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Appendix B Southwark Discovery Centre Business Plan
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London Borough of Southwark
Discovery Centre Business Plan November 2005
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Contents
Contents ...... 2 1 Executive Summary ...... 4 2 Project Summary...... 5 2.1 Introduction to the Project 5 2.2 The Need for the Centre – Our Six to Fix 7 2.3 Location of the New Facility 9 2.4 The Public Benefits of the Project 9 2.5 Revenue Estimates 11 2.6 The Risks Facing the Project 12 3 About the organisation ...... 14 3.1 When and Why it was Started 14 3.2 Purpose and aims 14 3.3 Council Partners and Other Local Groups 15 3.4 Organisational Structure 15 3.5 The Southwark Heritage Services Unit. 16 3.6 Role of Paid Staff 20 3.7 Successful Funding Bids 20 3.8 Funding Regular Activities 23 4 Development of the Project...... 24 4.1 The history of the Walworth Road Town Hall building 24 4.2 The Development of the Project So Far 24 5 Strategic background...... 28 5.1 The Aims of the Project 28 5.2 Borough History 30 5.3 The Need in Southwark 31 5.4 The Proposal 31 5.5 Relation To Council Priorities 33 5.6 Relation to Council Strategies 34 5.7 Links to National and Regional Priorities 36 5.8 Southwark Tourism and Attractions 37 6 Project details...... 39 6.1 Southwark Discovery Centre Concept 39 6.2 Why is there a need for a new facility? 40 6.3 What will the new facility provide? 41 6.4 Principles guiding the project's development: 42 6.5 The Challenge 43 6.6 The Context 43 6.7 The Project 44 6.8 Building uses 44 6.9 Space Requirements 45 6.10 Capital Costs 46 6.11 Development Costs 48 6.12 Outline of Funding Strategy 49 6.13 Whole Life Costs 50 6.14 Project Plan 51 7 Business Case for the Discovery Centre – Interaction with the One Stop Shop...... 54 7.1 Context 54 Discovery Centre 2 November 2005 Business Plan DRAFT
7.2 How the One Stop Shop and Discovery Centre will work together 54 8 The Market ...... 57 8.1 Market Analysis & Catchments Area 57 8.2 Potential Catchments Population 57 8.3 Demographic Profile 57 8.4 Catchment population – by age 58 8.5 Catchment population – by socio-economic grouping 58 8.6 Estimated visitor market within the local catchment area 59 8.7 Current Users Statistics 60 8.8 Estimated visitor market within the local catchment area 60 8.9 Comparative analysis 60 8.10 Estimating Visitor Demand 63 9 Financial Appraisal ...... 66 9.1 Cashflow Projections and Financial Viability 66 9.2 Summary of Financial Appraisal 66 9.3 Revenue Estimates 67 9.4 Income Assumptions 67 9.5 Operating Expenditure Assumptions 69 9.6 Summary of Operating Income and Expenditure 71 9.7 Summary of sensitivity analysis at plus and minus 5 and 10 per cent 72 10 Management and staff ...... 75 10.1 Current Staffing Structure 75 10.2 Project Management Structure 75 10.3 Outline of Operational Structure 77 11 Assessing Risk...... 82 12 Monitoring and Evaluation ...... 86 12.1 Approach to Evaluation 86 12.2 Use of the Southwark PROMPT System 86 12.3 Design Reviews 87 12.4 User Needs 88 12.5 Risk Register 88 12.6 Critical Success Factors 88
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1 Executive Summary
2.1. This Business Plan for the Southwark Discovery Centre sets out projections for attendance, income and expenditure for the first ten years after opening, scheduled for 2009. It also deals with costs incurred in setting up the project before opening. The aim of this Business Plan is to demonstrate the feasibility of meeting the capital requirements for the development of the Centre and to present a forecast of the sustainability of the Southwark Discovery Centre once it is open. The Business Plan and financial model will be developed in more detail as the Project proceeds over the next twelve months.
2.2 The assessment of the concept and initial demand and viability considerations concludes that The Southwark Discovery Centre represents a significant opportunity for Southwark. What is proposed is a unique centre that builds upon the achievements already made by Southwark Heritage Services. The concept both meets the needs of the Southwark community, would satisfy existing and future demand for cultural/learning provision, and provide a key visitor experience as part of the regeneration of the Elephant & Castle.
2.3 Financially the initial model indicates the centre to be viable based on a mature visitor demand of 100,000 visitors. This level of visitors has been set within the context of the visitor dynamics of Southwark and we believe is a realistic figure. Since visitor revenues provide only one element of income for The Southwark Discovery Centre, it has the potential to be less sensitive to visitor fluctuations than other purely visitor-based centres. This cross subsidy of uses provides a sustainable approach to development.
2.4 The project will require revenue support, as most centres of this kind do. However, the experience of Southwark Heritage Services in fund raising leads us to believe that The Southwark Discovery Centre would successfully raise revenue from a variety of sources. This suggests that the strong concept of The Southwark Discovery Centre be taken forward to Heritage Lottery Fund Stage 1 bid by November 2005 seeking development funding to proceed to stage 2 during 2006.
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2 Project Summary
2.1 Introduction to the Project
Southwark has been at the heart of London for over two thousand years, contributing significantly to the economy, prosperity and status of the capital as a ‘world city’. Southwark is one of the most dynamic and diverse parts of one of the most diverse cities in the world. It is a microcosm of London with 35% BME communities, 100 plus languages, extremes of poverty and wealth and low levels of educational attainment. While Southwark is improving economically and visually and its cultural diversity is beginning to be celebrated by many no organisation adequately tells the untold stories of the diverse communities that make up Southwark and their role in helping to shape London as a world city and makes this accessible to the people of Southwark and visitors alike.
Our current heritage provision consists of a number of small services as follows:
• The Cuming Museum, containing worldwide collections and Southwark’s Local History Museum;
• Southwark Local History Library and Archives;
• The South London Gallery – a cutting edge contemporary art gallery with an international profile and a significant historic collection of works of art;
• The Livesey Museum for Children – the UK’s first hands-on museum for children which involves local children in the running of the Museum;
• And the Associated Education and Outreach Services – formal and informal learning for learners of all ages.
These facilities are plagued with problems:
• Only a small part of the nationally significant resources are ever available, making them physically inaccessible to the communities in Southwark.
• The storage space at the existing facilities is entirely inadequate, stifling any future growth of collections, and failing to meet modern standards putting significant museum, archive and art collections at risk.
• There is a complete lack of dedicated education spaces available, with the result that the ability of our resources to inspire young and old is undermined. Discovery Centre 5 November 2005 Business Plan DRAFT
• The facilities are poorly placed to make the most of the opportunity to attract visitors to the area and inadequately reflect the diversity and dynamism of contemporary and historic Southwark.
These factors deny us the opportunity to fulfil our potential, which otherwise would be assured. In spite of these weaknesses the current facilities:
• Have won awards for the quality of their educational work;
• Attract more school visits (11,500) than any other London local authority service and have seen a 500% increase in numbers of schools (primarily local) using the facilities, even after the opening of attractions such as the Tate Modern and the Globe;
• Have a growing reputation for innovative outreach work with diverse audiences, the Service as a whole draws over 40% of its users from black and minority ethnic communities;
Unlocking the full potential of these services both in terms of learning, and attracting visitors to Southwark, is constrained by poor quality, quantity and accessibility of the current spaces in which they operate. An injection of capital investment to improve the facilities offered is the key to resolving these barriers to access for local people and visitors.
The Southwark Discovery Centre Project will create a dynamic new cultural heritage centre and museum for London, based at the Elephant & Castle. The project will unlock the potential of our existing culture & heritage provision to play a full part contributing to the cultural, social, educational and economic life of Southwark and of London. We believe the opportunities offered by the Discovery Centre are unique in London. The project will bring together under one roof:
• The Cuming Museum – Southwark’s hidden treasure described when it opened in 1906 as “The British Museum in Miniature” housed in new permanent and temporary exhibition galleries and study areas.
• The Southwark Local History Library and Archives – significant collections of archives, books, pamphlets, photographs and information with improved research and public access facilities.
• Spaces where the creativity and imagination of our existing Livesey Museum for Children can be used to inspire and engage young and old about the borough and the capital’s heritage and diversity.
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• A properly equipped base for expanding and improving our popular education and outreach provision to schools and lifelong learners.
• Safe secure and environmentally controlled storage for our significant collections with better arrangements for public access to more of our substantial holdings.
• Permanent and temporary exhibitions of our art collections from Victorian painting to contemporary art.
• Modern visitor facilities that are fully accessible to the widest possible range of users.
2.2 The Need for the Centre – Our Six to Fix
We believe that the Discovery Centre is needed for six reasons (our “six to fix”):
1. The inadequacy of the existing facilities to meet the demand that we believe exists. Our current facilities and services carry out innovative work but:
• Have had little recent capital investment and so are inadequate to cater for the expectations and needs of our users and to care for and make accessible our significant heritage assets.
• Have no dedicated education spaces to expand our excellent education provision.
• Allow only 1% of our significant collections to be accessible at any one time.
• Have poor access for people with disabilities and the whole community.
• Have poor ancillary visitor facilities like, meeting rooms, refreshments, decent toilets and information provision.
2. The demand and support for the proposal demonstrated in our research to date is substantial. The proposed location at the heart of the Elephant & Castle, an area undergoing a massive regeneration that will place it once more at the heart of London and the local community, gives it significant potential as a visitor attraction and a facility for the local community. We believe in excess of 100,000 visitors is feasible.
3. The strength & quality of our heritage assets – we currently manage some of the finest local museum and archive collections in the country. These include:
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• The Cuming bequest of objects put together by Richard and Henry Syer Cuming between 1782 and 1902. The items collected come not just from Southwark, but from all over the world, and cover the areas of archaeology, social history, decorative art, ethnography, geology, textiles, natural history, prints and coins, as well as an unusual collection of fakes and forgeries. Parts of the collection are of much wider than local significance for example the Egyptian collection can be traced to the collector Belzoni and the first body of material from Egypt to arrive in this country and the ethnography collection includes material collected on Cook’s voyages.
• The local archaeology collections are of London-wide significance and second only in significance to the Museum of London.
• Substantial art collections of approximately 250 Victorian oil paintings and around 2000 paper works of art and prints. The includes a unique collection of contemporary British print making in the 50s and 60s, a “contemporary" art collection including work by Spencer, Sickert and Hockney up to the modern day with works by Turner Prize Winning artists like Tracey Emin and Keith Tyson and a small but important ceramics collection. Much of this material has never been fully accessible before.
• Significant local history collections that are comprehensive and wide-ranging. The importance of the history of the borough in the wider picture of the development of London and its environs means that the collection has much more than just a local significance. The collections are much fuller than equivalent collections elsewhere and have significant and unusual strengths.
• A Grade II listed building that is one of the few surviving historic landmarks in the area and will be brought back into full public use.
4. Southwark’s historical significance. Southwark has been described as “London’s most historic borough” with an immensely rich and varied cultural and social history, stretching back to Roman times, including some of the world’s greatest scientists, writers and artists intrinsically linked with the borough. This is inadequately reflected in the existing cultural provision.
5. Southwark’s diversity in the past and the present. Southwark is one of London’s most diverse areas ethnically, culturally, socially and economically. Today 35% of the population is from Black and Minority Ethnic Communities yet no existing cultural attraction reflects this rich heritage. Developing an understanding and encouraging participation in Southwark’s history and diversity is central to the Discovery Centre
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concept and builds on the good work that the existing services have done with inadequate facilities (for example over 60% of visitors to the Cuming are from BME communities) and the inability to extend and expand this provision. We believe this is a significant strength of the proposal and one which no other organization has the ability to capitalise on.
6. The viability of the Southwark Discovery Centre in financial, operational and technical terms that the business and associated plans demonstrate.
2.3 Location of the New Facility
The proposed location for the centre is the old Walworth Town Hall building in Elephant in Castle (151 Walworth Road), an area with few or inadequate existing cultural facilities which is the centre of a major regeneration project with improved transport infrastructure that will be a destination as well as a focus for the local community and beyond. The building itself is a Grade II listed building with significant presence and importance to the local area and community as a local landmark, and will be returned back into its original use as a public facility. As well having obvious benefits in terms of its central location and proximity to complementary services, such as the Newington Library, consultation has identified Elephant & Castle as a key marker location for the facility as accessible to the local community and to visitors, making it the community’s choice for the new facility.
2.4 The Public Benefits of the Project
We believe that the public benefits created by the project will be significant:
• The Centre will radically transform access to our significant heritage assets by being physically and economically accessible to all sections of the community, providing the medium through which local people can participate in all aspects of cultural, political, social and economic life. As well as providing a resource base for developing the skills of local people, and acting as a centre for lifelong learning, the Centre will aim to tackle social exclusion through involving and engaging the whole community, celebrating cultural diversity and being a focus for community led activities. We believe that this will provide a new focus for civic pride and community identity.
• The Centre will provide a state of the art educational suite with IT resources, education rooms and community meeting spaces, to educate through the interaction of the arts and heritage with other subjects - the environment, multiculturalism, science and history. The current services are at capacity in dealing with the demand for formal and informal learning. This project will allow us to increase both the quality and quantity of our services to the education sector and a range of informal learners.
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• The Centre will have a wider role to play, providing a focus for working in partnership with other arts/cultural sector providers in Southwark and beyond. In this way, the Centre will be a modern visitor facility, attracting visitors to the area and complementing the existing tourist offer by focusing on Southwark, its past, present and future development. It will also be a focus for the generation of outreach work in the community.
• The potential to increase access to our significant resources (and improve their care and management) is substantial, our estimates are of a mature demand for visits to the Centre of around 100,000 with many more users accessing our services online and through outreach work at other centres across Southwark.
• A key focus of the Centre is the diversity of contemporary Southwark and London as a whole. No other organization delivers or has the potential to deliver a heritage based service that meets the needs of the whole community in Southwark and tells the untold stories of the diverse communities that make up Southwark now and in the past.
• The Centre will enhance the capacity of the current service for outreach work in the community. Research undertaken by Tempus Fugit Consultants considered the potential demand for expanded outreach activities and the impact the proposal could have on this. The conclusion was that there are a large number of organisations, community groups and individuals keen to work with us from faith groups to culturally based organistaions. The Centre will provide a base for outreach work and a showcase for this work, increasing its visibility and impact.
• One of the key ideas for the Centre is the focus on interactivity and the involvement of local people. This kind of interactivity can stimulate and facilitate learning about a range of issues and matters of local interest and relevance. In the context of The Southwark Discovery Centre project, the idea of interactivity is defined as: A community based centre - for The Southwark Discovery Centre project the community will involve interacting in new ways including those now possible through the internet Interaction through discovery - to commission, construct and manage a building project represent new ways to learn through 'hands-on' experience. The community engaged in design - a socially inclusive approach to the design of the building fits well with current policies on community consultation
The key target audiences that we expect to benefit from the Project are as follows:
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• Black and Ethnic Minority communities
• Schools and other formal educational institutions
• Informal learners of all ages
• Children and Young People and their families, parents and carers
• People with disabilities
• Visitors to Southwark
• Researchers and local and family historians
• Local Residents
More detail on the target audiences and the strategies to be employed to attract and work with them is set out in the Access and Audience Development Plan for the Project and will be reviewed and developed as the Project progresses through the design and construction phase and into the operational phase. Revised and more detailed market and audience development plans will be prepared ready for submission of the Phase II bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund.
2.5 Revenue Estimates
Revenue estimates are based upon the potential income generated from visitors to The Southwark Discovery Centre, and non-paying visitors using the associated café/restaurant and retail facilities and crucially ongoing revenue support from Southwark Council. The main sources of income other than Southwark Council are considered to be the following:
• Visitor admissions to temporary exhibitions
• Visitor retail and catering spend,
• Non-visitor retail spend,
• Non-visitor catering spend,
• Hire income.
