Case study: Bridgwater and Taunton College
How Bridgwater and Taunton College rebuilt an education building after a major fire.
In February 2021, the college suffered a major fire, caused by arson, at its Bridgwater campus. The fire did not result in any injuries, but the damage destroyed an arts and technology building of 1,700 square metres. This resulted in the need to relocate all timetabled provision, and the loss of all paper-based student coursework and resources located in the building.
The building housed plumbing, electrical, production arts and motor vehicle provision. All of the provision required specialist facilities to be re-housed.
Once the site of the fire had been secured and decontaminated, the old building had to be demolished and a completely new education block was built in its place. The event tested the college’s business continuity process, but the resulting new build has successfully delivered improved facilities and a better configuration of space. Enrolments were maintained throughout and there has been no decrease in student numbers for the areas of provision affected.
Bridgwater and Taunton College is a large tertiary college in Somerset. It has:
- a turnover in financial year 2022 of £57 million
- approximately 3,000 16-19 students
- 10,000 adult students
- a significant apprenticeship provision of around 3,000 apprentices on programme
- an Ofsted rating of Good, and its latest financial health score is Good
It is the principal delivery arm of the National College for Nuclear (southern hub) and has nationally important links with training for Hinkley nuclear power station. It operates over three sites, including a land-based site.
Bridgwater & Taunton College (BTC) has three main Campuses in:
- Bridgwater
- Taunton
- Cannington
In addition, there is a separate accommodation block at Trull, and three residential properties in Taunton.
The estate comprises a gross internal area of 100,000 square metres, all freehold.
The estate’s condition overall is:
- 7% category A
- 38% category B
- 41% category C
- 14% category D
The total running costs per year are:
- £2.1 million premises costs
- £3 million utility costs
The new build was completed for a budget of £5 million and delivered 1,700 metres squared of training workshop for trades and classroom space. The motor vehicle provision was relocated into an underutilised area of the college, improving overall use of space and allowing the new build to focus on construction trades.
The cost per metre squared was lower than would normally be expected in the sector due to the strict loss-adjuster calculation of a maximum cost envelope and the relatively simple structure of the replacement building.
Specific challenges of the project included:
- the need to rehouse student provision to alternative buildings as safely as quickly as possible
- significant safety works and decontamination required after the fire before any new building could begin
- planning for the new building needed to be achieved quickly
The college successfully navigated these challenges and approached the replacement building as an opportunity for better design.
Governance
The college has undertaken a considerable amount of capital development over the last 15 years, including the Advanced Engineering Centre, Construction Innovation Skills Centre, National College for Nuclear and an accommodation block. It therefore has well-organised arrangements for overseeing major capital projects.
It operates a permanent sub-committee of the Finance Committee which oversees large estates projects. This is the Building Projects Committee, which contains two governors, the principal and several college officers. One of the governors holds a professional specialism in estates and building projects. This committee was set up to allow dedicated governor oversight of major capital projects. The committee was therefore already in place and functioning well to oversee progress of the project and recommend decisions to the Finance Committee and the main board.
Accommodation strategy
The college produces an accommodation strategy every three years, but it is flexed in response to emerging skills priorities and available grant funding. As part of this regular development of the accommodation strategy, the college also invests in the development of several project plans which are ready to implement quickly, which would deliver elements of the strategy and are ready for initiation if funding becomes available.
The major fire, and subsequent disaster recovery processes presented an interesting challenge to the existing accommodation strategy. There had been no plan to redevelop the building which was destroyed, but the necessity to redevelop the site presented an opportunity to redesign parts of the site and reconfigure the strategy.
Client requirements and project brief
As with previous capital projects, the project required substantial input from the curriculum and end users to ensure the design was fit for purpose. It was key that the end users understood what was required from them and the importance of working within deadlines.
Respective roles for colleges, property advisers and the design team
As the project was funded from an insurance claim, the college’s insurers took charge of managing the tender and appointment of key contractors.
The insurers appointed loss adjusters who managed the relationship on behalf of insurers throughout, while the college appointed project managers who took control of the project from the college’s side. Although the ultimate responsibility for tender and cost control rested with the insurers, college staff had input into both the pre-tender specification and the ongoing design development after tender was awarded. There was therefore joint input into the specification and design process. The college utilised a ‘design and build’ contract, due to the time constraints imposed by the need to replace the temporary accommodation as soon as possible.
