Feasibility Study and Outline Design for Redevelopment of Millennium Mills

As in the real world you will be dealing with ambiguous and uncertain situations and information. You will need to manage, mitigate and justify any assumptions according to your best professional understanding.  You must deliver to your client a professional report that addresses their concerns and puts forward your suggested outline design / action plan with ways to implement that plan.  It is important to remember that you are acting as a professional consultant and must put forward what you believe to be the most appropriate solution remembering you have a professional duty to society which may be contrary to your client’s needs.

This assignment will expect you to work closely in your student teams to collaborate and produce the desired module outcomes.  It will also involve you undertaking detailed individual research and exposition.  There are three parts to the assessment of this module and they are included in this one assignment in three main parts:

1.Collaborative/ Group Feasibility Presentation 20%

2.Group Case Study, with individual student section - 60% weighting (50% individual section /10% Group collaboration)

3.Individual Mental Wealth Reflective Log.  – 20% weighting

The technical issues will be covered in parts (1) and (2) and your professional ability to manage yourself and the group work will be demonstrated in the Reflective Log (3).  

If you undergo difficulties in your group or individual work these will need to be explained and justified in your Reflective Log in the correct format as you will be assessed on how well you have coped with managing change during this work – See ‘Part C : Reflective Log and Summary Report’  for details below.  

It is expected that all students will attend all class sessions including the practice presentations – 5% marks will be deducted where attendance is not consistently high.

Management and Monitoring Progress

The assignment will consist of five team members, in which you will responsible for one task each but ultimately the whole project must be joined up.   Preparing students to engage with a variety of people in the work place. It is not always possible to work with close friends in industry, but the ability to work as a team and meet deadlines on time, this is paramount.  It is advisable for the group to meet weekly to plan work and report on progress.  Keep a log of all the challenges that you face as both a group and an individual and reflect upon this in your Reflective Log.

Collaborative/Group Feasibility Presentation

All your collaborative group work needs to be uploaded and documented using MicroSoft© ‘Teams’ platform Private Channels.  Details of how to access this will be provided in your tutorials.

The Millennium Mills Redevelopment

Cities across the world are already feeling the effects of the climate crisis and need to ensure that they are resilient to a future which could result in a variety of changeable weather, such as more powerful rainfall events, higher temperatures and sea level rise. This means that all new developments need to be designed to be resilient in an uncertain world in 2050 to ensure that the people living, working and visiting there are safe, healthy, comfortable and productive.  Silvertown Quays in London’s Royal Docks is a waterside site which will be developed over the next 10-15 years and needs to be designed to be 2050-ready.

The client has already received several proposals regarding the refurbishment of the Mills but remain unsatisfied about these proposals.  Details of the context and background to the Millennium Mills can be found in the Appendix A

Your team is an engineering consultancy company and have been commissioned by the lead developer Lendlease to carry out a feasibility study and outline design for the redevelopment of the Millennium Mills located on the southern side of the Royal Victoria Dock and associated infrastructure. You will be considering plot 4 for the construction of a new building to facilitate the client’s requirements below. Basic details, site plans are provided on the Moodle site for EG7034 – with further documentary details and materials accessed on line form the Newham London Borough Planning Portal.  

Access details of which are in Appendix B.

Project requirements

Lendlease are looking to you for answers as to how to achieve from the project the most appropriate:

·Sustainable approach to design that will provide long term benefit to the local and wider area of East London.

·An integrated infrastructure strategy and improved access and transport links for the local people and businesses.

·A strong commercial strategy & evidence that the development with be financially viable and meet its legal requirements.

·Demonstrate that they meet the needs of local and regional stakeholders and environmental planning obligations

·A clear procurement strategy and safe construction programme

·A high quality development that showcases innovation and also provides value for money for the client and stakeholders alike.

This is broken down in more detail into five (I  - V) sections in Part B of this assignment.

Group Case Study

Collaborative Group Feasibility Presentation

3.1 Collaborative Group Feasibility Presentation – Due week 6

An outline feasibility study:

·To compare three options listed below for plot 4 and reach a conclusion for the best use of the land.

Commercial premises

Leisure or cultural facilities

Residential development.

Each proposed scheme must be supported by: -

An artist impression of the building

Floor plans

Elevations

·Within your presentation you must also address the project requirements listed within the Project Brief.  Additionally, identify key design interventions for the site to ensure that Silvertown is resilient in the future to potential urban flood events, river flood events and sea level rise. Higher intensity rainfall events, elongated summer temperatures and increasing urban heat island effect.  

You can find some information about this project on the Newham Planning Portal, access information is given in Appendix B.  Please ensure that this information is researched fully but please DO NOT plagiarise this information

Format for Assessment  

Pre-record and upload the videoed PowerPoint presentation using MS Stream to your MS Team Student Private Channel  in MP4 video format or similar and clearly noted as the FINAL COPY FOR ASSESSMENT.  The Group must ensure that the video plays appropriately from this location and is no longer than eight minutes long.   

The slide notes section should include a summary of the main points of each slide and references used.

