Public Buildings and Master Planning

***Appointed by the Northumbria Police Authority Drysdale Southern were commissioned to provide cost management services for the refurbishment and repurposing of 3 significant police stations in Washington, Central Newcastle and Byker. In addition to upgrades to modernise the aging facilities the projects included the construction of new custody suites

***Drysdale Southern assisted Kier North East with the procurement of work packages for the design and construction of Northumbria Police's Operational Tactical Training Centre (OTTC). Opened in 2013, the OTTC is used for the delivery of firearms training and also provides a superb facility for many aspects of other training. The OTTC is a state of the art firing range complex offering a wide range of facilities for both tactical and classroom based training. The facilities that were included within this project were:

• 75m indoor firing range
• 50m indoor firing range
• Armoury
• Teaching space
• Office accommodation
• Public order arena
• Method of entry

*While working for BCQS Kevin Drysdale was appointed to assist the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force develop it's proposals for a new police headquarters building to replace its current outdated facilities

While working for BCQS Kevin Drysdale was appointed as the quantity surveyor and project manager for the British Virgin Islands Commercial Court.

Designed by Roger Downing and Partner Co. Ltd. and undertaken by LA Construction the project involved repurposing the vacated Banco Popular Building. The works were carried out in 5 phases:

1. stripping out
2. piling
3. structural demolition
4. main works
5. fitting out

Appointed as the cost management consultant by Entec (a Northumbrian Water company) Drysdale Southern assisted with their term contract with the MOD to master plan a portfolio of large scale projects throughout the UK, Germany and Gibraltar.

Whilst the terms of our appointment prevent us, to this day, from disclosing the projects we worked on they ranged in size and complexity from repurposing existing facilities to large scale redevelopment challenges.

Working for the MOD introduced us to the practical application of Monte Carlo risk analysis, cost-benefit analysis and costs-in-use analysis, which all played a significant role in the final decision making.

Designed by Christopher J Blackburn, the new St Martins Church in Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne was designed to replace the original church that had been founded in 1933. The new facilities also include 5 multi-purpose rooms, a chapel, a kitchen, toilets, a lounge, offices, activity room and a nursery wing. The chapel features a stunning, specially commissioned stained glass window.

Officially opened on July 15th 2006, the centre is much used by the church and local community, with 34 different organisations from the statutory and voluntary sectors using the centre during its first six months alone. The project won the Community Benefit Award in the RICS NE Renaissance Awards 2007 and was then short listed for the RICS National Finals 2007.

Kevin Drysdale was appointed to provide quantity surveying and cost consultancy services.

Kevin Drysdale was appointed to provide order of magnitude estimates for the repurposing of a disused church as a training centre for performance arts and circus skills.

The proposals had to respect he building's original use and comply with restrictions imposed by planning and conservation regulations, but it was the internal heights that were particular attractive to the team behind the idea.

Working in conjunction with the designers and structural engineers, Kevin Drysdale developed a number of comparative cost plans that were presented to the project board for consideration.

Ultimately the project did not secure the funding it needed to proceed, but the experience provided a unique insight into the challenges associated with creating a space for specialised needs.

Kevin Drysdale was appointed by a leading firm of accountants and business development advisors to prepare a robust order of magnitude estimate for the development of a new school campus catering for the full range of preschool to sixth form students.

Not only did the estimate have to cover all of the required educational buildings, that were defined by the End User based upon their function and floor areas, it also had to cover a full range of covered and outdoor sports facilities and the potential cost of site clearance and remediation.

Whilst no further details of this confidential project can be provided it is included here to demonstrate our ability to generate a financial model, even for a complex project, well before the appointment of a design team