UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Standing Group Responsible for the Maintenance and Refurbishment of
Centrally Timetabled Rooms
Notes from the meeting of the Group on Friday 22 May 2015
Present:
Dr E Melia (Chair), Ms R Burdick, Ms L Holland, Mr P Jones, Mrs E Morrison, Mr J
Owen, Mr H Rowles.
Apologies:
Mr J Buckingham, Mrs V Hill, Mr D Mace, Mr C Singleton.
99/14-15
Minutes
RESOLVED:
That the minutes of the meeting held on 29 April 2015 be approved, subject to the
following amendments:
(a) That H0.58 and H0.60 were not used by Conferences to store furniture over the
summer in minute 87(k)/14-15;
(b) That Easter was one of the busiest periods for Conferences in minute 96(n)/1415.
100/14-15
Seating Modifications in H0.51/H0.52 (minute 84/14-15 referred)
REPORTED: (by the Interior Design, Furniture and Equipment Officer (Ms R Burdick))
That the seating removals had been booked and that she would coordinate the return
of the seating noting that the carpet had also been ordered.
101/14-15
Minor Works in Humanities CTTRs (minute 87/14-15 referred)
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
(a) That she was awaiting an update from the Estates Project Manager on what
could be achieved in Humanities in the current financial year noting that this
affected other planned expenditure;
(b) That as much as possible should be defrayed before the end of the financial year
and that any further works would take place afterwards;
(c) That she had reported to CSAG regarding the refurbishment of CTTRs and that it
had been helpful to emphasise and raise awareness of the cost and importance
of AV within refurbishment plans;
(by the Interior Design, Furniture and Equipment Officer (Ms R Burdick))
(d) That the original estimates for MS01 and MS02 had not included full nosing
replacement but that this was necessary for DDA compliance;
(e) That carpet tiles could be used in H0.58 and H0.60 noting that this would
minimise the effect of any works required by the Estates Project Manager;
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(by the Conferences Senior Duty Manager)
(f)
That he had provided the Estates Project Manager with details of Conference
bookings in Humanities noting that Conferences could be more flexible the
earlier works were confirmed;
(g) That H0.58 and H0.60 were booked everyday by Conferences from the first week
until 4 August;
(h) That the Centre for Applied Linguistics had bookings in H0.58 and H0.60 in the
2nd and 4th week of August and the 2nd week of September noting that it was
possible to move them at this stage;
(i)
That H0.58 and H0.60 were not booked from 7 September noting that they could
potentially be available for works for 3 weeks;
(by the Service Owner (AV Services))
(j)
That the projectors in H0.58 and H0.60 had already been swapped and that it
was only the screen and lectern which needed to be replaced noting that this
would take about a week;
(k) That the AV for H0.58 and H0.60 would cost about £30k and the AV in S0.17 and
S0.28 would also be replaced this financial year;
(by the Interior Design, Furniture and Equipment Manager)
(l)
That it would take a day per room to replace the carpet in H0.58 and H0.60;
(m) That the tables for H0.58 and H0.60 could be purchased in the current financial
year and stored until required.
RESOLVED:
(a) That expenditure on AV for H0.58 and H0.60 would go ahead as planned;
(b) That replacing carpeting and tables in H0.58 and H0.60 would go ahead as
planned noting that any works planned by the Estates Project Manager would
take place if possible;
(c) That the Conferences Senior Duty Manager would provide the Service Owner
(AV Services) with a list of available dates for H0.58 and H0.60 to complete AV
refurbishment.
102/14-15
Refurbishment of MS01 & MS02 (minute 94/14-15 referred)
RESOLVED:
That the refurbishment of MS02 would take place in summer 2015 and the
refurbishment of MS01 would take place in summer 2016.
103/14-15
Approved Expenditure for Works in PLT, Physics
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
(a) That the Chair had taken action on behalf of the Group to approve spend of the
following from the Refurb Group budget:
(i)
£1,471.86 plus VAT on relocating services prior to works commencing on
the teaching wall in PLT;
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(ii)
£6,835.14 plus VAT on enabling works prior to the installation of the
teaching wall in PLT;
(iii) £5,060 plus VAT on joinery work for installing a new enlarged projector
room window and teaching wall in PLT;
(by the Service Owner (AV Services))
(b) That the Estates Project Manager was experiencing difficulties getting the
carpenter onto the finance system.