• In addition to these we believe that the centre will attract funding for project development. These are outlined further in Appendix A (Fundraising Strategy).
Detail of the revenue estimates for the first ten years of operation are set out in the Full Financial Appraisal at Section 7 below. A summary of the financial sensitivity of the Project is set out at Table 1.
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The key result from the financial appraisal is that on the assumption that approximately 10 % of total annual revenue is serviced by donation, fundraising, etc., approximately 21% by earned income, approximately 4% by admission income and approximately 65% through Southwark Council, the Southwark Discovery Centre is financially viable and makes an operating profit. This remains true for the sensitivity analysis that takes visitor levels down by 10 per cent to 90,000 per year.
Table 1: Summary of Financial Sensitivity Visitor Projections Accumulated Surplus after 10 years (£) 90,000 visitors 27,954 100,000 visitors (BASE) 298,033 110,000 visitors 437,669
2.6 The Risks Facing the Project
The management of risk is one of the most important parts of the job of the Project manager and Project Board throughout the life of the Project. The Project manager is responsible for identifying, recording (in the project risk register) and regularly reviewing risks and reporting these to the Project Board to agree actions. As required, plans will be modified to include agreed actions to avoid or reduce the impact of risks. The management of the Project will include a proactive and disciplined approach to risk that includes:
• Risk analysis, which involves the identification and definition of risks, plus the evaluation of impact and consequent action. • Risk management, which covers the activities involved in the planning, monitoring and controlling of actions which will address the threats and problems identified, so as to improve the likelihood of the project achieving its stated objectives. A risk matrix is attached at Section 9 below. The major risks identified as part of this process are outlined in Table 2
Table 2: Major Risks Risk Outcome Management Vacant possession of building not Project delayed. Increase in costs. Start negotiations early with made available Lowering of confidence in partners and management. Proceed with design stakeholders. elements and consents. Identify other suitable locations for relocated staff. Start contractual work. Access Problems for construction Delays in project. Overspend on Careful examination of site access. buildings budget. Alteration of designs Access difficulties built into tender specification and contracts. Capital Funding Not Secured Project delayed, Budget increases. Careful and planned funding strategy. Loss of confidence with partners, Range of contingency funders in event of unsuccessful bids. Early discussions and project scooping advised to minimise risks and interest funders at an early stage. Last minute applications to secure funding gaps can prove successful. In-house programmes affecting new Build up of projects. Project team Effective programming of service build spread too thin during construction. Temporary reduction in levels of public service if Discovery Centre 12 November 2005 Business Plan DRAFT
necessary. Available in—house skills/time Staff become too stretched. Stress Identify skills and resource levels. levels increase. Other areas of Build additional staff resources into service suffer. budget. Effective recruitment of outside staff.
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3 About the organisation
3.1 When and Why it was Started
The London Borough of Southwark was established as one of 33 London Boroughs in 1964, from the adjoining Metropolitan Boroughs of Bermondsey, Camberwell and Southwark. It is centrally located on the south side of the Thames, immediately opposite the cities of London and Westminster. The borough reflects the complex socio-economic profile of the three areas from which it was formed, many of which remain visible today.
The population of Southwark is relatively young—22 per cent of Southwark’s total population is under the age of 15, a higher proportion than that for Greater London (19 per cent). There is also an increasing number of inhabitants who are aged 90 and over. Southwark’s population demonstrates a rich ethnic and cultural diversity. Estimates indicate that there are 77,500 people from Black and other Ethnic Minority groups resident in Southwark. This represents 33 per cent of the total population, an increase of 8 per cent on the 1991 level (56,000). Projections suggest that Southwark’s Black and Ethnic Minority population is set to rise to 90,500 in 2011, which will be approximately 38 per cent of the projected total population. Southwark is ranked as the 9th most deprived borough in England and Wales. 15 of Southwark’s 21 wards are in the 10 per cent most deprived wards nationally. Educational attainment in Southwark schools remains below national averages across all the Key Stages.
The council is composed of 63 elected Councilors. All Councilors meet together in the Council Assembly, which appoints a Leader of the Council and members of the Executive. The Assembly is responsible for several functions including the approving or adopting of the policy framework, the budget and the Council Tax. The Executive consists of 10 members and is responsible for most day-to-day decisions. There is also an Overview and Scrutiny Committee and six Sub-committees that support the work of the Executive and the Council as a whole.
3.2 Purpose and aims
The vision for the London Borough of Southwark is set out in the Council’s Community Strategy. At its heart is the belief of making Southwark a better place to live, to learn, to work and to have fun. The Community Strategy shows how, through the plans and commitments of all agencies, partners will work together on five focused priorities:
• Tackling poverty
• Making Southwark cleaner and greener
• Cutting crime and the fear of crime
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• Raising standards in our schools
• Improving the health of the borough
The challenges faced by a population that is so heavily dependent upon national and local public sector interventions are enormous, as is the demand for services and the competition for resources. Members and officers fully accept that these demands require ever more effort, better public services and more creative solutions as well as a continued drive to use scarce resources more effectively.
We see our core business as concentrating on three interrelated key issues:
• Ensuring high quality local services which are responsive to local needs.
• Improving the underlying socioeconomic conditions of the borough through radical interventions and regeneration programmes which aim to secure long-term sustainable improvements in the quality of life of our communities.
• Recognising and fully exploiting the opportunities that arise as a result of our central London location – particularly in the way that we deploy our assets, engage the private sector and focus our employment strategies. Our job is to work on these interrelated themes to tackle poverty, improve services and help to realise opportunities for local people.
3.3 Council Partners and Other Local Groups
Southwark Council is a member of a large number of key partnerships for example the Safer Southwark Partnership, through which it very closely with organizations such as the Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade. We also have very good working relationships with a vast range of other groups including local schools and universities, local charities and Residents Associations and Friends of Groups. The Heritage Unit works extensively with a range of London wide and local partners from local cultural organizations to voluntary sector and statutory organizations. The Southwark Discovery Centre project will significantly enhance the ability of the organization to work in partnership with others to achieve the aims of the Unit and the Council as a whole.
3.4 Organisational Structure
Southwark Council is organized on a departmental basis including Strategic Services, Regeneration, Environment and Leisure, Education and Lifelong Learning, Social Services and Housing. The Heritage Unit is situated within the Environment & Leisure Department. At elected member level Southwark has a Leader and Cabinet model with an Executive of Councillors that includes a portfolio holder for Equalities, Culture and Sport (Cllr Columba
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Blango). Cllr Blango is the lead member with responsibility for the Discovery Centre project reporting to the Executive on progress with this and other key cultural projects, acting as a champion for cultural services within Southwark and to the wider community and ensuring that there is working with other portfolio holders in particular those responsible for Regeneration and Education on how the Project relates to their areas of responsibility.
Southwark Council’s Mission for Heritage Services is: “to maximise the economic, social, environmental, cultural and educational benefits of culture, arts and heritage to Southwark people.
3.5 The Southwark Heritage Services Unit.
The Unit provides:
• Cuming Museum
• Livesey Museum for Children
• Southwark Local Studies Library (and Archives)
• Kingswood House
• Heritage Development Services
• Associated Education & Outreach Services
The Head of Service is a member of the Senior Management Team of the Environment & Leisure Department and reports to the Strategic Director of Environment & Leisure.
The Cuming Museum Based in the same building as the Newington library, as part of the old Town Hall complex on Walworth Road, the Cuming Museum is Southwark’s local history museum, and is home to the rich and unusual collection of the Cuming family.
When he died in 1902, Henry Syer Cuming left the collection amassed by himself and his father Richard to the Metropolitan Borough of Southwark, his will stating that the collection be exhibited in "a suitable and spacious gallery or apartments...in connection with Newington Public Library." The museum was opened in 1906 by Lord Rothschild and it remains in the same gallery today.
The Cuming bequest of objects put together by Richard and Henry Syer Cuming between 1782 and 1902 forms a large part of the Cuming Collection. The items collected come not just from from Southwark, but from all over the world, and cover the areas of archaeology, social history, decorative art, ethnography, geology, textiles, natural history, prints and coins, as well as an
Discovery Centre 16 November 2005 Business Plan DRAFT unusual collection of fakes. The Cuming Collection also contains objects collected post 1902, which are mainly 19th and 20th century social history items and archaeology finds from the local area
The Cuming collection is important both in its scope and content mainly because of its provenance and also the types of items collected. For example the Egyptian collection can be traced to the collector Belzoni and the first body of material from Egypt to arrive in this country. The local archaeological collection is particularly significant and second only to the Museum of London for stray finds. Other unique and significant items include some of the ceramic collection; the sculptures by local artist George Tinworth (1843-1913); a number of items connected to local scientist Michael Faraday (1792-1867), the discoverer of electro-magnetism; and the pump from the Marshalsea prison, where Dickens’ father was held as a prisoner for debt.
The museum has always relied on the support of the community, attracting donations from the public ever since it opened in 1906. Shortly after the museum reopened after the war as a local history museum in 1959, it became the centre of local archaeology for almost a decade. The museum acquired large quantities of finds from local excavations, the labour for which was almost entirely volunteers, and from 1965 was organised chiefly under the Southwark and Lambeth Archaeological Society. Other collections from the past 100 years include Dickensian relics, and collections of charms and superstitions.
The gallery contains a variety of hands on activities for younger visitors as well as a lively temporary exhibition programme. Some of the material has been loaned to other museums - approximately 20 museums in total.
The Cuming collection contains nearly 130 000 objects, but only around 1% of these are ever on display, and this is the major drawback of the Cuming Museum as is stands – it has neither the exhibition space to display the collections, nor the storage facilities to keep them to any recognised standard, let alone allow for any expansion. The Cuming Museum is a far cry from the “suitable and spacious gallery” that Henry Syer Cuming had requested.
Local History and Archive Collections The Local History Library is situated at rear of John Harvard library on Borough High Street. It houses two distinct collections; the local history collection and the archive collection.
The local history collection is made up of printed books, pamphlets, periodicals, non-published articles, ephemera including newspaper cuttings and playbills, slides, black and white and colour photographs, transparencies, maps, watercolours, video, audio tape, films and microfilms. The photographic collection is topographical in nature although there has been some collecting of the “great and the good”.
The archive collection is made up of records from the London Borough of Southwark and its predecessor institutions mainly from the 16th century up to
Discovery Centre 17 November 2005 Business Plan DRAFT about 1900 in printed form and deposited records mainly to do with specific institutions and including approximately 30,000 deeds.
The collections are comprehensive and wide-ranging. The importance of the history of the borough in the wider picture of the development of London and its environs means that the collection has much more than just a local significance. The collections are much fuller than equivalent collections elsewhere and have significant and unusual strengths.
The South London Gallery The South London Gallery is one of London’s foremost galleries for contemporary art. Exhibitions of local, national and international art are complemented by a programme of debates, talks and performances by key figures. It was the first gallery to hold an exhibition curated by Damien Hirst, and has exhibited work by Gilbert and George and Tracey Emin.
The South London Gallery until recently housed a variety of fine art collections (part belonging to Southwark Council part belonging to the trust) which includes approximately 250 Victorian oil paintings and around 2000 paper works of art and prints. The works on paper are mainly local and topographical largely dating to the 1960s. The collection of prints is potentially important in that it is a largely unique collection of contemporary British print making in the 50s and 60s.
The art collections also contain a "contemporary" art collection including work by Spencer, Sickert and Hockney. We have a generous acquisition budget, partly funded by grants, which allows a proactive contemporary collecting policy. We also hold a small but important ceramics collection.
In October 2003 Southwark Council passed its trusteeship of the Gallery to a newly formed independent trust that operates the Gallery as a temporary exhibition venue for contemporary art. The collection remained in the control of Southwark Council to be managed with the museum collections and used in the Southwark Discovery Centre.
The Livesey Museum for Children The museum was built as "Camberwell Public Library, No. 1" in 1890 - a gift of George Livesey (who was born in 1834), Company Secretary of the South Metropolitan Gas Company. While Livesey turned the S.M.G.C. into the largest gas company in South London, his employees' welfare policies were pioneering and he founded institutions, such as the library for local people. He was knighted in 1902 for his charitable acts, and died in 1908. The library continued to serve local people as a lending library until 1966, despite being badly damaged during the Blitz. The building was then converted into a museum and reopened in 1974 by Poet Laureate, Sir John Betjeman.
Since 1974, the Livesey has developed into London's fully hands-on and free children's museum, which involves local children in the running of the Museum, and showing hands on exhibitions with such diverse subjects as
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"The Great Rubbish Show", "Air Aware" and "Number Crunching". Aimed directly at all children under 12, their families, parents, carers and teachers, the Livesey shows an all-new interactive exhibition every year. Every exhibition is designed to complement the National Curriculum Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. The museum aims to encourage children's self-esteem, creativity and imagination, using hands-on exhibitions to make visitors think, experiment and learn through investigation. The exhibits can be used by different age groups in different ways, allowing visitors to find their own ways of using and learning from them.
The Livesey has been highlighted as an example of good practice from organisations such as Centres of Curiosity & Imagination, the Department for Employment and Education, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and Maths Year 2000.
Contemporary Collections The Service sets out its aims for contemporary collecting in the acquisition and disposal policy contained in its Collections Management Plan. The aims behind this are both to record and celebrate the borough as it is today reflecting in particular cultural diversity, and to inspire people to collect themselves. The Service aims to collect in a number of ways: proactively by concentrating on specified areas and or communities usually linked to a temporary exhibition or publicity campaign; through temporary exhibitions where the Cuming Museum showcases the collections of local people; and passively, through the normal drop in donation method.
Another initiative which will raise the profile of the collections, encourage donations and an appreciation of collections includes ‘Flying Objects and Art.’ This is a corporate membership scheme to take "wow" objects and art out into business spaces based on other successful schemes around the country. The scheme will raise the profile of the collections whilst generating income to invest in better collections management.
However, the greatest problem facing the contemporary collections is the lack of adequate storage facilities. Currently, there is not enough space to store the Cuming Collection in the appropriate manner, and so there is little to no room for the expansion of the collections. The new Southwark Discovery Centre would not only provide the Heritage Services Unit with bigger and better storage facilities and display space, it would also do a great deal for raising the profile of the collections, encouraging more donations from local people, and giving the community a sense of ownership of the centre.
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3.6 Role of Paid Staff
The current structure of the Heritage Unit is set out at section 10 below.
The Unit has 22 staff with 16 of these full-time and 6 working part-time. The Unit has a broad range of expertise available including museum exhibitions, collections management, project management, archives and local studies, facilities management, operation of historic buildings and education and outreach work. The Service also works with a number of freelancers who bring in specific skills as required.
The Unit has access to support at both a Departmental and Corporate level within the authority providing significant expertise in project management and development, human resources, procurement, finance, legal, planning, building design and construction etc. The Department and the Council are fully committed to the Project and will ensure that the appropriate expertise is available to deliver the project and manage and support the operation of the Discovery Centre.
The Unit makes extensive use of volunteers and work placements. Volunteer time equates to approximately 2 full time equivalent staff over a typical year performing a range of tasks from collections documentation to invigilating exhibitions. The Discovery Centre project will offer opportunities to consolidate and enhance these opportunities for local people and those looking to gain experience in the operational areas covered by the Centre.