Under the direction of the college’s Head of Estates, the college employs two full-time project managers who have commercial construction experience to manage all of their major projects. Their commercial construction backgrounds ensure that contractors are held to account by expert managers rather than generalist site staff.
The college’s project manager liaised with the design-and-build team throughout the project and led on client-facing site meetings.
The college’s Head of Estates was responsible for ensuring continuity of educational provision, implementation of the business interruption plan, and led on the practical outworking of the reconfiguration of the site, in the context of responsibility for the overall estates strategy.
Scheme funding
The scheme was funded in full through an insurance claim, except for £100,000 for upgrade to specification of an electrical circuit board which was outside of the insurance policy.
Procurement strategy
A fully compliant project tender was managed and awarded by the insurance company from a field of five suppliers. The college did not have input into this process but were confident that a robust procurement process was followed.
Project control
Once a budget had been set and construction contracts awarded, the insurance company allowed the college leadership team the freedom to specify and manage the project to achieve best educational outcomes. The insurance company maintained a key interest throughout, attending site meetings and ensuring cost control, but allowed design and management to be performed by local educational expert managers.
Project management
There was a project group which met regularly, which was chaired by the Head of Estates. At the outset of the process, a formal cooperation agreement was drawn up between the estates team and end users, by which they agreed and documented protocols and responsibility for duty of care in each action.
This project group in turn reported to the Building Projects Committee of governors who were responsible to the full Board.
Once the construction phase of the project commenced, separate progress site meetings with the construction team were chaired by the college’s project manager and attended by the health and safety manager.
Stakeholder management and plan
There was little impact on external stakeholders for the project, as it was located in the centre of the existing campus and involved a rebuild of an existing facility, so featured no new tangible impact external to campus.
There was, however, the need for extensive consideration of impact on students and staff, since the initial impact of the fire, demolition of unsafe buildings, capping off and securing of the ground site and the eventual full rebuild, all had to take place in term time. In addition, teaching staff were having to help students with lost course work and ensure continuity of learning was as smooth as possible while their core teaching areas were moved into temporary accommodation.
The Head of Estates believes that the largest element in securing co-operation from all parties and, ultimately, a safe and successful project was extensive communication throughout. To this end, the project group planned and delivered:
- all-staff briefings
- departmental staff briefings
- regular email updates for directly affected staff and students
- detailed staff consultation throughout the design process
- the use of information boards on hoardings outside the site for live updates while the construction was in progress
A careful communications plan was drawn up and adhered to throughout to keep staff and students who were operating in challenging circumstances fully informed.
Planning approvals
Planning for the permanent structure was achieved with little delay due to the intent to replace the old building with functionally like for like facilities. The college used temporary buildings to house educational provision during the construction period and these buildings also required planning.
Cost control
The project was managed to a JCT contract, but the costs were managed by the insurance company through appointed loss adjusters. The budget was agreed by the insurance loss adjusters, but the specification was within the control of the college. From the original tender, some value engineering was required to bring the quotes within the insurance policy sum.
Steelwork was pre-ordered even before the building contractor was appointed. This proved critically important both in securing the timescale of the project, so that there were no delays waiting for steelwork to arrive, and in fixing the price for the largest element of exterior works cost, since inflation began to impact on materials prices during the construction phase of the project.
The insurance company loss adjuster attended every site meeting and was instrumental in achieving the project’s successful adherence to budget and timescale, along with the college project team.
Risk management
All phases of the project required thoughtful risk management by the college leadership team. Initial risk management involved:
- an immediate full site closure for a day while the continuity plan was activated, and safety assured
- securing the safety of the site immediately following the fire, including the capping off of water and gas supplies
- communications to the local community, parents and students
- managing press communications
- planning safe alternative accommodation for students
- designing safe pathways through the site and closing off of footpaths
- immediate discussions with exam boards regarding lost work and grading impact for affected students, including where appropriate concessions and extension for work had to be negotiated
- a full plan for the term-time demolition of the fire-damaged building
Risk management during the build
Risk was managed during the build by:
- the site management group regularly discussing the construction project risk register, which was produced by contractors but owned by the wider project group
- critical timelines of build being discussed at site meetings and by the project management group
- risks for curriculum and end users being monitored via the business continuity plan
- contractors maintaining their own insurances for the site during demolition and construction
- performance bonds not being required by the college as the contractual relationship with main contractors was managed by the insurance company
- contingency planning being recorded by the project management group for all key elements of risk – for example, temporary buildings were due to be removed at the end of January 2023 before the new building opened, but a contingency plan identified rooms and buildings spread across campus which could be utilised in the event that the removal was delayed
- governor oversight of risk being maintained by the building committee
Health and safety
There were key aspects of the project to consider for health and safety risks.
