Chalcots Estate Recladding, Camden, UK 2022- Present

Arup are working with Camden Council on the recladding and refurbishment of the estate’s five residential towers. The project started to reclad the façade for fire safety following the stripped off cladding post-Grenfell. ​Following holistic consideration of the buildings needs the project scope now has now widened, adding value and longevity to the homes in Camden.​ This is a large scale pioneering retrofit project, aim is to deliver a gold standard of safety, wellbeing and future proofing the Chalcots Estate for everyone who lives there now and in the future. I am the Design Manager on Stages 4 and 5 of the Recladding of five public housing tower blocks in Camden following the removal of aluminium composite panels (ACP) cladding. The project includes 5 Towers / 18-22 stories, built in the 1960s and previously Refurbished in 2010/2011 and comprises 715 flats and cost of £90m+.

Chalcots 4 Towers BBDT/ Blashford Projects

Initially Chalcots was procured under a single stage D&B contract but following a false start with the only contractor who submitted a bid the project was split into 2 contracts: A two stage JCT D&B contract for Blashford Tower and a traditional JCT contact for the remaining 4 towers. On 4 Towers, ​Arup advised against the traditional form of contract due to the large proportion of CDP packages (80%) and additional risk however Arup ultimately committed to provide a full Stage 4 design for the remaining Non-CDP packages which has proven to be complex due to the lack of survey information.​ My role on 4 Towers is Design Manager into Stage 4 and 5, has been predominately client-focused, manage expectations, and respond to Client queries whilst tailoring service to their needs. I have also set clear direction and action plans to the team to deliver. I am responsible for client management, contract administration support, scope management, managing the project budget and leading the internal and external design team to achieve efficient and optimal design performance at a fast-paced construction programme. On Blashford which is a smaller D&B Stage 5 CMT scope for Arup, I have a hybrid role of Design Management and Architecture Lead, reviewing Contractors proposals, site observations and mockups.

DEFRA Weybridge Critical Works Programme

Arup as Lead Consultant, delivering fully coordinated, multi-discipline designs across an on-going programme of upgrade works at the Animal and Plant Health Agency, an existing operational science facility, including high containment laboratories. From 2021 onwards, I have been one of the Lead Design Managers on DEFRA's Critical Work Programme. The framework uses NEC procurement for all projects. I lead a team of ASMEP Arup specialists and have been responsible for the commercial management (as PM) across a programme of Critical Works projects for DEFRA. This spans both new-build and refurbishment projects across RIBA Stages of Works 0-6. I have worked on laboratory building End of Life Extension; masterplan design of car park and pedestrian safety for the site phased with the new Masterplan Construction; as well as the Incinerator Extension Project Stage 5. Together with the PD, I have been responsible for winning and managing new fees on top of the initial contract, into a framework agreement.

DEFRA Weybridge Critical Works Programme

The projects I lead as Design Manager for APHA Campus Critical Works included: a. B64 End of life extension : I managed feasibility study to assess the multidisciplinary interventions needed to extend the life of the building by 10-15years. b. Masterplan phasing coordination and Car Park Consolidation/ Pedestrian Safety Projects : in 2022 I won bids for RIBA Stages 1 to 4 for the two studies above, for a combined fee of £900,000. Since, I lead the projects from Stage 1 onwards including client interface, programme and budget management, delivery and stakeholder engagement. c. Incinerator Extension Phase 1 : Between 2021 and 2022 I managed the project under NEC3 contract into Stage 5. This included complex co-ordination and design project management to facilitate the Phase I works to achieve seamless co-ordination necessary to ensue in-time delivery. Phase I works involved the construction of the incinerator building ‘shell’ and the integrated installation of the Incinerator Plant, in parallel. Main contractor, specialist supplier installer and stakeholder engagement and management – complexity of co-ordinating together the construction and organisation of diverse team on this project. As appointed CDM, I managed both elements of works to achieve the desired output. This involved understanding the multifaceted interfaces and interdependencies of the building infrastructure services.

Incinerator Extension Phase 1 : Role and Construction Support

The project seeks to replace the aging incinerators which currently reside in the adjacent existing building by adding an extension to the building to house a new rotary kiln incinerator. The building is currently in construction by Hutton, which has been on site for over three years now, i.e. behind programme. While this construction is happening MES are designing and building the incinerator, MES are also behind programme. My role as Design manager included the following: 1. Leading the Arup/Architect design team to answer queries, do inspections and complete design changes 2. Being the principal client contact for any issues on the building; i. Attending weekly client meeting with Defra and RLB ii. Attending weekly construction meeting with Defra, Hutton and other client stakeholders iii. Responding to RFI’s & technical submittals and client queries iv. Organise site visits where required v. Keeping change management records and coordinating design changes for delivery through Revit vi. Keeping document registers and live design documents up to date 3. Project coordination for the Purchaser’s engineer role: i. Attending monthly progress meetings with MES and Defra ii. Attending other meetings on things like programme, outstanding actions, design reviews of incinerator components etc iii. Keeping minutes at these meetings iv. Providing insight to the building requirements when discussing design issues with MES v. Keeping records of information flowing in and out vi. Liaising with the BIM team to provide clash detection reports (monthly) A challenge was the fact that the design was done for D&B but the contract was let as NEC traditional. This left multiple scope gaps where the design was only done to Stage 3 or 4. Due to Hutton’s reluctance to do design, Arup have been picking up any design changes, or providing missing information into Stage 5. A key part of working under NEC was working with a proactive Project Manager. responding to Early Warning Notices as well as being agile and proactive in working with the PM on identifying and dealing with defects.