- Client: City of Edinburgh Council
- Role: Project Manager & Cost Advisor
- Value: £11.0m
- Programme: Design development, Feb 2020 – March 2021/ Construction, March 2021 – September 2022
- Procurement: CEC Framework Traditional JCT
- Location: Edinburgh
Project Description
Following a detailed consultation process The City of Edinburgh Council undertook to refurbish the existing Wester Hailes Education Centre.
The project was unique because the building encompasses both a leisure centre and high school within one building.
The project included significant refurbishment work to a variety of areas, including:
- School admin areas
- Dining and kitchen facilities
- Games halls
- Assembly spaces
- Swimming pool wet side changing
- Dry side sports facilities
- Full replacement of the external curtain walling
Work to each of these areas formed part of the master programme which included Sectional Completion to allow facilities to be handed back to the end users as early as possible and minimse the impact to the school and leisure centre.
Challenges
Completing a refurbishment project of this scale within a live environment posed a number of significant problems which had to be overcome to ensure the safety of all in volved along with the successful progression of both school and construction activities. Careful planning and robust communication with all stakeholders was key to this.
Other challenges included:
- Progressing the design during national lockdowns of the Covid 19 pandemic. This was made particularly difficult due to very limited access to the existing building.
- The condition of the existing building was extremely poor which resulted in the need for design alterations and instructions throughout the project to ensure the quality of the finished product was to the clients usual high standards.
- A full refurbishment and demolition Asbestos survey was of course completed prior to construction works commencing, however, further asbestos containing materials were found during the course of the works which added complexity and time to the project.
- The adaptability of the overall team to act upon new information provided and establish solutions to the problems encountered.
- Communication throughout the project worked well through clear and concise management. This was essential to mitigate the problems faced such as access to the building during design stages and existing building defects which required solutions to be provided to the site quickly.
- Clear project set up from the outset provided all parties with a firm understanding of the project parameters and the stakeholder responsibilities necessary to ensure the effective progression of the project.
- Online consultation with staff, parents and pupils was a resounding success with all fully engaged throughout the design process.
Lessons Learned
The principal lesson learnt was the importance of extensive and intrusive surveys of the existing building. Only by completing full and complete investigations can the design be developed accurately to suite the existing situation. This follows to highlight the need for robust contingency when embarking on a refurbishment project but particularly on a building in such a poor condition. Resisting the opportunity to remove funding from the project at contract award could prove invaluable in managing stakeholder expectations and providing a completed project to a very high standard.
Benefits to Client
- Extensive Schools experience.
- Successful Stakeholder Management.
- Live primary cost data for benchmarking
- Strong relationships with the Design Team
- Extensive refurbishment experience of both education and leisure facilities.
craig hepplewhite|education|fraser-mcquarrie|leisure