Page 14 - Eclipse - RVC Alumni Magazine - Autumn 2020

Hawkshead Development Project: The last 12 months
Jo Payne
When I wrote for Eclipse last year, the major theme of the Hawkshead development project was one of demolition, not construction – the removal of the old rather than the creation of the new.
The past 12 months have been the complete opposite, and what a year it has been!
As well as demolishing the southern
half of the Clinical Block, we have completed dozens of enabling projects which needed to be carried out to
allow construction to proceed. We
have re-routed gas, water, power and data supplies from underneath the construction site. We created an entirely new teaching lab in the space that
used to be the Mill Reef lecture theatre, relocated the post room and refurbished the farmhouse at Boltons Park Farm to provide office “swing space” for groups displaced by construction activity.
As this article goes to print, the new TaRC labs have been weatherproofed and the team are busy plastering the walls and installing power and data cables. They will soon be pouring concrete for the atrium link bridge and lecture theatre roof. The next stage is to agree all the fixtures and finishes for each space.
Jo Payne is the Operational Interface Manager for the project and can be contacted for more information via capitalprojects@rvc.ac.uk
But it hasn’t all been plain sailing. The arrival of our main contractor (RG Carter) in October 2019 coincided with one of the wettest autumns and winter periods since records began. In the preceding 135 years, there had only been four occasions when more rain fell on Hawkshead!
Despite turning the construction site into a quagmire, the contractors successfully installed more than 400 support piles, literally laying the foundations for the building to come. Along the way they unearthed the remnants of the original campus heating system and the foundations of the old Sefton wing.
By February, we were ready to construct the tower crane – a vital piece of equipment which would support the movement of construction materials throughout the project. Unfortunately, Storms Ciara and Dennis had other ideas. As England experienced its windiest month for 30 years, week after week passed as we waited for a break in the weather.
We finally got to celebrate the installation of the crane on March 3rd, but it was
a short-lived triumph. Two days later,
the UK recorded its first fatality from a previously unknown Coronavirus strain, and everything changed. We began depopulating the College on March 16th and by the 27th all construction had been halted.
But the story doesn’t end there. Following modifications to site
operations protocols, to enable social distancing, Carters were able to restart work on April 20th and are now well on the way with the new teaching and research facilities.
We know there will be further challenges ahead – but dealing with the unexpected is what project management is all about. With the building now really starting to take shape, we are continuing to hope for the best while still preparing for the worst.
There’s a saying in construction, that most of the risks are in the ground, and while we may not have found any Roman ruins
or unexploded bombs, we certainly found lots of RVC “archaeology”. If the last year has taught us anything, I’d say that whether it’s an Atlantic storm, torrential rain or a novel virus, there are just as many risks in the sky.
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