ANNEX D
SMITH'S OPENING STATEMENT TO THE QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION ON 4 MARCH
1.
2.
3.
The Schedule of Requirements (SOR) in the Annexes have been agreed with BTC and British Council and FCO Departments as end users. The areas given are reasonable in comparison to the guidelines/standards which I have to work to. It will be difficult to justify further increases so please try to keep to the areas as indicated in the brief. However, you should avoid odd shape rooms/offices just to meet the area requirements.
In your submission it would be helpful for me to quickly compare the actual area requirement with that of the SOR. I therefore request you to include this as an annex to your report for each individual SOR item.
The visits over the last two days were to give you a flavour of some of the functions for the new build. But the requirements in the brief are slightly different from the various offices/Sections which you have visited. This is understandable as in any new build project we aim to create the ideal and to improve and/or update existing functions and security which is not always possible in leased premises. In addition the new building will have functions which do not exist at present.
The following comments on existing buildings which you visited may be helpful
(a) The British Trade Commission will be basically the
Commercial Section of the Consulate-General. The existing premises lack the security separation between public and staff which is required in the new building.
(b)
(c)
The Procurement Section again lacks the security separation between staff and public but otherwise the layouts are along the lines envisaged in the SOR.
British Council - Most of the SOR functions exist in the current premises in some form or other but in some cases in a much reduced form e.g. the main reception area and student registration. New items are the multi-purpose hall and students' common room. The circulation pattern in the existing building is poor.
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