RSC costume workshop

At the same time, the new facilities would enable the public to experience the costume workshop for themselves, and see the incredible work being done by the RSC’s team.

Pulse Consult was appointed to provide project management consultancy and quantity surveying, taking the project from RIBA Stage 3 to completion. We procured the works through a collaborative, competitive two-stage tender process, maximising contractor engagement at an early stage to mitigate the risks involved with such a complex site. 

Our team took an innovative approach to minimising time, cost and disruption. This included rethinking a key element of structural engineering – a complex contiguous retaining wall in a constrained location. We proposed a sheet-metal retaining wall, installed with press-in piling, which is excellent for avoiding noise and vibration at sensitive sites. This saved the RSC time, as well as £15k in capital cost, £20k in temporary works and £48k in preliminaries.

At every stage, our construction consultants worked closely with the RSC, who provided strong governance, with invaluable advocacy from the project board’s chair, Paul Morrell OBE. We also got involved with Stitch In Time, the funding campaign for the project. This included one of our Pulse directors, Lee Cantrill, joining the RSC team for the Shakespeare Half Marathon, which raised £10,000 towards the costume workshop restoration.

• Project management consultancy
• Procurement advice & management
• Employer’s agent
• Quantity surveying & cost consultancy
• Main contract tendering & tender analysis
• Contract documentation
• Contract administration 
• Feasibility studies
• Cost control (pre & post)

This project epitomised all the characteristics of a successful heritage construction project, perfectly addressing the dilemma of whether to retain, refurbish or build something new. The team worked together through the unprecedented conditions of the pandemic, and the challenges it brought became the catalyst for a completely new way of collaborating.

The finished workshop retains 353m² of the site’s most historically significant buildings. This is complemented by almost 1,400m² of thoughtful new facilities, set over three floors, which nestle within Stratford’s roofscape as if they’ve always been there. Together, these create a bigger, brighter workspace for the RSC’s expert costume team, with space to offer training and apprenticeships, as well as welcome the public to explore their fascinating work.