Møller teams on the move - offices become kitchen

As you are hopefully not too aware, our building project in the main building is nearing completion and last week saw our housekeeping department, kitchen staff, and sales and events teams manoeuvre to accommodate the creation of a new, state of the art kitchen in the main building.

The kitchen team say goodbye to the main building kitchen for refurbishment.

Our team in the main kitchen are relocating to the Study Centre, moving into an expanded kitchen there, which was previously the sales and events teams’ office. The sales and events teams have moved into Study Centre 8 until the spring when they will move into the new building. The housekeeping department has also moved from the basement to their temporary home in the main building lecture theatre.

The sales and events teams celebrate moving offices.

The sales and events office transforms into an extension of the Study Centre kitchen.

The only noticeable difference for clients will be that breakfast will be served in the Tower Lounge Bar and lunch will be served in The Study Centre or Tower Lounge bar as appropriate.

Whilst the improvements are made, clients have been asked for early advice on their agenda timing information, timings for lunch (including any flexibility), requirements for trade stands, including registration desks, exhibitors/sponsor desks and break-out groups, as we work to ensure group comfort for all clients onsite.

Our Event Planners will be discussing these options with clients to find the best solution for each event. 

We have recorded some video footage which shows the progress of the new meeting rooms and executive bedrooms in the extension of our main building, and the new offices where our event planning, sales, executive education, accounts, Møller PSF, marketing teams and others will be based.

As you can see the rooms are nearing completion and will be open for client viewing in March.

The rooms are intelligently designed specifically for delivering effective training, development and learning to multiple groups of around 20-30.  Our extensive experience, learned from over 20 years of hosting client events and from designing and delivering bespoke executive education programmes, has been integral in the planning and execution of the design and build of the new training rooms.  

These new rooms are supported by a dedicated refreshments area linking them seamlessly to our lecture theatre, restaurant, Tower Lounge Bar, roof terrace and reception lounge. This will give programme or conference organisers the assurance that their groups can be efficiently managed in a timely manner. 


Meeting Rooms - click here
This clip shows the room MS2 which will be a spacious, south-facing training suite opening out onto a landscaped patio area, allowing clients additional breakout and networking space in the summer months.  The design ensures clients have the most inspiring views and access to the beautiful parkland of the Churchill College campus.

Executive bedrooms - click here
Shows the size of the executive bedrooms, which face Churchill College parkland.

The Hub - click here
Shows 'The Hub' which will be the offices for the client support team.   

Room capacities and dimensions can be viewed here 

West extension update

A long-overdue update of the progress being made with the building works at The Møller Centre.  

This is Tim Hill reporting.  I am the new marketing manager at The Møller Centre and I had the pleasure of a site visit last Friday 12 September focusing on the west extension which doesn't appear to have featured previously on the build blog.  

As with everything at The Møller Centre, I was massively impressed by the meticulous planning and detailed thought that has gone into every aspect of every room.  Clearly Stuart and the team's experience and deep understanding of the needs of leadership education have been used to full effect.  I was also absolutely amazed by the scale of the construction project and how this has been progressing quietly in the background with minimal fuss and disruption to our customers and our staff. 

The west extension is the part of the building shown in the photo below, this photo also shows how seamlessly the new build blends into the old building.

Facts and figures for the west extension

Second floor - Seven new executive en-suite bedrooms 

First floor - 85m₂ of new training and dining space; 75m₂ of refurbished training and dining space. Please click here to see floor plan. 

Ground floor - New kitchen extension

The ground floor

Our state of the art kitchen is taking shape.  The existing kitchen is still in full service and behind it the new kitchen area is being built which will double its size.  A well-hidden service yard will allow deliveries (food, drinks, bins, etc.) to take place completely out of the sight of clients.  The area has been carefully planned to achieve the most efficient workflow processes such as ensuring that packaging from deliveries is removed and recycled before even entering the building.  Directly on top of the service area will be a landscaped kitchen herb garden for our chefs - this will bring new meaning to our locally sourced food credentials.

This photo shows the covered service area.

