Corporate Square

This is a project to build a new commercial building at the financial district of Beijing, with a building area about 1,100,000 sq. ft..  It had a Singaporean developer, an American concept design architect, an Singaporean executing architect, and Beijing Design Institute for statutory submission.   M&P was selected as the M&E consultant and to use its Combined Services Co-ordination Design to minimize design conflicts and facilitate the smooth execution of the installation works.

The project design was successfully completed as planned in spite of initial misunderstanding; and the construction phase was successfully completed with the help of CSCD.

During the design stage, and to better co-ordinate the design work amongst this diversed international team, the Developer arranged for all team members to meet in Singapore for 10 days to finalise the designs and drawings for statutory submission in Beijing.  After settling in for the 1st day, the project design meeting was arranged on the 2nd day.  The meeting was shocked to find out that detail M&E layout drawings was required (and not just the M&E schematics and major equipment schedules). The architects had barely completed their general plans 3 days ago; M&P had been advised that the M&E layout drawings could be submitted at a later stage; but Beijing Design Institute reiterated that M&E drawings must form part of the statutory submission.

This was a serious miscommunication.  To arrange another trip for the Beijing Design Institute to Singapore would delay the project by at least 4 months. (In the early 1990′s, it was not easy to get the Chinese visas to travel aboard and it would take at least 3 months.) To keep to the project program, M&P was asked to consider preparing the M&E drawings before the Beijing team left Singapore.  By that stage, there was only 8½ days left; and with the last day assigned to departure arrangement, there was effectively 7½ days for M&P’s team.  M&P accepted that challenge on two conditions:

• All teams must assemble for alternative days to review progress, resolve any design issues on the spot and make prompt decisions. 
• The M&E drawings would be completed as accurately and detail as time would permit, and Beijing Design Institute must undertake to carry out any amendments as might be required for the statutory submission.

All parties agreed to this arrangement.  M&P assembled 5 design teams in our Singapore office, who worked from 9 a.m. to midnight for a whole week.  At the end of 9th day, while the Developer arranged a farewell dinner, M&P delivered the whole set of M&E drawings (over 100 drawings) and turned it into the celebration dinner. The submission drawings were approved by the Beijing authority without ado.