Gunning for glory

Construction work on sports stadia has never been easy. The current spectacularly bad example of Wembley may be exceptional in its drama - delays and disputes are continually swirling round the scheme, with a lengthy High Court case between contractor Multiplex and subcontractor Cleveland Bridge starting last week - but it is no exception in terms of how wrong things can go. Wembley tops a premier league of disasters that have befallen projects in the last 20 years, which include stadia jobs at clubs ranging from Leicester, Chelsea and Bournemouth as well as the high profile, and now very successful, Millennium stadium in Cardiff, which caused builder Laing so much bother in the late 1990s. Is there a way of completing such high-profile projects without major hassles for the contractors and project teams?

One current project appears to be quietly swerving the usual pitfalls. Arsenal football club has found a smoother way to building its new ground, with the close support and management of AYH. QS News gained exclusive access to the site with AYH project director Paul Phillips, whose firm's role on the scheme has morphed from a basic QS or project management service offering to the overall management of the myriad works involved in the project. The job appears to be moving serenely towards the July handover, which is being carried out by contractor Sir Robert McAlpine. The site is ordered, clean and organised, which should allow for any last minute glitches to be resolved before the start of the next football season.

During the site visit AYH heap praise on both McAlpine and the choice of procurement for the stadium, a two-stage design and build contract. "They ended up working on the contract for two years before they signed it," says Phillips, underlining how well the time was spent working out the full scope of the contract. "That was really important," Phillips adds, as it allowed McAlpine to understand the major risks involved in the project. Given the amount of money and risk involved a two-stage design and build was the obvious choice of contract, he argues. "The great thing about the two-stage approach is that the whole breakdown of the contract sum was known by both parties. Everyone knew the overhead and profit, the prelims and each of the packages. It's served us well." Such openness allowed AYH and McAlpine to get on with what they did best, says AYH managing director Peter Vince as he walks around the site. "McAlpine through their excellent management of the construction site have enabled us to focus on wider project management issues. It's not been the role that a lot of project managers take up, where all you do is chase the builders."

The project to build a new home for the north London club faced both complex planning issues and funding difficulties. The move to a new site in the densely populated Islington borough required Arsenal to build or refurbish 500,000 square feet of new space for the relocation of local businesses. Taking into account the swathes of new housing that will be provided, the scheme is a significant urban regeneration project as much as a single new stadium.

McAlpine through their excellent management have enabled us to focus on wider project management issues.

Peter Vince, managing director, AYH

Phillips highlights this public private partnership element of the project, working with a host of partners - nine major bodies, agencies and companies headed by Islington council, as well as 52 freeholders and 111 tenants on the various sites. Getting agreement from the variety of interested parties, some of whom were less than enthusiastic for the project to go-ahead, was a massive challenge. "The only party that were moving with real urgency were Arsenal themselves," Phillips says.

When parties finally resolved to agree to the ambitious plans there was the prospect of around 3,000 legal documents to sign before pushing ahead. The club also had to contend with growing needs for local services such as waste treatment in the area. "We were having to move a growing beast," explains Phillips. He adds that the increasing demand for new housing in London caused the project's lifespan to extend. "There's a much greater need for housing and for greater densities," he says, pointing to a density of 1,479 rooms per hectare in one area to the north of the new stadium. The total number of units that will be created on the three sites will be over 2,500, of which 25% is social housing.

The project encompasses three main sites, which were phased - the relocation of the services on the new stadium's site, the new stadium itself, and the redevelopment of the Highbury ground. AYH split all of this work into five sub-projects. Such is the extent of the project that the total investment far outstrips the £357m cost of the stadium. When one takes in all of the housing and regeneration schemes encompassed in the move, many of which are being carried out in joint venture with housing associations, the total investment value is around £800m. That means AYH's role will stretch across nearly the whole decade, making a game of more than 90 months.

The roof is an area where a QS would have loved to have got at and value engineered

Paul Phillips, project director, AYH

Once the stadium itself is completed, work will start on the conversion of Arsenal's old Highbury ground, which McAlpine is in negotiations to build. That build is expected to last two and half years.

AYH's role on the job is a veritable definition of what a core QS firm can offer beyond that of a basic commodity service. The firm chairs and leads the project's steering group and has involvement with pretty much every facet of the project - the legal support required, involvement in the many land purchases and sales as well as the relocations of occupants of the new Ashburton Grove site, such as a waste transfer station.

A key issue was the finance - getting it in the first place proved difficult. Having appointed McAlpine in May 2002 and work having started in January 2003, one of the members of the banking syndicate supposed to be providing the finance for the scheme pulled out in February 2003. This led to work on site grinding to a halt in April 2003. "The club was in for major costs at this stage at significant risk. One wanted to keep the momentum of the job going but it was impossible to proceed," remembers Phillips. And this is where swift work and close relations between the client, AYH and McAlpine came into their own, according to Phillips. Within a month of the work stopping in 2003 the firms had agreed a new fixed price for the contract, up from £207m to £220m. This uplift covered the abortive costs of stopping and building inflation. This augured well for getting new finance in place, argues Phillips, which was acheived in early 2004. "McAlpines have stood by that £220m figure," he adds.

AYH is clearly chuffed with the results as we wander across the site. Despite the restraints on height and bulk that leads to some parts feeling slightly cramped, the overall feel is impressive. Phillips also points to the unusual shape of the stadium and the distinctive roof slanting down towards the pitch. "The ground is elliptical in shape, there's not a right angle in sight. It's a great achievement by the structural engineer," he says. "The roof is an area where a QS would have loved to have got at and value engineered. The architect really fought for it - it's a fantastic feature which the club love." What Arsenal must also love is the prospect of a ground being ready when the construction team said it would, surely as a result of sensible and realistic programming and management. Other clubs and bodies preparing plans for future major stadia take note.