Case Study

Dobbies Garden Centres plc

Dobbies Garden World Fenny Stratford, Milton Keynes

• Quantity Surveying
• CDM Co-ordination
• £ 7.0M
• The JCT Standard Contract with Quantities 2005 Edition

Sustainability features on an ancient Roman settlement

The works comprised the shell and fit-out involved in the construction of a single/two storey garden centre together with associated external works.

The gross ground floor area of the centre was approximately 50,223 square feet with approximately 5,000 square feet of mezzanine floor in plant rooms. The project was procured by competitive tender on the basis of full bills of quantities issued by Robert C. Brown.

Sustainable features included solar panels for water heating and rainwater harvesting for use in plant irrigation and toilets. A pumped extract system was installed, with the approval of the Environmental Agency, to take water from a local river and use it for plant irrigation.

The site and surrounding area had been used as a Roman settlement therefore archeological work was undertaken during the initial excavation works. However nothing of significance was found. Due to the historical significance of the area Dobbies incorporated a Magiovinium style Roman Garden into the development and also added display gardens which demonstrated what the Customer can achieve in their own gardens.

The contract programme was set by the Client at 30 weeks. However to achieve this, the steelwork and glulam beams were ordered prior to the appointment of a main contractor. The Client placed orders with the selected contractors which allowed the materials to be procured in advance of the main works. Once appointed the main contractor was instructed to accept these sub-contractors, and on week 4 of the programme the steel and glulam was delivered to site and erected.

The programme was achieved due to this pre-order.

Start Date:	February 2006
Completion Date:	September 2006