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Rathbone Square

Building Services Maintenance - Project Works

Rathbone Square is a carefully curated, Landmark development on a 2.3 acre site in London’s West End. Originally appointed in early 2017 by the developer, Great Portland Estates (GPE) to provide maintenance from practical completion and tasked with providing a smooth transition from project to operation, including protection of outstanding project warranties, Gratte Brothers maintained the Landlord MEP services for 2 years.

Project Information

Client:
Great Portland Estates
Sector:
Commercial/Residential
Duration:
2 Years
Services:
MEP Maintenance

Scope

Set around a newly formed garden square, the development comprises 242,800 sq. ft. of office space occupied during our 4-year contract by an online social media and social networking service, alongside 25,200 sq. ft. of retail space and 140 private apartments.

We based our initial proposals on the tender asset register and carried out a high-level labour-load assessment. Services covered under our agreement included the CHP System, BMS, EMS, HV/LV Switchgear, Back-Up Power, General & Emergency Lighting, Chillers, Pressurisation Units, Pumps, Air-Conditioning, Boilers, Fire Services, Lighting Control, Solar PV, Lightning Protection, Cooling Towers and Water Treatment.

Initial Assessments

From our initial assessment we concluded that the arrangement required a minimum of two full-time weekday resident engineers to begin with, taking into account the following key task requirements:-

  • Regular (daily) plant tours & completion of compliance/statutory tasks
  • Planned preventative maintenance to SFG20 Standard
  • On-site management & supervision of specialist sub-contractors
  • Technical support to FM Team for tenant fit-out works
  • Appropriate on-site resource levels to cover reactive work requests
  • Operation of permit systems and related escorting duties
  • Admin associated with client compliance systems & our own

Contract Management

Our Senior Operations Manager was responsible for mobilising the contract and remained actively involved it its operation, with our Contract Manager responsible for day-to-day management. The Management Team were based in Kings Cross but visited site on at least on a weekly basis to support our team and the Client.

A detailed mobilisation plan was prepared following appointment, including a task-by-task programme for implementation. The plan allocated tasks to individuals within the mobilisation team, set target dates for completion and was used to progress matters through to completion. Key areas of initial focus were recruitment of the site team and establishment of our on-site office as base-camp.

Where we identified the need for specialist support, we appointed the equipment manufacturer or installers generally, in order to benefit from their knowledge of the installed services and to ensure that maintenance would be undertaken in accordance with warranty requirements.

Evolving Needs

We were conscious of the need to plan our site activities carefully around the ongoing build and the needs of the clients FM Team, whilst ensuring that we met minimum maintenance and compliance related requirements.

The transition from building site to occupied development was not without its challenges along the way, but we managed the process proactively, by keeping the clients’ FM Team informed of upcoming obstacles, offering solutions to overcome them and dealing responsively with unforeseen issues.

Our Engineer who stepped into the role became a pivotal member of the wider FM team and built a close working relationship with key stakeholders. He co-ordinated our site operations and led two engineers in providing maintenance for the commercial areas of the development and one engineer who was allocated to the residential aspect. Our on-site engineering team grew to cater for the changing needs and demands of the development as it reached full occupancy.

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