Construction, refurbishment and fit-out company, Chisholm & Winch, has completed the latest phase of a major development programme at Royal Mail’s Mount Pleasant site in London.
Once the home of one of the world’s largest sorting offices, Mount Pleasant remains a critical part of Royal Mail’s operational infrastructure in London. Chisholm & Winch has delivered multiple consecutive phases for construction management company, Blue Sky Building, with a combined value of £9 million. The company’s involvement began in 2018 with upgrades to the main office areas and the latest package includes construction and fit-out of a new gatehouse, new docking bay extensions and the installation of roller shutters.
Chisholm & Winch’s scope of works has included fit-out of the office areas, including installation of a new gym, refurbishment of the Collection Hub, upgrades to the parking areas and a three-phase programme to update the site’s North East Dock, which required four of the six docks to remain operational at any given time.
Works to the North Road area of the site were carried out over two phases and included the site’s new feature green wall. The project has leveraged Chisholm & Winch’s wide-ranging construction and fit out capabilities, including demolition, steelwork, drylining, blockwork, redecoration, joinery, mechanical and electrical services and firestopping.
Julian Daniel, managing director of Blue Sky Building comments: “We have been impressed with the skill and professionalism of the Chisholm & Winch team throughout this project as they have moved from phase to phase across the three-year programme, especially given the varying requirements and the challenges of Covid-19. The quality they have produced, their excellent communication and their positive approach to collaborating and coordinating with others on site have been a big part of the success of this project.”
The Mount Pleasant site has remained fully-operational throughout the project and Chisholm & Winch has worked collaboratively with the scheme’s other delivery partners to ensure the sequencing of works enabled efficient progress while allowing business as usual activities for the client and supporting high standards of health and safety for building users and site teams.
The project remained live throughout the COVID-19 lockdown, drawing on this collaborative approach from across the delivery partners to enable safety and method statements to be reviewed and safe working practices to be put in place.
Darren Godfrey, Chisholm & Winch’s project manager at Mount Pleasant adds: “The operational importance of all phases meant that handover dates remained business critical for the client, so it was essential that we maintained good progress on site. Operational refurbishment is one of our specialisms at Chisholm & Winch so we were able to use that expertise to consider how we could work round social distancing requirements without jeopardising the schedule. We’re delighted to have completed all works, despite the unforeseen challenges of a global pandemic.”
