¾«¶«Ó°ÊÓ

BAA owner Ferrovial has drafted in Richard Rodgers' close associate, Madrid-based practice Vidal Arquitectos, to help work up designs for the £1.5bn Heathrow East project.

A source told ¾«¶«Ó°ÊÓ magazine that the practice was requisitioned in an effort to 'shake up' the design, but many will see it as an attempt to cut costs as Ferrovial struggles to pay off £10bn of debt accrued through the recent purchase of BAA.

Moving east to Bishopsgate, where the chief executive of the City of London is trying to settle a legal dispute between the developer of the Pinnacle and the occupier of a nearby building over allegations of disruption caused by building work.

Chris Duffield has been meeting with developer Arab Investments and neighbour Hiscox Insurance to discuss how work on the 300m-high tower should proceed following rows over demolition work, reported ¾«¶«Ó°ÊÓ.

Legal problems have hampered progress on the project since Hiscox brought a case against Arab Investments and won injunctions over access, water damage and vibration.

Across the river at South Bank, collaboration is the order of the day as contractors team up to stave off potential gridlock caused by a glut of construction work in the area.

Mace, Overbury, and two others not yet appointed, will work together under the newly-formed Bankside Logistics Group to ensure that the one mile-radius site does not become congested by four projects. The projects are: Herzog & de Meuron's £215m Tate Modern extension, built by Mace and due to commence next year; Network Rail's £250m redevelopment of Blackfriars station, due to start next January; Allies & Morrison's Bankside 1/2/3 complex, which is about to begin; and Roger Stirk Harbour's already underway Project Bankside residential complex next to Tate Modern.