PROJECT Gateway blog - November & DECEMBER 2024
The tenders are in…
For the last two months the main focus has been about the construction contract tenders. We have received four tenders and our Quantity Surveyor partners from Ridge, are now assessing them so we make our selection in the new year.
GATEWAY BEGINS - You will also have seen that works have commenced outside in the garden to protect the trees, so that the work can properly begin.
Read more about what has been happening in November and December below…
Assessing the tenders
The tenders are now being thoroughly assessed to check their quality, their cost and compliance, plus their schedule and method to deliver the Gateway Project.
Cost – making sure the tenders include everything so we can compare on a like-for-like basis.
Schedule and method – assessing the proposed start dates, sequencing of the work, and when different sections of the work (Café & Bookshop, Nave, Youth & Community Centre) will be ready to be opened.
Compliance and quality – ensuring the tenders are focused on the right areas of design, to the right standards, with full compliance, and structural integrity.
Contract matters
We will be making sure the contract reflects our key aims, the schedule and the right costs, which is shaped by:
How much money we have raised.
Getting best value for money on the design, exploring where items can be 'value engineered' to perhaps reduce scope of some items or get them for better prices.
Contract terms and conditions, ensuring that everything is properly included, with a schedule enabling us to reopen the church and businesses by key dates.
Timeline
We expect to select our main contractor by mid-January 2025. Then a detailed contract will be drawn up and we’ll work with our preferred contractor to get best value for the design.
The businesses will close on 1st of March 2025 followed by a few weeks to fully pack up and store the items in the church (see more below).
The church will close mid-March 2025 for the main work to commence.
From that point, we will use the Nova Cinema for morning worship, and St Andrew’s Goldsworth Park for evening worship, until we are able to return to the nave (expected before Christmas 2025).
Work begins…
You will have seen that the church garden is now filled with tree protection measures (fencing and scaffolding) which are a requirement of our planning consent from Woking Borough Council.
In January, there will also be a small section of the foundations being dug in the car park and temporarily covered over until the main contractor starts a couple of months later. These will ensure we have fulfilled our planning conditions to start by January 2025.
Can you help?
Offsite worship next year
We will need lots of help when we begin our off-site Sunday worship. We would love to hear from anyone who would be willing to get involved - whether you are happy to help with lifting and shifting for set up and pack down, sound and AV, children and youth ministries or stewarding and welcoming.
Storing a Church Full of Stuff!
Every church room will have work done as all electrical and heating systems are updated, so the team are already working to empty the entire building, with cupboards being emptied, stock being used up and clients liaised with. We are looking at a variety of solutions for removing and storing the things we need to keep church running 'off-site', and the things that can go into longer term storage. If you know of, or have, any storage capacity or recommendations for good solutions, do let us know.
Find out more
If you want more information about the project, or to find out how you can support it financially, take a look at our Gateway pages on ChristChurch’s website, or you can chat to any of the members of the team: Adrian Beavis (Vicar), Steve Roberts (Project Leader), Walter Coxon (Finance), Mike Pearce (Technical), Peter Wichmann (CCW building knowledge and expertise), Rachael Purvis (Project Coordinator). If you’d like to email us with a specific query you can do so at this email address: gateway@ccwoking.org.