Technical written report, written in individual named sections

The client has now considered your feasibility presentation and wishes to go ahead with the Millennium Mills Redevelopment as outlined in the attached drawings provided in the Appendix. Using this as a basis your group needs to provide a brief detailed report as outlined below.

The group leader will need to allocate work roles and manage monitor progress to cover the five sections as indicated below.  It is expected that each section, will be supported with  charts, data, and sketches where required.

Section I – Design Issues (Student 1)

1.Devise a programme in the form of a Gantt chart following the RIBA plan of works for the consultation and design of the project only showing clearly all-time constraints prior to construction.

2.Analyse and provide financial data supporting and justifying cost implications at design stage only for the project.

3.Specify & discuss how Building Information Modelling (BIM) can be applied to this project.

Section II – Environmental & Stakeholder Management (Student 2)

Individual Mental Wealth Reflective Log

1.An overview of the environmental issues affecting the construction & operation of the project.

2.A detailed report supporting the process in which public concerns will be addressed.

3.Evaluate how Low Carbon Planning helps to integrate energy efficiency and renewable energy sources cost effectively into the new development. (e.g. identify the measures used to minimising construction waste, embodied energy and carbon emissions, in low carbon energy design and planning)

Section III – Construction Planning (Student 3)

1.The choice of construction methods and logistics for the redevelopment to reduce carbon emission and reduce pollution.

2.Discuss Health and Safety obligations and provide detailed method statements supported with pictorials for the construction of the major elements of the works, these must be project specific.

3.An outline programme (Gantt chart user friendly) for the works for the key elements (manually or software based) identifying critical activities & resource smoothing opportunities.

Section IV – Economic & legal Issues (Student 4)

1.Present an economic evaluation of the financing of the Infrastructure and the likely costs.

2.Discuss the geotechnical issues that need to be addressed within this scheme which will affect the design and cost.

3.Advise the client on the following:-

a.The different methods for “Dispute Resolution” if disputes arise?

b.The role of a professional in the built environment (e.g. engineer, architect, project manager etc.) as an expert witness?                                                                                                             

Procurement Methods & Supply Chain Matters (Student 5)

1.Select & justify the best procurement method for this project in terms of the contractual obligations. Explore the implementation of the innovative collaborative procurement approach to de-risk the construction.

2.Analyse the structure of the UK economic in terms of procurement methods & supply chain matters and demonstrate a critical awareness of the economic role played by the civil engineering construction industry.

3.Describe how Quality Assurance System ensures the best practice in managing the construction of the development. Propose practical measures that can be utilised by contractors to ensure that the client achieves a project that is ‘fit for purpose’ and best value for money’.                                                           

The written report to conform to the following standard:

·Arial font must be used. The main text must be at 12 point font and with a line spacing of 1.5. Larger fonts may be used for section headings.

·Margins must be 40mm left (binding margin) other three margins must be 20mm.

·The main text must be justified to both margins.

·Each Section must be 3600 words + appendices (charts, diagrams, sketches etc).

Management and Monitoring Progress

Introduction to  Mental Wealth Competencies

Are a way to reflect on how your professional graduate employability skills; it is how you act and react to situations, and what ‘softer’ skills you are developing throughout your working life in general and this assignment in particular.  UEL has developed a framework of these competencies which is downloadable from Teams here under eight headings:

·Digital Proficiency

·Social & Emotional Intelligence  

·Physical Intelligence

·Cultural Intelligence

·Cognitive Intelligence

·Industry Connections

·Community Connections & UEL Give-Back

·Enterprise & Entrepreneurship

Over the period of this module you are asked to produce a personal reflective written account based on the Mental Wealth Competencies experienced in this module:

1.UEL Career Pathway ‘Developing Industry Connections’ Linkedin Course

2.‘The Millennium Mills Redevelopment’ Group Project Work

5.2   UEL Career Pathway ‘Developing Industry Connections’

This is specifically curated set of LinkedIn Learning training sessions to improve you business acumen and industrial networking connections. When you complete this course you will be able to download certificates from Linkedin to verify you have done this course, which you can then add as a screen dump appended to your Part C report as evidence.

The breakdown of the sessions are as follows:

·Networking

·Commercial Awareness

·Preparing for Interviews

·Professional Etiquette

On completion of each section, compare and match with the  Mental Wealth Competencies provided in Appendix E and select which ones you have covered in this Linkedin course. You need to write a ‘Description’ of what was covered in the course (i.e. context / emotions); then ‘Analyse’  what you have learnt in terms of the outcomes that were set and whether you achieved them (i.e. were the outcomes beneficial or not? And why? What else did you learn?); then finally consider an ‘Action Plan’ of what future improvements you need to make to improve this competency.