New training and dining space

For those that remember the series of original small meeting rooms that were spread across the first and second floors of the main building and accessed off the spiral staircase, these have been demolished and re-modelled to create a series of large south-facing training suites on the first floor and executive bedrooms on the second floor.  

The new flexible training rooms on the first floor are all in close proximity to the Tower Lounge Bar and Lecture Theatre enabling event managers to co-ordinate their groups efficiently. 

The new state-of-the-art training area will be double the size of the previous arrangement and incorporate a sizeable refreshments station and milling area.  One of the training suites will open out onto a landscaped patio area which clients will be able to use as additional breakout space in the summer months and a catering area.

Photos below show the new meeting room space, the view outside onto the area which will become a patio and the remodelling of the original meeting rooms.

The bedrooms

A view of the shells of the new executive en-suite bedrooms can be seen below.

Finally a photo of the roof trusses which are now in place and one of the window at the end of the west extension.

North pavilion taking shape!

After months of below ground and foundation work, hidden by the compound walls, the new bedroom block in the north pavilion is progressing at a rapid rate with brickwork now up to ceiling height on the first floor. The week commencing 28.7.14 will see the concrete slabs, which form the ceiling for first floor rooms and also the slab for the second floor rooms, be craned into position. The brickwork will then continue in earnest until the process is repeated for the next level three weeks later.

The degree of progress made in recent weeks now clearly defines the floor plan of the ground and first floor level bedrooms and corridor. Of the twelve new guest bedrooms in the north pavilion, two have been designed taking careful consideration for guests with restricted mobility. The floor plan of this north pavilion extension varies slightly from the existing four block which is located closer to the study centre, as the staircase and lift will be housed in the link to the main building, meaning the new bedrooms will be slightly larger.

For the readers wanting a more technical update, the concrete block work which forms the inner and structural walls of the north pavilion are surrounded with Kingspan foil back rigid insulation, an important layer to help reduce heat loss and solar gain. The outside layer of honey coloured bricks to match the existing building are erected leaving a gap for circulation allowing the building to “breath”. The handmade Stamford Sand Brown bricks, made in York, are the closest match we could achieve to the original Stamford brick which is no longer in production. The Portland Stone horizontal bands have been cut to match the original stone work and are not a cheaper reconstituted product.

New patio for the Study Centre

Although the majority of the building works are concentrated around the main building, we are also undertaking hard and soft landscaping works to improve the area around the study centre. The first of six phases is now complete – a newly created patio to the west side of the study centre building, just to the left of the main entrance as you approach. This patio has outdoor seating and is designed to be used for dining, networking or even working space (provided the weather permits)! 

Developments on the north pavilion

The new administration wing for the back of house staff, located between the existing and new bedroom blocks, is really beginning to take shape. Its roof incorporates three large windows (seen here in the photo) to ensure the open plan office is flooded with natural light. This centralised office will improve internal efficiency at the heart of the business.

Adjacent to the office, in the basement of the new bedroom block (located in the foreground of the photo) will be housekeeping storage and a second passenger lift. The concrete that forms the roof of this area and also the base of the new ground floor bedrooms has now been poured. Brickwork to build the structure up will commence next week.

The only way is up!

After weeks of digging, further steel work and several concrete deliveries, the foundation slab in the north pavilion has now been laid. This marks a very significant point within our project, as we will start to build upwards from now on. The sales and events teams took a trip to the site with Gillian Secrett, CEO, and Stuart Websdale, General Manager, to get a better idea of what their new office space will look like.

No more digging!

All the excavation work on both the north and west compounds is now complete. The current focus is on preparing the steel reinforcement for the foundations in preparation for the first concrete delivery on 28th April. We are excited to reach this stage in the development because from this point on the programme is less susceptible to the elements!

Appointment of Mechanical and Electrical contractors

A building extension of this scale naturally requires considerable research into suitable materials and sourcing appropriate suppliers. The Møller Centre is committed to sourcing quality solutions with a view to supporting the local economy and maintaining high levels of environmental performance.

