Project details

Client: Keele University

Project Value: £500k

Contract: JCT Intermediate

Role: Cost Consultant

Description

Expansion to the David Weatherall School of Medicine to create teaching facilities, resource rooms and provision of changing and shower facilities to meet the demand of the school, students and commercial visitors.

 

Function of the Building

This project and its intended expansion and refurbishment had strict guidelines and parameters that were fundamental to the design; –

  • Meeting clinical requirements within the dissection facility and potential derogations to HTA requirements.
  • Fire strategy concerns through Skills Laboratory due to risk of x-ray equipment and potential risk of hazardous equipment.
  • High security areas to restrict access into anatomy lab and changing areas.
  • Clean and dirty division

 

The typical functions included:

  • Expansion of Changing Facility for 30 delegates
  • Refurbishment of Dissection Suite
  • Entrance Lobby formed
  • Accessible changing
  • Space for scrubs and Laundry

 

Nature of Involvement

Keele University approached TCQ Surveyors to act as their Quantity Surveyors and cost managers for this scheme.

The challenge was to manage a highly complex scheme and provide feasibility cost options for several scenarios which including potentially utilising existing areas rather than expanding provisions into new buildings. However, it was essential to understand the implications of each option and how it affected the design and ultimately the affordability of the scheme. Key areas within the optioneering process were to provide cost impact on the following:

 

  • Planning – providing an extension/annex would impact on the building frontage and highway
  • Building regulations, Fire Strategy and HTA requirements – i.e. cost of alternative routes, access control for restricted access and how the HTA requirements could be derogated to compromise the design due to existing not being adaptable.
  • Programme – ensuring extension could be constructed whilst maintaining the existing area

 

TCQ were involved in assisting in compiling the relevant information required for the business case to be submitted by the university’s estates team for approval by the governing board.

 

Project Performance

The scheme is currently on awaiting the approval to proceed to the next stage of the design. The Feasibility stage was an intense period for both ourselves and the design team as the scheme required several design and cost workshops to establish the preferred options that went into the Business Case.

We were at the forefront of the design decisions and constantly informed the university of potential cost risks and opportunities for each iteration of the design so that an efficient and cost effective solution could be established.