The facts
Project Location: Hackney, London
Client: Department for Education and
Skills
Start Date: March 2004
Completion Date: Nov 2007
Contract type: JCT 98 with Contractors
Design
Procurement method: 2 Stage develop and
Construct
Project Construction Value: £30m
Services provided: Project Management, Education
Management and Consultancy
The project
Capita Symonds was appointed by the
Department for Schools, Children and Families (DCSF) to provide
Construction Project Management services for the development phase
of the new Petchey City Academy.
The Academy is sponsored by the Jack Petchey
Foundation and specialises in health, care and medical science for
1,200 pupils aged 11-18. The site is shared with a new child
development centre, which is part of the NHS LIFT programme and has
teaching links to the Academy as part of its specialism.
The design team worked towards designing a
solution that provided a high quality learning environment by using
modern design principles and innovative materials. This included
providing state-of-the-art ICT facilities, enabling students to
access the internet, educational networks, and communicate in
collaborative enterprises through the use of portable and wireless
PC tablets, desktops and laptops
The site is located in an inner-city
environment characterised by high levels of crime and unemployment.
There is a poor air quality and high levels of noise from the
surrounding roads. Therefore, the buildings required higher levels
of mechanical ventilation than normal, the funding of which had to
be negotiated with the DCSF.
As the site was also to be shared with a new
child development centre with teaching links to the Academy, we had
to ensure that the programme was carefully managed and closely
coordinated with this separate project.
Another of the significant challenges we
encountered delivering this project was the provision of the
temporary accommodation. The initial plan was to refurbish the
Sports Block on the site and convert it into a teaching block.
Capita Symonds commissioned building and services surveys to
investigate the viability of this option, but the surveys concluded
that the Sports Block would not be financially viable.
After discussion with the Design Team, the
option of utilising temporary Portacabins was considered to be the
most economically viable option. This gave us a robust solution as
well as greater control over the project delivery, allowing us to
plan more effectively while providing the students with a high
quality temporary solution.
A temporary school had to be provided prior to
the opening of the new Academy in September 2007. This served the
1st Year group from May 2006, who subsequently decanted
into the new Academy buildings.
Another challenge of the project was the
management of potential Asbestos in and around the site. As the
buildings on site were built from circa 1900, a significant amount
of Asbestos was found on site following an Asbestos Survey. Due to
the volatile nature of Asbestos, a specialist Asbestos Consultant
was appointed to manage the handling and removal of all the
Asbestos prior to demolition to provide programme benefits.
Throughout the project there was a need for
considerable liaison between the Sponsor, Design Team, and the
Education Consultant. This was required to ensure stakeholder
buy-in to the scheme, while guaranteeing that the right solution to
the Project Brief was found and the objectives of the Sponsor and
the DCSF were met. .
We facilitated numerous Value Engineering and
Risk Management workshops throughout the programme, and these
played an integral part in delivering the project within budget.
Capita Symonds led these workshops, focussing the team on adding
value and mitigating risk throughout.
Capita Symonds also conducted a high level
strategic review that took place in the early stages of the
project. This enabled the Design Team and key stakeholders to
develop a project mission statement. This drove the project team to
deliver a learning environment that was innovative, inspiring, and
dynamic, fully incorporating the Sponsor’s Education Vision
throughout the design.
Capita Symonds liaised well with the numerous parties involved in a project of this size, playing a key role in keeping the project on time and on budget while helping us deal with issues before they became crises
Andrew
Billington, Chair of Governors,
The Petchey Academy
The Petchey Academy opened on programme in
September 2007.