Hampshire County Council

Buildings, Land and Procurement Panel Item

26 June 2007

Major Projects Update

· Ashburton Court

· Everest Community College

· Children's Centres

· Winchester Discovery Centre

Report by the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services

1

Introduction

1.1

This report provides a regular update on the major projects currently being progressed. This report highlights key issues with the following schemes:

· Ashburton Court

· Everest Community College

· Children's Centres

· Winchester Discovery Centre

1.2

The completion of these major projects will enhance the quality of place for users of the respective buildings (the new Everest Community College and Ashburton Court).

Recommendations

That the Buildings, Land and Advisory Panel advise the Executive Member for Policy and Resources that approval be given to:

1. The progress with the Ashburton Court project.

2. The progress with the Everest Community College project which is due to open at the start of the new school year in September 2007.

3. The proposals for the provision of Children's Centres within Hampshire

4. The Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services being authorised to negotiate terms and enter into appropriate property transaction legal agreements to meet the implementation of the approved Children's Centres Programme.

5. The Chief Executive be authorised to enter into any planning legal agreements required as part of the implementation of the approved Children's Centres Programme.

2

Ashburton Court

2.1

The main construction works are programmed from January 2007 until late Spring of 2009 for the completion of the second phase works for north and west blocks and the new accommodation to the podium. This section of this report provides a brief update on the construction project, highlights the potential efficiencies in staff occupancy levels, confirms the final occupation strategy, clarifies the decanting arrangements and outlines the result of recent design work to establish a carbon-friendly building.

2.2

The final occupation strategy, increasing the number of staff occupying the completed building from around 600 to more than1,000, significantly improves the efficiency and utilisation of the building and the return on the investment, and allows further buildings to be released hence reducing long term revenue costs. These opportunities occur at a time when it is feasible to report that the number of buildings to be relinquished as a result of Ashburton Court has had increased the financial benefits by up to £1 million and the Cabinet will be considering the reinvestment of this sum to the project, at its meeting on 25 June 2007.

2.3

2.3.1

The Construction Project

The main construction work commenced in January 2007 with the removal of the limpet asbestos to the underside of East Block and setting up the site. The demolition of the East Block structures is now well advanced, with the removal of the existing upper roof and pre-cast cladding panels completed. Steelwork installation has commenced.

2.3.2

Removal of the existing podium asphalt has proved more difficult due to an increased thickness of material discovered. Some delays have occurred due to the unforeseen work required for both the limpet asbestos removal and additional asbestos discovered within East Block which are both impacting on the main programme. This has delayed the work by a few weeks. The removal of the limpet asbestos was originally programmed as a separate enabling contract due to the scale of work and the unpredictable nature of its removal, but could not commence for health and safety reasons until the New Year when East Block had been fully decommissioned.

2.3.3

A further programme review will take place in September when the cladding package is well advanced and the completion date for East Block can be confirmed or amended with confidence.

2.4

2.4.1

Efficiency and Staff Occupancy

When Cabinet approved the project in July 2006, the report recommended a target efficiency improvement of 10% (i.e. 11 staff for every 10 workstations). Since that time, a data gathering exercise has been undertaken for two of the departments who will occupy the building in the future, including space utilisation and working pattern studies. In addition, benchmarking exercises have been undertaken on `flexible working' offices completed by both the County Council (Montgomery House and Chantry House (PBRS and Adult Services respectively)) and other similar organisations, eg Hertfordshire County Council. Mace, the County Council's Project Managers for the Ashburton Court Project, have also given advice on target occupation levels based on their experience of delivering projects for both major public and private sector organisations, eg BAA.

2.4.2

Following this extensive piece of work (which is still on-going as other departments are subject to the same studies), it is proposed to increase the potential target efficiency levels which will enable the County Council to maximise its return on the capital investment. This will reduce the County Council's requirement for office space in Winchester and enable:

- Capital receipts to be generated from the sale of surplus freehold accommodation.

- Revenue savings from the relinquishment of leasehold office accommodation.

- Reduction in other occupation costs such as non-domestic rates, repair and maintenance, energy and any service charges.

2.4.3

A minimum and maximum target can be established of 950-1,100 staff occupying the completed building. By comparison, Ashburton Court accommodated around 625 staff before the project commenced on site. The revised target represents and efficiency ratio of approximately 5 staff : 4 desks and up to 7 staff : 5 desks. The final scheme design approved at Planning in November 2006 accommodates 775 workstations - at least 25% more than the existing.

