The TGH Refurbishment Project

Woohoo!!

Apart from the final snagging the refurbishment is now complete.

So what do you think?? It would be good to hear your feedback! so if you feel the need to share your praise please email [email protected]  Any complaints however, are to be directed to Bob Shimmens ;) 

Quite worringly I have already begun to forget what TGH looked like before we started the project (O_O) So lest we forget just how far we have come and how much has been acheived I put together the comparison above. (press CTRL and '+' to enlarge the image)

Enjoy!

We’re nearly there ………………..!!

Just a few days left to the official finish of the TGH refurbishment.

The last phase opens on Monday 5th November with a newly refurbished restaurant and a completely revamped ICT area.

In the restaurant, we’ve tried to take on board as much feedback as we could from the recent staff survey. In general terms we’re planning to try and give staff more choice and make the restaurant operate more flexibly so that people can better tie it in with their busy work.

And yes, we want the area to feel brighter, lighter and fresher and more modern than the previous restaurant.

In the ICT area , Matt has introduced a bit of an IT perspective on how the RSC might continue to evolve, post-refurbishment. That includes smaller, more flexible desking, less paper and storage and a much greater emphasis on facilities for more collaborative working. Pop in and see the ICT staff and get an insight into the future of the RSC?

Although Monday is the official finish of the refurbishment, in reality it won’t be. We will have a further period of 4-6 weeks of commissioning and snagging works.

This work should ensure that the heating, lighting, air conditioning etc is set-up in such a way as to ensure maximum working comfort for staff and ensure that the building realises its potential in terms of energy efficiency.

The enhancement of so many areas of the building has also exaggerated the state of some of the area and parts which didn’t form part of the original specification. So there may well be a need to address some of those.

On behalf of the Facilities team can I take this opportunity to thank all staff for their understanding and patience during the 17 months or so of the works.

We have tried to keep the levels of disruption to a minimum and are thankful that staff have been so postive and understanding about dealing with different entrances, moving in and out of the decant and putting up with banging and drilling on occasion.

Thanks also to the ICT staff for supporting us so well during the project.

So what do we do next?

At some time in the relatively near future there is likely to be a mass move of all staff in the building. This reorganisation will try and address recent re-structuring of the business and teams whilst looking to enhance collaboration and cross-departmental working.

Council have also given support in principle for the development of a “Chemistry Centre” in the ground floor of the extension. This promises to be an invaluable facility in the way we promote chemistry in the future.  

After what seemed like an eternity it was time for us to leave our temporary home in decant and return back to the completed ground floor.

The boys had much to do over the weekend if it was all going to be ready by Monday morning, this included;

Moving those in decant (Finance, Facilities, Books etc) back into the newly refurbished bits.

Moving ICT staff into Decant.

Moving HR into their new accomodation

Moving all the lockers back to their original location

Preparing the break out area

Taking down the partitions that created the temporary HR office, Reception, Postroom, Stock room and the Locker room.

Setting up a temporary servery and dining room in the extension.

As always the challenges were met with dogged determination and these images (taken by Tim Marshall our interior designer) are testiment to all those endless hours of hard work that everyone put in.

Almost there...

Super Phase - The Story so Far (Part 2) – Decant Weekend

Following the prior works necessary to accommodate the stock room and post room, the Decant weekend loomed ahead, which provided the only window to ensure that the area to be refurbished was clear and the Decant area was business as usual on the Monday.

Before the Strip out

followed by the post room;

and eventually store rooms for Finance and Facilities. Unfortunately there are no photos of shelves being erected in a cupboard, however, these would only blight the real time excitement at the time!!!

Gradual Occupation of the Area:

Re-Instatement Works;