You may wish to use the Table in Appendix E as direct template to input your written work.  It is anticipated that you will have covered content for the following Mental Wealth Criteria through this LinkedIn Course:

·Industry Connections

·Community Connections & UEL Give-Back

·Enterprise & Entrepreneurship

‘The Millennium Mills Redevelopment’ Group Project work

This part will form a final reflective account  of the process of working as a group on the Millennium Mills Redevelopment.  It should specifically cover how the group operated to produce the Mid-Term Group Presentation and the Final Group Technical Report.   It should be structured around the Mental Wealth Competencies as given in Appendix E and it is anticipated the following ones will have been demonstrated in this Group work:

The Millennium Mills Redevelopment

·Digital Proficiency

·Social & Emotional Intelligence  

·Physical Intelligence

·Cultural Intelligence

·Cognitive Intelligence

For more information You may wish to use the Table in Appendix E as direct template to input your written work.  You may also wish to consult the UEL Mental Wealth Framework document for background reading, available here.

Submission Details for Part C- Reflective Report  

This  should be submitted to the appropriate Turnitin Link provided on Moodle EG7034 for Part C by Mon 10th May 2021.  The written work should be in good English report to conform to the following standard:

·Arial font must be used. The main text must be at 12 point font and with a line spacing of 1.5. Larger fonts may be used for section headings.

·Margins must be 40mm left (binding margin) other three margins must be 20mm.

·The main text must be justified to both margins.

·The word count for Part C should be 1500 words in total (e.g. @500 words for Part 5.2 ‘Developing Industry Connections’, and @1000 words for Part 5.3 the Group Project work)

Background Context of the Millennium Mills Redevelopment Project

Millennium Mills is a derelict industrial building in the Silvertown area of London's docklands. Once described as the Battersea Power Station of the Royal Docks, it is the centre piece of a substantial £3.5 billion redevelopment project by The Silvertown Partnership. Once complete, the area will include a new commercial hub, new homes, leisure and culture facilities, parks and green spaces and 1km of new water frontage.

The Greater London Authority appointed The Silvertown Partnership in 2012 as the preferred development partner, consisting of Chelsfield Properties Ltd, First Base Ltd and Macquarie Capital.

Plate 1 – Millennium Mills in its heyday as a thriving flour mill and distribution centre

History & Closure

Due to its rail and water links, the Royal Victoria Dock became a key transport hub for industrial Britain in the first half of the 20th century. The mills had transformed the area into London’s largest centre for flour milling. The original Millennium Mills building was designed and built in 1905 by William Vernon & Sons. Consisting of two plants, the ‘palatial’ mills, as William Vernon described them, were capable of producing 100 sacks of flour an hour.

The mills were badly damaged in 1917 by a major explosion at Brunner Mond’s munitions factory that was manufacturing explosives for use in the First World War. The explosion was so powerful that it blew out the windows of the Ritz in West London and could be heard as far away as Norfolk.

Conclusion

In 1933, Millennium Mills was rebuilt as a 10-storey art deco concrete building. The docklands came under heavy attack during the Blitz of the Second World War, with considerable damage sustained by both Millennium Mills and the Rank’s neighbouring Premier Mills building. After the war, the ports underwent large-scale reconstruction, with the new building being operational by September 1953. At its height in the 1950s, Silvertown employed over 100,000 workers.

Redevelopment

After a protracted and failed redevelopment proposal in the 2000s, Newham Council awarded planning permission to The Silvertown Partnership in 2015.

Plate 2: One of the many schemes to bring life back to the area in an Artist impression of the proposed site.

The refurbishment of the Millennium Mills will undoubtedly have a big impact on the area transforming the present derelict landscape.  It also proves a serious technical engineering and logistical challenges with several hurdles to jump before work can start.  It is important to understand the physical, social, environmental and economic factors while ensuring a safe environment for all those involved.

The physical impact of the project including the upturn in the local economy will boost the district’s needs.  Proposed commercial and residual development will dramatically alter the landscape of Silvertown, as we know it. Improving transportation connections from the A13 and A406 must also be seen to support this project, cutting a sway through newly developed areas must be carried out sooner rather than later before areas are over developed.

There are a host of engineering elements to consider such as, but not exclusively, works to all the necessary utilities, earthworks, remediation and groundwater control. The social impact needs to be thoroughly thought through as the introduction of a new development may be of detriment to the nearby community and industry if no strategy for integration is put forward.  What will this impact be and will additional infrastructure in the form of hospitals, schools, transportation and public services need to be provided to cope with any additional demands?  In order to make a project like this a success it is critical to thoroughly research, evaluate and act to mediate between any possible contentious issues surrounding its development and safeguard the interests of those affected.  How can this be positive for everyone?

Even though the development is backed by the Greater London Authority

and legislation has been adopted to safeguard and incentivise development, the environmental impact will quite rightly be scrutinized by the local authorities and the environment agency as sustainable development is crucially important from waste management to protecting wildlife and ground contamination to name a few.

The investment in an area is generally welcomed as it is seen as a boost that creates jobs, provides a new market for local businesses and can gentrify otherwise neglected sites.  The most successful developments tend to be integrated into the context in which they are proposed.  How can this investment benefit the area so the micro economy also benefits from the wealth generated?

Technically complex projects such as this require great skill and attention to mitigate accidents and keep people safe both during and after construction. This should be done by evaluating risk and incorporating safety measures to design out these risks where possible, during both construction and for future use of this transportation scheme.