Royal Shakespeare Company

RSC Swan Wing

Sector

Arts, culture & heritage

Project Value

£4m

Project Location

Stratford-upon-Avon

The challenge

Breathing new life into the RSC’s historic Swan Wing

In recent years, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has been transforming its theatres in Stratford to create the best possible spaces for audiences, visitors and artists. With this project, they wanted to restore the Grade II Listed Swan Wing – a former museum and the only remaining element of the original 1879 Shakespeare Memorial Theatre.

The building is of outstanding cultural, architectural and historic importance and the RSC is committed to maintaining it in good heart. With this heritage construction project, they wanted to undertake extensive internal and external conservation repairs, refurbish internal finishes and fit out the interior as a new exhibition and visitor attraction.

The role we played

Pulse Consult was appointed to provide construction project management, quantity surveyor and contract administration services, and we were immediately tasked with confirming the project’s feasibility with a detailed cost plan. We then identified contractors with the right conservation skillset, and competitively tendered the scheme to guarantee value for money.

The second phase of the project was the fit out of the Swan Wing with a new permanent, family friendly exhibition called The Play’s The Thing, revealing the behind-the-scenes secrets of nearly 140 years of Shakespeare performances in and around the building.

We acted as quantity surveyor and employer’s agent for the complex fit out – which had to take shape next to live rehearsals and matinee performances. By procuring a specialist exhibition contractor through a two-stage tender and procurement route, we enabled the realisation of the conceptual design, without exceeding the project’s cost plan.

Construction consultancy services provided on this project

Project management consultancy
Procurement advice & management
Quantity surveying & cost consultancy
Measurement, estimation & costing
Main contract tendering & tender analysis
Contract documentation
Contract administration
Cost control (pre & post)

The results

It was a race against time to get the work completed in time for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death – an event the RSC was commemorating with a programme of celebrations and a visit from HRH The Prince of Wales. We hit that deadline and the project’s budget, using our in-depth knowledge of the supply chain to deliver significant savings on key works packages.

The finished exhibition includes the Chandos Portrait of Shakespeare, on loan from the National Portrait Gallery, and a Royal Shakespeare Company First Folio – one of only 235 surviving copies dating from 1623. It also features the stunning artwork For All Time by Steven Follen, which sees 2,000 handmade stainless steel stars suspended from the ceiling.

Pulse were engaged as the RSC's Quantity Surveyors on our recently completed Swan Wing conservation project and the subsequent fit-out of our The Play's the Thing exhibition. Throughout their period of engagement they worked with us in a true partnership, helping to overcome some complex project challenges, thoroughly immersing themselves into our organisation and becoming trusted advisors to the Estates team in the process. Their rigorous financial control and reporting allowed us at all relevant points to keep the project on track. Consequently, and to no-one's surprise, the project was delivered on budget. I would have no hesitation in recommending them for work again with Pulse on future projects.

Grug Davies

Director of Estates

Royal Shakespeare Company