2.5

2.5.1

Final Occupation Strategy

A final occupation strategy for Ashburton Court from Spring 2009 has been prepared. This strategy was based on the opportunities to bring together departments that will benefit from a shared working environment and create adjacencies which will promote and improve services. Children's Services HQ from central Winchester, together with Adult Services HQ and functions in the City, were agreed as a priority to occupy the new accommodation. In addition, it is proposed that IT Services locate into Ashburton Court from Capital House where they have decanted to.

2.5.2

The Environment Department, who will complete temporary decant moves out of Ashburton Court West and North by the end of Phase 1 (completion of Ashburton Court East), will occupy a proportion of the completed project. A strategy for the final location of all the Department's staff will be formulated in due course and confirmed once a review of all potential retention and disposals of central Winchester office accommodation is completed. The aim is to maximise the potential efficiency of Ashburton Court through flexible and mobile working, with final occupancy capacities being settled as detailed studies are completed of staff work patterns and utilisation studies completed for those departments occupying the building.

2.6

Decanting/Move Management Progress

2.6.1

Work is now well in hand to organise the necessary decanting and moves of some 850 staff between now and the end of the year. The immediate focus has been to complete refurbishment work both at Nuance House in Eastleigh, and the top floor of Capital House, Winchester in order to facilitate the early vacation of Ashburton Court North block. These two projects are due to be complete shortly, on time and on cost. Staff will relocate to Eastleigh over the weekend of the 21/22 July, by which time the moves to the top floor of Capital House will also have been implemented. These decanting moves, together with some other more minor changes, will enable the remaining staff in the north block of Ashburton Court to relocate to the west block over the following weekend, 28/29 July. This then releases the north block to the contractor for early intrusive investigative work.

2.6.2

In parallel with planning activities for the summer moves, there is now a great deal of work underway to ensure that on completion of phase one of the project, the two large groups (some 600 staff altogether) in both the west wing of Ashburton Court, and Castle Avenue will be able to move to their new locations. The Children's Services department will relocate principally from Castle Avenue to the new accommodation in Ashburton Court East, and once they have moved Environment staff will be transferred into the vacated Castle Avenue building.

2.7

2.7.1

Sustainability

Ashburton Court is on course to be one of the UK's leading low-carbon buildings. The fact that this has been created within the constraints of an existing building, a sensitive historic context and a challenging budget makes the potential achievement even more remarkable. A BREEAM rating of `Excellent' has already been given at the design stage and detailed technical analysis has shown that the carbon footprint of the existing building can be reduced by well over half. A combination of factors lie at the heart of the environmental approach:

- engagement of some of the UK's leading experts in sustainable urban design working in tandem with the Council's in-house team

- more intensive use of an existing city centre asset that already has excellent public transport provision

- re-use of the concrete structure to save nearly half of the `embodied' energy normally used to construct a building of this kind

- creation of a more comfortable and appropriate working environment for staff and users

- adoption of a natural ventilation system using `renewable' wind energy as the primary driver

- recycling of waste heat from the IT suite to provide a `free' heat source

- recycling of demolished material on other Hampshire County Council projects

- wider consolidation of the Council's central Winchester campus initiated by Ashburton Court allowing the release of other buildings that are likely to be poor for environmental performance.

2.7.2

It is intended that the building's environmental credentials will be exemplary helping to establish the County Council's ambition for innovation and delivery of viable and sustainability projects.

3

Everest Community College

3.1

The construction phase of the College has progressed well since last reported to Members. The first areas of the building have been made available to the County Council for delivery of loose furniture and commencement of final fitting-out of equipment by the College. The final areas of the building are due to be handed over at the end of June when Practical Completion of the complete building is programmed.

3.2

The school and Youth Service will commence moving into the building and vacating their current premises in the middle of July and the school will be open to students in September 2007.

3.3

The Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services has been project managing the co-ordination between the College, contractors and delivery of furniture and equipment to ensure a smooth transfer of operations to the College. A thorough induction and training programme is planned to ensure that maximum use can be obtained from this state of the art building.

3.4

The project remains financially on target at a cost of £26.8m. A ministerial visit to Merton Rise and the school is planned for 22 June 2007.

4

Children's Centres Strategy

4.1

Children's Centres within Hampshire are part of the Government's national strategy to develop 2,500 Sure Start Children's Centres across the country by 2008, in order to achieve the objectives set out in the `Every Child Matters' programme.

4.2

The Children's Centres will provide a range of services for families with young children including: access to integrated early education and childcare for under fives; parenting support and advice; access to child and family health services; links with Job Centre Plus; drop in sessions, etc.

