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Challenge
A strong relationship is in place with the University of Hull as Sewell Construction built the £30 million student residences on the higher education provider’s Cottingham Road campus in Hull. Sewell has also completed a number of smaller scale projects on campus, ranging from demolition and civils, to block reconfigurations and refurbishments.
Staff House is an integral part of the university, constantly used for internal and external events and functions.
The kitchen facilities were tired and dated, and needed replacing to be brought up to modern standards. This included industrial catering equipment, roofing works, flooring, new drainage and staff welfare facilities.
Delivery
Due to a tight 16-week deadline for the project Sewell planned to work 12-hour shifts from Monday to Saturday, as well as some Sundays.
Sewell made plans for working in a live environment, as one quarter of the building was occupied by us during the project and 4,000 students needed to be inducted while work continued. The site team segregated work areas and the existing finishes in the building were protected, ensuring carpets were covered as they needed to be retained. A temporary bin storage area was also created to minimise any disruption and staff worked from a temporary kitchen to ensure they could still cater for people using the building.
The old-style kitchen facilities were replaced, with existing walls re-plastered and hygienic wall cladding installed, new floor finishes added and modifications made to the existing drainage system. New ceilings and drop ceilings were installed, alongside toilet and shower facilities, upgrades to the existing roof and roof lights. Additional cold rooms and freezers were also installed, as well as structural strengthening and removal of racking.
The site team met with the client and end users every week to update them on progress, milestones and any other key information, such as brief water and electric shutoffs.
Results
The project was completed on time, on budget and with zero accidents. There was 100% local spend. Although there were several variations on the job,
The site team worked extended hours and weekends to accommodate variations during the project, ensuring Staff House was delivered to the original timescales.
We found Sewell to be extremely professional in their approach to the work and their work ethic. They surpassed our expectations in their approach to both the project and ourselves as the client. Sewell worked with us on all aspects of the project, including accommodating our ever-changing and often challenging business needs to ensure the building continued to operate and be able to accommodate existing, as well as new, bookings