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Earl's Court Station
PPP Modernisation Project
Value:
The project is worth approximately £28m
Timescales:
January 2005 saw the scoping and outlining design by a previous (non-Balfour Beatty Management) team. We became involved one year later and took over management of the project in full in March 2006. The protection deck over the platforms and the ticket hall was installed between December 2006 and July 2007, in parallel with the temporary lighting installation. The full permanent design was issued in September 2007, with the completion of a detailed inspection of the existing structure. The temporary roof installation over the train shed roof commenced in November 2007, and the train shed roof refurbishment was carried out from January to October 2008. Then the permanent lighting was installed in parallel with the protection deck removal, with completion in April 2008.
Background:
This project was born out of the Metronet PPP contract with London Underground (LU).
Our brief:
The provision of a first-class project management team to deliver this project for Metronet.
Services provided:
This project utilises a variety of our services, including project management (design, approvals and construction); commercial and procurement management; and requirements management.
Our achievements:
Balfour Beatty Management managed the design and approvals, including prioritising the protection deck to allow an early start on site. This included working closely with Metronet and LU to understand their detailed scope, technical requirements and concerns, to gain the required technical and commercial approvals. Planning consent was also gained for these works to the Grade II listed structure.
To minimise the effect on the passengers and operational railway a 3,000m2 protection deck was installed, with moveable temporary roofs to provide protection from the weather. Up to ten coats of paint were removed from the wrought iron structure, using a chemical gel, and long life paint applied. The existing cladding and Georgian wired glazing were replaced with low maintenance aluminium Kalzip cladding which is similar to the original in appearance, and toughened, laminated and self cleaning glazing. A maintenance gantry and eaves walkways have been installed, and together with the low maintenance materials use for cladding and glazing, this will reduce whole life costs.
Balfour Beatty Management have established a strong project team and built close working relationships with both Metronet and the London Underground. These strong bonds have meant the opportunity to offer our people a great deal of development opportunities, working on multi-disciplinary, multi-life cycle projects with further opportunities in project and contract management. Opportunities with such immense scope are rare in our industry.
Transportation
In this complex and extremely broad-ranging sector, we focus on rail, major highways and multi-modal hub & spoke transportation systems. Within these areas our highly experienced team work through the entire development cycle; from feasibility and design right through to construction and delivery into service. This often requires a multidisciplinary approach, where we combine building, civil, M&E and rail engineering expertise with our project and commercial management skills to deliver in constrained and demanding environments.
We’re currently involved in some truly high-profile projects, including the King’s Cross Redevelopment – a hugely complex station redevelopment valued at around £800m – and BAA’s Terminal 5 Rail Link. We’re also playing a lead role in the upgrading of London’s Underground network, providing services to London Underground Ltd and its PPP partners through our dedicated Metro delivery team.
Above ground, we’re part of the Regional and City Airports (RCA) consortium - the Balfour Beatty Group’s specialist airport investment and development group. In 2007, our technical expertise developed the business model and capital expenditure plans that enabled RCA to successfully acquire Exeter and Devon International Airport Ltd.
Exeter is already one of the fastest-growing regional airports in the UK, but now it will be substantially redeveloped with new terminal facilities, an aircraft stand and (in the longer term) further terminal capacity, stand and taxiway development. It’s the kind of project that will require strong development, management and asset management skills. All of which we have in abundance. Our project history to date has clearly demonstrated expertise in airport master planning and development solutions, long-term capital investment planning, as well as operational skills in the aviation market, so we firmly believe we have much to offer.
Building
Heery’s strengths and track record have provided an excellent foundation in this area. Offering services across a range of sectors including commercial development, public amenities, education and healthcare, we work closely with customers to understand their needs, provide solutions for complex projects, and, in doing so, create maximum value on each project.
Some of the truly inspirational projects we’ve helped to deliver include turning Kempton Racecourse into an all-weather, all-year round facility, and completing the Playfair Project in Edinburgh, where we’ve refurbished the Royal Scottish Academy building and linked it, underground, to the National Gallery of Scotland. Heery have also been selected as Construction Manager for the two-year Cutty Sark Conservation Project, involving both repair and conversation for the ship herself, together with creating an improved visitor environment. A key national heritage project, our selection for this reflects our strong track record within this field.
And it doesn’t stop there. Current projects include the relocation of Queen Margaret University College (Scotland’s first entirely new higher education campus development for 30 years); seven new buildings across the UK for the NHS Blood and Transplant Service; and the 1,000,000sq ft, £170m Silverburn retail development centre in Glasgow.
Utilities
Drawing on our extensive experience in water, gas, electricity and telecoms networks, we’re able to manage a wide range of multi-utilities projects. Our projects include the rehabilitation and renewal of networks, where we handle every aspect of the planning and design to the management of utility diversions for major building and infrastructure projects, dealing directly with the utility companies and other stakeholders. We also have an established track record working with companies such as Three Valleys Water to reduce leakage from water networks.
A good example of BBM’s utilities activity is our alliance with National Grid on the North West Gas Alliance. We’re working together on the abandonment of iron gas mains across the distribution network in the North West of England – replacing the iron pipes, where necessary, with non-metallic materials. It’s a strong partnership that focuses on working together, sharing knowledge and getting the job done. BBM play a key role on the alliance management team and our staff on the project include commercial managers, programme planners, designers and network planners. All of the project’s targets have been met and we’ve also made considerable safety improvements. As a result of this success, we are now an alliance partner with National Grid working on the analogue to digital switch over programme and upgrading National Grid’s transmission infrastructure.
Other key customers include Merseytravel, for whom we managed utilities diversions to prepare for the Merseytram lines running from Liverpool to Kirby.
The work we do in this sector is supported by the latest technology, including GIS vector mapping and bespoke applications that we’ve developed using a variety of software, including Java.
Industry
Industry is a new and growing market for BBM, in which we’ve recently won substantial and challenging contracts.
Take, for example, our £24m construction management project with Kodak at Harrow – the first step in a programme of similar work right around the world. Kodak is streamlining its business to take advantage of new technology and reorganising its facilities and assets on the 40-acre site in North-West London. The modernisation process poses a number of technical challenges for BBM. For instance, the work must be carried out while the facilities are still operational and some of the buildings involved contain various quantities of asbestos.
We are also working on a number of PetroChem contracts. Lucite International have charged us with managing maintenance, turnaround and engineering projects on their site at Cassel Works, Teesside, and we also look after Q8 Petroleum’s site in Europoort, Holland.
