Initially given a brief of £500,000 for library alterations, we completed a full feasibility of the site to prioritise the requirements of the brief, ensure the brief was comprehensive and dealt with all the issues on the site and not just the headlines that had been reported.
The chosen solution sought to extend and remodel the school in several phases, which not only answered the immediate concerns but addressed long term aims for the school. The work was broken into principal phases to ensure continued operation of the school, but also allowed funding to be spread across several financial years.
Phases 1 and 2 were combined under one traditionally tendered scheme that extended the school by 350 sqm and provided a new entrance and administration area for the school. These phases required coordination with the school and other contractors to carry out enabling works and move existing school operations around to provide the necessary space on the site for the extension. As the main works commenced ongoing coordination was needed with the school to minimise disruption whilst allowing the works to proceed.
Phase 3 restructured the whole of the existing teaching accommodation. By working in partnership with the Contractor the work was broken down into nine areas starting in May and completing in December 2007 and successfully delivered £750,000 of refurbishment of a school without any closures and minimal disruption to the school.
Discussions with the school over how to break this phase of work down further started as soon as we were appointed. Through the understanding and trust we had built up with the school over the previous years we were able to propose solutions that met their needs and responsibilities in terms of Health and Safety. Then in discussion with the rest of the Design Team and Contractor we were able to work through the Contractor's plan of work to ensure they met the legal requirements in relation to construction and adjust our original proposals through open discussions and compromises.
This last phase of work was complicated further by the impact it had on the other users of the building (a Public Library and Leisure Centre) each run by different bodies and with different objectives and priorities. It was only through discussions over several weeks that we were able to integrate their operational needs into the plans for the work.
All this consultation paid off as the work commenced without incident and allowed all operations to continue during the works, even managing to accommodate an extra £54,000 worth of maintenance work in the main contract without impact on either party except to their long term benefit.
Our service involved architectural design, contract administration, leading and co-ordinating the Design Team and managing budget and time. We adhered to ambitious timescales set by the Client and delivered within budget.
