Major refurbishment for headquarters meeting hall
The lower ground level assembly hall area at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Lambeth headquarters building is to be refurbished to accommodate future meetings of the larger Council and to provide facilities for a wide range of meetings and membership events. The Council also wants to develop the full commercial potential of the hall by creating a modern conference facility.
The decision to refurbish the hall was made at the August
Council meeting after options for enlarging the current Council chamber on the first
floor had been rejected because of limitations created by structural
issues.
Plans and an artist’s impression of the new design are to be put
on display at the Society’s headquarters, on the website and at
this year’s British Pharmaceutical Conference, which takes place
in Manchester from September 26 to 28.
The Society’s headquarters building opened in 1976 and, until the
late 1990s, the internal space largely remained in its original configuration.
Over recent years, the Council has invested in an ongoing refurbishment
programme to preserve the relative value of the building and create a
modern working environment and good quality meeting spaces.
The development of the lower ground level meeting hall and adjacent area
into fully flexible meeting and conference facilities will be the first
major refurbishment of the hall since the building opened. The work will
cost about £870,000.
Key features of the plans involve:
· Creating access that is fully compliant with the Disability Discrimination
Act 1995
· Introducing natural light into the lower-ground floor meeting space
· Improving the air conditioning and the air-flow in the hall
· Creating modern, flexible, well-equipped meeting spaces that can adapt
to different requirements
The Society’s President, Hemant Patel, said: “The Council
has agreed to make a significant further investment in the Society’s
headquarters building which will add considerable value to this major
property asset. This is an exciting proposal which addresses many of
the issues that members and visitors have raised with us over the years.
It will also reap rewards for the organisation in terms of enhancing
the way we conduct our business and generating extra income for the Society.”
In the short term, Council meetings are still being held in the existing
Council chamber. The purpose-built furniture designed for a Council of
24 (plus staff and guests) has been stripped out and replaced for the
time being by more compact units to accommodate a Council of 30.
Work on the hall refurbishment is to begin in December. Because the project
is expected to take 38 weeks to complete, the headquarters building will
not be able to accommodate the Society’s annual general meeting
on 17 May 2006 and the branch representatives’ meeting on the following
day. Negotiations are under way to secure alternative venues.
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal