Estates Bursar David Anderson shares an update on the new Music School building project.
Since my last note the steel frame is now substantially completed (save for a few bits that have to be left out so that we can crane the floors in).
The ground floor structure is now complete – this beam and block construction is pretty simple, consisting of concrete upside-down T beams with blocks dropped in between. These span the foundation walls and we simply miss out some blocks where we want to have gaps for pipes and cables.
The upper floors are in progress as we speak. These are pre-cast concrete floor planks and in the photos below you can see that they are lifted off the lorry by the crane and placed into position. If this is all completed by Christmas then the project will be substantially on programme. We have taken a timelapse video over the last few months which shows the progress that has been made.
In the new year the external brickwork will commence, and quite soon after that, the roof structure. The building is designed as a steel frame which helps with our programme as we are able to do both these works simultaneously as the walls don’t hold up the roof.
Critical Path
During any construction project when there are delays the same question always arises ‘is it on the critical path?’ This is simply the sequence that the works have to follow. In basic terms, the foundations, steel frame, floors, walls, roof, then inside. Lots of work sits outside of the critical path as seen on the programme, below, but if they are delayed for long enough then the critical path changes which causes problems as the whole follow-on sequence has to be amended.
It is very important that both the design team and the contractor are ahead of the game, procuring works that are required many months ahead. To give you some idea, at present the design team and contractor are working on placing orders for doors, internal acoustic panelling and the audio visual systems which will be required on site in around 7-9 months time.
