Architectural and related services

Tender description

Located in the heart of South Kensington, the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle is launching a major renovation program with a technical and regulatory upgrade of all the buildings of its main site. This master plan will begin at the end of 2015 and will span over several years. The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle has celebrated its centenary in 2015 and is now counting about 4 000 students. The Lycée is composed of 5 sites including the historical main site in South Kensington, with 3 000 students from to Reception Year to 6 Form. This operation focuses only on the South Kensington site, composed of a set of 7 heterogeneous buildings from different periods (1850 to 1980), 2 of which are listed buildings. The built-up area is 21 700 m2 (234 000 sqft) on 1,3 ha (2,5 acres) of land. The site has been saturated for a few years after a substantial increase of the number of students. The Lycée has established a management strategy of the number of students on the South Kensington site now that the numbers of students on other sites (French schools in Clapham, Fulham and Ealing) are stabilized and that the new French Secondary School has been open in Wembley. This reflection makes these refurbishment interventions possible while keeping the school in use. Several technical and regulatory surveys and different architectural and functional feasibility studies have enabled the school to draft a strategic renovation master plan for the site. Developed in 2015, it includes seven independent sub-operations, described as follows (with the buildings' designations): 1. Securing of the South Kensington site and its principal access; 2. Interior refit, inclusive access for person with reduced mobility, technical renovation and upgrade for Chateaubriand and Link buildings; 3. Restoration of elevations, renovation of external joinery, technical renovation and accessibility upgrade for Maurois and Voltaire buildings; 4. Interior redevelopment, technical renovation, fit-out of an air renewal system, renewal of windows and improving standards of the Molière building; 5. Lifts replacement in Molière, Chateaubriand and Voltaire buildings; 6. Technical renovation and fit-out of an air renewal system in the Victor Hugo building; 7. Redevelopment and modernisation of the main kitchen. These sub-operations will encompass different building trades but will not aim at a complete redevelopment of each of the buildings. They will be studied globally by a single multidisciplinary design team (yet to be chosen), but the works will be implemented in distinct work phases. The challenges of this renovation plan are: the diversity of interventions (dealing with external envelope, internal partitions, and technical installations) and phasing of the works within an occupied school, with several building sites coexisting with students for several years. The projected global budget inclusive of total expenditures for this renovation is estimated by the Lycée at 12 500 000 GBP.