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(b)
(c)
(a)
the deletion of one floor from the Consulate-General
(this meant that OED's Procurement Unit would need to be outhoused, unless reductions in other activities subsequently produced space savings elsewhere in the building).
the deletion of the enclosed link between Consulate and British Council buildings (the need for the link was much reduced after the deletion of the multi-purpose hall).
the deletion of two of the nine UK staff flats (for architectural and technical reasons).
(e) reduction of car parking (from 80 to 40 spaces).
6.
Farrell's design proposals resulted in a revised total estimated cost of £29m, while still ensuring quality, operationally efficient buildings and retaining the original design concept. In order to maintain the current programme, which is tight, we therefore instructed Farrell to progress their proposals to Final Sketch Design.
7. But the revised estimated cost still exceeds the updated PES figure by nearly £2.0m. Given that no new money could realistically be sought from Treasury, we therefore looked at other ways of meeting or reducing the extra costs:
(a) Reduce further the requirements of the Consulate-
General and British Council
(b)
To achieve any real cost savings on construction we would need to reduce by a whole floor. MRS began, on 22 March 1993, a further review of future staffing of the Consulate-General, and the British Council are also currently reviewing their own requirements. But we doubt if these exercises will produce sufficient reductions to enable the deletion of a whole floor, although they could produce enough saving of space to allow Procurement Unit to remain within the building.
Omit all the residential accommodation
We could omit the 7 remaining UK staff flats without serious impact on the design concept or operational efficiency of the buildings. But the flats are thoroughly cost-effective against renting, and their deletion would not be sensible in the medium to long term.
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