4.3

Following an earlier Phase I of the national strategy in which seven Children's Centres were created in Hampshire, the current second phase of work proposes the designation of a further 53 centres involving construction work at 44 locations. These 44 building projects can be summarised under five categories as follows:

No.of centres

Description

Approx gross value £m

i)

6

Phase II projects already reported to Members and now either complete, under construction or in procurement.

3.1

ii)

14

New-build centres using modular construction, the majority located on Hampshire County Council school sites.

9.9

iii)

12

Extensions and/or alterations to existing Hampshire County Council school and youth buildings.

9.2

iv)

6

Extensions and/or alterations to Community and Health Centres owned by Third Parties and other Local Authorities.

1.8

v)

6

Extensions and/or alterations to Third Party premises, subject to a funding grant from Hampshire County Council and procurement by the Third Party.

1.6

44

25.6m

4.4

With the exception of the category (v) Third Party-located projects noted above, all of the Children's Centres are being designed and procured by the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services.

The projects in categories ii), iii) & iv) are to be procured in three corresponding groups of work, as follows:

Procurement of Children's Centre Projects

Target Completion

ii)

Modular projects: will be built by an HCC Major Projects Framework Contractor (Brazier Construction), working directly with a specialist supplier and subcontractor. The aim is to maximise off-site construction and undertake the work in geographical clusters. This will reduce the construction time on site and take advantage of the economies of scale associated with a number of similar building layouts. Formal approval to appoint Brazier Construction is included in the Procurement report elsewhere on the agenda.

March/April 2008

iii)

Community & Health Centre located projects: To be constructed by HCC SME Pilot Framework Contractors or through the appropriate tier of the SECE framework if available at the time of procurement.

March 2008

4.5

Following feasibility studies, work is underway to secure signed agreement to the proposed Centres from the respective host organisations and stakeholders (ie Governing Bodies, Community Associations, etc) on the selected sites. The locations for each of the Centres will be confirmed in a subsequent report to the Panel, together with the proposed Contractors, once these host and stakeholder agreements have been concluded.

4.6

Property transactions

4.6.1

The delivery of the Children's Centres programme is likely to give rise to a number of property transactions by the County Council, broadly falling into three areas;

a) Lease of Council owned property to third party providers.

b) Acquisition of leasehold interests in third party property (mainly other local authority ownership) - up to 25 years.

c) Legal Agreements with the owners (mainly other local authorities) enabling the Council to undertake building works on third party owned properties.

4.6.2

As part of the formal planning process, it may be necessary for the Council to enter into legal agreements associated with planning consents for the building works. The Chief Executive will enter into such agreements on behalf of the Council.

4.6.3

At the present time until final decisions are taken on the exact method of operating the Centres, it is not possible to estimate the number of transactions nor their value. However, it is anticipated that all the transactions can be achieved at a relatively low cost and within the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services delegated powers. In order to keep to the tight timetable for implementation set out in the Children's Centres programme, it is suggested that the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services be authorised to enter into appropriate property transaction legal agreements as set out above and the Chief Executive be authorised to enter into any planning legal agreements required. It is proposed to report all of the property transactions retrospectively to the Executive Member for Policy and Resources.

4.7

A Project Appraisal Report combining all the above Children's Centre projects will be reported to the Executive Members for Children's Services Policy and Resources in July 2007, for approval.

5

Winchester Discovery Centre

5.1

There have been unforeseen issues regarding installation of the sprinkler system for the Discovery Centre. In agreement with Southern Water, the original scheme was designed to be fed direct from the water main. However, Southern Water have recently reviewed capacities in their mains system and have advised that a tank and associated pumps should be installed between their mains supply and the proposed sprinkler system. To avoid compromising the space provision in the Discovery Centre the 33m² tank will be buried under the new terrace in front of the new extension to the Centre. This will involve deep excavation work and sheet piling. There is a likelihood that the construction phase completion could be delayed. However, this will be accommodated from within the fitting-out period to avoid any delays to the planned opening date in the Autumn.

5.2

These previously unidentified services works will impact on the financial contingency allocated to the project. The Director of Property, Business and Regulatory is currently reviewing the overall project costs and will report to BLPP in the near future on proposals to manage the additional expenditure, which at this late stage in the project could not be foreseen.

5.3

The remainder of the project is progressing well and to a high standard. All major services installations are now complete, the building is watertight and the Contractor is currently undertaking decorations and finishes work.

LINK(S) TO CORPORATE STRATEGY

Yes

No

Hampshire safer and more secure for all

X

Maximising well-being

X

Enhancing our quality of place

_

This proposal does not link to the Corporate Strategy but, nevertheless, requires a decision because: N/A