3.7 Successful Funding Bids
The Council as a whole and the Heritage Unit has a track record of success in securing external resources and managing externally funded projects and programmes. In the period April to September 2004 the Unit secured the following income for its own development projects and working in partnership with other providers of culture and heritage organisations in Southwark:
Table 3: Income from April to September 2004 Income Source Amount confirmed to date Cuming HLF Write On Your Doorstep 49,700 Cuming HLF Untold Origins 25,000 Cuming NRF 17,700 Cuming Animal Magic 23,000 Cuming COPUS 7,000 Livesey Sure Start 12,000 Livesey Community Fund 5,000 Livesey NRF 10,000 Livesey PEAZ 60,000 Livesey COPUS 9,950 Livesey healthy walks (NRF) 15,000 Healthy eating (NRF) 15,000 SLG Arts Council Revenue 224,000 SLG Other Sources 238,440 LSL Walks 6,000
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LSL Ideal Homes Digitisation Project (consortium bid) 111,000 Kingswood UKOLN Centre (New Opportunities Fund) 18,000 Kingswood NRF 80,000 Learning & Skills Council 87,000 Education – Schools Budget 50,225 Earned Income 100,198 Collection Picture Loans 5,000 Brunel HLF 40,000 Brunel Displays 20,000 Brunel S106 22,000 TOTAL 1,251,213
Successful bids have included the following:
The ‘Write on Your Doorstep’ Project In 2004, the Southwark Council’s Culture and Heritage Unit produced an exhibition at the Cuming Museum called “Write on Your Doorstep” with the aid of a grant of £49,700 from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s ‘Your Heritage’ programme. This exhibition looked at the life and times of three of Southwark’s most famous writers – Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens – and the Southwark that they would have known. Using items from the Cuming Collection, as well as a number loaned from other museums, from the period of the three writers, and in fact some items specifically linked to Charles Dickens, the exhibition gave a unique sense of local history shaping our cultural heritage. The exhibition was aimed at a general museum audience of local people and families who have only limited knowledge of the writers, and offers the perfect chance to get to know hem better.
The education programme which ran for 10 weeks (Jan to March 04) was aimed at three community groups - teenage girls from Southwark Muslim Women’s Association, older people from an Age Concern Day Centre in Bermondsey and a primary school class from Townsend Primary School. Within this education programme these groups worked with a literature development worker and an artist/animator to develop animations based on Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens - which can be seen as part of our exhibition. “Chaucer Rides Again” was an animation based on the stories of Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” but also on the lives, comments and stories of a group of five older people from the Yalding Day Centre, a drop-in center for older and retired people living in Bermondsey. “Grabbed by Shakespeare” was put together by the Townsend Primary School in Southwark, and told the story of two young people being dragged back in time to the period in which Shakespeare lived. The project involved the children having sessions with a literature worker, watching, discussing and even acting scenes from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and working on the animation itself. Finally, “Dickens and Us” was the work of 13 teenage girls from the Southwark Muslim Women’s Association’s Youth Project. The project aimed to help the girls improve their IT skills, learn about design and graphics, and also learn about the life, times and writings of Dickens himself. This was achieved through two literature sessions at the Cuming Museum, eight sessions
Discovery Centre 21 November 2005 Business Plan DRAFT creating the animation with Tom Cross, a guided local history tour of the Borough High Street to visit landmarks connected to Dickens, and a visit to the Sands Film Studios in Rotherhithe to visit the sets created for an adaptation of “Little Dorrit.”
We had a small budget within the project to develop a new education session aimed at KS1 primary school classes - we now have available a Story Building Session which is advertised to primary schools. These were piloted during June and July and 4 KS1 classes took part. As part of this project we also ran a number of family learning events during the Easter holidays and half term - 3 events during the Easter holidays aimed at parents/carers and young children aged 4-6, and 2 events during the June half term aimed at children aged 7-12.
This Project was completed successfully, under budget, on time and met its agreed aims. An evaluation report on the Project is now available.
Other Successful Funding Bids:
Southwark Council has also received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a number of other projects:
Southwark Park Southwark Park in south London is Grade II Listed. It was laid out in 1869 as the first urban park created by the Metropolitan Board of Works. In March 1999, a grant of £2,694,500 enabled the park to be restored. Works will include the replacement of the bandstand, the reinstatement of the lake and the restoration of the Ada Salter Rose garden.
Out of the Storeroom, Livesey Museum The Livesey Museum is primarily for children under 12, but the ‘Out of the Storeroom’ project in December 2000 included more local residents of all ages. A grant of £25,600 enabled this project to make accessible parts of the reserve collection of the Cuming Museum; objects were rotated on a rolling programme to complement each changing exhibition, and educational sessions were run to tie in with the National Curriculum.
The Restoration of the Lime Kiln in Burgess Park In December 2000, the Heritage Lottery Fund gave a grant of £49,000 for essential masonry repairs and restoration work to the lime kiln in Burgess Park, as well as installing essential safety and security measures to ensure its continued conservation. The works resulted in improved physical and intellectual access to the building and provided a local resource for schools.
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The Joy of Dulwich Park The Heritage Lottery Fund has provided two grants to the ‘Joy of Dulwich Park’ project - £128,500 in January 2003 and £3,893,000 in June 2004. This project involved a number of wide ranging improvements to one of Southwark’s best-used parks.
3.8 Funding Regular Activities
The ongoing activities of the Heritage Unit are core funded by Southwark Council supplemented by fundraising from a range of public sources and earned income. Table 3 above details sources of income in the current financial year. The Units revenue budget from Southwark Council for 2004/2005 is £699,000. Details of the Council’s budget are attached to the HLF application.
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4 Development of the Project
4.1 The history of the Walworth Road Town Hall building
The Walworth Road Town Hall building was originally built at a cost of £10,000 in 1865 as the Vestry Hall for the Parish of St. Mary Newington, and is a very impressive building built in red brick and Portland stone with columns of polished red granite. A member of the Vestry at the time commented that the building would also act as “an ornament to the parish.” Before the building was constructed, the Newington Vestry had to meet in rooms in the local school and churches, which were completely inadequate for the seat of local government.
The building remained the Council Chamber and offices for Vestry staff for 35 years, until, in 1990. The Metropolitan Borough of Southwark was formed by the amalgamation of four old parishes - Newington, St. Saviour’s (Southwark Cathedral), St. George the Martyr, and Christchurch, Blackfriars Road. From this point in its history, the building became the Southwark Town Hall, a meeting place for the Mayor and the Council of the new Borough. In 1965, Metropolitan Borough of Southwark joined with Bermondsey and Camberwell to form the London Borough of Southwark, and the Camberwell Town Hall on Peckham Road became the Town Hall for this new Borough. From that point until the present day, the building slipped out of public use and has been used as offices for council staff.
The Discovery Centre project will improve the management, maintenance and interpretation of the surviving historic features of the building while converting it for use as a modern visitor facility. It will also assure the future of the building for the life of the Discovery Centre and prevent it falling into neglect as building users are moved elsewhere as part of the Council’s ongoing accommodation review. The review will provide modern office accommodation for staff that the Town Hall building can no longer provide without significant alterations.
The two buildings adjoining the town hall were added at a later date and have been used as a library and a health center, strengthening the case for using the buildings for a public purpose.
4.2 The Development of the Project So Far
Work to date has included the following:
• An Options Appraisal was carried out in 2002, considering a range of options for the development of the Service starting with a do nothing option. This study concluded that our current services are unable, for a variety of reasons to make the most of the opportunity to attract visitors to Southwark and reflect the diversity and dynamism of contemporary and historic Southwark.
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They do not fully exploit the continuing role of Southwark in relation to the development of London as a world city and its connections with the great literary and scientific figures (such as Dickens, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Faraday, and Babbidge). Nor do they fully exploit the potential of our nationally, regionally and locally significant collections to contribute to the telling of these untold stories to wider audiences.
Despite this these services have begun to establish a track record of success in developing innovative learning services using arts/culture/heritage resources to stimulate and inspire local people and visitors to Southwark.
Unlocking the full learning potential of these services and the potential to attract visitors to Southwark is constrained by lack of space and the quality and accessibility of the current spaces in which they operate. An injection of capital investment to improve the facilities offered is the key to resolving these barriers to access for local people and visitors.
The development of a culture related learning and visitor centre fits with the wider culturally focused regeneration of Southwark and has the potential to mesh with the forthcoming regeneration of the Elephant & Castle and other parts of the Borough. It has social, educational, cultural and economic benefits.
The existing services are already successful in attracting external revenue and capital funding for developing the Services offered in partnership with a wide range of organisations. However their ability to do this is constrained by the current facilities. A key principle adopted has been to attempt to fund any further development largely through sources external to Southwark Council.
The proposed mix of uses of the new building balance the need to provide good quality spaces for public use with the need to sustain the development and meet the additional revenue implications. The outline business plan prepared indicates that this is viable without a further call on council funding.
The appraisal established the Elephant & Castle and the Walworth Town Hall building in particular as a possible location for the development of the facility and on this basis Southwark Building Design Services were commissioned to undertake an outline feasibility study that would assess the physical capacity of the building and the technical feasibility of its conversion.
• An Architectural Feasibility Study and provisional scheme for the building completed in 2003 assessed the physical capacity of the building to accommodate the Discovery Centre and was undertaken by Southwark Building Design Services. The Study gives an outline of the organisation of the building to
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accommodate the new centre and an initial estimate of the costings for the significant alterations that are required to accommodate the Centre and make it accessible. Although a provisional scheme is required for the HLF bid the final design will be different and the proposed procurement method includes an architectural competition to select architects and designers to prepare the final scheme.
• The Market Research and Consultation builds on work undertaken by the Service over the past five years with current and potential users of the new centre was primarily desk based research that allowed assumptions to be made about the market potential of the new facility. If the Stage 1 bid is successful it will be necessary to undertake more detailed consultation that will feed into the Stage 2 submission to the HLF.
• Preparation of a Collections Management Plan (updated 2004) that details arrangements for care and management of our collections.
• Preparation of an Access and Audience Development Plan, completed 2004 that describes how the Centre will work and be marketed to attract diverse audiences.
• Preparation of a Training Plan completed in 2004 by an external consultant that describes not only how staff will be supported in developing and managing the Project and operating the Centre but how the Centre has potential to support a range of training and learning related activity that will benefit the community.
• Preparation of a Funding Strategy that involved in-depth research on possible sources of funding for the Centre to match the suggested HLF contribution.
• Preparation of a Conservation Management Plan that addresses the need to care for the historic features of the Grade II listed building. The intention that this will be used to inform phase 2 of the Project.
• Preparation of a detailed functional brief for the Project that sets out the space requirements of the museum and collections.
• Preparation of an interpretation plan for the exhibitions within the facility that uses the Cuming, archive and art collections in the permanent and temporay displays.
• Preparation of an outline Business Plan for the Capital and Revenue implications of the Project that gives an indication of its feasibility.
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• Development of the concept and outline scheme for the Centre undertaken with Southwark Building Design Service.
• Legal advice through Southwark Council on establishment of a Charity to act as a fundraising vehicle for the Centre.
• The preparation of a concept design scheme commissioned from Real Studios Ltd, Southwark based exhibition and interior designers that have a track record of designing successful museum exhibitions from Hackney Museum to the Imperial War Museum North.
• The preparation of a building design scheme to RIBA Stage C by Southwark Building Design Services. This incorporates detailed structural engineering and other appropriate specialist advice and is informed by the Conservation Management Plan for the building in addition to the requirements of the museum and collection.
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5 Strategic background
5.1 The Aims of the Project
As befits a project of this magnitude, Southwark Council has a number of aims that the project will achieve. By building and developing the Southwark Discovery Centre, we hope to celebrate local history, increase social cohesion, reduce social exclusion and create a more positive image of Southwark. There should be an increased capacity for education, lifelong learning and community work. We also wish to improve community access to services, both by increasing community involvement and also by relocating some services to a more accessible area and by improving the physical access to the building for those with disabilities.
The aims of the Project can be summarised in the following diagram:
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The Cuming Art Southwark Museum Collection Local History Library and Archive
The Southwark Discovery Centre
A New Museum of An Interactive Safe, secure and Southwark Life, Learning Centre For accessible storage charting the history Children to build on for current and and present of all of the work of the future collections Southwark’s diverse Livesey Museum communities
Greater capacity for Exhibition space to education, lifelong promote local artists learning and and community community work. groups and bring in touring exhibitions flh
• Return a Grade II listed building to public use • Foster civic pride and community cohesion by ensuring the centre is inclusive of and responsive to all aspects of the culture of Southwark’s diverse population • Capitalise on the Elephant & Castle regeneration plans and increase tourism in the area • Improve access to the resources through moving to the transport hub of Elephant and Castle, and also by improving the disability access to the buildings • Improve opportunities for conservation and curation work for local Universities
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However, in order to fully comprehend our need to pursue such aims, it is important to appreciate the rich and varied history of Southwark.
5.2 Borough History
Local history has become so important to the London Borough of Southwark for one very simple reason – it has an immensely rich and varied cultural and social history, stretching back to Roman times, and some of the world’s greatest writers and artists are intrinsically linked with Southwark.
Being the site of the first Roman crossing over the Thames, Roman Southwark was a thriving and prosperous town that grew to almost 45 acres at its peak. In medieval times Southwark’s strategic importance increased as all major routes from southern England and Europe converged here to cross the river.
The inns around Borough High Street were celebrated in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, and Southwark has a long and proud history as a haven for the arts, crafts and media. Internationally renowned writers such as Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare, whose work is, as Ben Jonson said, “not of an age but for all time”, enjoyed the creative freedom fostered within the borough, and Southwark has a long connection with artists from Hogarth to David Hepher. In modern times, the South London Gallery remains at the forefront of contemporary art.
By the seventeenth century Southwark was the second largest urban area in England, and during the industrial revolution Southwark and Bermondsey developed as a great manufacturing centre, the powerhouse to London’s successful growth. The abundance of food and drink manufacturers and international trade lent the area the title of ‘London’s larder’.
Southwark’s proximity to the river has led to strong links across the world. By the 15th century it had one of London’s largest immigrant populations, and today it is one of the most culturally diverse communities in the country. To this day, the borough remains a location for pioneering initiatives in social and educational reform, from the early philanthropic institutions to the country’s very first healthy living centre. Southwark is home to some of the biggest regeneration initiatives in the country, including the multi-million pounds proposal for the regeneration of Elephant and Castle. An endless capacity for innovative regeneration and a forward-looking philosophy are driving Southwark’s rebirth as a key-player in central London
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5.3 The Need in Southwark
Our current services are unable, for a variety of reasons to make the most of the opportunity to attract visitors to Southwark and reflect the diversity and dynamism of contemporary and historic Southwark. They do not fully exploit the continuing role of Southwark in relation to the development of London as a world city and its connections with the great literary and scientific figures (such as Dickens, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Faraday, and Babbidge). Nor do they fully exploit the potential of our nationally, regionally and locally significant collections to contribute to the telling of these untold stories to wider audiences.
At the moment, there is no facility that tells the story of Southwark, one of London’s most historic Boroughs. The current cultural provision is split up over various parts of the borough, making certain parts very inaccessible for the community. This also means that links between each of the services are not as strong as they could be, and there is a lack of a joined-up approach to education and culture throughout the borough.
The current facilities are also inadequate in terms of the quality and quantity of physical spaces in which they work. Unlocking the full learning potential of these services and the potential to attract visitors to Southwark is constrained by lack of space and the quality and accessibility of the current spaces in which they operate. An injection of capital investment to improve the facilities offered is the key to resolving these barriers to access for local people and visitors. There is a lack of adequate storage space in all our facilities, hindering expansion and possibly even damaging the existing collections through improper storage. There is also not enough display space to make the most of the current collections, with only a small fraction of Southwark’s resources being shown at any one time, limiting the community’s access to works of historical importance. Access is further hindered due to the poor disabled needs facilities, with no lift access to the Cuming Museum prime among these concerns.
