Scottish Bible Society

Project Description

The work at the Scottish Bible Society’s headquarters was to alter and refurbish the already converted church which had housed office staff for over 40 years. The Listed building, which is situated in the city centre of Edinburgh and within a Conservation Area, required careful design consideration to keep and enhance the original buildings listed status’ look and feel. Previously used as an office and historical library storage, the building required upgrading to provide a modern office environment for the Bible Society’s staff to thrive and deliver their services.

The works included complete strip out of all three floors of the existing internal spaces to allow for a blank canvas for the new works. Elements of the upper floors were removed to create an atrium feature at the entrance which highlighted the front facades-stained glass. Also included were new tea preparation areas on all three floors, open plan office floors, individual offices and bespoke breakout pods. On the ground floor is a new welcoming entrance area leading to a large meeting room for events to be held. Full new mechanical and electrical services and loose furniture was also within the Contract works.

Our Role / Scope

Doig+Smith were appointed for both Project Management & Quantity Surveying services.

Working to a strict programme and budget our Project Manager directly assisted the Client with design team and contractor selection. In addition providing structure and milestone targets to assist the wider team achieve the desired goal, while also holding a firm focus of the project timeline for handover.

Our Quantity Surveying team supplied detailed Cost Plans which were developed along with the design team’s input. Successful procurement and tendering advice on two-stage tendering was taken forward for the pre-contract delivery of the project.

Utilising a Two-Stage tender procedure. The first stage identified suitable Contractors to price information available to allow the design to develop. The second stage required full Bills of Quantities to be produced for the preferred contractor to price. Following receipt of the open book contractor submission, a Value Engineering exercise was undertaken to assist in gaining the required level of Client contingency and to meet the original Cost Plan allowance.

Doig+Smith carried out full Post Contract Project Management and Quantity Surveying services ensuring any change was captured within the Client’s original budget.

The team comprised of the following

• Director/Lead Quantity Surveyor
• Project Quantity Surveyor
• Project Manager

Benefits To Client

• Procurement advice to achieve the most economical Contractor’s price and gain a suitable Contractor to deliver the works to this historic type of building.
• Meeting and maintaining strict programme timelines by setting clear key dates including overcoming challenges when key personnel were unavailable.
• Collaborative approach to achieving the Stage-two cost submission by gaining transparency in the submitted cost.
• Close liaison with the Client to ensure value for money was achieved. A value engineering exercise lead by Doig+Smith allowed additional Client comfort in their budget (additional contingency) by reducing the Contract Sum prior to award. Emphasis was placed to not impact the final product.
• Maintaining and working around the buildings adjoining tenant who required access through the Contractors compound each evening.