Integration & Collaborative Working Award 2023

Award sponsored by   

Collaboration was ingrained in this project from inception, and this was clear from the initial tender documents and client brief. The project was tendered on a two-stage basis from the start of RIBA Stage 2 to encapsulate specialist knowledge from Morgan Sindall, design team (Atkins multi-disciplinary) and supply chain throughout each project stage. The project was inclusive and accessible to all stakeholders, some of whom were as follows; the Client (Pembrokeshire Council project management team), education department, headteacher, heads of department, all other school staff, the pupils, the board of governors, pupils, parents, local community, neighbours, PCC leisure team, Sports Academy Wales, School Trust (the school is beneficiary of a Trust fund that is managed by the trustees), PCC building services, FM Team and PCC IT team. Morgan Sindall also involved their supply chain from the outset to inform the design and take advantage of the latest innovation

A clear and robust meeting schedule was developed and agreed from project inception. This structured process ensured that everyone had a voice and allowed Morgan Sindall and their supply chain to ensure all elements of the project remained within budget. Morgan Sindall Construction and Atkins’ design team were actively engaged with Pembrokeshire County Council in a proactive manner to ensure that the project was developed in a direction that embraced all stakeholders’ views, ensuring good lines of communication were maintained. Despite the project being developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, full stakeholder engagement was maintained via the use of virtual and digital tools, web-based platforms which facilitated stable environments for the storage and communication of design and project information. Training and support was provided to stakeholders so that the use of technology was understood by all. This support ensured that the engagement process was not interrupted during the forthcoming lockdowns. With so many stakeholders and views and requests, it was a very much an exercise in politics and diplomacy to manage and deliver all these expectations within the constraints of budget and floor space. It is fair to say that via careful collaboration and integration every single stakeholder is absolutely delighted with the facility and all expectations have been delivered and indeed exceeded

This collaborative and integrated approach continued throughout construction allowing stakeholders to request timely design changes, all of which were accommodated to ensure the facility was fit for purpose. One of the biggest collaborative efforts on the project was that associated with the building services and IT. This was an exercise that commenced at RIBA Stage 3 and continued right through to handover and beyond. It required a team effort between the Client, PCC technical/FM/IT teams, MS, the M&E contractor and their supply chain. In the early stages these meetings were undertaken virtually but this evolved to physical meetings on site, essential to review access and maintenance installation in-situ. At the MS post completion Customer Experience Questionnaire, the PCC Team stated they were delighted to have been given access to the M&E trades to obtain the specialist advice they needed.