Early risk management after the fire
There was a complete site closure to allow for safe planning and shut down of immediate risks, for example the gas main. Site security and communication with staff, students and parents were critical factors in the immediate aftermath.
Demolition phase
The project team produced Risk Assessment Method Statement (RAMS) and method statements for:
- the size of the demolition compound
- crane movement and installation
- placement and delivery of skips
- lorries
- dealing with contaminated and hazardous materials, particularly from the old motor vehicle classroom area
- controlling the impact of dust
This all had to be carefully considered due to the need to undertake the demolition with students and staff on site.
Signage
Routes through the campus were carefully set out by signs and internal compounds secured and clearly identified.
Closures
Elements of the site required complete closure at various points during the project, such as car parks and the main road into the site. Banks staff were engaged to conduct traffic on site to limit risk to pedestrians.
Fencing
In order to allow the project to proceed during term-time, fencing of compounds was required to be secure and clear in setting hard boundaries.
Temporary accommodation
With the assistance of the insurers, affected students and staff were safely relocated and provided with a clear path through site.
Asbestos
As can sometimes be the case with projects on older college sites, some minor areas of asbestos were uncovered in the demolition process. These required professional treatment and added minor cost to the project.
Contamination
A separate plan for the safe removal of contaminated material was required as part of the demolition plan. Specialist contractors and precautions were required for removal of hazardous substances from the motor vehicle area and also for the removal of damaged paint which had previously encapsulated old lead coating.
All significant college estates activities proceed under risk assessments, but this decontamination work proceeded under an additional specialist risk assessment which was designed by expert contractors. A prohibition notice was issued for the affected area from the outset to prevent any staff from entering for any reason, even to collect personal belongings, and it was protected throughout by secure fencing.
Project completion and handover
Practical completion of the new building was achieved in January 2023.
There followed a period of handover during which testing and snagging took place. A full “snagging line” was set up to feed back issues arising in initial inspection, occupation and use of the building over the first year.
A full two weeks was allocated for moving in, set up and adjustment, which ensured that the facility was ready for teaching when occupied.
Operation and maintenance manuals for every building were thoroughly reviewed by the project manager and Head of Estates. It was essential to ensure that these were accurate, and all manuals provided. This review is critical to ensuring that instructions are comprehensive and provide risk mitigation for the future. Incomplete information can seriously delay future projects.
An important part of this work was also to ensure that there was room coding alignment between the building manual and the college room numbering and estates records. This is often overlooked as part of operation and maintenance checking but ensures that the manuals are practically useful for future reference and easily understood in the case of fire plans and other health and safety issues. The team’s good practice in ensuring omissions and mistakes were corrected ensured a complete set of manuals will always be available. Once reviewed and complete, all manuals were stored electronically for security and ease of access.
There was a project retention of 5% of cost, pending a final check of outstanding issues.
The college conducts post project review in two phases:
- review of the physical construction project phase
- review of impact on curriculum and educational impact of completed project
Review of construction phase
This was itself divided into two sections, firstly a standard review of the construction process. This was led by the project team and analysed:
- construction cost and time overruns
- risks materialising
- contractor performance
- internal management
- finished building quality
- snagging process
- retention
- lessons learned
The second section was a fit-out review. The project management group also separately reviewed the building fit-out phase, consisting of:
- its timeliness
- budget
- planning adequacy
- impacts of fit-out on curriculum staff and students
- integration with main project plan
- impacts on timetabling
- resourcing
This phase was conducted as rigorously as the review of the construction process.
This review was introduced to ensure this phase was well planned. The project management team was keen to ensure that previous lessons had been learned regarding fit-out budget, timescales and quality of specification for equipment and fittings. This was particularly important since this phase impacts most immediately on classroom environment, learning resources and student and staff satisfaction.
Review of curriculum impact
A separate meeting was held with curriculum staff and students to explore what went well and what could be improved. These revealed lessons learned on the planning and occupation of the new build and what had been learnt since opening from a curriculum perspective.
