A look back at some of our favourite projects over the past 40 years

FAVOURITE PROJECTS 4

DECADES OF BUILDING

– A FEW OF OUR FAVOURITE PROJECTS

Insight magazine looks back over the past four decades at some of the projects that helped to make John Rowan and Partners the company it is today. Sadly we couldn’t include all of them, so here is a short selection...

Dixons Group / Currys / PC World & The Link

Dixons Group was, for a while, our biggest customer. The company was enticed into using JRP services by founder, John Rowan, and it was the start of a very fruitful relationship.

Initially in the 90s and 00s we worked with Dixons stores and The Link as well as Currys and PC World. As well as opening new stores, we delivered annual merchandising initiatives throughout their national (and sometimes international) portfolio. We provided services including design, budgeting, project, construction and cost management database design and building, tender enquiry, value engineering and capital allowance analysis for store development and refit programmes.

Job Centre Plus

A great example of our early public sector work, we initially acted as cost managers for the Department of Work and Pension’s £2bn Job Centre Plus roll-out comprising 50 sites. We saved 18% on budget and won an OGC Government Procurement Award.

Later, we worked on a separate project to help secure suitable procurement for the refurbishment of 1,000 sites, which resulted in a 15% budget saving and led to us being commissioned as regional commercial managers for project execution and delivery.

Our seconded regional cost managers were nominated 1st and 2nd place at their annual awards, for two consecutive years running!

Decent Homes

Our first foray into supporting the roll-out of the government’s Decent Homes Programme back in the early 2000s was with Hounslow Homes, which was to be the first of many. The Programme’s goal was to create decent social sector housing for vulnerable people.

We acted as multidisciplinary consultants and our involvement led to our first long-term secondment and working with multiple ALMOs and LAs across London and the south-east.

By the end of the Decent Homes Programme, John Rowan and Partners had helped to bring a staggering 120,000 homes up to the Decent Homes standard.

Carlton Cannes

Perhaps one of our more exotic projects, our work for the Intercontinental Cannes, France, overlooking the Bay of Cannes and located at the heart of Cannes Film Festival activities, saw us successfully project-manage the removal of a casino and restaurant on the seventh floor of this iconic hotel.

The areas were replaced with five additional suites of the highest standard, and we worked closely with the design team to ensure the procurement of specialist materials from around the world and handled all the required supply chain management.

The Ladderswood Estate Regeneration

For over ten years we have been supporting One Housing and New Ladderswood LLP to regenerate the Ladderswood Way estate in collaboration with Sherrygreen Homes, the London Borough of Enfield and Mulalley and Co Ltd.

This £150m+ major regeneration project is being undertaken in multiple phases and when complete will provide over 500 apartments and family houses for private sale, shared ownership and social rent. The project also includes the design and construction of six commercial units, a community centre and an 85-bedroom hotel.

Our role includes the Joint Venture management of multiple stakeholders as well as Employer’s Agent, Cost Consultant, Site Inspector and Party Wall Surveyors.

Fairmont St Andrews

What a privilege it was to work on the £15m update and refurbishment project at the 520-acre 5-star Fairmont St Andrews ‘home of golf’ resort in Scotland.

We delivered model rooms and subsequent refurbishment of 192 guest rooms, 16 suites, circulation areas, reception, lounge bar, fine dining restaurant, conference and banqueting areas, and the development of a new leisure bar and spa. The hotel remained trading throughout the construction period, which meant careful site management and detailed programming was needed.

under a ‘live’ building. The five-storey ‘iceberg’ basement included a swimming pool, gym, spa, wine store, restaurants and bars, and a chocolatier. Our health and safety team were appointed to oversee the construction of the project.

Claridge’s

Set in the heart of London’s Mayfair, Claridge’s is an art deco icon and a byword for understated elegance. Since the 1850s, it has excelled at the finer things in life: glamorous design, inspiring dining, impeccable service. There are many 5-star hotels in London but nowhere quite like Claridge’s.

In 2016, Claridge’s successfully submitted an application to build one of the largest basements ever constructed

St Pancras

St Pancras International Station, a Grade 1 listed building, is a wonder of Victorian engineering and arguably one of the most elegant railway stations in the world. We were brought in to form part of the £800m redevelopment strategy, and were appointed lead health and safety consultant, tenant liaison manager, and project manager to deliver 65 retail outlets.

Given the historic nature of the station, we naturally needed to adhere to strict English Heritage guidelines, as well as working to tight deadlines.

Searcys Restaurant and Champagne Bar

Imagine 1,372 champagne flutes lined up side by side and you have some idea of how vast Europe’s longest champagne bar at St Pancras International Station is. We were delighted to be able to work on creating this 98-metre record-breaking retail unit and restaurant.

