork, and how the building itself ‘leads you easily in’ to the reception area with the curved desk, to the waiting area and onto the consulting rooms beyond.  Research has backed up the therapeutic effect this calming atmosphere can have on patients. The building received a resounding positive response, not only from the patients, but also the staff who speak of how they value their working environment.

Describing the overall outward appearance of the health centre as ‘strong, modern, professional looking but still welcoming’, and finding it difficult to come up with any negative points, the writer’s overall opinion was that it was a highly successful building and one that set the standard for others to follow.

Hi – I”m Laura Cruickshank, (no – that”s not me above!) I’ve been assisting at the Glasgow office since the beginning of July, covering for Maz while she tends to her new twins.

I recently moved back home to Glasgow after spending 7 years in London working as a PA (I missed the Scottish weather too much!!)

August and September have been fairly hectic around the Glasgow branch of Apollo Capital Projects – but our office move has gone pretty smoothly. So far only a couple of small glitches with the broadband and email (isn’t it always the way!) but these have now been sorted out and we are fully operational. The new office is very swish – light and airy and a real testament to the great work that Apollo do.

A special mention must be made here to Jessie my wonderful assistant (see picture) for her commitment and willingness to help at this busy time – good girl Jessie!!

On the 26^th September 2011, which was a bright and sunny Swansea day, the new multi million pound SA1 Primary Care Development in Swansea commenced on site. The culmination of over 5 years of work for the stakeholders is finally being realised and in approximately 72 weeks a new state of the art centre will be open to the public.  

Dawnus Construction from Swansea started on site bright and early at 7am to commence excavations and to set up site accommodation. The new centre for ABMU Health Board, Tawe Medical Centre. Port Tennant Practice, Eastside Dental Centre and the University of Wales College of Medicine, will provide 3500sqm of space for a wide range of NHS GP services, dentistry and teaching of training GPs. The Health Board had a vision of an integrated Primary Care Centre in SA1 providing healthcare for the existing, emerging community and a wider care network around Swansea.

A formal press release will be sent out by ABMU Health Board in October to mark the commencement of work which is an exciting time for all involved.  For further information please contact Rob James Apollo’s Operations Director in the Wales Office.

Apollo is delighted to report that our scheme for the Cloughmore Practice in Cardiff has been granted full planning permission. The scheme for Dr Foy and Partners is a 1,000 sqm development for the single GP Practice with 5 partners plus a pharmacy.

The new development will be housed on the current Splott Clinic site which will be demolished to make way for this new and exciting development for the area. The Splott area is one of the fastest growing areas in terms of population in Cardiff and as such health facilities need to be capable of coping with this increasing demand. The new development will provide services for over 8,000 patients and will become a hub for health provision in the area.  

Rob James, Apollo’s Operations Director said “We are pleased with progress and look forward to producing a landmark building for this historical area of Cardiff”.

Apollo is delighted to announce the following Company promotions:

Rob James, based in our Cardiff Office, has been appointed as Operations Director to the Board of Apollo Capital Projects Ltd. This is in recognition of his valued contribution to the success of the business in general and through his work in Wales, including the close of the prestigious SA1 project in Swansea.

 Cammy Halliday, based in our Glasgow Office, has been appointed Director of Procurement, taking over this role from Rob. Cammy’s hard working professionalism and passion for quality and continuous improvement in what we do is a major contributor to the high standard of our buildings and what we feel sets us apart from our competitors. Cammy will now lead the procurement of all our projects throughout the UK.

 Congratulations to both Rob & Cammy!