Covid - 19 - Issuu

from WilkinsonEyre RfP - 334 Oxford Street

C. Redevelopment that extends the height

Our work across major international projects (London, Toronto, Sydney, Hong Kong) and site satellite offices in London (for Battersea Power Station and HS2 Old Oak Common) prepared us well for remote working, developing the resilience of our remote systems to enable staff to work from home with no loss of productivity from early March.

We have invested in technology in terms of software (Whiteboard) and hardware (tablet+stylus) to maintain same level of design collaboration virtually, as well as providing staff with additional equipment (monitors, power-line solutions for improved bandwidth) to improve and facilitate working from home.

Recognising that gradual easing of lockdown measures and the desire for some staff to return to the office, measures have been implanted around our offices including additional one-way system, tools to reduce touching doors, desk-booking system to ensure appropriate distance between staff, additional bike storage capacity, hand sanitiser stations, etc. Similarly, we have also worked closely with clients to ensure our projects on site remain both safe and deliverable. However, the systems developed early on ensure we can continue to work on 334 Oxford Street with no loss of productivity.

Future collaboration steps we anticipate include the use of VR environments where people can come together to view the same model and interact directly (e.g. InsiteVR, which is an extension of Revit and other BIM environments).

If we enter another period of lockdown we feel that the processes and protocols we have put in place will enable us to better plan for the associated change in working patterns and to ensure a further lock-down would have negligible programme implications.

The first lock-down has been a trial and error process for all businesses and has forced us to address arising problems associated with this change. For instance, we have ensured all staff now have the hardware and computer screens to enable them to set up ‘permanent’ workstations at home.

The process of our own internal design review and design development has now been tried and tested and we can now confidently manage larger design teams. We have also seen that clients, consultants and other stakeholders have adjusted and are better placed to ensure the procurement process can still work smoothly. For instance, we have been able to take building control officers on inspections of works on site via live video feeds. We have also worked with local authority planning officers remotely, presenting material samples and mock-ups for review and approval.

The central building design model is now hosted on a shared platform; BIM modelling has become established software that is now our day-to-day design platform. All consultants work in this shared environment and the physical exchange of information is no longer necessary. Three-dimensional modelling can be shared with all stakeholders on tablets and iPads and our Virtual Reality capability now ensures we can communicate our visions in ‘realtime’ through commonly available software.

Throughout lock-down WilkinsonEyre has fulfilled all its obligations on our ‘live-sites’ to the necessary site attendance and in carrying out site inspections. We are a very ‘mobile’ office – over half our office are regular cyclists (our practice was winner in consecutive years for the National Cycle Challenge) and this has ensured we have had the right attendance on sites without having to ask staff to use public transport and compromise their own personal safety. To support this initiative we have installed further bike storage capacity in our office, offer a cycle to work scheme and have implemented a ‘bike buddies’ system for support new cyclists.

Our many clients choose to work in different ways at the current time. We are flexible and will agree and adopt ways of working with you that works for you and maintains safety for all involved.