Refurbishment of council offices and arts centre, Enfield, UK

NEC has been successfully used for a major public building refurbishment in north London. Enfield Council let the refurbishment of Thomas Hardy House to Willmott Dixon Interiors via the NEC-based Scape construction framework under an NEC4 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) Option A (priced contract with activity schedule) in January 2022.

The outdated council-owned office building and its ground-floor Dugdale Arts Centre had been closed for two years following the Covid-19 pandemic. The scheme involved stripping out and fully refurbishing and refitting the first and second office floors to provide a new children and families hub for the council’s social services staff, lawyers and police, while a new café, museum and community space were created in the existing ground-floor arts centre.

The £8.6 million project, which was completed on time and to the agreed revised budget in December 2022, included creation of a new ground floor entrance, provision of new restaurant and kitchen facilities, refurbishment of staircases, removal of structural elements, modifications to the façade and installation of air-source heat pumps at roof level.

The designer and NEC project manager was multi-disciplinary joint venture Perfect Circle, which was engaged via the Scape consultancy framework under an NEC3 Professional Services Contract (PSC).

Building on previous success with NEC

A senior member of the council’s project team says the Scape frameworks were chosen as they are NEC-based procurement solutions. ‘The NEC suite is relatively simple to use, with ECC option X22 providing for early engagement of the main contractor in the PSC design and pricing process. We had already successfully used NEC to deliver a new social housing service hub, so employing the same procurement route and team was seen as an opportunity to build on that success.’

The ethos of NEC as a collaborative legal arrangement inspired the parties to behave accordingly. The NEC requirement on the project team to work in a ‘spirit of mutual trust and co-operation’ was the underlying message in the relationship between the council, the project manager and the contractor, resulting in a very good contractor–client relationship.

As a fit-out refurbishment the project was naturally a fast-track delivery. The programme became further compressed by a late project manager’s instruction to include a substantial refurbishment of the Dugdale Arts Centre in the scope, comprising a new café-restaurant, museum and community exhibition and performance space, for which no previous design or development had been undertaken.

Proactive approach to change

The instruction was to complete the arts centre work by mid-December in time for the Christmas festivities. As no sectional completion existed in the main contract, this meant the whole project needed to be completed by this time despite the contractor’s programme indicating it would not be finished before early February.

By working collaboratively and proactively, the project team were able to accelerate the programme to include the additional work. According to the council, this would have been difficult to achieve under traditional contract conditions.

NEC contract processes such as early warnings and compensations events were managed through Sypro software. This enabled a single source of contractual notifications to be issued and responded to, both timely and accurately.

The end result is that social services staff and partner organisations are now co-located in one central hub which is secure, fully accessible and supports smart working, while the arts centre has been reconfigured to make better use of the space so it is fully inclusive, adaptable and accessible for all.

Benefits of using NEC

• The client found the NEC contracts relatively simple to use.
• ECC option X22 allowed for early engagement of the main contractor in the PSC design and pricing, ensuring more accurate budgeting from the outset.
• NEC requirement on the project team to act in a ‘spirit of mutual trust and co-operation’ resulted in a very good relationship between the client, project manager and contractor.
• NEC inspired collaboration enabled the project to be completed on time and to the agreed revised budget despite a late and significant change to the scope.