It’s very much BAU in our London office, and we’ve just completed post tender interviews via Zoom for an exceptional project and former picture house, Rex Cinema. The project involves the demolition of the original 1913 cinema (rebuilt with an art deco façade by cinema architect George Coles in 1938), and the construction of a new 3 storey basement structure which will house a restaurant, cinematic/function space and accommodation with a further 5 storeys above ground providing a total of 394 beds. The façade will be reconstructed to resemble the existing Art Deco façade giving the building a unique and iconic frontage to Bethnal Green Road.
As QS for the project, we were due to carry out post tender interviews end-March, and thanks to technology we have been able to keep this project very much on track. Three post-tender interviews have recently been carried out via Zoom, which worked really well and allowed the contractor to present to the client team and for the client team to still raise queries and bring up drawings for any salient points.
Demolition is scheduled for 4th May with the main contract works commencing in August – watch this space and we’ll share more detail and photography when it all begins.