Thorne Widgery, a long established firm of business advisors and chartered accountants, were planning to move from their existing cramped offices in the centre of Hereford to spacious two storey premises on the outskirts of the city. Negotiations for these premises had been ongoing for some time and appeared to be resolved and so the client had confidently made all arrangements to move, including booking the removal van for Good Friday.
The last matter to organise was the refurbishment and re-planning of the interior spaces so that the building work could be completed before the move.
DJD Architects were appointed in February 2013 for this retrofit project and once designs were agreed with the client we were to organise a building contractor to undertake the works in time for the client to move in to the refurbished premises over the Easter holiday. A challenging timescale for all concerned.
Supported by services engineers ESDP and structural engineers, Latter Ramsay Consultants, our design team was mobilised and investigations determine the extent of the refurbishment works needed were set in motion.
Meanwhile we listened carefully to the client to determine how they wished to work so that we could design the re-planning of the offices to best suit this.
Due to the limited timescale for the project we recommended negotiating a contract with a builder who was just finishing another refurbishment project with us. This was accepted and as the design package came together this was provided to the builder. The builders costs were tested against budgets prepared by the quantity surveyor and services engineers and a value agreed.
Unfortunately, last minute delays in the acquisition process for the premises meant that the client could not authorise the contractor to start until the Friday afternoon just two weeks before the relocation date!
With close support from DJD Architects the contractor mobilised over the weekend and started work on site on the Monday. A busy two weeks followed for DJD Architects working with the contractor to ensure that the structural alterations, partitions, new lighting, cooling and heating installations, finishes and decorations were ready for the client on time.
