TV Studio activities still dominate the diary this week. The ITT (invitation to tender) has to be completed by early next week and sent to the 5 or so companies that will submit bids to build the studios. We’re up to our neck in tender projects at the moment – all progressing well and costed – including the internal floor finish, telephony, network data cabling, audio visual equipment, furniture, equipment for the prototyping areas, facilities management, catering…

Our Student Union have reacted surprisingly positively to the idea that our new building will be alcohol free. Enterprising and tenacious, they have already secured a range of discounts and deals from cafes, restaurants and clubs in The O2. This will provide a rich variety of venues and events to entertain themselves in their new home.

The first stage of the tender process for the TV studio fit-out and equipping is progressing well – 13 contractors from all over Europe have submitted bids. From this we need to produce a short list of 4-6 and then make a final selection. Looks like we are on track to go to contract by mid Jan 2010.

The building also moves ahead but we do have some concerns about the facade – those amazing tiles – as the schedule is running about two weeks behind. However we are assured that the time will be made up. Likewise the mechanical and electrical fit-out is running late but we are advised that the target date of mid June 2010 can still be achieved.

Finally, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Pawel Samecki, visited the site this week and was very pleased with progress on our ERDF investment. In his words: “very exciting…at the cutting edge of digital design technology and communication… precisely the sort of forward looking, innovative projects that the EU wants to invest in.”

I couldn’t have put it better myself.

Our first Open Day of the season on Tuesday – queues out the door!  Really good news that there is so much interest in Ravensbourne at the moment – we are recruiting for our first year in Greenwich so prospective students are clearly excited about our future.

Visited Michael Johnson at his studio in Clapham yesterday to look at progress on our rebranding project. There are some very interesting visual ideas emerging but our preferred route needs more work before being presented to the College community. I’m particularly interested in how the brand could work in 3D on our web site, and the potential for animation with sound.

Then to a site visit with Michael and others to look at wayfinding in the new building. We spent some time exploring the building and used internal staircases for the first time. Wayfinding is a very complex issue because of the half floors throughout, but I’m sure Michael will come up with a inventive solution.

I cant believe that there are only 35 weeks left before our new building is finished – there is still much to do.

On Tuesday I joined colleagues on the first of many staff site visits to see inside the building first hand. The building is progressing well – I am beginning to visualise ‘real’ spaces and understand the flow and dynamic of the interior.

Heating, cooling and lighting panels are being installed on the ceilings of each floor. The lifts are being constructed and the metal staircases which link the half floors are in place. The shape and scale of the central atrium is beginning to emerge – and it’s big!  And the views of south London and the river from the top of the building are just stunning. Lets hope we can achieve our ‘glass box’ on the top floor – it will be a fantastic asset.

However, the big moment for me will be when the tiled facade is in place. It seems that the final technicalities in this area have been resolved and the tile panels will be arriving within the next two weeks. Then we will really see what this amazing building will look like. I can’t wait.

The weeks are flying by, and this has been another hectic week on relocation projects.
Tuesday saw us hosting an evening of chat and comedy at The O2 – thanks to the generosity of Greenwich Council for lending us their box. We gathered a small group of industry and business contacts, including Sky, AEG, Digit, Turner Broadcasting, Shine TV, Business in the Community and Greenwich Council. Michael McIntyre provided the humour. This was the first of similar events in different locations to discuss plans for the future of Ravensbourne.

Sad to be bidding farewell to one of the key players in our relocation this week – best of luck Miles! Have now appointed a new project manager who will take up the reins where he left off and oversee the digital fit-out of our new building.

And finally, paint. Our proposed interior colour scheme of neutral whites and greys is not meeting important DDA standards, so it’s back to the colour chart with Foreign Office Architects to pick a compliant colour scheme…