Our team acted as client representatives and provided full project management and supply chain services to both the champagne bar and restaurant at the Grade 1 listed station.

© Conran and Partners

Green Man Lane

An exciting £250m+ joint venture estate regeneration scheme ultimately delivering 850+ homes over 20 years in Ealing, West London. We are a key project consultant for the housing association A2Dominion Group and Green Man Lane LLP, providing multidisciplinary services. Working in association with Rydon and Real this was our first foray into residential-led joint ventures.

We have worked on the project from the outset (since late 2008), working with multiple partners and stakeholders (including residents) to deliver the vision, with the creation of a bespoke off-site marketing suite for potential residents.

The multi-phase scheme includes a a new primary school, community centre and café, in addition to private and shared amenity space and public open space. The final 400+ new homes are being progressed - creating a thriving community in the heart of Ealing.

The Savoy

When the world-famous 5-star, Grade 2 listed Savoy Hotel shut in December 2007 to enable a £220m, 268 luxury rooms and suites complete restoration and refurbishment, it was the first time it had closed to customers in its 118-year history.

Our initial ‘no pressure’ challenge was to act as cost consultant and project manager for the whole project, finishing by installing the final accessories and artwork. The works involved major structural alterations and complete replacement of all mechanical and electrical services, and extensive repair and restoration to the building itself.

RateSetter

We were appointed by RateSetter (now part of Shawbrook Bank), a peer-topeer lender, to perform bank monitoring roles on a number of UK-wide projects valued at £300m+. Projects included property conversions, demolitions and the creation of new buildings, and greenfield site housebuilding.

For us, the role of the Bank Monitor is not one of an inspector, but an opportunity to bring in a ‘problem solver’ who can work with all parties to get a construction project completed – maximising the return for all.

East Village

How amazing to play a part in the London 2012 Olympics! One of our biggest ever roles, we acted as Independent Certifier on the £450m Olympic Athletes’ Village – now East Village and a lasting legacy of the Games.

This comprises 2,818 new homes, an academy campus for 1,800 students, extensive transport links, a healthcare centre, cafés and bars, 27 acres of parkland and 30 shops.

A complex project, we also handled post-Games works including extensive site inspection during fit-out works, snagging and defects management, along with full handover procedures.

Brown’s London & Balmoral Edinburgh

Both landmarks and with plenty of history between them, we were brought in by Rocco Forte Hotels to act as Project Manager, Quantity Surveyor and Principal Designer for the first, and Project Manager and H&S Principal Designer for the latter.

For Brown’s, the biggest challenge was to successfully combine heritage features with modern building technology, whilst maintaining daily hotel business and minimising disruption for guests.

The transformation of rooms and suites at The Balmoral posed a different challenge, with several different room types and designs in the renovation programme, with some rooms being enlarged. The project included the renovation of the suite where JK Rowling is thought to have penned Harry Potter – a truly beautiful suite that every muggle should see!

Luton DART

Every project we work on throws up its own unique challenges – none more so than the £225m Luton DART scheme, due for completion later in 2022.

The Luton DART, an innovative cable-car-style autonomous light rail system, is part of a major London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL) expansion project. Our role was to oversee all aspects of health and safety on the project, which involved the construction of two stations, a 350m viaduct, running slab, a tunnel and approaches, and a maintenance area.

Wellington College

We’re pleased to be able to expand our client list to embrace the educational sector, and were recently appointed to supply cost management services to Wellington College, one of the world’s top co-educational day and boarding schools.

There is now a need to provide additional boarding facilities for 6th formers and, in particular, to increase the number of boarding spaces for girls. We welcome the chance to help Wellington expand its capacity and meet its target for an equal split between boys and girls by September 2025.

Hilton London Metropole hotel

A huge challenge for our Hospitality and Leisure team was working on one of the biggest-ever hotel fit-outs the UK has ever seen, with 42 meeting rooms, 1,059 bedrooms and a 16,000 sq ft ballroom it is London’s second largest hotel by room count.

Birmingham Metropole hotel

The 790-room Birmingham hotel was another mammoth task and is one of the UK’s largest outside of London. We took on the project management and cost consultancy roles for this highly visible project and worked hard to ensure that it was refurbished and ready to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games!

Wandsworth Exchange

In our first-ever development contract with housing association L&Q, we worked on the construction of Wandsworth Exchange, a £75m strategic town centre redevelopment on the old South Thames College site.

Working with United Living, the development delivered 201 new mixed-tenure one, two and three-bedroom homes, including some basement parking and a 24-storey tower – all within a short distance from central London. We acted as Employer’s Agent and Cost Consultant on this complex inner-London project.