Office Rationalisation

Location: Edinburgh

Summary: Phased alteration and fit-out works within 3 operational local authority office buildings within Edinburgh

Value: £1.2m

Description of Works

Westfield House (Phases 1 & 2) 

Phased refurbishment works to an operational office building to provide 700m² of upgraded office facilities including a business centre, meeting rooms, tea prep, and toilet areas.

Works included:

• Downtakings/strip-out
• Asbestos removal and encapsulation
• Roof repairs
• Partition walls
• Electrical & data installation
• Flooring including carpet tiles and vinyl
• Suspended ceilings and decoration
• Furniture including workstations, task chairs, monitor arms and storage cabinets

Attention to detail and design coordination was essential so that the works were completed within the phased and challenging timescales.

249 High Street 

Phased strip-out and re-fit of 3 levels of office space within an occupied Grade A listed local authority office building in a busy city centre location.  The refurbished areas provide open plan office space, waiting areas, interview and meeting rooms and toilet facilities.

Works included:

• Downtakings/strip-out
• Asbestos removal
• M&E services including new air handling plant, lighting and data installation
• Segregation of phased works via temporary partitions
• Flooring including carpet tiles and vinyl
• Suspended ceilings and decoration
• Furniture including workstations, task chairs, monitor arms and storage cabinets

North Area Office

Phased office refurbishment to provide 700m² of upgraded open plan office space, a business centre, 3 meeting rooms, tea prep areas, toilets, and waiting areas. The project was delivered in four consecutive phases whilst other parts of the building remained occupied.

Works included:

• Downtakings/strip-out
• Partition walls
• M&E services including ventilation, air conditioning, power, lighting and data installation
• Flooring including carpet tiles and vinyl
• Decoration
• Furniture including workstations, task chairs, monitor arms and storage cabinets

Added Value:

Westfield House

With budget constraints on the project, we proposed that the ceiling frame be retained throughout and where necessary we retained existing ceiling tiles to complete repairs; this minimised replacement of new tiles to isolated rooms at 15% of the floor area.  The removal and disposal of the bitumen-based floor adhesive which contained asbestos used significant quantities of chemical product to dissolve the bitumen and created waste which had specific disposal requirements; the proposal to encapsulate the adhesive with a revised specification of floor screed, which was always required, reduced product used and waste with special disposal requirements.

249 High Street

The work was carried out in four phases over three floors in a fully operational local authority office building where Mechanical and Electrical services had to be maintained in the occupied areas with some of the work having to be carried out at night or weekends.  In some areas there was a requirement to reinstate M&E services temporarily during the daytime to allow the operation of the offices to continue uninterrupted, with the alteration works restricted to out of hours.

North Area Office

Temporary partitions and doors were installed to segregate the office workers from the construction areas, reducing the nuisance of dust and noise to their working environment.  The existing AC system was altered to adjust the capacity of existing units, this resulted in the minimisation of a new installation by maximising the existing capacity of each of its existing, reducing the overall cost of the installation.

Client Comments

Westfield House

“Well done in completing the first phase of the works, on programme and with zero snagging. The client is delighted with the end product which has exceeded their expectations.”

 “Thank you for your continued support in delivering the project, with another successful handover to our client. The handover of Phase 2 a day early has assisted the client to better manage their move management on two projects which occur over the same weekend, an effort which is greatly appreciated.”

 249 High Street

“This important and challenging project has been completed quietly, efficiently, and professionally without any fuss. This is a great result so well done and thanks.”

For more information please contact us