St Stephen’s Gate Medical Centre, Norwich

WHO: Project manager and employer’s agent: Oxbury & Company, contractor: John Young, Norwich, funder and developer: Cathedral Healthcare.

CONTRACT: JCT design and build 1998. “Cathedral Healthcare wanted a clear price and to put more of the risk onto the client”, says Jo Loveday, lead project manager on the scheme for Oxbury & Company.

HOW MUCH: The development cost £3.5m, including a construction cost of £2.35m. The scheme went £10,000 over budget mainly due to the design requirements of the doctors. Loveday says: “The GPs wanted certain extra items but it was nothing we couldn’t deal with under the contract.” Examples of the changes included changing a wet room into a consulting room, removing turnstiles and adding telephone wiring.

WHEN: The project was completed three months early and the centre was opened in August by Norwich MP Charles Clarke.

DETAILS: The three-storey building features a health education and minor operations suite, 14 consulting rooms, conference facilities, disabled access and underground car parking. The site also includes a Boots pharmacy.

PM VIEW: Loveday says: “Ours was a pacifying role at times because we were trying to get an ideal solution for everybody involved. The problem was balancing the needs of various third parties, especially the GPs. Our role was primarily going to meetings on site and feeding it all back to the client.”