104/14-15
New projector lamps to replenish stock of replacement lamps
REPORTED:
That the Chair had taken action on behalf of the Group to approve spend of £2,170
plus VAT from the Refurb Group budget on replenishing the stock of replacement
projector lamps.
105/14-15
2014-15 Refurb Group Budget
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
That she had explained to the Estates Chief Finance Officer the difficulties the Group
experienced in planning exactly when expenditure would occur in relation to the
financial year noting that he had given the Group some flexibility.
CONSIDERED:
A summary of the current budget position for the present academic year as set out in
paper CTTR.2/14-15(revised6).
106/14-15
Discussion of Decommissioning CTTRs
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
(a) That she was writing a paper to present to CSAG in July regarding the
decommissioning of CTTRs;
(b) That she wanted to collate as much information as possible from members of the
Group regarding spaces they knew people wished to decommission and also the
rooms the Group wished to decommission noting that if this information was
openly requested from departments they would receive too many requests;
(c) That there was a conflict between what departments wanted to decommission
and rooms which were poor for teaching noting that a suitable balance needed to
be found between the two;
(d) That her preference would be to decommission Lib 1 and that there were plans
for this space to be used as a careers drop-in area with a glass front noting that
part of the justification for the 80 capacity room in the New Teaching & Learning
Building was to allow the decommissioning of Lib 1;
(e) That there was pressure to decommission F1.07, F1.10 and F1.11 but that this
needed to be given careful consideration due to capacity for exams noting that
there were no rooms in the New Teaching and Learning Building with the same
capacity;
(f)
That Lib 1 and F1.07 could not both be decommissioned;
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(g) That other rooms that were being considered included H1.48, R2.41 or R3.41,
PS1.28 and one of the B rooms on the Science Concourse;
(h) That she was preparing a separate paper on exams space, noting that
Westwood Games Hall and Desso Hall would eventually be demolished noting
that if F1.07 was decommissioned as well this would leave a shortage of suitable
spaces;
(by the Interior Design, Furniture and Equipment Manager)
(i)
That the exams timetable was published months in advance but that the Sports
Centre placed bookings around the exams noting that this made it difficult for the
furniture team to lay the carpet and for the porters to arrange furniture;
(j)
That more rooms were being used concurrently for exams this year which had
led to a shortage in furniture;
(k) That she had worked on the examination furniture plans for the Rootes
restaurant and that the capacity should not be 250 noting that this would not be
compliant;
(by the Conferences Senior Duty Manager)
(l)
That the Rootes restaurant had a capacity of approximately 250 while being used
for exams;
(m) That F1.07, F1.10 and F1.11 were useful for Conferences noting that flat floor
spaces were at a premium;
(n) That Conferences did not want Lib 2 to be decommissioned but that Lib 1 could
be;
(o) That the B rooms on the Science Concourse were sold by Conferences as a
suite and that if one of the rooms were lost this could affect the bookings.
RESOLVED:
(a) That members of the Group would provide the Chair with any information
regarding CTTRs they knew departments would like to be decommissioned;
(b) That the Interior Design, Furniture and Equipment Manager would provide the
Chair with the details of the capacities of rooms for exams and the number of
tables currently available;
(c) That the Conferences Senior Duty Manager would provide the Chair details of
Conference bookings for CTTRs to inform the paper on decommissioning.
