Middleton Court, Liverpool

The works included reconfiguration of the existing building and an extension to add 14 additional apartments, as well as refurbishing communal rooms, the creation of a new buggy store, and external works, paths and paved areas, car park landscaping, drainage and services.

Let through a competitive tender on a JCT Design & Build Contract, the architect and structural engineer were novated to us, with specialist subcontractors providing design input for M&E, lift, piling, and the fire alarm.

The project presented several challenges, including the window manufacturer entering into administration part way through the contract, ground conditions, and difficulties with the addresses of new properties with the local authority.

These challenges were overcome through close collaboration with Anchor, the design team, supply chain, and the local authority. While they did result in delays, this work allowed us to minimise the impact on the project for Anchor.

Our site team successfully led a resident engagement programme, holding weekly meetings with the scheme manager and residents committee where progress and upcoming works were discussed.

This allowed us to better plan and sequence work, build rapport with residents, address concerns, and help residents to feel involved in the works that were taking place around them.

The Middleton Court project provides us with valuable lessons learnt that are directly transferable to the Elite House project.

These lessons learnt include:

• Assigning additional resources to the project will allow us to work more effectively with the client team
• New more stringent financial checking of our supply chain limits the risk of a supplier failure on our operations
• A more detailed package of surveys and inspections will allow us to identify more related risks earlier and address them sooner
• Stakeholder engagement is a key part of planning and co-ordinating the works and ensures a smooth delivery