Client:
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, The Fircroft Centre
Project Team:
Chawton Hill Associates (Contract Administrator and Principal Designer), Cravencroft (Main Contractor), RBK (Project Manager)
Project Value:
c. £1m
Project Details
During the pandemic, this community building, in Surbiton, in the borough of Kingston upon Thames was found to be suffering from structural defects. The local authority engaged a project team, including Chawton Hill, to identify a way to remediate the issues and take the opportunity to refurbish the building.
Chawton Hill were appointed as the contract administrator and principal designer on the project. The aim was to refurbish and update the Fircroft Centre in Kingston Upon Thames. We worked closely with the project team to deliver the project quickly and within budget to a tight schedule. The project threw some particular challenges our way, but we were pleased to resolve those and deliver a project that provides outstanding facilities for the coming years.
As the project was to refurbish a Victorian community facility, there were a number of considerations. The need for sensitivity to the local community and accessibility requirements was an important focus. An innovation employed was the replacement of the fire doors to lobbies. This was an alternative to the more costly option of attempting to fire rate existing doors or replace original glazed screens around the main stairwell lobbies. We were also able to specify the use of an ‘evac chair’ rather than retrofitting evacuation ramps to the existing building, saving time and money.
We were also able to save both time and money by using an innovative resin injection technique for part of the building that required underpinning. Instead of traditional underpinning which would have required deep, narrow trench excavation.
Huge thanks as always to the entire project team for the delivery of another successful project. Should you need support with contract admin or the role of principal designer on your project, get in touch today.