Our people’s health and wellbeing is always at the heart of everything we do at alinea, but this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week has felt more important than ever given current circumstances. We have been embracing this year’s Kindness theme by doing good deeds for others; our colleagues, friends, family and neighbours, but for ourselves too, helping us maintain healthy levels of mental wellness. Below is a small selection of the things we’ve been doing.

We are delighted to celebrate our 7th birthday at alinea, having established in May 2013. Whilst we won’t be tucking into the traditional celebration cake for a little while, we remain inspired to mark the occasion and are focused on what will be a tough year for the industry. Highlights over the last 12 months include winning Consultant of the Year (over 100) at the Building Awards, our conference in the New Forest, raising over £10,000 for Dementia UK, winning many great projects, strengthening collaborations home and abroad and our continued commitment to the wellbeing of our people. Onward into Year 8….

Whilst it is difficult to make sense of the overload of information but precious little certainty at the moment, we feel it’s important to continue to offer our views, based on what we know and what we are continually researching. https://www.alineacostconsulting.com/news/construction-pricing-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/

It’s encouraging to see several sites re-opening and we applaud the contracting supply chain for doing this in a considered manner. We have also seen some innovative thinking being applied to maximise productivity and adhere to social distancing requirements. Well done all....#teamwork<br>teamwork

Following last months democratic voting process to choose a new partner charity for the next 3 year period, we are pleased to announce that @stclarehospice have been chosen. They are very excited to be entering into this partnership with alinea and believe that it should prove incredibly beneficial to local people in the West Essex and East Hertfordshire areas. St Clare Hospice care for hundreds of people every year, offering free, compassionate care and support to adults with life-limiting illnesses, their families and carers. They offer a wide range of services, providing physical, social, emotional, psychological and spiritual support, ensuring they respect and encourage individuality, dignity and self-esteem. For the next 3 years the majority of alinea’s fundraising efforts will go towards helping St Clare Hospice. On top of this, we will also be encouraging alinea employers to use their annual CSR days to undertake volunteering with St Clare Hospice.

Inspired by the amazing acts of kindness and bravery this week of our amazing NHS, and the overwhelming amount of volunteers who have stepped forward, it has been our privilege to make a charitable donation to the NHS today to help in the fight against coronavirus. Thank you so much to all of the inspiring people who are helping the Nation get through this most difficult time. We salute you.

We are into our second week of remote working and pleased to report that it’s all going rather well. Like others, I’m sure our eyes will be opened up as to what is possible without having to commute to our office based desks each day. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our clients and industry colleagues for embracing remote working, and also to wish you all the very best fortune and health over coming weeks. Let’s also all remember the mental wellbeing aspect of remote working: in current times where we have lesser choices, it’s important to maintain faces and voices!

Following a number of years of fundraising, the Poppy Factory in Richmond has begun construction of its much needed refurbishment to transform the current factory into an accessible, inclusive and educational space for the disabled veterans who work there. The charity supports veterans with mental and physical health conditions into work. The factory in Richmond directly employs 36 disabled veterans to produce the poppies and wreaths for the Royal Family and The Royal British Legion’s annual Poppy Appeal. The factory also houses employability and fundraising staff, overseeing a service which has now helped more than 800 disabled veterans into work across the UK. alinea have been involved in the scheme from the outset providing Cost Management advice on a semi pro-bono basis. We are delighted to be involved in such a fantastic project and be able to support this important and excellent cause. The scheme is due to complete in September this year.

Left work at the right time to catch this amazing light before ducking down into the tube - the City cluster catching the light and looking great!

Celebrating St David’s Day in the office this morning as well as @mark_lacey7 birthday! #stdavidsday #welshcakes<br>stdavidsday #welshcakes

When you look up from your screen and out of the window and you see this 👀🌈 #rainbow #couldnthaveplaceditbettermyself<br>couldnthaveplaceditbettermyself #rainbow

Another successful alinea project snapped on the walk back from a meeting, Bureau at 90 Fetter Lane for Evans Randall Investors and Co-Re - another tricky cut and carve refurbishment of an existing building which saw an NIA increase of almost 20% following the addition of 2 floors. #midtown #londonconstruction #alineaprojects #repositionedasset<br>alineaprojects #repositionedasset #londonconstruction #midtown

alinea are spreading the love... #happyvalentinesday❤️<br>happyvalentinesday❤️

The installation of the wind mitigation canopies at 22 Bishopsgate is progressing well! The canopies feature glass inserts with artwork by artist Alexander Beleschenko. The large scale canopies made out of ultra high reinforced concrete will extend outward all around the base of the building. #22bishopsgate<br>22bishopsgate

Work continues to complete the cladding at our Minories project for 4C Hotel Group - a part refurbishment of a previous office building, part new build that will house a 342 room Canopy hotel - it's sure to be a fantastic base for exploring the City and Shoreditch! #londonconstruction #londonhotels #cladding #refurb<br>cladding #londonconstruction #refurb #londonhotels

Our 8th alinea Forum ‘Getting High On Offsite’ was a great success. Steve Watts and Alex Hyams explored the potential for offsite construction in the context of tall building history and economics and led an insightful Q&A afterwards. Keep an eye out for the next alinea Forum which will be looking at the WELL Standard.

We're hiring! Visit our website for our latest vacancies.

Nothing beats strolling past a completed #alineaproject - 20 Old Bailey for Blackstone Property Management, a complex cut and carve completed in 2017 that included adding 2 floors to the existing structure and the new facade shown here<br>alineaproject

We are very proud to announce our new website has been voted by the public to win Best UI Design! @andagencylondon

To combat Blue Monday and support our own Gordon Graham kick start the fund raising for his London Marathon run on behalf of Dementia UK, we held a Scottish themed quiz today. The winning team scored a decent 11/15. So all left fuller, happier and little bit wiser about our friends and colleagues north of the border. #bluemonday #quiz<br>quiz #bluemonday