Section 1 - Account of Your Placement Organisation
At the Palace of Westminster (PoW) there are the Houses of Parliament (HoP) made up from the House of Lords (HoL) and the House of Commons (HoC). In-House Services and Estates (IHSE), where my team is located, is set within the HoC. IHSE is a large division within the even larger organisation of Parliament, it houses anything to do from catering, to visitor services to the current renovation works. Within IHSE there is the Project Delivery (PD) team, made up of around 60 staff, divided within six teams (M&E, Conservation, Security, Fire, Special Projects, Moves). Currently we are undertaking a redesign to the layout of PD as Moves and Fire draw to a close and we welcome colleagues from other areas of IHSE to conclude a new PD of around 120 staff.
Within these teams my role lands within Conservation, a team of mostly architects who overlook the conservation and renovation of the fabric of the PoW. These projects stretch over the entirety of the Palace, considering both internal and external elements of the building fabric, how to conserve these pieces and render them safe for Members, staff and visitors that may be interacting with these spaces on a daily basis. A vast majority of the time working on these projects is in the office, completing RIBA Plan of Works stage paperwork, interacting with stakeholders, consultants and contractors and ensuring everything is done properly against procedure.
As Project Leaders (PLs) we also have the opportunity to go onto site and inspect works being completed. We conduct site walkarounds before, and during and after projects alongside stakeholders who may own an interest in what is being done, or contractors/ consultants that need to get a better feeling of the space.
Section 2 - Descriptive Account of Your Work
In March I was invited to present a guest lecture to the IAD2 cohort at UoP and detail the works that I have been completing while on placement. A copy of the presentation has been included in Appendix A.
During my time as a Project Leader – Sandwich Student (PL-SS) I have had the opportunity to attend a plethora of meetings to understand the innerworkings of being a Project Leader at Parliament, and all that is needed to ensure a continuous flow of works. Overall, I have worked closely within three renovation projects with the PoW.
From October to current I have worked alongside the current Cast Iron Roof (CIR) Overhaul Project Leader and In- House Business Case Management Team to write a business case instructing the business need to repair the CIR of the HoL Chamber roof. Within this work I assisted the team in creating a Strategic Outline Case (SOC) demonstrating the need to repair the roof in this particular area. I attended frequent meeting in which we amended parts of the SOC together, I also attended an In- House Business Case Training course which provided me with all the knowledge I needed to better help draft the SOC. I have also attended workshops for this project, such as a Benefits Realisation Workshop, so that we can ensure the items we write into this SOC can be understood by our wider stakeholder audience.
From September to current I am working alongside the Mechanical and Electrical team on a project within the PoW, to restore part of the Palace to its former original glory. I am assisting an Assistant Project Leader (APL) on this project and providing my knowledge and understanding of interior elements to restore this part of the Palace with the interior influence of Augustus Pugin in mind. Within this project I have had the opportunity to work alongside designers and our heritage team to allocate restored piece from our collection into the space.
From March to current I have also worked alongside a SPL in completing another business case, this time a Business Justification Case (BJC) to display the need to progress to a lighting trial in December in Westminster Hall. I have again worked alongside a SPL and Project Manager (PM), the In-House Business Case Management Team and our current consultants to ensure we are including the most important information in the BJC so we can continue to complete a trial bay come this December in which we can show our stakeholders our proposed design and plan to improve the lighting quality of the Hall.
As PL-SS we have also been handed over the role of ordering PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) to all of PD staff when requested. We are issued an excel sheet with required PPE, dictating sizes and amounts and we process this information onto another excel form, which we then send to the supplier, while also raising the Purchase Order (PO) for the needed amount. Once delivered we ensure that the items have been collected and signed for, while maintaining communication with colleagues at all times throughout the process.
Recently I have been aiding the In-House BIM team that work within Design Authority (DA) in IHSE to assist in a project which classifies each item in the Palace and describes them against Historic England’s (HE) database. This will then get cross referenced again the Uniclass database to receive codes that can be applied under one unified scheme.