These factors combined mean that our current facilities are limited in scope. Although the services have very good track records in their areas, and especially with education, we can only improve our provision with a major investment. We feel in Southwark that are services in some respects represent a huge amount of untapped potential – there is so much scope for improving our service in terms of education and lifelong learning, in preserving local history, in celebrating local culture and communities, in short in reminding residents of exactly what makes Southwark such an exciting place in which to live, learn and explore.
5.4 The Proposal
The Southwark Discovery Centre will combine the Cuming Museum, Newington Library, Newington Reference Library and the Local Studies Library and Archives under one roof to create a museum of Southwark. The
Discovery Centre 31 November 2005 Business Plan DRAFT museum will have a great deal more space in which to display the collections, thus giving the local community far greater access to Southwark’s culturally and historically important resources. This will also enable more, and more varied, education work to be built around the collections.
The new centre would also mean that vastly improved storage facilities could be installed. Not only would this mean that the current collections could be kept to modern standards, it would also give us the capacity to expand the collections. This increased storage space will be of invaluable use when setting up temporary and touring exhibitions.
The increased capacity for displaying and storing collections will mean that the Centre will be able to hold a number of temporary and touring exhibitions. As one of the Centre’s aims is to be inclusive of and responsive to all sections of Southwark’s community, this would give us the ability to liase with local religious and community groups to create specific temporary exhibitions at appropriate times of the year to celebrate one of the varied cultures that are celebrated within Southwark. By using this community-led approach to exhibitions, Southwark residents will feel included, and should help to break down the barriers of social exclusion. In a similar way, we will seek to create excellent relationships with other museums worldwide which celebrate the culture and history of the people who have come to form a part of Southwark society. The idea will be to set up a cultural exchange, touring some of Southwark’s collection to each of these museums in return for temporary exhibitions from each of them. The Southwark Discovery Centre will aim to celebrate the culture and history of all people within Southwark, helping everyone to understand the complex racial make-up of a truly multi-cultural borough, and allowing a degree of civic pride to be held by all of our residents.
The involvement of the community would not stop at exhibition space, however. Rooms will be made available to local community groups and oters for meetings adding to the local ownership of the Centre.
There will be some exhibition space made available to local artists, encouraging and promoting artistic expression within the borough. This will not just be for local professional artists, which will be managed in conjunction with the exhibitions at the South London Gallery, but will also include local amateur artist and artistic groups within the community. This should create within the community a feeling that everyone can have the space and artistic freedom to express themselves as they wish, no matter what the age or level of ability, and there will always be the possibility of access to exhibition space.
As well as these community meeting spaces, there will also be areas set aside as dedicated educational spaces, as well as a state of the art educational suite with IT resources. These areas can be used both by schools and the general community, helping to increase the capacity for educational provisions and also the scope for lifelong learning.
At present, the Cuming Museum has a small number of links with Universities providing courses relating to museum curation and conservation, and it
Discovery Centre 32 November 2005 Business Plan DRAFT benefits from such links when it comes to repairing and restoring items in the collection. The Southwark Discovery Centre will make more of these links, providing more opportunities for local students to learn important skills first hand, and so increasing the quality of the collection through more conservation work, essentially taking care of the collections to a much higher standard for very little cost.
One of the main problems with the services at present is accessibility, and this is one area in which the new facilities would have a huge advantage. Elephant and Castle will provide a very central location, with very good transport links both by bus, train and underground, making it easier for all residents to visit the facilities. The disabled access, which is state in the current buildings, will be vastly improved so that no one should feel like they are unable to get the most out of the Southwark Discovery Centre. Elephant and Castle is also very close to the Bankside area, which is very well populated by visitors and tourists. These modern, improved facilities will allow us to attract these tourists deeper into the Borough, giving the local economy a boost and allowing people from all over the world to learn about one of London’s most historic boroughs. The development of a culture related learning and visitor centre fits with the wider culturally focused regeneration of Southwark and has the potential to mesh with the forthcoming regeneration of the Elephant & Castle and other parts of the Borough. It has social, educational, cultural and economic benefits.
It is also important, however, that people feel that they have access to local provisions for art and education. For this reason, Livesey Museum and South London Gallery to remain open in their current locations, but as satellites of the Southwark Discovery Centre, fully integrated into the art and education programmes. This joined-up approach to exhibitions and education would encourage people to visit Southwark Discovery Centre to further their learning. The aim would be to strike the perfect balance between the first rate services currently available on a very local basis, with much needed improvements, and a central service, highly accessible to all of Southwark’s residents, providing an integrated approach to history, learning and all aspects of modern culture and society.
5.5 Relation To Council Priorities
The Southwark Discovery Centre will make a major contribution to the council priorities in the following ways:
• Contribute to lifelong learning and raising standards of educational achievement in Southwark by developing services and facilities for formal and informal learning for people of all ages.
• Forms part of the agreed Development Framework for the area as part of regeneration of the borough. This is in partnership with the SRB scheme and other private and public partners.
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• Promote and provide opportunities for CAHIS to contribute to tackling poverty and social inclusion by promoting and improving access to Culture, Arts, Heritage and International resources, targeting services at people at risk of social inclusion.
• Be part of the Draft Cultural Strategy for Southwark Council
• Contribute to Making Southwark Cleaner and Greener through programmes and activities that enhance the quality of urban design and inform and educate people about environmental issues.
• Contribute to cutting crime and the fear of crime by providing programmes and activities that are targeted at young people at risk of offending and improving unsafe environments.
• Develop excellence and peoples access to the best in the cultural, arts, heritage and international sector in Southwark.
• Manage our resources efficiently and effectively so that they provide value for money for local people and add value to other mainstream service provision within Southwark Council and in the wider cultural and creative sectors in Southwark.
5.6 Relation to Council Strategies
The Southwark Discovery Centre forms part of the Regeneration Strategy for the Borough, and it aims to confront inequality by celebrating cultural diversity, provide quality and choice through its provision of free access to Leisure opportunities targeted at local people, and work on the ideas of “access for all” by carrying out work with local people to involve them in the service and by discussing issues that are relevant to Southwark as a whole. We also hope that the Centre will contribute to the process of sustainable regeneration.
The Centre will contribute to the Council’s Cultural Strategy by improving the quality of life of Southwark residents through the access to high quality cultural provision. The Centre will promote sustainable development, civic pride, social cohesion and recognising Southwark as a great place to live work and visit, as well as bringing in partnerships for investment in services. It will do this by focusing on a sense of place and community identity and by working with community histories. It will provide cutting edge contemporary art shows, celebrating Southwark and its people, and will be involved in building citizenship. The department will be working with the business and charitable sectors to lever in investment for cultural services.
The Centre has provided a long-term policy for cultural improvements and wider integration to the Cultural Strategy. It will provide elements of improvement in direct provision along with a number of different social and economic benefits.
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The Centre will provide opportunities for lifelong learning and inter- generational learning through working with schools, both on and off site, and with learners of all ages, and so contributes to the Council’s Education & Lifelong Learning Strategy.
The Council’s Economic Development Strategy involves promoting investment in Southwark, and the Southwark Discovery Centre should contribute to this in a major way. It will create an environment that is attractive to local businesses and act as a generator for investment in cultural services. The Centre will work with a range of people to develop skills and self-esteem through education and outreach work. It will also contribute to place marketing.
By working with the community on issues around sense and pride of place, and working with offenders and those at risk of offending, the Centre will strengthen local communities, thus contributing to the local Crime and Disorder Strategy.
The Centre will promote a healthier way of life through community development and education work focusing on health issues past, present and future, thus contributing to the Council’s Health Strategy.
The Centre will contribute to the Council’s Housing Strategy through the concept of sustainable communities. It will play an educational role in Local Agenda 21 and in considering improvements in public housing over time. The Centre will also carry out work to help involve communities in having a say about what they want for the future.
The Southwark Discovery Centre will encourage independence and improve life chances through quality educational work with vulnerable people, and so contribute to the Social Care Strategy. It will work in partnership with social care agencies, striving to meet the needs of children and families.
The Centre will involve the community in the work of the museum and in work on issues of concern to people in Southwark, opening up the way we work to enable local people to influence us, and so contributing to the Council’s Social Inclusion Strategy. It will also work together with other local organisations in order to develop the community’s capacity for self help.
The Centre will contribute to the Council’s Transport Strategy by promoting and educating on transport issues, and also by making Southwark an attractive place to live and work. It will also provide local facilities for local people and make the most of the transport links, both current and proposed as part of regeneration, of the Elephant and Castle area.
The Centre will involve Southwark’s communities in its Environment Strategy, promoting pride of place and carrying out educational work on issues such as rubbish and recycling.
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The Southwark Discovery Centre hopes to ensure that the community is involved in all of the council’s work, especially in the vision for the Borough and in planning the delivery of our services, as per the Community Involvement Strategy. The Centre aims to this by providing opportunities for community involvement through working with local community leaders, actively engaging and involving people in what we do, and specifically targeting non-users. It will develop the confidence and capacity of communities to represent themselves as well as engaging people in the process of change – past, present and future – and dealing with community identity.
5.7 Links to National and Regional Priorities
The Discovery Centre supports the central role of Culture in Southwark to the wider political and social agendas that drive policy and strategy at national, regional and local levels. The Discovery Centre will play its part in managing and operating programmes that enhance the local environment, promote crime reduction particularly among young people, improve education and learning and promote social cohesion.
There are a large number of national regional and local strategies, plans and policies produced by bodies as wide ranging as the Government’s departments for Culture, Media and Sport or Education, Trade and Industry, the English Tourism Council, the Arts Council of England, the Museums Libraries and Archives Council, the Greater London Authority and many more, that are relevant to this development, and which have been considered when setting out the future development framework and associated plans.
The scope and number of these strategies are too great to summarise here but are of great importance, particularly in the development of individual strategies and action plans for the Centre. Some of the key policies and views of national and regional organisations are pulled together in the Mayor’s Cultural Strategy and in the Southwark Cultural Strategy. Southwark’s Cultural Strategy refers to the significance of the Discovery Centre as a key part of the cultural infrastructure in Southwark.
In relation to these priorities the Discovery Centre will play a full part in:
• Inclusiveness: making our services more ‘inclusive’ and promoting the idea that access to the heritage is for all. The Discovery Centre will stimulate learning about aspects of communities that have been marginalised or ignored. In developing this sense of local identity, the Discovery Centre can contribute to improving people’s self-image about their community but can also potentially lead to a re-definition of the community - one that is more inclusive
• Social cohesion: raising public awareness of their community and minority communities. Playing a part in integrating, representing and promoting wider community perspectives and
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potentially leading to the development of greater social cohesion.
• Local image and identity: as a repository for objects and artefacts of relevance to a particular community. Our collections reflect the history and culture of the community and help people to promote and take pride in their past; and
• Individual and community empowerment: providing encouragement to and support for volunteers and providing opportunities for ‘active citizenship’. The Centre will improve communication with communities and we hope will result in greater relevance of collections and a broader audience base;
• Education: the Centre will improve our capacity to be a valuable educational resources through which people of all ages can learn; acting “as a powerful agent in combating social inclusion by giving people the skills and confidence to engage with society” (DCMS, 2000a, p8). It will also provide a variety of formal and informal learning opportunities for children and adults.
• Environment: the Centre will play a part in raising awareness and understanding of environmental issues and promoting sustainable stewardship for cultural heritage.
• Economic impact: contributing to local economic activity through job creation, the provision of local services and through purchasing; generating economic impact through tourism.
• Health: a therapeutic role (assisting people to develop self- esteem, confidence and a greater sense of well-being), and a role as a direct provider of information about health-related issues.
5.8 Southwark Tourism and Attractions
Our assessment of demand for the Centre is derived through an understanding of the tourism dynamics in Southwark and comparative analysis of attractions in the borough and other similar facilities elsewhere. More detail on our assessment of this is given in Section 8.9 below.
Tourism is increasingly becoming a major sector within Southwark. The latest estimates being 7 million visits per annum. The focus of this activity is very much towards the north of the borough in particular where development concentrates the borough’s arts and cultural experience into a defined area. In terms of attractions, there is limited product on offer elsewhere than the northern part of the borough. The most high profile attraction is the Tate Modern, which has had huge success in attracting visitors. Many of the attractions are heritage based, and contain a range of free and paid
Discovery Centre 37 November 2005 Business Plan DRAFT experiences. However there is no similar facility to compete with in Southwark, and The Southwark Discovery Centre would clearly prove a significant addition to the options for people visiting
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6 Project details
6.1 Southwark Discovery Centre Concept
Vision and Aims
Southwark Council has what no other London Borough has: unique museum, library and archive collections that offer unparalleled opportunities for engaging with the public; a thriving cultural sector; and a unique story to tell as London’s most historic borough. This presents significant opportunities to provide a service that is both relevant to Southwark, complements other cultural sector providers and is a centre of excellence for London and beyond.
The aims of this project are as follows:
• To promote, develop and provide a learning and cultural centre which is inclusive and responsive to all aspects of the culture of local people,
• To create a number of permanent exhibitions telling the story of London’s most historic borough, recording change now and in the past, and changing exhibitions designed to stimulate artistic expression, learning and the improvement of personal communication skills and allowing more of Southwark’s collections to be made available and to bring in the best touring shows from elsewhere.
• To develop facilities to provide total access to the significant learning resources of our museum, art, library and archive collections, developing a resource centre for researchers, schools and the whole community providing access to museum collections, archives, publications and information about the past present and future of Southwark. Allowing us to provide access to more of the significant collections of the Local Studies Library and Archives and Cuming Museum.
• To provide a dynamic new cultural centre for London building on and significantly enhancing the award winning facilities of the Cuming Museum, Livesey Museum for Children and Southwark Local Studies Library and Archives.
• To provide an interactive learning centre for children (building on the success of the award winning Livesey Museum for Children).
• To provide the medium through which local people can participate in all aspects of cultural, political, social and economic life.
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• To provide the focus for the cultural work of local people by developing networks that encourage local people to express themselves with confidence.
• To provide a state of the art educational suite with IT resources, education rooms and community meeting spaces and more generally to educate through the interaction of the arts with other subjects - the environment, multiculturalism, science and history.
• To offer complementary services to the established education provisions by running clubs and events in the evenings, weekends and during school holidays,
• To provide a resource for the educational and development of parents, teachers and other professionals in the arts and cultural education of children and young people,
• To develop resources and materials and to provide advice to both established and evolving organisations.
To achieve this vision there is a need to update and modernise our existing facilities, to open them up to the community and transform access to our collections and services.
6.2 Why is there a need for a new facility?
The existing facilities occupied by the Cuming, and Local History Library/Archives are no longer able to meet the demands of present day audiences:
• They only allow a small part of our nationally significant resources to be used and are physically inaccessible to large parts of the community and to visitors to Southwark.
• There is insufficient storage space to accommodate future growth of the collection and the current storage does not meet modern standards.
• There are no dedicated education spaces available to fulfil the potential of our resources to inspire young and old.
• Southwark has been at the heart of London for over two thousand years, contributing significantly to the economy, prosperity and status of the capital as a ‘world city’. Yet there is no facility that tells the story of Southwark and its people.
• The existing facilities do not adequately address the needs of the community or of visitors. There is strong demand for a high quality centre that will welcome all the different groups within the
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community and cater for the needs of old and young in a single physically, intellectually and culturally accessible centre.
• The demand is high - Current user numbers to the existing local cultural facilities are over 80,000, there has been a 500% increase in numbers of schools (primarily local) using us even after the opening of Tate Modern, Globe etc. The current facilities have won awards for the quality of their educational work. Market research demonstrates a potential audience of over 125,000 people.
6.3 What will the new facility provide?
The Centre will include:
• A new museum and visitor attraction telling the story of London’s most historic and fastest developing borough.
• Interactive learning activities for children and families (building on the success of the award winning Livesey Museum for Children).
• Safe, secure and accessible storage for artefacts and records that conforms to the highest modern standards and allows us to safeguard collections for the future; build new collections to reflect change and development in Southwark.
