Aconex Adopted To Manage UK Projects

Leading UK urban regeneration development company St James has announced it will use Aconex solutions to manage the construction of three new schemes comprising the Albert Embankment Plaza which will offer more than 300 high end living spaces plus office and retail spaces.

Aconex provides a web-based platform to manage information and processes across projects, with insight and control provided to project participants.

Aconex is a Melbourne-based company founded in 2000. The technology has been used on some of the world's biggest construction sites including the Panama Canal extension. Clients include Brookfield Multiplex and Grocon. It has 40 offices worldwide, serving customers in more than 70 countries.

The Australian Financial Review recently reported that chief executive and co-founder of construction software business Aconex, Leigh Jasper, had defended his decision to sell-off a portion of his shares last year, despite it being a contributor to the company's sustained share price fall in the past six months.

"Entrepreneurs build businesses over many years and being able to have a modest selldown is important over time, because a lot of our net worth is tied up in the business," he said to The AFR. 

Using Aconex, a project team is able to easily access both current and prior versions of documents with little training. Team members can quickly search workflows to determine what is newly assigned, pending or overdue. Time saved on processes such as requests for information (RFIs) and design reviews, which have been automated on Aconex, can now be spent on other activities related to project quality and delivery.

Located on the South Bank of the River Thames, the plaza includes The Corniche and Merano Residences, both due for completion in early 2017, and The Dumont. Together, the three developments will offer over 300 high-end living spaces, approximately 26,747 square feet of office space, and 11,650 square feet of retail and restaurant space.

Shared underground parking, art installations, water features, and landscaping will be part of the elegant new plaza. “Each building is its own separate project with different teams,” said Ed Walsh, technical manager at St James.

“We needed a platform to help seamlessly control data not only across each project, but between different projects. Aconex increases workflow efficiency, keeps information and processes on track, and provides an invaluable archive.

“However, Aconex isn’t just a database of communications and documents,” Mr. Walsh continued. “The platform was purpose-built for construction projects, and Aconex knows how to problem-solve and optimise the platform specifically to our needs."