Longer-term analysis of curriculum impacts, including quality improvement, student numbers and outcomes for impacted curriculum areas, and whether all of these have met expectation will be conducted at a suitable time (18 months later) and documented.
Other elements of impact that were examined included:
- functionality design
- breadth of facilities provided
- user feedback
Current experiences were sought in comparison with the original building.
There was a defect period of 1 year and retention under the JCT contract used for the project.
Project retention was 5%, pending a final check of outstanding issues.
The insurance claim was paid in full, and the college held the remaining value of the claim after expenditure to date on its balance sheet, pending confirmation of any retention payment due.
Key strengths and successes in the project management and delivery
The leadership team has reflected on the successful delivery of this project and what is possible in delivering future projects during term time, and with a January opening. This new positivity to different timescales and models means that they will no longer restrict project planning to the traditional window of summer works and autumn opening, giving more flexibility for estates development.
The forced displacement of previous provision and the creation of a new block allowed a redesign of accommodation strategy for affected areas. This resulted not only in a specialist building for construction and plumbing but also a newly focussed area for motor vehicle provision, which now houses motor sports and other automotive provision in a single space, where previously it was scattered through the estate.
In addition, the period of demolition and rebuild, when provision was housed in temporary accommodation, was used constructively. It allowed teams to create and test temporary mock ups of better curriculum delivery configurations which were then refined and transferred into permanent accommodation.
Strong communication with staff and students throughout the project was a key feature and is personally important to the Head of Estates, who regards it as essential to good practice.
Good planning in regard to advance ordering of steelwork ensured price inflation was avoided.
The challenge of demolishing a site containing hazardous materials, and subsequent new build, were accomplished during term time and staff morale and student satisfaction remained high. It is too early to measure impact on student achievement for affected curriculum areas and this will be reviewed when full data is available, although staff have not recorded any concerns regarding predicted outcomes.
The fit-out period benefitted from proper planning, resourcing and commitment to post project review. Since the last element of a project often creates the most immediate impact on student and staff satisfaction, the leadership team feel that this investment has been important in delivering project aims.
The thorough review of operation and maintenance manuals, rather than acceptance without proper due diligence, ensured that they are complete and accurate. This could be important for any future projects that the college wishes to carry out and also to inform maintenance, repair and safety work. The review included ensuring that room number coding in manuals and in reality were consistent.
Challenges encountered
In addition to all of the logistical issues set out in previous sections, the college dealt with the delivery of new cladding being delayed, but this did not ultimately lead to a delayed opening. The contingency plan, had the cladding been delayed, would have been to continue to use the alternative temporary buildings.
Lessons learned
There were many lessons learnt from the project, including that:
- a complicated building project is possible to achieve during term-time and to an unorthodox timeline, if planned well
- although the maintenance of mandatory fire breaks and testing of fire alarms are primarily of importance for ensuring health and safety of site occupants, the fire also reinforced their importance in preventing further spread of damage – since the college had paid careful attention to these requirements, the fire was prevented from spreading further on campus
- ensuring that records of IT cabling infrastructure and its links to site are up to date is wise
- ensuring that there is a complete list of how to turn everything off in one place in the business continuity plan in the event of a disaster is wise
- the unexpected rebuilding work forced the college to re-examine its estates strategy and place greater value on consolidation, quality and refurbishment
As well as these lessons, the college discovered that it found it difficult to compile a list of minor equipment for the insurance claim. While significant assets were all recorded in detail on the asset register, there were many minor assets of small financial value which were destroyed. A list was eventually compiled with sufficient accuracy to support a claim, but this took time and effort. They now maintain an inventory list of smaller items in each team which is accurate and up to date.
The major incident of a serious fire on campus, which at first presented many logistical challenges, has been turned by the college into an opportunity to rethink the design of the centre of the estate and secure improved facilities of 1,700 square metres for students. The project to replace the destroyed facilities with modern workshop and classroom space was managed safely with leadership, good communications, and continuity in student programmes.
One of the college’s mantras is to treat every challenge as an opportunity. The fire was a significant challenge but through careful project management and clear communication with both internal and external stakeholders we now have a high-quality facility for staff and students. A number of lessons were learnt through the project which are reflected in this case study which hopefully will be useful to other colleges.