The Centre will be physically and economically accessible to all sections of the community. It will engage and involve the community in Southwark and beyond by:
• Promoting a positive image of Southwark.
• Providing a focus for civic pride and community identity.
• Providing a resource base for developing the skills of local people and providing employment opportunities for local people.
• Providing a centre for lifelong learning.
• Providing a modern visitor facility, attracting visitors to Southwark and complementing the existing tourist offer by focusing on Southwark, its past, and present and future development.
• Tackling social exclusion through involving and engaging the whole community, celebrating cultural diversity and being a focus for community led activities.
• Providing a focus for working in partnership with other arts/cultural sector providers in Southwark and beyond. Discovery Centre 41 November 2005 Business Plan DRAFT
The Elephant & Castle has been identified in our research as a key location for the facility.
6.4 Principles guiding the project's development:
• A Significant Visitor Attraction – the Centre must be able to attract significant numbers of visitors to Southwark and exploit the significance of Southwark’s history and literary and scientific connections. It will also complement the existing tourist offer in Southwark.
• A Centre for Local People’s Culture - the distinct potential to develop a unique institution. The project will build on the current work of Southwark Culture & Heritage Services in engaging with local people and visitors alike in a fully accessible facility. Also a centre that takes Southwark to the wider world and balances the needs of visitors and local people.
• A self-reliant organisation - the project aims to empower local people. The centre will be community-centred in every sense, developed and managed with the local community for the benefit of the local community.
• A new style centre - the project will build on and learn from the experience of museums and similar facilities elsewhere. In addition to the provision of 'museum' elements The Southwark Discovery Centre will provide accommodation for the Southwark Local History Library and Archives, spaces for creative and learning activities and a managed workspace for organisations involved in local; cultural development.
• A working partnership - the opportunity to link with other cultural providers. Established cultural industry providers in Southwark include Tate Modern, The Globe, the Design Museum and a large variety of creative and performing arts based organisations.
• A full-time facility - the operation of a multi-purpose resource throughout the year. The demand from school groups and community organisations is demonstrated by the growing importance of our and other culturally led education and outreach activities. The building will also be open as a resource for schools and adult learners during terms, in the school holidays, in the evenings and at weekends.
• An educational 'classroom' - the development of educational programmes for parents, teachers and other professionals.
• A Centre of Excellence – for culture, heritage and learning.
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6.5 The Challenge
The Southwark Discovery Centre project creates a number of opportunities and challenges.
There is nothing on this scale in Southwark that reflects the culture, values and identity of Southwark and its people past and present. We intend to create an open and inclusive design and development programme that engages with the building's users in new and direct ways. This makes it unique among cultural projects being developed in Southwark. Thus, The Southwark Discovery Centre project provides the opportunity to explore a new approach to the procurement of community-based facilities.
One of the key ideas for the Centre is the focus on interactivity and the involvement of local people. This kind of interactivity can stimulate and facilitate learning about a range of issues and matters of local interest and relevance.
In the context of The Southwark Discovery Centre project, the idea of interactivity is defined as:
• A community based centre - for The Southwark Discovery Centre project the community will involve interacting in new ways including those now being made possible by the internet
• Interaction through discovery - to commission, construct and manage a building project represent new ways to learn through 'hands-on' experience.
• The community engaged in design - a socially inclusive approach to the design of the building fits well with current policies on community consultation.
6.6 The Context
Locating the Discovery Centre project within the Elephant & Castle area provides valuable synergies and opportunities. The benefits of a location in the area are:
• Its central location - easy access, transport modes (adjacent railway station, tube station, bus station).
• The availability of the building.
• The proximity of complementary activities.
• A sympathetic and highly proactive local authority – Southwark has a reputation for culture led regeneration.
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• A location that is renewing itself.
• A widely agreed and understood need for cultural facilities of all types.
Recognition of this synergy will be reflected in the emerging cultural strategy for the Elephant & Castle.
6.7 The Project
The aspirations for The Southwark Discovery Centre, its contents and services, are evolving.
Determining the detail of the development brief is itself an opportunity to engage in new forms of collaboration between the client, local people and the professionals, the project managers and architects. Effective techniques for the participation of building users in the design of community buildings, such as The Southwark Discovery Centre, have been developed in the past 20 years. The opportunity to add this interactive stage to the evolution of The Southwark Discovery Centre project should form part of the 'Next Steps' to progress the project.
6.8 Building uses
Without prejudicing the outcome of these dynamic brief-making stages we have made an assessment of potential building uses, its schedule of accommodation and the construction cost as part of the model. Three separate but related activities have been identified.
The Visitor Experience
The Southwark Discovery Centre will focus on the cultural and artistic lives and heritage of Southwark people and the significant role that Southwark has played in the development of London as world city and in the worlds of science the arts and literature. The Southwark Discovery Centre will develop educational and recreational facilities that encourage learning about 'society, life, the environment, arts, culture - past, present and future - through discovery, play, fun, expression, experience and exploration'. Far from being excluded adults will be encouraged to 'learn, play and relax together' with children and young people. Outreach already plays an important part in the work of the Service and the centre will stimulate more of this activity in the community. The Southwark Discovery Centre will offer training for teachers and become involved in curriculum development/programmes with schools to encourage children from low incomes to access the museum and heritage experience.
At its centre The Southwark Discovery Centre will exhibit two interrelated themes:
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• The 'Story of Southwark’ – the development of the Borough and its people to the present day and into the future this will include the significant role that Southwark has played in the development of London as world city and in the worlds of science the arts and literature and will have as a major focus the diversity of contemporary Southwark.
• The Worldwide Cuming Collection – a substantial collection of material from all over the world
It will also have at its heart:
• A research/resource centre providing access to more of our local studies, museum and archive collections – all accessible on the site in safe, secure and environmentally controlled storage.
• A permanent display of the South London Gallery Art Collections currently only available through appointment and occasional temporary exhibitions.
• Temporary exhibition spaces allowing more of our collections to be used, bringing in larger scale touring shows from other centres and providing space for display of work undertaken with local community groups and on the regeneration of Southwark.
Around this hub, space will be provided to accommodate educational and learning activities, workshops, after school clubs and community meetings reflecting the vision of a centre at the heart of its community. The 'feel' of the place will be developed in the design phases, but the aim will be to make it an essential 'drop-in' for local people and visitors alike where they will be able to participate in activities and events and to meet and relax with others.
6.9 Space Requirements
The detail of thee design will develop as the project proceeds however on the basis of the current plans the above will occupy the following spaces:
• 1388m sq of Permanent and temporary exhibition galleries over three floors of the building.
• 113 m sq of education spaces
• 447m sq of controlled collections storage spaces
• 61 m sq of general storage spaces
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• 389 m sq of offices, and meeting rooms
• 808m sq of circulation spaces
• 183 m sq of space for ancillary facilities like retail space, café, toilets and reception areas
6.10 Capital Costs
A summary of the estimated capital costs to deliver the Project are set out at Table 4 below. More detail on these costs is attached at Appendix B including cash flow projections for the life of the project. These costs will be developed significantly at Stage II of the Project and be based on information from the consultants, contractors and advisers appointed to manage the Design Stage. Estimates at this stage are based on Southwark Council’s experience of other major capital projects, industry benchmarks and the feasibility and other work undertaken by Southwark Building Design Services, our expert in-house team.
Table 4: Estimated Capital Costs
Capital Expenditure Programme Headings
Estimated costs @ 3Q or 4Q 2005
Project Development
Conservation Management Plan 27,800 Initial Structural Advice 2,000 Design Proposal/Outline Plans 29,000 Trial Pits 9,000 Test Business Planning 10,000 Fundraising 15,000 Marketing Strategy 10,000 Design Concept/Competition 32,250
Professional Fees
Architect 547,085 Quantity Surveyor 288,463 Electrical Engineer 124,338 Mechanical Engineer 124,338 Structural Engineer 248,675 Planning Supervisor 49,735 Project Management 198,940 Lift Consultant 24,868 Access Consultant 49,735
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Acoustic Consultant 49,735 Other specialist advice 49,735
Statutory fees
Planning and Building Control 49,735
Site Development
Full Structural Survey 20,000 Full Condition Survey 20,000
Main Building Works
Refurbishment 957,000 Alterations 96,000 New Build 2,750,000 New Dome Area 50,000 Demolition 78,000
Access Improvements
Lift Installation 260,000 Ramps and Entrance Alterations 40,000 Hearing Loops 10,000 Signs 10,000 Doors 86,000
Internal Infrastructure
Electrical Installations 467,000 Services Installation 652,000 Heating System 251,000 Environmental Control 457,000 Blinds/Curtains 77,000 Furniture 20,000 Flooring 209,000 General Lighting 231,000 Storage Equipment 75,000
Exhibitions/Gallery Fit Out
Displays 1,086,000 Display Designs 65,000 Research 10,000
Collection Decant
Preparation/packing 14,170 Packing materials 1,500 Relocate basement store collections 92,900 Temporary storage costs 117,018
Exhibition Development
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Object/Artwork conservation 50,000 Mounting/framing 40,000 Object photography 5,000 Staff travel 1,000 Education packs, etc 20,000 Large objects relocation 20,000 Research 10,000 Community consultation 15,000
ICT Infrastructure
Hardware, cabling, etc to offices 25,000
Education
Education Equipment 30,000
Marketing
Web Site 10,000 Printed Materials 10,000 Launch Costs 5,000
Staff Related Costs
Recruitment Costs 5,000 ICT Training 10,000
Contingency
Applied to construction costs 1,990,000 Applied to other costs 180,000
Totals £12,569,019
Construction costs = 9,947,000 Other Costs = 2,622,019
6.11 Development Costs
The development costs for the scheme are identified in the table above together with the assumptions made in their calculation. The total development cost is £1,156,750.
The costs are based on industry benchmarks and can be summarised as follows:
Table 5: Estimates of Development Costs Capital Expenditure Programme Headings
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Estimated costs
Project Development Conservation Management Plan 27,800 Initial Structural Advice 2,000 Design Proposal/Outline Plans 29,000 Trial Pits 9,000 Test Business Planning 10,000 Fundraising 15,000 Marketing Strategy 10,000 Design Concept/Competition 32,250 Professional Fees Architect 273,542 Quantity Surveyor 144,231 Electrical Engineer 62,169 Mechanical Engineer 62,169 Structural Engineer 124,339 Planning Supervisor 24,867 Project Management 99,470 Lift Consultant 12,434 Access Consultant 24,867 Statutory fees Planning and Building Control 24,867 Site Development Full Structural Survey 20,000 Full Condition Survey 20,000 Exhibition Development Display Designs 48,750 Research 20,000 Community consultation 10,000 Contingency @7% 74,862 Totals 1,156,750
6.12 Outline of Funding Strategy
More detail on the funding strategy is attached at Appendix A.
Based on this research the potential to attract additional capital to the project clearly exists. The potential sources are as follows:
• Heritage Lottery Fund: this represents the most likely source of capital funding for The Southwark Discovery Centre. We suggest a target figure of £4,990,000 or 40% of the total requirement.
• Southwark Council: will announce its commitment of just over £ 1 million in 2005.
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• The Elephant & Castle area is subject to SRB and other regeneration funding and it is likely that support for The Southwark Discovery Centre could be forthcoming through this route or through Section 106 agreements. Target £3,000,000
• The various lottery funds: the normal channel for centres incorporating heritage assets is the Heritage Lottery Fund, which has funded numerous attractions of this kind. With community and education remits, a discovery centre may have potential for funding under the Big Lottery Fund, which has a focus on these issues, and the arts focus of The Southwark Discovery Centre opens up Arts Lottery potential. Target £400,000.
• Various education foundations (such as the Gulbenkian Foundation and Clore Duffield Foundation): these foundations are already involved in supporting discovery centres, but other opportunities may exist. Additional sources include community trusts and foundations that operate in the Southwark area. Target £1,700,000.
• Corporate level sponsorship: from local companies or companies with a specific interest in education and learning. Many of the large organisations in the UK have established community funds and involvement in community projects. For existing facilities of this type this is a key source of funds. Target £1,000,000.
• Other fundraising: We will seek donations and engage in fundraising activities with local people. The target for this is £500,000.
6.13 Whole Life Costs
Whole Life Costs (WLC) are calculated over a 15-year time period. They are there to provide management with a fiscal model that will help shape strategy over the medium to long term. In addition, by analysing where the main revenue pressures will exist it is possible to plan and design elements of the building construction that will have a major long- term benefit for the project (i.e.: Building materials/energy conservation).
A revenue projection for 2010/11 has indicated a budget of £926,418 per annum. This has been created using benchmark figures for similar sized building and services. The following table illustrates how the revenue budgets will need to grow just to keep pace with inflation.
Table 6: Whole Life Revenue Costs Financial Cycles (5 Years) Revenue Costs
2010/11 - 2014/15 £4,918,479
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20015/16 - 20019/20 £5,701,865 2020/21 – 2024/25 £6,610,024 TOTAL £17,230,368 Assumption of 3% inflation per year.
Capital costs are £12,569,019. The WLC therefore equates to:
• Capital plus revenue £29,799,387 over the 15-year period.
On this basis the capital costs equate to 42% and the revenue equals 58%.
When comparing this figure for general building extensions the revenue costs are comparable. (35% Capital, 65% Revenue is the mean). The average formula would calculate a revenue cost of approximately £1,291,307 in 2010/11. This gives some further benchmarking credibility to the current projections.
Based on user figure of 100,000 per annum the cost of the 15-year period would equate to £19.87 per person.
6.14 Project Plan
An outline of the Project Plan is set out at Appendix E. A summary of the Project Plan is as follows:
Table 7: Outline Project Plan Phase Outline Tasks Commence Ends 1. Project Development Assessment Process and End November 2005 June 2006 Outcome of HLFStage 1 bid Ongoing phase of development overlaps with later phases – refine business plan, marketing strategy, user consultation throughout the project 2. Appoint Project Teams Appoint Project Board and June 2006 June 2007 Planning Teams Appoint Project Manager Commence Fundraising Strategy Appoint Architect, Designer and other external specialists to Building Team Carry out detailed condition and structural surveys Detailed Conservation Management Plan 3. Design Development RIBA Stage E designs October 2006 October 2007 Permissions and consents Access audits if plans Display/interior designs Plan moves of staff/collections Submission and assessment of Stage 2 bid 4. Building construction Main build October 2007 October 2009 and fit-out
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Fit out displays and interiors Building Regs approvals and fire certificates etc. Recruit and train staff in advance of opening 5. Launch and operational Planning of launch (as) August 2009 October 2009 onwards phase Open to public
In line with the Prince 2 project management methodology that will be applied to the project throughout its life each stage will be signed off before progressing to the next and more detailed stage plans will be agreed before authorising commencement of any stage. Evaluation will be ongoing throughout the life of the project and into the operational phase.
