Metropolitan Police New Scotland Yard refurbishment

One of London's highest profile civic buildings gets a makeover

Of the large number of 1960s civic and administrative offices in London in need of improvement, New Scotland Yard is probably one of its best known: we made its refurbishment viable and cost-effective.

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Metropolitan Police New Scotland Yard refurbishment Project summary

Client

Metropolitan Police Service

Project value

£18m

Services provided

Construct, Contracting

Sectors

Public buildings and estates

Locations

UK and Europe, UK North

Project timeline

Start date
March 2010
End date
April 2012
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Project story

Our two-year programme to refurbish and replace equipment at New Scotland Yard - former home of the Metropolitan Police Service (the Met) - was the force's biggest project for four years.

As well as overhauling nine floors of the existing building, we upgraded critical services and installed new generator-backed uninterruptible power supplies as part of the Met's strategy for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

We replaced the services as they were decommissioned to keep the overall building fully operational - important in any civic office, but essential at New Scotland Yard, which has to be operational 24/7.

There were many challenges to overcome: the building is set within a confined urban site with sensitive neighbours and had undergone half a century of multiple unrecorded adaptions that we needed to identify through detailed surveys.

New Scotland Yard Sign - Mace Group

Project stats

£153,000 of efficiencies created

Points of note

Efficiency and standardisation

We generated cost savings with repetition and programming, standardising features such as floor plate design details and simplifying aspects to bring them in line with budget aspirations. This also meant that if the design was delayed we could re-programme around the known, standardised elements, while the unique aspects were in progress – negating any potential delays.

SAVE-ing money

We generated efficiencies of more than £150,000 from the procurement of furniture, fixings and equipment using iESE's Strategic Alliance for Value and Efficiency (SAVE) scheme. To save money and reduce waste, we jointly reviewed with the client and designers which materials and finishes could be reused without reducing overall quality.

Stand-down periods

We incorporated stand-down periods during sensitive/essential operational activities, agreed out of departmental hours working and timed deliveries to avoid the office’s peak hours. This ensured the project was achieved while keeping the overall building fully operational.

Framework for success

We delivered the project through the Improvement and Efficiency South East (iESE) framework, now known as the Southern Construction Framework, which is used by local authorities and other public sector organisations. iESE enables capital projects to be procured and delivered collaboratively, consistently and efficiently.

Sensitive, safe and considerate

Our early involvement in the design and programming of the works meant we could input into the project's logistics and sequencing of work to ensure that critical areas of the building were maintained live during the refurbishment.