107/14-15
Future Plans for CTTR Refurbishment
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
(a) That the Group needed a refurbishment plan for the next two years noting that
she was considering some options but was unclear where the biggest impact
would be;
(b) That S0.11 to S0.21 would need to be included in this plan noting that serious
consideration should be given to these rooms now to allow works to be
scheduled around Conference bookings;
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(c) That some CTTRs were of a reasonable standard but that some CTTRs required
too large an expenditure to make a considerable impact on the quality of the
room;
(d) That the Humanities building would eventually be decommissioned noting that
this meant considerable investment should not be made in this building;
(e) That the works which needed to be carried out in S0.11 to S0.28 should not be
so large that no other works could be afforded;
(f)
That she was looking at the demand on the timetable to influence decisions on
refurbishment of CTTRs;
(g) That a lot of feedback regarding CTTRs which had been received through the
Annual Accommodation Round had expressed that the capacity of many CTTRs
was set too high;
(h) That WMG had been using fixed furniture in some of their larger teaching rooms;
(by the Service Owner (AV Services))
(i)
That Lib1 could be altered to be used partially for teaching and partially as a
drop-in centre noting that refurbishment of Lib 1 would create impact in a
prominent location;
(by the Interior Design, Furniture and Equipment Manager)
(j)
That cupboards could be installed in Lib 1 to store furniture when not in use;
(k) That in the very small CTTRs there were not many options for furniture layout;
(l)
That the capacity of H0.58 had been reduced to 40 but that the capacity of H0.60
remained 50 noting that the tables would be smaller;
(by the Conferences Senior Duty Manager)
(m) That one of the major problems with Lib 1 was that it was dark and that a glass
wall would make it much brighter;
(n) That the Argent Court meeting rooms were good examples of spaces which used
fixed furniture;
(o) That S1.66 and S1.69 or S2.84 could be used for a pilot of fixed furniture;
(by the Assistant Registrar (Space Management and Timetabling)
(p) That the layout of the furniture could have a significant impact on room capacity
noting that fixed furniture could minimise this issue;
RESOLVED:
(a) That the Service Owner (AV Services) and the Interior Design, Furniture and
Equipment Manager would accompany the Chair to a meeting with the Librarian
and the Academic Registrar to discuss potential usage of Lib 1;
(b) That the group would identify a CTTR to be used as a pilot for fixed furniture and
consult with the main users of the room before commencing the trial.
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108/14-15 Implications of the Development of Building Coordinators
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
(a) That she had attended a meeting with the Director of Health & Safety and the
Health & Safety and Compliance Manager to discuss the implementation of
Building Coordinators;
(b) That in the light of the issues concerning the Avon Drama Studio this was one
option to partially address the issue of responsibility;
(c) That some departments currently had someone responsible for buildings but that
others didn’t noting that they tended to only focus on spaces belonging to
individual departments and that CTTRs were not included;
(d) That the New Teaching & Learning Building would have a role which
encompassed the Building Coordinator position but also provided additional
functionality noting that the role could act as a point of contact for all the Building
Coordinators;
(e) That the Chair was in a similar position to IATL in that the Group were not
responsible for the daily maintenance of CTTRs and relied on users to report
issues;
(f)
That users tended to report issues such as AV and lights but that other issues
which may be more serious to the maintenance of CTTRs may be ignored;
(g) That this could potentially work with the trial of a checklist system with the porters
which was being conducted by the Interior Design, Furniture and Equipment
Officers.
109/14-15 Westwood Space Constraints
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
(a) That WE0.29, WE1.16 and WE1.17 had been closed until further notice due to
the potential structural issues discovered during the refurbishment works in
Graduate Studies;
(b) That the Telepresence suite, WE0.20, had also been closed and that parts of the
ground floor of Graduate Studies may need to be closed noting that structural
issues had also been discovered in New Education;
(c) That the capacity of Avon was currently limited due to the number of fire exits
noting this was as a result of the ceiling collapse in the Avon Drama Studio;
(d) That there may not be enough teaching space to accommodate the teaching
model used by the Centre for Professional Education;
(e) That refurbishment work had been carried out on CTTRs in Graduate Studies 3
years ago and that no issues had been discovered at that time;
(f)
That the structural issues had not been found until the end of the refurbishment
work noting that this meant previously refurbished rooms were now being
inspected for issues;
(g) That money had originally been allocated to demolish Science Education but that
this had been repurposed noting that the Nursery and CSW Sport building also
needed to be demolished;
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(by the Interior Design, Furniture and Equipment Manager)
(h) That the Nursery was used to store equipment for societies and also furniture
from Warwick Swap before being delivered to charities.
110/14-15 Dates of the Future Meetings
RESOLVED:
That the next meeting of the Group was on Thursday 25 June 2015.
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