The Project Manager will have a key role in assisting monitoring and evaluation of the design and construction phases ensuring that information is collated and available at the appropriate points. Following Prince 2 methodology:
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DRAFT
7 Business Case for the Discovery Centre – Interaction with the One Stop Shop
7.1 Context
Since September 2002, Southwark has committed to residents to promote the development of a new flagship cultural development in Southwark. The proposed Southwark Discovery Centre will be a dynamic new cultural centre for London that will be a centre of local people’s learning and culture combining:
• A major new visitor attraction making the most of the opportunity to attract visitors to Southwark and reflecting the diversity and dynamism of contemporary and historic Southwark. • An interactive learning centre for children. • A resource centre for researchers, schools and the whole community providing access to museum collections, archives, publications and information about the past present and future of Southwark. • A state of the art educational suite with IT resources, education rooms and community meeting spaces. • Temporary exhibition galleries. • Safe, secure and accessible storage for artefacts and records. • Income generating services such as shop, café, facilities for meetings and functions and • A pioneer public services access point for visitors and residents in the area (One Stop Shop)
7.2 How the One Stop Shop and Discovery Centre will work together
The One Stop Shop will provide Educational, Social, Environment, Housing and Regeneration services to the public and signposting for other public services and community initiatives. The purpose of this report is to demonstrate how the One Stop Shop strongly supports each of the objectives of the discovery Centre proposal:
• Attract visitors to Southwark with consequent economic benefits: Walworth One Stop Shop will be the main Public Services access point for visitors at the new Elephant & Castle regenerated square and for residents in the area. The combination of Area Regeneration and pilot technology behind the One Stop Shop service provision will attract significant number of customers and visitors. A similar development in Bermondsey attracts more than 1000 people a week. Current forecasts estimate more than 2000 business and personal visitors, tourists and Southwark residents visiting Walworth One Stop Shop from 31 May 2006.
• Provide a focus for learning activities for local people and visitors: The location of the One Stop Shop in the Discovery Centre will encourage
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One Stop Shop visitors to explore the Discovery Centre and access learning and educational services provided. Walworth One Stop Shop will be the only Council access point in Elephant & Castle and Walworth. A significant number of residents (expected 2000 per week) currently access Council services in Walworth through Face-to-Face customer council access points. The provision of these services through the Discovery Centre will encourage residents to get to know the Centre and regularly use it.
• Engage the community in use and development of a new civic building and service as well as a major visitor attraction: Southwark is a diverse Borough with areas in and around Elephant & Castle being amongst the most diverse in the Country. Communities in these areas have an active role in designing how and where from the services they want and receive should be delivered. Early engagement of the Community in designing the One Stop Shop has already promoted this as part of the Discovery Centre. If the Council is successful in its bid, Walworth One Stop Shop from Day 1 will provide a focal point of information and consultation on the Discovery Centre for all residents, customers and visitors
• Modernise existing cultural services so that they are fit to meet the needs of the community and accessible to all: Walworth One Stop Shop is part of a significant investment of more than £100million Southwark has committed to transform services, ensuring the needs of the community are met and all services are accessible in a satisfactory and convenient manner to customers. Investment in IT and Process re- engineering will modernise all Council services. Cultural services are in- scope of this transformation with work starting in January 2006 as part of the Customer Service Centre contract.
• Promoting Southwark and attracting inward investment into learning and cultural activity for the benefit of Southwark people: Southwark Discovery Centre aims to attract inward investments from both public and private sources. Walworth One Stop Shop will be run by Pearson Government solutions, which is part of Pearson PLC. Pearson is the world’s leading education company publishing textbooks, multimedia programmes and online services. In addition to their education background, Pearson have a strong Southwark presence with their Financial Times headquarters in Southwark. The combination of a Service provider with a strong background in education, historical presence in Southwark and exposure to millions of public and private organisations across the world provides unique opportunities to showcase Southwark Discovery Centre to a wide, global audience.
• Link to the forthcoming regeneration of the Elephant & Castle and exploit the potential synergies with other cultural and learning facilities: Walworth One Stop Shop has been designed to form part of Southwark Discovery Centre. Although the entrance off Walworth road is the main entrance to the building, customers will be accessing the new
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One Stop Shop through a new, custom-designed and disabled friendly entrance at the side of 151 Walworth Road off Wansey Street. The selection was made on the basis that this side entrance will look into the main Elephant & Castle square which is a major part of the regeneration plans. Hence, the early development of Walworth One Stop Shop will be the first step towards the development of the main entrance of the Discovery Centre, overlooking the new Elephant & Castle square.
• Refurbish and retain in public use a significant part of Southwark’s civic heritage and retain it in ‘public’ ownership in the long term (through the mechanism of a Charitable Trust): Southwark Discovery Centre aims to restore 151 Walworth road in a way that maintains its cultural heritage, attracts visitors and enables the delivery of educational and other public services to visitors, tourists and businesses. Walworth One Stop Shop will be the first part of the Discovery Centre (funded by the Council) designed according to these principles. The development was designed following continuous consultation with English Heritage and conservation planners. The development has received planning approval and listed building consent.
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8 The Market
8.1 Market Analysis & Catchments Area
The assessment of market demand looks at each aspect of The Southwark Discovery Centre in isolation. The key focus is on the potential visitor demand for the centre itself as a visitor facility.
8.2 Potential Catchments Population
The potential visitors for the discovery centre will come from three main sources: the local resident population, the local schools population, and visitors to Southwark. An indication of the size of this population is presented below.
Table 8: Estimated Catchment Population Market Segment Estimated Population
Southwark Schools Population 33,410 Southwark Tourism (latest estimate) 7,000,000
20 mines bus journey time residents 154,166
Totals 7,187,576
The penetration in each market segment will vary. The nature of the centre proposed is likely to generate a greater penetration rate within the local community and schools populations, than among general tourists
8.3 Demographic Profile
A new Museum for Southwark appears within the Southwark Cultural Strategy and within the development framework for the Elephant & Castle regeneration scheme. This section gives demographic information on residential wards within a 20-minute bus journey catchments area of the Elephant & Castle, including Bishops, Princes, and Oval and Vassal wards in Lambeth.
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Cathedral Bishops
Abbey Riverside
Chaucer
Browning Bricklayers
Princes Newington Faraday Burgess
Oval
Brunswick Vassall St Giles
8.4 Catchment population – by age
The London Research Centre projection for 2001 (made in 1998) suggests that the population of the catchments area will be 154,166, of which:
• 43,355 will be under 19 years old
• 92,870 will be between 20 and 64 years old
• 17,941 will be over 65 years old
Southwark increasingly has a young age profile despite the trend to longer life expectancy in Britain as a whole. This mirrors the trend in London. This compares with Southwark 25 years ago when the borough still had an aging and dwindling population. On average Southwark residents are five years younger than in England as a whole. Southwark has rather more pre-school children but fewer of school age than the national average.
8.5 Catchment population – by socio-economic grouping
The 2001 census breaks down the adult population into eighteen Socio- Economic Groupings. The population of the catchments area was estimated to fall into the following ranges:
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Table 8: Population by socio-economic group Socio- Economic Group Percentage Routine and semi routine 24 Lower supervisory/technical 7 Self employer/self employed 7 Larger employers/managers/higher professional 17 Lower Managerial/professional/intermediate 45 Source: Census 2001
Southwark has long had one of the highest levels of unemployment in London (between 3rd and 7th worst). It is still noticeably above the (high) inner London average. This in part reflects the skills gap that has emerged as traditional manual work has declined.
The 2001 census breaks down the adult population into ten Ethnic Groupings. The population of the catchments area was estimated to fall into the following categories:
Table 9: Population by ethnicity Ethnicity Percentage White Groups 63 Black Caribbean 8 Indian 2 Black African 15 Pakistani 1 Bangladeshi 2 Chinese 2 Other Groups 3 Mixed Groups 4 Source: Census 2001
Southwark has above the Inner London average for minority communities and the eighth highest level in the country. The growth of the African group, which has more than doubled in 10 years means that Southwark has the highest African proportion in the country at 16%, ahead of Newham with 13%. While projection figures are not provided by ward, it is suggested that by 2011, 30% of the borough’s population will be from an ethnic minority (with the fastest growing minority group being people from an African background).
Southwark has more residents of working age with either basic qualifications or no qualifications than in inner London as a whole. However, when we compare to the average for England this is reversed.
8.6 Estimated visitor market within the local catchment area
A broad estimate would suggest a potential visitor market of some 40,000 adults within the catchment area. The considerable changes to the structure of the population in north Southwark in the years since 1991 (the year of the extant census information), would suggest that this figure may be on the conservative side.
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The capacity of school parties has now reached saturation. New facilities are required to meet the demand from the education sector in the borough.
8.7 Current Users Statistics
The Unit collects a range of information on current users. This includes a number of local and Best value Performance Indicators and includes all sites supported by the Unit not just those that will come together in the Discovery Centre. The outturns against these indicators for 2003/2004 are set out in Table 10 below:
Table 10: Current Culture & Heritage Service Usage 2003/2004 user statistics Number Total Number of users (in person, website, enquiries etc.) 147,000 Total number of visits in person 100,000 Number of events for children 220 Number of events for adults 90 Number of pupils in school groups 12,500 Percentage of users from ethnic minority groups 40%
% of visitors satisfied 75%
Total Number of users in person (Cuming and Livesey 34,632 museums only)
Total number of children in school groups ((museums only) 10,847
These figures support the assumption that the target of 100,000 users in person to the Discovery Centre is an achievable estimate of demand.
8.8 Estimated visitor market within the local catchment area
A broad estimate would suggest a potential visitor market of some 40,000 adults within the catchment area. The considerable changes to the structure of the population in north Southwark in the years since 1991 (the year of the extant census information), would suggest that this figure may be on the conservative side.
The capacity of school parties has now reached saturation. New facilities are required to meet the demand from the education sector in the borough.
8.9 Comparative analysis
Southwark Tourism and Attractions
Our assessment of demand is derived through an understanding of the tourism dynamics in Southwark and comparative analysis of attractions in the borough and other similar facilities elsewhere. Tourism is increasingly becoming a major sector within Southwark. The latest estimates being
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7million visits per annum. The focus of this activity is very much towards the north of the borough in particular where development concentrates the borough’s arts and cultural experience into a defined area.
In terms of attractions, there is limited product on offer elsewhere than the northern part of the borough. The most high profile attraction is the Tate Modern, which has had huge success in attracting visitors. Many of the attractions are heritage based, and contain a range of free and paid experiences. However there is no similar facility to compete within Southwark, and The Southwark Discovery Centre would clearly prove a significant addition to the options for people visiting.
The Tate Modern is the most high profile tourist, attraction in Southwark, with considerable potential for attracting people to the area. It is nationally funded and has some very strong contemporary art collections, but the nature of this national remit and the fact that its collections verge on the specialist, it offers very few opportunities for engagement with the local community. The Imperial War Museum is in some ways very similar, with strong specialist collections, lots of potential in terms of attracting people to Southwark and a national remit, but it again suffers from the same drawback of only being capable of limited work with Southwark communities.
Another local, nationally funded museum is the Horniman Museum in Forrest Hill, which has a number of exhibitions that illustrate the cultural and natural world. The collections are strong, if rather specialised, based around anthropology, natural history and musical instruments, and the museum does provide a full range of events and activities for different audiences including storytelling and art and craft sessions for children, and courses and workshops for adults. However, their work with Southwark’s communities is limited.
The Dulwich Picture Gallery, situated in the South of the Borough, has a very strong collection of the work of the old masters. The museum also has good educational provisions, including some work within Southwark, but the remit is generally much wider than this. Also, the collections do not hold a broad appeal, and would not attract all members of Southwark’s communities.
The Museum of London is the world's largest urban history museum with 1.1 million objects and Europe's largest archaeological archive. The Museum's collections contain the material remains of London's vast, complex past and the Museum is committed to making its collections accessible to all who wish to learn from them. The Museum of London actually holds much of the Southwark Archaeology Collections, but in fact does only limited work with Southwark communities due to its broader, London-wide focus.
Other galleries, such as the Café Gallery in the middle of Southwark Park and the Bankside Gallery, which is the home of the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, have some good quality exhibitions and collections, although hey are of relatively specialised interests. Both galleries have a limited scope of educational and other work with local people.
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The Design Museum in Shad Thames has strong design collections and as good visitor base. It also does some very good education work with local schools, but it is limited by its specialist collections.
There are a number of smaller, specialist museums nearby, such as the Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garrett, the London Fire Brigade Museum, Brunels Engine House, the Pumphouse Educational Museum, and the Kirkaldy Testing Museum, each of which reflect the enthusiasm and interest of their users. However, museums such as these do tend to have limited appeal, and most perform a limited range of educational and other work locally.
There are also a number of commercial visitor attractions in the area, which have considerable potential to draw people to Southwark and bring economic benefits to the area with them. These attractions include Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, the London Dungeon, the Bramagh Tea and Coffee Museum and the Tower Bridge Experience. However, these establishments tend not to be collection based and only tell part of the Southwark story. They also have variable educational and other outreach work.
There are a number of private collectors and local history societies in the area that have no public funding, and are supported entirely through voluntary effort. However, their collections tend to be relatively inaccessible and are not cared for to recognised standards.
Table 11: Visitor Levels in Southwark Attractions Attraction/Facility Approximate No of Visits Admission Policy Tate Modern 5,300,000 Free Shakespeare’s Globe 850,000 Paid Old Operating Theatre 20,000 Paid Design Museum 137,000 Paid Bankside Gallery 25,000 Paid London Dungeon 730,000 Paid Tower Bridge Experience 430,000 Paid Dulwich Picture Gallery 100,000 Paid Southwark Cathedral 130,000 Free Imperial War Museum 600,000 Paid HMS Belfast 248,000 Paid Bramah Tea & Coffee Museum 6,000 Paid Source: Southwark Council Tourism Section
The table suggests that the propensity for people to visit attractions in Southwark is relatively high with the focus being in the north of the borough. The Tate Modern, unsurprisingly given its international status, achieves the highest visitor levels while many of the facilities attract consistently over 100,000 visitors. The year 2000 was an exceptional year because of the impact of the Foot & Mouth crisis and September 11 disaster on the visitor market.
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The depth and range of cultural facilities, in terms of physical and operating characteristics, is demonstrated through analysis of existing centres of this type. Key points of note are:
• The scale of attractions can range dramatically in terms of numbers of users.
• Cultural centres of the kind proposed all require some form of ‘additional’ revenue funding. The level of operating costs covered by visitor revenues varies between centres. – 40 per cent to 95 per cent.
• Sources of additional revenue funding include fund-raising activities, endowment or sponsorship, or public sector sources. This element of funding has implications on viability and the management options for any proposed attraction.
• School visits play a central role in visitor levels, accounting for up to 35 per cent of total visitors in some instances. This figure clearly reflects the educational remit of such centres, and the focus each centre puts on this activity.
• Exhibit space on average represents between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of total floor area.
Table 12: Visitor Levels in Other Attractions Attraction/Facility Figures for last Admission Policy reliable year Geffrye Museum 104,000 Free Horniman Museum 199,000 Free Bexley Museum 50,000 Free Wandsworth Museum 26,800 Free Kingston Museum 41,000 Paid Leighton House 40,000 Free Vestry House Museum 105,000 Free Ragged School Museum 682,945 Free Source: London Museums Agency
For a more detailed examination of local and national competitors, please see the table in Appendix C.
8.10 Estimating Visitor Demand
The ultimate level of visitors attracted will be a function of the detailed design of the centre and how it is managed and marketed. Our estimate of visitor demand is based with the context of the centres catchment population and other existing attractions in Southwark. This essentially provides a realistic level of visitors.
Within this context we would estimate the concept as outlined could attract in the region of 100,000 visitors per annum. Against the estimated catchment
Discovery Centre 63 November 2005 Business Plan DRAFT population, this represents a penetration rate of less than 1 per cent. This figure is supported by our Research into the potential audience.
The realism of this estimate can be checked through a number of factors:
• The centre will be in an area of high footfall, based within the Elephant & Castle. Within this context the centre will be in a strategic location, supported by existing cultural, education and leisure facilities and infrastructure.
• Activities and programmes within and outside the centre will enhance visitor levels. Integration of the Centre to events held in Southwark will increase its profile and visitor levels. Internal centre programmes such as children’s workshops, adult lectures and lifelong learning activities, family activities, holiday activities, after school clubs, and school activities will all increase potential visitor demand.
• Research undertaken by the Service and consultation with users, non-users and community organisations supports the estimated demand.
• The sensitivity of this estimated demand is tested in the financial model, with a variation of +/- 5 and 10 per cent.
