With regards to the three major project management constraints of cost, time, and scope/quality, time is the least pressing issue (fig.11).
Fig.11 – project management triangle for Laboratory of Productive Ecologies
Identifies cost as being the most important constraint and the area of biggest risk of compromising the project.
This is because if funds are not yet available for the next phase of construction, food can still be grown on the site, providing some income for the project. Aiding this, some of the site-grown bamboo can be used to erect simple, temporary constructions, such as market stalls, and some of it sold as a material. Keeping cost low is one of the more important constraints, as it would go against the community focus of the project to have to be charging high rents on market spaces in order to fund the project.
The procurement route will be Integrated Project Insurance (IPI), where a virtual company is created, with a member of staff from each organisation involved on the Alliance Board. A major reason for this procurement method being chosen is that it drives all the actors in the project towards true collaboration (fig.12).
Fig.12 – shared liability model of IPI, leading to more cooperative working
This is important for ensuring that everyone is working towards the same shared goal over the long duration of the project, and reducing the risk of anything going awry which could have knock-on effects in later phases.
The prototyping phase mentioned in the previous section is essential for managing risk relating to the construction system. This is because it is a completely new system, so it is only through thorough physical testing that risks to workers in the construction process can be identified and controlled, and the structural integrity of the cast forms can be clarified. The client will have appointed the project architect as Principal Designer, who is then responsible under CDM 2015 regulations coordinating health and safety and for planning, managing and monitoring the ‘pre-construction phase’ of this. The contractor is then responsible during construction. Having an ongoing dialogue of all stakeholders throughout, encouraged by the IPI model, will help throughout.
Due to its boundaries being two canals, flooding is a risk to be considered. In actual fact, the Environmental Assessment’s Flood Risk Assessment currently designates the site as zone 2, where “all development deemed acceptable based on flood risk” (fig.13).
Fig.13 – flood zone 2 highlighted, where “all development [is] deemed acceptable based on flood risk”
Future flood risk will be safeguarded against by retaining wilderness areas along large portions of the site perimeter as buffer zones. The fact that there is hardly any hard landscaping and instead green roofs and soft landscaped ground makes the development naturally resilient to flooding.
Risk to flora and fauna on the site by construction is also mitigated by the having the aforementioned wilderness areas. Some of these are of special ecological importance, so having an ecological consultant on board will be key to managing these alongside the construction.
The final category of significant risks relates to members of the local communities surrounding the site. The project will have a high amount of sustained community engagement throughout the process, which will affect decision-making, so this needs to be managed carefully. This can best be done by having clear channels of communication set-up between certain members of the Alliance and a Pomona community collective, and scheduling finite periods of time at key different points within the project timeline for consultation on specific issues, so that the engagement is focused and constructive.
The health and safety risk posed to members of the public occupying already-developed parts of the site whilst other construction is taking place will be managed by securely closing off necessary part of the site when required. Phasing will be planned carefully to minimise the need for this, by having construction occurring at times when the risk areas are not in use.
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