A new arts and entertainment building delivered by Laing O’Rourke in Manchester will cost more than double its original £111.6m price tag.
Aviva Studios, formerly known as The Factory, finally opened this summer, with a major exhibition featuring installations by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. But behind the scenes, work is underway to complete the project, with hook-up and commissioning now expected to be completed in September.
The 12,000 sq m arts space, which sits alongside the River Irwell in central Manchester, was priced at £111.6m in 2017 when the plan was approved and Laing O’Rourke was appointed. However, it has since been dogged by delays and cost overruns.
Manchester City Council’s executive committee is now set to sign off on a further £9.8m of capital expenditure on the project, taking the total cost of the project to £226m, excluding an additional £7.8m of fit-out costs from the building’s occupier, art group Factory International.
A document written by council officials revealed that £8.7m will be used to “fund cash flow requirements until the static completion of construction and customer rates”. [with] Support of £600,000 to cover additional costs experienced by Factory International”.
It added that an additional £1.1m was needed to “cover the final costs of the public realm”.
Aviva Studios has a 1,600-seat auditorium, as well as a central warehouse space with capacity for 5,000 people. Earlier this year, it was announced that the building would be called Aviva Studios following a £35m deal with insurance giant Aviva.
The building was due to be closed as completed today (July 20) but work is underway to finish testing and the integration of “a number of very complex systems”, including fire and smoke systems, CCTV and door operators.
Although work is now due to be completed by September 7, the board’s report said: “Testing and successful integration timelines will be subject to change as issues are discovered and resolved. To that end, final timelines and costs will be subject to change and iteration until practical completion.”
The report highlighted several reasons for the delays, including:
- Additional detailed design work must be completed during the construction phase, particularly in relation to fire codes and interfaces between subcontractor work steps.
- Lack of materials, especially “specialty products such as acoustic doors, theater seating and specialty wall coverings.” When second-choice specifications were used, more detailed design work was required.
- Labor shortages, especially a “skilled labor shortage.”
- Delays due to “water damage as a result of inclement weather before the building is fully watertight.”
- A delay in the gas connection of the building due to gas capacity works in the wider area.
Laing O’Rourke and Manchester City Council have been contacted for comment.