• The service has been operating a well-respected and used Education service for many years both at the Livesey museum and through its other public outlets. The Discovery Centre concept has been canvassed with existing school users and there has been overwhelming support for the centre and a commitment to use it once opened. This support has been received both verbally and in the form of letters.
• The Higher education sector will use the facilities. The local South Bank University and the London School Of printing have a combined student base of over 30,000. Partnerships have already been formed and the desire is there to include the new centre into course work and pre and post graduate work experience programmes.
• The location with the same complex of the council’s Face to face centre (estimated to attract 350 visits per day) and the Newington Library (the best used of Southwark’s libraries also give confidence that the visitor numbers are achievable.
• The Centre will enhance the capacity of the current service for outreach work in the community. Research undertaken by Tempus Fugit Consultants considered the potential demand for expanded outreach activities and the impact the proposal could have on this. The conclusion was that there are a large number
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of organisations, community groups and individuals keen to work with us from faith groups to culturally based organistaions. The Centre will provide a base for outreach work and a showcase for this work, increasing its visibility and impact.
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9 Financial Appraisal
9.1 Cashflow Projections and Financial Viability
The financial model has been created on a series of assumptions and industry benchmarks identified from desk research. It represents an indicative model to assess the broad financial feasibility of The Discovery Centre.
The assessment provides information on revenue streams generated from the projected visitor levels for the centre, along with assumptions on capital and operating costs. These costs and revenue estimates are then used to show how revenues will cover operating costs.
It should be noted that all costs and revenues are accounted in current (2004/5) prices with the exception of staff costs. Annual pay awards will exceed the prevailing rate of inflation by 1.25% per year. Since the effect of the prevailing rate of inflation is not shown in this Business Plan, staff costs are only shown as rising by the additional 1.25%.
9.2 Summary of Financial Appraisal
The preliminary financial appraisal has been carried out using the demand, revenue and cost assumptions detailed. This analysis provides the broad viability of the centre based on the model assumptions.
The summary of the financial appraisal is shown in Table 13 below, showing a base case of the centre attracting 100,000 visitors per annum along with sensitivity around this of a rise/fall in visitor demand. The sensitivity provides an indication of the financial implications of a range of visitor levels. The model assumes that in Years 1, 2 and 3 the achieved visitor levels will be, respectively, 110 per cent, 85 per cent and 95 per cent of baseline figures. This reflects the initial interest in the opening of a new centre and the subsequent build up to mature visitor levels.
The key result from the financial appraisal is that on the assumption that approximately 10 % of total annual revenue is serviced by donation, fundraising, etc., approximately 21% by earned income, approximately 4% by admission income and approximately 65% through Southwark Council, the Southwark Discovery Centre is financially viable and makes an operating profit. This remains true for the sensitivity analysis that takes visitor levels down by 10 per cent to 90,000 per year.
The financial model and business plan will be developed in more detail as the Project proceeds.
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Table 13: Summary of Financial Sensitivity Visitor Projections Accumulated Surplus after 10 years (£) 90,000 visitors 27,954 100,000 visitors (BASE) 298,033 110,000 visitors 437,669
9.3 Revenue Estimates
Revenue estimates are based upon the potential income generated from visitors to The Southwark Discovery Centre, and non-paying visitors using the café/restaurant and retail facilities. The main sources of income are considered to be the following:
• Visitor admissions temporary exhibitions
• Visitor retail spend,
• Visitor catering spend,
• Non-visitor retail spend,
• Non-visitor catering spend,
• Hire income.
In addition to these we believe that the centre will attract funding for project development. These are outlined further in the Appendix A (Fundraising Strategy).
9.4 Income Assumptions
Income projections for the Centre are based on the following assumptions:
Visitor Admissions With the centre focused on the community, an important feature will be to provide free access for all to the basic visit. Subsequent detailed research will need to carefully consider admission charges for special programmes, including temporary exhibitions, so as not to deter the local community from using it. Ideas such as memberships, local passes, ‘free-entry’ weeks will all need to be incorporated in a detailed revenue model to encourage repeat visitors.
A further point to consider is that Southwark also hosts a number of free galleries and museums including the Tate Modern. While not direct competitors to The Southwark Discovery Centre, they do provide a context of free admissions that means prices for the centre will need to be kept competitive.
On the basis of desk research it is estimated that 40% of visitors to the Centre will visit the temporary exhibitions with a small deduction made for discount
Discovery Centre 67 November 2005 Business Plan DRAFT schemes as part of the marketing programme. This reflects the need to offer greater incentives to visitors after the initial interest of the opening year and will be done through a variety of targeted marketing initiatives in the light of operational experience at the time.
The research included desk research looking at all museums across London (182 sites contacted) and revealed that up to 75% of users visit temporary exhibitions in free museums that make a charge for temporary exhibitions. . For the purposes of the outline business plan we have assumed an adult price of £2.00. Compared with other Southwark and London attractions researched (where the range of charges was between £3.00 and £9.00), this is a competitive price for adults. It is also assumed that prices for children and concessions are set at £1.00.
Visitor Retail and Catering Spend Research by the ETB into leisure trips to science centres, museums and heritage site indicates that 56 per cent of total on-site expenditure on retail and catering is spent on catering. This would equate to £1.05 per visit based on the above retail assumption.
However visitor centre shops vary considerably in terms of turnover due to their location, size and the relevance of their merchandise to the interpretation. Average sales per visitor from research within the visitor centre and heritage market suggest that an average of £1.00 (excluding VAT) per visit is a realistic benchmark. The model however takes a cautious approach and assumes a lower figure of £0.75 per visitor.
The model assumes that catering spend is approximately 56 per cent of total on-site spend, equating to £1.00 per visit. It also assumes that catering is contracted out on a concession basis and therefore 12 per cent of catering turnover is achieved as net proceeds to the Centre.
Successful retail will be key performance indicator if the centre is to reach its needed income levels.
A retail space is planned to sell souvenirs, educational materials and publications. A cautious projection based on research with other similar attractions suggests an average spend per visitor of £0:75. The cost of goods sold is dealt with as an expenditure item in the expenditure tables. It is further assumed that non-visitor spend is 25% of the total visitor spend reflecting the position of the Centre in a retail area with high footfalls.
Activity Fees An important method of integrating the centre into the local community will be holding workshops, exhibits, and children’s clubs within the centre. The importance of such activities in revenue terms is demonstrated by research from other centres indicating that typically children’s parties account for five per cent of income to children’s museums.
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The Southwark Discovery Centre concept incorporates significant scope for hiring out space for workshops, and events. We anticipate that such income, while provided at competitive prices, will form a key component to annual revenue.
Our consultations have highlighted a need and demand for space to support children’s activities in the area and we believe that occupancy for the facilities incorporated in The Southwark Discovery Centre would be high and sustainable throughout the year. Prices quoted for hiring such space vary from £30 per day to £50 per hour. We assume an average income of £40 per activity. It is also assumed that charges are made to school groups visiting from outside Southwark and this is included in this average of £40 per group.
Venue Hire It is assumed that meeting rooms and exhibition halls will be available for rental by local organisations and individuals. These will suit a range of activity in particular small meetings/conferences but efforts will be made to encourage use by community organisations. The average net income per hire is estimated to be around £690 after costs such as warding staff and cleaning have been taken into account. Again this represents a cautious estimate. As with educational activities, it will take a couple of years to develop this market, which will build as word gets round and through repeat business.
Research across 182 attractions in London demonstrates that the average from these sources is as follows:
Table 14: Summary of Average Costs per Hire Type of Hire Range of Average Income income per hire per hire Meeting Rooms £35-£2000 £439.90 Conferences £90-£1,000 £1,418 Weddings £240-£13,300 £2,375 Corporate Entertaining £126-£13,300 £3068.10
This gives further credibility to our assumptions.
Income from Other Sources This includes: • Grants/donations and sponsorships – estimates based on current performance.
• Hiring of touring exhibitions generated at the Centre.
9.5 Operating Expenditure Assumptions
Salaries, Wages and Benefits The staffing requirements have been drafted to meet the needs of the new facility. This incorporates additional posts over and above the existing staffing compliment due to the increased level of service that the new facility will provide. There will be a need to review these as the development of the
Discovery Centre 69 November 2005 Business Plan DRAFT detailed plans progresses to ensure that they are adequate to meet the demands of the new facility.
It is further assumed/estimated that:
• Benefits, including employer’s pension and National Insurance contributions, would be at an additional 18.8% of salaries and wages.
• Annual pay awards will exceed the prevailing rate of inflation by 1.25% per year. Since the effect of the prevailing rate of inflation is not shown in this Business Plan, staff costs are only shown as rising by the additional 1.25%.
On-site General & Administrative Costs These include office and related supplies, mailing, printing, telephone, travel, conferences, training, volunteer expenses, professional services, dues and subscriptions, depreciation of equipment etc. These costs are estimated at 10% of total staffing costs.
Marketing It is assumed that 30% of admissions income is spent on marketing per visitor – a figure comparable with other attractions in the sector.
Cost of Goods Sold It is assumed that 40% percentage of turnover is needed to purchase stock representing and average mark-up of 2.5 times in line with industry benchmarks.
Programming Costs The Business Plan allows £5,000 in Year 1 and £10,000 thereafter for wear and tear on main displays.
Planned replacement of main exhibitions is treated for the purpose of this plan as a capital expenditure for which additional capital fundraising will be required after Year 15.
All other costs are projected from existing levels of programming activity.
Cost of Hiring Out Space Space hire costs have been set at 10 per cent of income from this source to reflect a base cost of organisation effort and minimal security staffing.
Maintenance The level of maintenance reflects the capital cost and fit-out cost associated with the centre. To be prudent this is estimated at a higher level £38,333 per annum which equates to 0.5 per cent of total build costs, a level significantly higher than the Industry standard of 0.2 per cent of build cost for a new build centre.
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Utilities Utilities are assumed at £34,687per annum, which equates to approximately 5% of total operating costs to reflect the scale of the centre and level of services it will require.
9.6 Summary of Operating Income and Expenditure
Summaries of operating income and expenditure based on the above assumptions are set out in the following tables. More detailed revenue estimates are set out in Appendix D.
Table 15: Summary of Operating Income and Expenditure
Attendance
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Total Attendance 55,000 95,000 85,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 Design Attendance (Visitors Per Peak Day) 275 475 425 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 Design Capacity (Visitors Per Peak 2- hour Period) 138 238 213 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 Income
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Admissions Revenue (£) 28,151 38,404 34,362 40,426 40,426 50,128 40,426 40,426 40,426 40,426 Other Income (£) 450,776 877,213 878,654 900,992 900,992 903,792 903,792 903,792 903,792 903,792 Total Income (£) 478,926 915,617 913,015 941,418 941,418 953,920 944,218 944,218 944,218 944,218 Expenditure
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Staffing Costs (£) 301,403 610,342 617,971 625,696 633,517 438,085 660,080 668,331 676,685 685,144 Other Expenditure (£) 153,275 255,679 252,692 259,090 259,872 241,328 264,528 265,353 266,189 267,034 Total Expenditure (£) 454,679 866,021 870,663 884,785 893,388 679,413 924,608 933,684 942,874 952,178 Surplus/Deficit
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Surplus/Deficit (£) 24,248 49,596 42,352 56,632 48,029 274,507 19,610 10,534 1,344 -7,960
Accumulated Surplus/Deficit (£) 24,248 73,844 116,196 172,828 220,857 274,507 294,116 304,650 305,994 298,033
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9.7 Summary of sensitivity analysis at plus and minus 5 and 10 per cent
Summaries of the sensitivity analyses carried out on the revenue estimates are set out in the following tables:
Table 16: Sensitivity plus 5 %
Attendance
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Total Attendance 57,750 99,750 89,250 105,000 105,000 105,000 105,000 105,000 105,000 105,000
Design Attendance (Visitors Per Peak Day) 289 499 446 525 525 525 525 525 525 525 Design Capacity (Visitors Per Peak 2- hour Period) 144 249 223 263 263 263 263 263 263 263 Income
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Admissions Revenue (£) 29,558 40,324 36,080 42,447 42,447 52,634 42,447 42,447 42,447 42,447 Other Income (£) 453,014 900,773 902,286 925,742 925,742 928,682 928,682 928,682 928,682 928,682 Total Income (£) 482,572 941,098 938,366 968,188 968,188 981,316 971,128 971,128 971,128 971,128 Expenditure
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Staffing Costs (£) 301,403 610,342 617,971 625,696 633,517 438,085 660,080 668,331 676,685 685,144 Other Expenditure (£) 160,939 268,463 265,327 272,044 272,865 253,395 277,754 278,621 279,498 280,386 Total Expenditure (£) 462,342 878,805 883,298 897,740 906,382 691,479 937,834 946,952 956,183 965,530 Surplus/Deficit
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Surplus/Deficit (£) 20,230 62,293 55,068 70,449 61,806 289,836 33,294 24,177 14,945 5,599
Accumulated Surplus/Deficit (£) 20,230 82,523 137,591 208,040 269,847 289,836 323,130 347,307 362,252 367,851
Table 17: Sensitivity Plus 10 %
Attendance
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Total Attendance 63,250 109,250 97,750 115,000 115,000 115,000 115,000 115,000 115,000 115,000
Design Attendance (Visitors Per Peak Day) 316 546 489 575 575 575 575 575 575 575 Design Capacity (Visitors Per Peak 2- hour Period) 158 273 244 288 288 288 288 288 288 288 Income
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Admissions Revenue (£) 30,966 42,245 37,798 44,468 44,468 55,140 44,468 44,468 44,468 44,468 Other Income (£) 455,253 924,334 925,919 950,491 950,491 953,571 953,571 953,571 953,571 953,571 Total Income (£) 486,219 966,578 963,717 994,959 994,959 1,008,712 998,039 998,039 998,039 998,039
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Expenditure
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Staffing Costs (£) 301,403 610,342 617,971 625,696 633,517 438,085 660,080 668,331 676,685 685,144 Other Expenditure (£) 168,603 281,247 277,961 284,999 285,859 265,461 290,981 291,888 292,807 293,738 Total Expenditure (£) 470,006 891,589 895,932 910,694 919,376 703,546 951,061 960,219 969,492 978,881 Surplus/Deficit
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Surplus/Deficit (£) 16,213 74,990 67,785 84,265 75,584 305,166 46,979 37,820 28,547 19,158
Accumulated Surplus/Deficit (£) 16,213 91,202 158,987 243,252 318,836 305,166 352,144 389,964 418,511 437,669
Table 18: Sensitivity minus 5 % Attendance
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Total Attendance 52,250 90,250 80,750 95,000 95,000 95,000 95,000 95,000 95,000 95,000
Design Attendance (Visitors Per Peak Day) 261 451 404 475 475 475 475 475 475 475
Design Capacity (Visitors Per Peak 2-hour Period) 131 226 202 238 238 238 238 238 238 238 Income
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Admissions Revenue (£) 26,743 36,484 32,644 38,404 38,404 47,621 38,404 38,404 38,404 38,404 Other Income (£) 448,537 853,652 855,021 876,242 876,242 878,902 878,902 878,902 878,902 878,902 Total Income (£) 475,280 890,136 887,664 914,647 914,647 926,524 917,307 917,307 917,307 917,307 Expenditure
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Staffing Costs (£) 301,403 610,342 617,971 625,696 633,517 438,085 660,080 668,331 676,685 685,144 Other Expenditure (£) 153,275 255,679 252,692 259,090 259,872 241,328 264,528 265,353 266,189 267,034 Total Expenditure (£) 454,679 866,021 870,663 884,785 893,388 679,413 924,608 933,684 942,874 952,178 Surplus/Deficit
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Surplus/Deficit (£) 20,601 24,115 17,001 29,862 21,258 247,111 -7,301 -16,377 -25,567 -34,871
Accumulated Surplus/Deficit (£) 20,601 44,716 61,718 91,579 112,838 247,111 239,809 223,432 197,865 162,994
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Table 19: Sensitivity Minus 10% Attendance
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Total Attendance 49,500 85,500 76,500 90,000 90,000 90,000 90,000 90,000 90,000 90,000
Design Attendance (Visitors Per Peak Day) 248 428 383 450 450 450 450 450 450 450
Design Capacity (Visitors Per Peak 2-hour Period) 124 214 191 225 225 225 225 225 225 225 Income
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Admissions Revenue (£) 25,336 34,564 30,926 36,383 36,383 45,115 36,383 36,383 36,383 36,383 Other Income (£) 446,298 830,091 831,388 851,493 851,493 854,013 854,013 854,013 854,013 854,013 Total Income (£) 471,634 864,655 862,314 887,876 887,876 899,128 890,396 890,396 890,396 890,396 Expenditure
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Staffing Costs (£) 301,403 610,342 617,971 625,696 633,517 438,085 660,080 668,331 676,685 685,144 Other Expenditure (£) 153,275 255,679 252,692 259,090 259,872 241,328 264,528 265,353 266,189 267,034 Total Expenditure (£) 454,679 866,021 870,663 884,785 893,388 679,413 924,608 933,684 942,874 952,178 Surplus/Deficit
Year 1 (6 months) Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10 Surplus/Deficit (£) 16,955 -1,366 -8,349 3,091 -5,513 219,715 -34,212 -43,288 -52,478 -61,782
Accumulated Surplus/Deficit (£) 16,955 15,589 7,240 10,331 4,818 219,715 185,502 142,214 89,736 27,954
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10 Management and staff
10.1 Current Staffing Structure
The current structure of the Heritage Unit is shown in Chart 1 below. All staff within the Unit will be involved in the management of the Project with support from a range of other in-house and external advisers and specialists both within the Council and externally appointed.
