The Week That Was - 13 March 2026

Welcome to the week that was, a round-up of key events in the construction sector over the last seven days.

Turning Demolition into Innovation

Tipping Point East, the UK’s first dedicated circular construction hub, has launched on a 20,000m² meanwhile-site (a piece of land/building temporarily utilised for a specific purpose while it awaits long-term redevelopment, etc.) in the Royal Docks, Newham. Backed by the Greater London Authority and Newham Council, the scheme aims to become Europe’s largest facility of its kind and to support the mayor of London’s zero-carbon by 2030 ambitions.

The hub brings together large-scale material recovery and storage, low‑carbon construction, skills training and community-focused cultural programming. It will pilot a new model for circular construction by salvaging, testing and redistributing materials such as structural timber and fittings, targeting the diversion of at least 950 tonnes of waste from landfill over five years.

As the first phase of a wider Circular Economy Village in Silvertown, Tipping Point East will operate as a live prototyping environment and education space, supporting greener construction of thousands of new homes and demonstrating how circular practices can create green jobs, reduce waste and embed climate resilience across the sector.

Read the full article here.

All construction products to be subject to safety requirements by 2027

The government has opened a further consultation on expanding existing safety requirements for construction products. The government intends to use powers under the Building Safety Act 2022.

Under the proposals, general safety requirements would be applied to all construction products, which are currently unregulated. Currently only products to which design standards apply are subject to regulation.

General safety requirements would also apply to importers, distributors, and fulfilment providers, who would be responsible for ensuring traceability of construction products through the retention of customer information.

Further reforms are detailed in the government's white paper on construction products reform, which can be found here.

To read more, please click here.

GSK HQ in London to undergo redevelopment

Hadley Property Group's proposal for a mixed-use scheme at the former GSQ HQ in Brentford has been approved, which will see the building transformed into more than 2,300 homes. It will also include commercial, community and education space.

The developer considers its approach to retrofit will save more than 34,500 tonnes of embodied carbon in construction phases. The development will comprise 22% affordable housing by habitable room and will include an NHS primary care facility.

The design team was led by Haworth Tompkins and Buro Happold covered MEP, sustainability, and services engineering (amongst several others in the wider project team).  

To read further, please click here.

Algorithm vs Architect: Planners Warn Over Reliance on Google's New AI Tool

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has awarded Google Cloud a £6.9m contract to develop an AI tool to support planning officers. The system will initially focus on householder applications, aiming to cut average decision times from eight weeks to four and, in time, enable near‑instant decisions for straightforward cases. It will assist with administrative and analytical tasks and generate recommendations, rather than formally replacing human decision-making.

This project sits alongside other uses of AI in planning, including tools that generate objection letters for residents and council-led pilots such as the Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire model, which summarises thousands of consultation responses.

Planning professionals broadly welcome efficiency gains but warn of risks. Concerns include over-reliance on AI at the final decision stage, erosion of professional judgement, pressure to standardise local policies to fit rigid machine-readable rules, reduced creativity in design, and a possible shift towards more binary, zonal planning systems.

Find out more information here [May require subscription].

Women in construction powering solutions to the skills crisis 

Construction’s acute skills shortage and ambitious housing targets cannot be met while half the potential talent pool remains underused. Women account for only around 15% of the UK construction workforce and about 1% of onsite roles, with limited representation in senior positions. Persistent gender pay gaps, inconsistent flexible working, weak parental leave and poor return-to-work pathways all undermine attraction, progression and retention.

From April 2026, the government’s new Equality Action Plans offer a framework to tackle these issues. Employers with 250+ employees will be encouraged (and are expected to be required from April 2027) to publish targeted plans alongside gender pay gap reports. 

For construction, treating inclusion as core infrastructure is critical: safer, more flexible sites, stronger apprenticeships and visible female role models will be essential to closing gaps and securing the future workforce.

Find out more about Equality Action Plans here and how it applies to the Construction Industry here [May require subscription], and Construction News's view on the skills shortage in the construction and housing sectors here [May require subscription].

With thanks to Brendan Marrinan, Sharona Sexton and Courtney Reylin

Disclaimer: The information in this publication is for guidance purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.  We attempt to ensure that the content is current as at the date of publication, but we do not guarantee that it remains up to date.  You should seek legal or other professional advice before acting or relying on any of the content.

If you have any queries please do get in contact with a member of the team, or your usual RPC contact.