The UK construction industry is considered in the scope of this research. This research focuses on TKI within a construction project undertaken through the TPS in the UK (as discussed in Section 1.6 in Chapter 1). Miles and Huberman (1994b) define the case as “a phenomenon of some sort occurring in a bounded context. The case is, in effect, your unit of analysis”. Therefore, the traditional construction projects are considered as suitable cases for addressing the research aim and questions of this study (as discussed in Section 3.6.7 in Chapter 3). The search for selecting the suitable cases was conducted throughout the early stage of this research. The cases were selected to reflect the building sector within the construction industry. The projects were complex, large, and with costs over £5m. The selected case studies differ in that one of them is a completed project and the other is an ongoing project at the construction phase. Furthermore, the cases were selected from same designing organisation in order to analyse and compare the process of TKI in projects that have been undertaken by the same organisation. The background of the organisations involved in selected case studies are briefly discussed below.
Organisation A
Organisation A: Bimddon LLP (a pseudonym, for confidentiality reasons, hereinafter “Bimddon”) is a UK based independent global consultancy involved with a wide variety of construction activities. They provide cost, construction, and project management as well as project designing services for clients throughout the world. The designing services include architectural, interior design, workplace strategy, designing for sustainability, master planning and Designing for heritage.
Bimddon was established in the 1830s with a base in the south part of the country. Today they have over 700 dedicated staff based in 15 offices across countries like the UK, Turkey, Brazil, Germany and Russia, working on projects executed on different procurement systems, specifically on a traditional contract. Bimddon is involved in projects from different sectors including, education, health, commercial, housing, and hotels. Having a diverse cross section
166 | P a g e
of international architects and designers, Bimddon has at least 20 different languages spoken in the base studio alone. Bimddon has operated as a Limited Liability Partnership since 2004.
Organisation B
Organisation B: The 3Styles Group (a pseudonym, for confidentiality reasons, hereinafter “3Styles Group”) is a UK based construction, residential, property and services group formed in early 1990s with the purpose of investing in building, maintaining and renewing places across the different construction sectors including housing, industrial, education, health, residential, infrastructure, leisure, and hotel projects. However, the roots of business go back to 1920s.
3Styles offers over 90 years of construction knowledge and experiences to their clients. The group has over 10,000 employees in the UK, the Middle East, and Asia. The 3Styles Group has a large network of regional offices and strong local relationships to ensure that they understand the client’s requirements at any stage of the built environment lifecycle. Having the ability to provide a reliable construction service delivering on programme and cost whilst enhancing the latest construction practices and techniques, have enabled the Group to respond rapidly to any changes in the client’s needs. The 3Style Group covers different construction procurement systems including traditional contract, design and built, and PPI.
Organisation C
Organisation C: Balbo Ltd (a pseudonym, for confidentiality reasons, hereinafter “Balbo”) is one of the UK’s leading contractors established in late 1890s in south part of the country. Today, the business delivers over £160m of building projects across the UK and has nearly 800 employees. Having over 120 years of construction knowledge and experience, Balbo offers planning, design, delivery, maintenance, refurbishment and energy solutions to building projects in different sectors including education, housing, healthcare, hotel, leisure, commercial and retail.
Balbo works under all forms of contracts and offers a distinctly superior service in different types of building work. This extends from the simple and straightforward on a relatively small scale to the most comprehensive and demanding large-scale projects.
167 | P a g e
5.3.1 Case Study 1 (CS1) – St Jefferson’ Hospital – A&E/HO
The A&E/HO project was a 96 weeks programme of work, started in 2009 for St Jefferson’ Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (a pseudonym, for confidentiality reasons, hereinafter “St Jefferson’ Hospital”). The project at A&E/HO (a pseudonym, for confidentiality reasons, hereinafter “A&E/HO”) included full refurbishment of the Accident and Emergency (A&E) and building Haematology and Oncology (HO) department with minimum impact on nursing operations and patients. The project valued £15.8m and undertaken through the TPS.
The project was in process within a functioning hospital environment. With a very restrictive regime for any noisy works, the programming and forward planning aspect of the project was critical together with the flexibility to manage the unexpected aspects that a functioning hospital A&E environment can suddenly produce.
The A&E refurbishment project included the refurbishment and remodelling of the A&E department, building Haematology and Oncology (HO) department on the first floor above the interim critical care unit (ICCU, one block away to A&E department), and the building of a bridge between two units. Particular care was required during building the bridge as the bridge was being built directly over a live Audiology department which was located beside ICCU.
The A&E department was refurbished in terms of:
Multi departmental moves (removal of partitions, ceilings, light fittings, redundant fixtures, and fittings) to suit the re-modelled layout
Space efficiency and reorganisation
Installation of new fixtures, finishes, M&E installations, and new equipment Relocation of some existing fixtures, fittings and equipment
The HO department was built to include a new six-theatre suite with 24/7 support facilities. The theatres were located above ICCU to provide a better and safer treatment for cancer sufferers.
The Bimddon was appointed as the preferred contractor for designing the re-configuration of the hospital. The designing process took almost eight weeks to be completed and to be
168 | P a g e
tendered to contractors by the client and to be completed. Contractors sent their proposals including the construction process and proposed price. Then the client selected the best proposal and appointed the 3Styles Group as the preferred partner for implementing this project.
The Bimddon and 3Styles Group were in contact with each other based on the contract that they had with the client. According to their contract, the client asked Bimddon to communicate with the 3Styles Group, if any designing issues were raised during construction phase.
5.3.2 Case Study 2 (CS2) – 10 Vanquis Square
The 10 Vanquis Square project is a refurbishment and building of a great two distinct buildings into a residential hotel scheme. The vision is to refurbish one building, demolish, and build another building into a high-end luxurious hotel, spa and residential development. In keeping with the building’s landmark status, Four Seasons Hotels will operate the development with the intention that both the hotel and apartment will be positioned at the high end of the market. The building itself will comprise of a distinctive collection of spaces harmoniously arranged whilst restoring the original circulation and geometries in the form of 41 spacious apartments, 100 hotel guest rooms, a private members’ club, two restaurants, and a spa. The key criteria of this project:
Create a world class hotel of the highest standard, having a design of world class architectural quality
Propose a scheme for the redevelopment of the existing building that maximises the site’s potential by restoring the original circulation and geometries, reinstating the sequence of spaces, and utilising the exceptional areas
Provide quality residential apartments on the upper floors that integrate with the existing building
Incorporate all servicing, parking, plant, and the hotel facilities below ground to retain the existing building in its former grandeur
Propose a development with a positive relationship with its setting, respecting the townscape and amenity considerations of its neighbours
169 | P a g e
The 10 Vanquis Square started in 2012 and is anticipated to be finished by December 2017. The project size is 490,000 sqft and has been undertaken through the TPS with the value of approximately £250M.
The Bimddon was appointed as the preferred contractor for designing this project. The client decided to appoint the construction contractor a bit earlier before finishing the design in order to increase the efficiency and reduce the number of designing flaw. Therefore, the client selected the best proposal among the received proposals and appointed Balbo Ltd as the preferred partner for implementing this project. The Bimddon and Balbo Ltd were in contact with each other based on the contract that they had with the client. According to their contract, the client asked Bimddon to correspond with Balbo Ltd, if any designing issues were raised during the construction phase.