Renaissance and Baroque Court

We were appointed just ten days before the BSF funding deadline, so we accelerated our mobilisation to meet requirements before undertaking pre-commencement investigations and surveys to develop a detailed design in compliance with building regulations and employers’ needs.

A further challenge was that Renaissance & Baroque Court is next to a busy road and shopping centre with a school directly opposite, which meant there was extremely limited space around the block, so we had to overcome numerous logistical and access issues.

Other complicating factors included the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brexit-impacted workforce and material shortages across the industry during the mobilisation and construction phase. We managed this in part by deploying an in-house procurement team, and, where required, we offered alternative products to the client accompanied by the business case. In one instance, there was a delay with cement particle board, so a temporary alternative product was identified, agreed and procured to ensure works could continue without delaying the scheme.

Engaging with residents and the local community was central to securing buy-in and support for the project, especially given the disruption large-scale projects can cause.

Both Renaissance and Baroque Court remained occupied for the duration of the works, and access was required into every property to undertake initial surveys and remove electrical fixings on balconies, which needed to be isolated to replace the cladding.

Our dedicated Resident and Community Team engaged residents early on to attain 100% access and minimise disruption. During the initial consultation, tenants’ biggest concern was noise and dust impact works. We implemented robust strategies to mitigate disruption on both scores.

For continuous improvement and ‘lessons learnt’ during the project delivery, the RLO team captured monthly resident satisfaction scores, selecting residents randomly to complete a brief scorecard. Both ‘service and communication’ and ‘works and improvements’ had ‘excellent’ scores of over 80%.