Agenda item

[Report of the Director for Housing, Regeneration and Planning. To be introduced  by the Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal.]

Cabinet approval to vary the existing design contract with Karakusevic Carsen Architects to facilitate the delivery of new homes

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal introduced the report which sought approval to vary the existing contract with KCA who were the  Design Team  leading design proposals for the Broadwater Farm Estate. The variation would cover the costs of surveys required to support detailed design proposals and future additional costs, including those associated with the impact of COVID-19 on the programme.

It was noted that delivering high quality replacement and new homes alongside wider improvements to Broadwater Farm, was a priority for the Council. This is why it had commissioned KCA to work with the community to develop design proposals.

The Cabinet Member outlined that the initial design work had shown that the Moselle School site offered an exciting opportunity to deliver new council owned homes on this large, vacant site. As such, the Council were seeking to accelerate the design process for this site to secure new homes for residents at a quicker pace.

It was further noted that the acute need to deliver new social rented homes, was very much more apparent in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 had a devasting impact on communities, with the impact and burden falling heaviest on those who were already most in need. By seeking to bring forward design proposals for new housing, the Council were accelerating the: delivery of new homes for and training opportunities, which would be secured through the delivery of these new homes.

Following a question from Cllr Cawley- Harrison it was noted that the Council were aware of the public realm challenges faced as a result of the overall design of the estate and  the historic issues concerning the connectivity between blocks and on the ground. The Council were aware of the improvements needed to the environment and were working with residents on the urban design framework proposals. This included:

• considering how to make improvements that residents can actively see in the public realm,
• looking at the open spaces across the estate,
• considering movement across the estate,
• how to tackle crime and ASB,
• providing welcoming entrances at ground floors.

The service had started engagement in August and had positive feedback on the changes that they wanted to see.

In addition, it was noted that the wider work on decent homes would now include considering improvements to communal areas.

Further to considering exempt information at item 26,

RESOLVED

1. To agree to vary the existing contract with the KCA to include the following:

a)         Extend the scope of their current commission to include developing detailed design proposals for the Moselle School site to RIBA stage 3;

b)         Cover the costs of additional surveys

2. To approve the contingency amount set out in the exempt part of the report and to delegate to the Director of Housing, Regeneration & Panning, authority to approve the use of the contingency.

3. To approve the variation sum of £439,174 (excluding contingency), bringing the total contract value to £1,835,531.60.

Reasons for decision

The reasons for seeking to vary the existing KCA contract are set out below:

Moselle School Site.

The original commission required KCA to develop design proposals to RIBA stage 1 for three opportunity sites, which had been identified on the periphery of the Broadwater Farm Estate. One of these sites included the vacant Moselle School site. Since initiating work on the site, it is clear that designs for this site should be expedited as it offers substantial opportunity to deliver new homes (c.60-70 unit), including new council owned social rented homes for our residents at a quicker pace. By varying the existing KCA contract to include RIBA stage 2 and 3, the detailed design proposals can be developed at the same time as the detailed design proposals for the Tangmere and Northolt sites, allowing for design efficiencies and a holistic approach to development.

Varying the contract sum

The contract sum needs to be varied, to not only allow for the costs of the detailed design proposals for the Moselle School site, but to also ensure that the costs associated with surveys and delays due to COVID-19 19 can be accounted for.

A number of surveys are required to ensure that the detailed design proposals can be bought forward for new homes and improvements across the Broadwater Farm Estate. Three quotes have been obtained by KCA for each survey required to ensure value for money, however the quotes have come in higher than originally forecast and a number of additional surveys need to be undertaken, particularly in relation to the Moselle River and to facilitate conversations with the Environment Agency. As such the contract sum for the KCA contract needs to be amended accordingly.

The programme for the design work has been impacted by COVID-19 19. This is primarily due to the fact that engagement with the community was put on hold whilst the country entered into lockdown. Whilst Officers and the Design Team have worked hard to minimise the impact of pandemic on the programme, it is the case that the design programme has been extended. The current extension of the programme has been contained within the existing fee schedule, but any further delay to the programme, which is likely given recent government announcements, will result in increased expenditure to the Design Team and increased costs to the Council.

Alternative options considered

Undertaking a procurement exercise to secure detailed design proposals for the Moselle School Site

Officers considered undertaking a new procurement exercise to secure architects to take the Moselle School site through to detailed planning. However, following consideration this option is not being taken forward as KCA are best placed to progress the detailed design proposals. This is because KCA have already undertaken a substantial amount of work on the site, including undertaking detailed site analysis, developing emerging design proposals through the RIBA stage 1 process (RIBA stage 1 to complete in November) and ensuring these designs link and conform to the emerging wider Urban Design Framework being developed for the Broadwater Farm Estate. It is also the case that undertaking a procurement process would risk losing design efficiencies and would cause substantial delay, including up to 3 months for the procurement process and up to 2 months for project initiation and site analysis.

Not increasing the contract sum

The Council will not be able to progress the designs for new homes and the Urban Design Framework if the contract sum is not increased to reflect the cost of the surveys required.