We are delighted to confirm that Bower Fuller, who are based in Suffolk, and have a well established Cambridge team, have been appointed the Mechanical and Electrical contract. Bower Fuller are the second biggest appointment behind the main contractors Morgan Sindall, who are based in Sawston, which is only 12 miles from the Centre, further demonstrating our commitment to the local economy and the environment.

Latest news - North Compound

The picture below shows the latest developments within the north compound area of the build project, adjacent to the colonnade. The location of the original steps (that used to lead from the Main Building to the Study Centre) can be seen at the top of the picture. The current excavation depth is now clearly visible.

Excavation of soil in north compound

The Møller Centre build project has moved into the next phase this week, with excavation of soil in the basement area of the north compound (near the entrance colonnade) commencing. This area will eventually host new bedrooms for the Centre.

As part of our environmental commitment, we are working closely with the Churchill College Grounds and Garden team to keep the excavated soil on site. This solution offers many benefits including a reduction in local traffic, which will benefit local residents, College members and clients, providing less carbon emissions by reducing the transportation of materials, and importantly helping to enhance the already impressive grounds.

Bricks and mortar

This week, we have been focusing on sourcing the new bricks for the build project. The brick used in the original construction of the Main Building in 1991, is unfortunately no longer available, and as a result we have conducted extensive research through suppliers across Europe.

After considerable collaboration with the local planning office, the project design team and key members of Churchill College Estates and the construction of multiple sample panel walls, we are delighted to have placed the order for the bricks via a British manufacturer. These are a high quality, hand made brick, which will be extremely sympathetic to the existing building, ensuring the new extensions blend in seamlessly.

North pavilion takes shape

The North pavilion (which is located between the main entrance colonnade and the existing bedroom block adjacent to the car park) is taking shape, with the steel structural sheet piling now complete. 

This structural technique, helps form the load bearing walls and assists in the safe excavation of soil in preparation for the foundation slab to be poured. The sheet piling defines the outline of the north extension. 

For those coming to the Centre, the sheet piling is clearly visible from the second floor. This north extension will consist of 12 new en-suite air conditioned bedrooms, including two accessible rooms to accommodate guests with disabilities, and six that are king rooms capable of converting into twins. Extensive back of house areas are also accommodated in the north pavilion, for storage and the staff office space.

Stuart.

The new staircase at the end of the Main Building and opposite the Study Centre entrance is currently closed. We will update you once it is opened.

A new staircase has been erected between the Main Building and the Study Centre. This will make things convenient for clients and staff wanting to travel between the two buildings during the build project. The staircase will be available to use from tomorrow (Saturday 8th February).

A focus on furniture this week as we look to source additional Danish Wegner furniture for the new build areas to compliment our existing Wegner pieces, and continue our commitment to the Wegner range.

Project update – site – Following careful planning, the hoarding is now in place to separate the two construction areas from guests across the site. A green colour has been chosen for the hoarding to preserve the green landscape surrounding The Moller Centre. Alternate pedestrian routes have been implemented across the site with the client’s comfort as a priority. In February, some additional stairs and doors will be introduced, to help assist our clients move between the Main Building and the Study Centre during the wetter months, while also providing a safe separation from building activity.

Project update – design – the majority of areas are very near to being signed off, with the restaurant triangle infill being the current area of priority.

Project update – programme & construction – Activity behind the green hoarding for the coming months will be preparing the groundwork for the foundations, prior to building work going up. In short, nothing will protrude above the hoarding for a while yet.

Project update – procurement – Appointments with our Danish furniture suppliers have commenced as we focus on interior design. We remain committed to our authentic interior style, using more of the iconic Hans Wegner range. The local planning office have approved our brick selection, and the focus now moves to matching our existing mortar to ensure the extension is as sympathetic as possible to the original design.

Project update – people – Morgan Sindall, the appointed main contractors from the local area, are well established on site. Project Manager for Morgan Sindall is Andy Walsham, who has over 20 years experience and a proven track record for quality projects completed on time. Andy is also well connected with local contractors, to help ensure the local economy continues to flourish.

Stuart.