Project Management for Shard London †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Project Management for Shard London. Answer: About the Project The Shard is a well known iconic landmark building in London. It is located towards the south side of River Thames (Parker, Sharrat and Richmond 2012). Its height is 306 m. It is considered to be the tallest building in the Western part of Europe. The Shard project was completed in the year 2013. This project had followed a hands-on approach. Careful attention was paid on the various other components of the construction that were involved in the Shard project (Walker 2015). The people involved in the project had worked out of hours. The project was carried out in a highly secured environment. The Test Engineers had played significant role in the planning stage of the project. Senior engineers, site supervisors, operatives and the team leaders were responsible for the installation process of the project. Project Success The architecture that was proposed for Shard tower was of highest quality. The aim of this project was to build a vertical city with striking architecture that would incorporate retail, apartments, hotel, offices and restaurants (John Parker 2013). The project was completely successful in implementing this concept. Several innovative procedures had been adopted for finding fast methods of delivering the project without any delay. The constant flow of communication between CAMs Senior Project Manager, Shards developer, principal contractor and the end customer of CAM played a significant role in the success of the project. A top down project construction approach was used for delivering the project on time. Jump lift strategy was used where installation works and shaft construction had continued above operational lift (Ctbuh.org 2017). This strategy was implemented in Europe for the first time and facilitated efficient and safe distribution of materials and operatives across the site. This project is also considered to be energy efficient. The project success is measured in terms of project scope, schedule, budget and the project quality. The Shard project had achieved its objective of building a vertical city (Wallace 2017). This project had met the requirements of the client within the scheduled time and budget. The high quality of the project was also responsible for its success (Mace.world 2017). The reason behind the success of this project was the strong management as well as the effective installation process that was carried out during the project execution phase. Problems associated with the Project Budget: The contractor of the Shard project had presented a contract of around 350 million pounds. It was a fixed-price contract. This budget had exceeded more than 400 million pounds (Wallace 2017). Delay: The other issue that was faced during the execution of the project was delay due to weather issues due to high wind. Busiest station: The Shard was built in a busy transport station and this led to logistic issues. Maintaining safety of the people was one of the main challenges in the Shard project. Construction approach: The top down construction approach had also led to several challenges. The unique architecture of the building posed engineering challenges as well. Overcoming the Challenges Proper flow of communication and innovative strategies has helped to overcome the mentioned challenges and achieve success. Effective project scheduling was done that ensured right equipments were used at the right time (Kerzner 2013). VENTEX systems were installed for maintaining the air quality. Air quality was constantly monitored. RAVEX systems were installed for controlling exhaust fumes (Rvtgroup.co.uk 2017). These systems solved the safety issue of the project. Jump-lift construction has helped to overcome certain challenges of this project (Ctbuh.org 2017). The equipments were properly maintained to avoid equipment breakdown. Strong project management team helped to overcome the budget related and delay issues. Lessons Learnt Lessons learnt during the execution of the Shard project are: Strong foundation: The main lesson that was learnt during the project execution was that the foundation of the building plays a critical role in the success of any construction project. Strong planning: Something magnificent can be built even in a small area with a proper plan. Effective strategy must be developed to overcome challenges (Fewings 2013). Strong communication: Constant flow of communication is mandatory for the success of any project. Strong vision: Correct vision of the finished product helps to develop strong construction logic (Chapman 2014). References Chapman, M.R., 2014.The Rules of Project Risk Management: Implementation Guidelines for Major Projects. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Ctbuh.org.,2017.The Shard, London. [online] Available at: https://www.ctbuh.org/TallBuildings/FeaturedTallBuildings/FeaturedTallBuildingArchive2013/TheShardLondon/tabid/6020/language/en-US/Default.aspx [Accessed 28 Oct. 2017]. Fewings, P., 2013.Construction project management: an integrated approach. Routledge. John Parker, M.A., 2013. Engineering The Shard, London: tallest building in western Europe.Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers,166(2), p.66. Kerzner, H., 2013.Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons. Mace.world., 2017.The Shard | Mace World. [online] Available at: https://mace.world/mace-world/better-business/the-shard/ [Accessed 28 Oct. 2017]. Parker, J., Sharratt, M. and Richmond, J., 2012, September. The Shard, London, UK: response of arches to ground movements. InProceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Bridge Engineering(Vol. 165, No. 3, pp. 185-194). Thomas Telford Ltd. Rvtgroup.co.uk., 2017. [online] Available at: https://rvtgroup.co.uk/cmsrvt/uploads/shard.pdf [Accessed 28 Oct. 2017]. Walker, A., 2015.Project management in construction. John Wiley Sons. Wallace, D., 2017.Project managing the Shard. [online] Blog.learningpeople.co.uk. Available at: https://blog.learningpeople.co.uk/project-managing-the-shard [Accessed 28 Oct. 2017].