10.2 Project Management Structure
The Project Management Structure during the next phase of the Project is shown as Chart 2 below. This structure follows the Prince 2 Project Management methodology that is the Council’s agreed standard.
The current Head of Heritage will take the role of Project Director to:
• Act as client throughout the project, representing the whole organization.
• Develop the management structure for the project.
• Set priorities to meet the vision and aims of the project.
• Sign off stages as the project proceeds.
• Challenge and question all information provided to ensure it is clear relevant and meets the vision and aims of the project.
• Accept risks that may be implied by options considered/adopted.
• Communicate with lead and motivate the team.
The Project Board (structure set out at Chart 3 below) will be established as the Steering group to oversee the implementation of the whole Project. This Group will:
• Monitor progress
• Review Quality
• Maintain buy-in to the Project
The Project Director and Project Manager will be supported as required by a range of in-house expertise available through Southwark Council as required. These may include:
• The Council’s procurement team (18 staff) will proved detailed advice on procurement processes and contract monitoring throughout the life of the Project.
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• The Departmental and Corporate Finance teams on budgets and other financial issues arising.
• The Department has capacity and expertise within its Environment Development and Parks and Sports unit in project development management and research and has managed a number of large scale capital projects.
• The Council’s legal team on all contractual documents and for other specialised legal requirements.
• The Departmental and Corporate human resources teams for consultation processes, support with recruitment and staffing issues when the Project is complete.
• The Council’s Consultation Unit will provide expertise and support on consultation and community involvement and have had an involvement in research and consultation to date.
A Project Manager will be appointed through external advert/tendering process and will be expected to be an experienced and preferably qualified Prince2 practitioner with experience of managing capital projects of this type and scale. The Project Manager (to be appointed) will be responsible for:
• Detailed planning of each stage of the Project
• Ensuring people keep to timetable on the Project
• Clarify the work scope, relationships and responsibilities of team members
• Ensure appropriate information is available for monitoring and evaluation of the Project
• Communicate between the Client and the whole team in both directions
• Ensuring smooth decision making
• Monitoring progress of all aspects pf the Project
• Co-ordinate all the threads of the Project and act as a single point of contact
• Ensure consultation with stakeholders
• Produce the detailed brief
• Control and assign budgets
• Manage change control processes
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• Monitor resource availability
• Check external team member details e.g. indemnity insurance
• Arrange for the proper documentation and closing of the Project
• Maintain the Project Risk register ensuring that risks are being proactively managed and where necessary reported to the Project Board and Project Director.
The Project Manager will co-ordinate three Project teams who will carry out the detailed work on the Project. These are:
• The Building Team – brings together the design and construction team, consultants and advisers responsible for the design, construction and fitting out of the building. Membership of this team will change as the Project proceeds and different specialisms are required.
• The Facilities Planning Team brings together the in-house staff team who are responsible for ensuring that the project briefs and the work of the design team meets the client needs and to ensure the input of some of those who will manage and operate the building when completed
• The User team represent the needs of users of the building and will be recruited, in consultation with the Council’s Community Involvement and Development Unit. This team is essential in championing user needs and input to briefing and design stages of the Project. This team will be recruited to reflect the makeup of the population of Southwark, possibly members of the Southwark peoples panel and Young Peoples Panel.
10.3 Outline of Operational Structure
The detail of the operational staffing structure will be developed as the project proceeds alongside the detailed briefs, designs, plans and policies and their impact on the operation of the Centre. However, an indicative operational staff structure is shown as Chart 4 below.
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Chart 1 Current Culture & Heritage Unit Structure
Heritage Manager Stephen Douglass
Support Officer Michelle Riviere
Collections & Museum Manager Local Studies Manager Exhibitions & Museum Manager Archivist Head of Education Manger, Kingswood House Catherine Hamilton Ruth Jenkins Theresa Dhaliwal Stephen Humphrey Dulwich Picture Gallery Janice Francois Gillian Wolfe
Museum Officer Library Manager Museum Officcer Assistant Manager Bryn Hyacinth Steve Potter Griff Davies Ruth Baidoo
Museum Officer Museum Officer Facilities Officer Keith Bonnick Library Assistant (18 hrs) Vacant (27 hrs) Rebecca Birch Bob Askew
Museum Assistant Library Assistant Museum Assistant (18 hours) Vacant (18 hours) Tamara Chase Hema Raull
Collections Officer Education Officer Gallery collection Cross site (Cuming\Livesey) (14 hours) Chris Jordan
Documentation Officer Museum Officer 18 hours (18 hrs) Tamara Chase Kathrine Bailey
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Chart 2 Project Management Phase
Project Director Heritage Manager
Project Board See Chart 3
Project Manager
Building Team Facility Planning Team
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Chart 3 Structure of the Project Board and Project Teams
Senior User Project Director Senior Supplier Senior User Collections & Museums Manager Heritage Manager User Champion Local Studies Manager
Project Manager External Appointment
Project Support Officer
Building Team Facilities Planning Team User Team In-House team
Architect Education Officer Local Councillors Quantity Surveyor Archivist Teacher Representative Planning Supervisor Collections Officer Representatives of full range of user groups (Once construction underway) Exhibitions Manager Engineer(s) Museum Designer Contractor(s) Representatives Access Consultant
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Chart 4 Indicative Outline of Operational Staff Structure
Director
Admin Support Officer
Exhibitions and Events Manager Operations Manager Collections Manager Education & Outreach Manager
Technician Front of House Collections Assistant Outreach/Informal Learning Officer X 9.9
Archivist Schools Officer
Librarian
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11 Assessing Risk
The initial risk assessment for the Project was undertaken working with an external consultant. The resulting risk matrix is reproduced below at Table 19.
As the Project proceeds there will be a proactive and disciplined approach to the management of risks that includes:
• Risk analysis, which involves the identification and definition of risks, plus the evaluation of impact and consequent action • Risk management, which covers the activities involved in the planning, monitoring and controlling of actions which will address the threats and problems identified, so as to improve the likelihood of the project achieving its stated objectives. Regular risk reviews will be undertaken throughout the life cycle of the Project.
Table 20: Risk Matrix Risk Likelihood Impact Level Outcome Mitigation Owner Building 1 2 2 Rescoping of Ensure building, PD, unsuitable project. Search for electrical and PM, for new use new venue will be mechanical Building needed. May engineer work is service increase building conducted as soon s and alterations as possible. costs Vacant 2 3 6 Project delayed. Proceed with other PD possession Increase in costs. forms of remote of the Lowering of consultation if building is confidence in desired. not made partners and Proceed with available stakeholders design elements and building consents. Start negotiations early with management. Identify other suitable locations for relocated staff. Start contractual work
Planning & 1 3 3 Project delayed or Applications to be PD listed even scraped prepared building immediately. consent is (Minimum 8 weeks rejected process time). Architect to liase with local building conservation officer and English Heritage and a very early stage. Work to start
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immediately on building a dialogue. Access 2 3 6 Delays in project. Careful PM, problems for Overspend on examination of Contrac construction buildings budget site. Access tor possible alteration difficulties built into of designs tender specification and contracts. Capital 2 3 6 Project delayed. Careful and PD,PM Monies Not Budget will planned funding Secured increase Loss of strategy. Provide a confidence with range of partners contingency funders in the event of unsuccessful bids. Early discussions and project scoping advised to minimise risk and interest funders at an early stage. Last minute applications to secure small funding gaps can prove unsuccessful. Building 2 2 4 Project as a whole Prepare detail PM works delayed, financial tender specs, delayed overspend likely. adopt realistic project plans. Devise regular monitoring programme. Issue penalty clauses within contracts. Political 3 3 9 Project scope Early dialogue and PD Pressures could change. scope briefing. Financial Define budget and commitment wane project plan. Set realistic targets and objectives. Financial 2 2 4 Costs could Robust business PD, Overspend escalate causing planning PM loss of political and processes. partner support Inflation proof costs estimates. Place a realistic contingency. Issue fixed price tenders. Draw up detailed tender. documents. Regular budget monitoring Staff 2 2 4 Project delay. Main Fully brief project PD,PM changes, objectives could team of all Discovery Centre 83 November 2005 Business Plan DRAFT sickness etc waver causing developments. delay and Engender overspend. ownership of the Contractor/supplier project throughout relationships could the team. Allocate be damaged or deputy to the falter Project Director and secure appointment of Project Manager In-house 3 2 6 Build up of Effective PD programmes projects. Project programming of effecting team spread too service during new build thin construction. Reduce levels of public service if necessary Available In 3 2 6 Staff become too Identify skills and PD, house stretched. Stress resources level. PM skills/time levels increase. Build additional Other areas of staff resources into service suffer budget. Effective recruitment of outside staff. Acceptability 2 2 4 Staff become Devise an effective Of Project In disorientated. training needs house Work patterns analysis. Set change training programme in motion in plenty of time. Allow for trial openings to asses snagging and operation al trouble spots User 2 2 4 Effects in the short Develop a detailed PD,PM, numbers are term will be marketing strategy. MO initially poor medium. However, Start early in the if low visitor project. Use the numbers persist small pre- political and exhibition as a financial support marketing tool. will wane. Contact all possible markets (inc educational) in advance. Long tern 2 2 4 Political support Careful and MO user will decline, realistic cashflow numbers Reduced ability to projections are decline gain further adopted at the external funding. outset. Regular Revenue streams monitoring of user reduced creating numbers takes sustainability place. Network the pressures marketing and events programme. Continuous programme of events across a
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broad range of user groups Exhibition 2 2 4 Exhibition delayed. Research early in CO content not Visitor experience project. Ascertain available reduced. Customer any copyright quality issues early on. compromised Set up robust loan agreements
Key: Likelihood/Impact – High - 3; Medium – 2; Low – 1. PD: Project Director PM: Project Manager MO: Marketing Officer CO: Collections Officer
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12 Monitoring and Evaluation
12.1 Approach to Evaluation
Evaluation and monitoring both during the design and construction phase and when operational. The evaluation strategy will develop as the project proceeds but the following will be measured/evaluated at the appropriate stages:
• User satisfaction and feedback
• Energy Efficency
• Space Efficiency
• Success of the procurement process
• Staff feedback
• Design Quality (based on the Construction industry Council Design Quality Indicator)
• Access and accesibility including for people with disabilities
12.2 Use of the Southwark PROMPT System
Monitoring and evaluation during the construction and design process will follow the Southwark PROMPT System. PROMPT has been devised to assist project sponsors and project managers to follow a good practice approach to managing projects. Southwark PROMPT guides the user through the construction and design processes adopting a combination of:
• Prince2 methodology
• the Royal Institute of Architects (RIBA) Plan of Work (the industry standard).
• Other essential guidance and information, including Southwark’s Procurement Guidelines and Contract Standing Orders.
Southwark Council’s procurement team will assist with devising detailed procedures to be applied to the project including:
• Definition of Key performance Indicators in all contracts (KPIs will be drawn from the Constructing Excellence Performance Indicators for the Construction industry).
• Definition of regular meeting schedules with contractors.
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• Specification of detailed roles and responsibilities and subsequent actions.
• Defining processes and procedures for performance.
• Management of contracts and contractors.
• Ensuring contractors meet requirements specified in contracts.
The Project Manager will have a key role in assisting monitoring and evaluation of the design and construction phases ensuring that information is collated and available at the appropriate points. Following Prince 2 methodology:
• Each stage of the project will be signed off before authorization of the next stage.
• Quality reviews will be undertaken on each product (whether a report or a physical product) produced as a result of the project against Quality Assurance criteria agreed at the start of each stage.
12.3 Design Reviews
At the end of each design stage the Building Team will present a report that sets out:
• The updated brief
• The performance criteria
• The proposed solutions in terms of specifications and drawings
• Specialist reports
• Other supporting information
These will allow the client team to understand the quality of the design proposals and formally sign this off before moving to the next stage. Each of these design reviews will consider:
• How well the organization will be able to function in the building
• How well user needs are met in each space
• Sustainability and energy efficiency considerations
• Whole life costs
• Visual impact in various conditions – changing weather, time of day and year
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• Adaptability/suitability for different uses
• Suitability and maintainability of materials
• Servicing
• How well the parts of the building relate to each other
• Impact of the building alterations to the Grade 2 listed structure with reference to the Conservation Plan and in discussion with Southwark Councils Building Conservation Team and where appropriate English Heritage
12.4 User Needs
A key part of the evaluation process is user input and this will be achieved through the ongoing consultation and through the User Team established as part of the Project Management Structure. The User team will continue to meet for a period of 12 months after the project has concluded and while the building is settling in to monitor and feedback on the building in use and how it meets user needs.
12.5 Risk Register
A proactive approach will be taken to management and monitoring of risk and this is outlined at Section 11 above.
12.6 Critical Success Factors
At this outline stage the critical success factors for the Project include the following:
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Table 21: Initial Critical Success Factors £12.5m in total Approx. 1:12 leverage for External Capital Investment LBS Income Generated £280,000 per annum 2009/10 Visitor satisfaction rating Greater than 90% satisfaction rate Number of users 100,000 per annum after 3 years Number of new visitors 20% increase after 3 years Number of new volunteers 50 New Volunteers over three years recruited Number of meetings and 12 per annum conferences Stakeholder involvement Quarterly meets with key funders and user group/s ICT Developments 12 new public terminals/ access points Web Site At least 50,000 hits per annum. Reach full e-government standards of accessibility. Community involvement At least 20 community groups using the facilities Diversity Use At least 20 ethnic groups using the facility annually Inclusiveness 5 special needs groups using the facilities. Access Full disabled facilities – hearing loops, computer access points, ramps. Fully accessible building. Reach external standards. Regeneration activity Quantifiable output in employment and business improvements Education material 10 new education resources produced by 2009/10 Number of school visits 15,000 school children per annum Number of special 25 per annum events/outreach Number of temporary 3 per annum exhibitions
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