Parliament restoration: US experts set to join £3.5bn rescue project for Palace of Westminster
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Version 0 of 1. The British engineering groups Mace, Arup, and WS Atkins are mulling bids to take part in the £3.5bn-plus refurbishment of the Houses of Parliament, alongside a host of eager US giants. Mace helped to oversee the £9.3bn construction for the London 2012 Olympic Games, and it is likely that its US partner on that deal, CH2M Hill, will also bid on repairing the Palace of Westminster. Bechtel, the California-based engineer that has helped to upgrade three lines and 100 stations on the London Underground, is also eyeing work on the contract, bidding on which is expected to start next spring. Last week, a team that included another US engineering behemoth, Aecom, set out a series of options for saving Parliament, which is falling apart from problems ranging from infestations of mice to crumbling brick. Deloitte Real Estate and the architect HOK also worked on the plans. Asbestos is also rife, while a tunnel running underneath the palace is crammed with several generations of technology, from telegraph equipment to broadband wiring. Engineers struggle for room as they try to fix Parliament’s regular IT problems. The cheapest of Aecom’s options is moving out MPs and peers for six years, which would give engineers operational freedom and space to make repairs and improve facilities. That option would cost £3.5bn, but, should politicians refuse to leave the neo-Gothic splendour of the palace, the price-tag could increase to as much as £7bn as experts struggle to work around politicians’ working patterns. A third compromise alternative involves moving the Commons and Lords out one chamber at a time. Ministers have removed the nearby Queen Elizabeth II conference centre from the previous government’s list of planned state-owned asset sales, as it is the most appropriate venue to rehouse the lower and upper chambers. The costs and timetables, though, are provisional and could escalate, given that further due diligence work on critical aspects of the palace, such as investigating the state of the foundations, will need to be undertaken by any private-sector team selected to lead the revamp. A review committee comprising MPs and peers will decide which option should be taken. An executive at one potential bidder said that British firms are likely to team up with the US groups, as the latter have greater experience of complicated, large-scale work. It is hoped that the review committee will choose its preferred option by Christmas, which would allow procurement for a delivery partner to start in the first half of last year. Work could then start around 2020. |