I was briefly handed over a role from a colleague in which I had to keep updated an excel sheet which includes project checkpoints for projects over Conservation, M & E and MEPFS and ensure that the PLs are up to date within these checkpoints and each are completed on time with the help of Project Support Officers (PSOs).
Section 3 - Review of Your Own Development during the Placement
The duration of my placement as a PL-SS at the HoC has been undertaken while working from home. The most important skill I have developed while working has been my ability to communicate with colleagues, stakeholders, consultants, etc, while working remotely and rarely, if ever, meeting them in person, face-to-face. My ability to work in a team, after only meeting my colleagues face-to-face six months into my placement, has greatly improved and developed.
I have completed mandatory training at Parliament:
Essential: Annual Training
Valuing Everyone- Tackling bullying and harassment and sexual misconduct workshops
Welcome to Parliament
I have also undertaken training to better my learning and understanding while completing my role. These include:
Business Case Training
So that I am able to better understand how to layout a business case at Parliament and learn what makes a successful one, what to include and in how much depth and then the route the business case takes after completion, including the panels it has to stand at before official approval. A copy of the certificate is located in Appendix B.
HAIS Requisitioner
This training enabled me to raise POs so that I can complete any PPE order requests there may be or raise any other POs against contracts/ consultants at project stage.
Getting Recruitment Right
Undertaken so that I could partake in the recruitment campaign of next year’s sandwich students.
I have also completed annual Contract Management Training, a certificate of completion is found in Appendix C.
As the PPE ordering officer for PD we have to ensure that we are organised in our orders so that we can mark who has collected their items and who still needs to. This role has been extremely hard while we’ve been working from home, as well as it has been more difficult with delays to orders. In order to keep track of items I created a master order document and circulated it around to those who are directly involved with the process.
Helping with the PoW Asset List – Heritage Data project I have been able to expand my knowledge and understanding of historic buildings and items found within the PoW. A lot of the experience and understanding I learnt at University has enabled me to have a clear understanding of how to describe and classify each of these elements. As well as my understanding of BIM has enabled me to grasp how useful this project is in terms of its use within our projects.
Assisting with other jobs on projects from colleagues in my team has really helped my understanding of how a programme/ project is undertaken and the route to get there, such as following the RIBA Plan of Works and Checkpoints throughout project stages. Working in the PL stage of a project has really expanded knowledge that I haven’t been taught at University, where we are more knowledgeable in the design portion of a project. Working within a UNESCO World Heritage Site has also allowed me to develop understanding of the care and challenges that are presented while working.
Section 4 - Plans for Future Development
Even though I still have three months left as a PL-SS at Parliament it is important to consider how I can further develop my skillset and expertise. A lot of the work I have completed at Parliament, and am still yet to undertake, have helped me understand the working environment and process a project takes, from preliminary stages of procurement, business case and tendering, to actual works on site, to final handover and close outs.
Even though I have thoroughly enjoyed being a PL-SS I would like to take some time to experience being an Interior Architect and work on the designing, although my time as a PL-SS will hopefully help me understand my relationships with PLs, PMs, consultants, contractors, etc on site and understand what their role is better.
The work I have completed and my experience of working within a Grade 1 UNESCO World Heritage Site will help me further in the completion of my dissertation on conservation architecture.
In order to further develop my skills and expertise I need to be more open to asking for help and suggesting things I would enjoy doing, shadowing, watching, etc. This is something I have struggled to do a lot this year, especially due to the Coronavirus Pandemic and the fact that everyone is working from home. I may have missed out on multiple opportunities because I didn’t stand up and suggest that I would like to be present, or I would like to try because it interests me. Within the last three months I will be trying to involve myself in many more opportunities and will be asking colleagues to provide me with work and suggesting things that I may want to get a chance to do before I leave too. This is something I will continue to improve going into my final year, and even beyond that in the job industry.