The weight being imposed on the foundations was a big issue because they are lots of Tube lines beneath us and we had to be careful not to increase the loads on the tunnels,” he says. Original features Leinster were 12-point favourites before the teams were named yesterday and that handicap has been pushed out to 15 after the match-day squads were known. We’ve said that we are going to pump-prime it by having logistics hubs around the country. The main reason is that we think these hubs will be based around supply chains in factories that will make components for Heathrow’s construction.”

The arrival of high speed rail services did not quite complete the rebirth of London’s St Pancras station. Mark Hansford reports on the final challenge of restoring and reopening the Gothic glory that is Gilbert Scott’s Midland Grand Hotel. With the review done, a major change was made to the phasing of the programme to enable the apartments to be handed over a year earlier than planned. Laing O’Rourke was going to refurbish the building floor by floor, then hand over the whole building. The new strategy was to refurbish in vertical sections working from east to west. This meant staircases and lifts would be completed, allowing residents access to the apartments on the upper floors. The fire escape strategy needed modifying so two staircases would be available when the first phase was handed over. So, I think there is a huge shift for clients to require their designers to think about components in the design so that it can be made in factories and mass produced.”St Pancras station is one of London’s most iconic buildings - with its gothic revival exterior, a signature setting in the Harry Potter films and its stunning interior used in Batman Begins and by the Spice Girls in the video for their debut hit Wannabe. The firm wanted to develop the building jointly with Whitbread, which held the UK franchise for Marriott hotels, but after Whitbread sold its franchise, MLC decided to develop the hotel and apartments alone, then lease the hotel to Marriott. Once in control of the whole building, MLC raised the number of apartments to 67 and extended them to the second floor. “We preferred to have more apartments, as the hotel was more risky,” says Handelsman, “but the way the area has developed, the hotel will probably be the more lucrative element.”

The building had been empty for God knows how long and British Rail had sacrilegiously beaten up the details,” says Mann. “For example, it had bashed holes in the fibrous plaster ceilings to put in hangers for suspended ceilings. All this made it quite difficult to ascertain what was behind the changes, which made it difficult to design.” Restoring the George Gilbert Scott building was part of the 1996 deal to turn the station into a new terminal for high-speed Eurostar trains to Europe. Owner Manhattan Loft Company turned the top four floors into three floors of apartments, which were completed in 2009. Since its closure, the building has been threatened with demolition twice, turned into drab offices, then closed down and left to rot in the late eighties after the owner, British Rail, could not renew its fire certificate. One step closer to seeing emergency patients. Thank you so much for helping us keep our patients safe. The hand wash stations are amazing. Thank you”

Mr Wilbraham agreed, but added that communication of the government’s commitment and strategy had been disappointing. “It is quite difficult to understand what is going on,” he said. The government has been really active in this space ever since the autumn statement,” Mr Johnston said. “It’s continued to bang the drum. It’s early days in the championship and we are nowhere near must-win territory, but Rowntree will want to see more of the same grit and fight that resulted in a 10-3 win over the Stormers (above) last week. Hugo Keenan (above) volunteered the word "revenge" earlier this week in reference to those two defeats ahead of rematches with Munster and La Rochelle in a 14-day period.