星空传媒

The project to build a Turner gallery at the Kent seaside has gone 拢4.5m over budget before starting on site. Davis Langdon is project managing the scheme, which will now cost 拢29.5m.

The planned sail-like structure will sit on the sea next to Margate town centre.

Client Kent County Council said the extra costs were down to the low number of tenderers for the complex project. The council said this applied particularly to the main contract settlement with Edmund Nuttall and to the steel sub package, whose price is now 拢2m over the budget price of 拢5.4m.

Edmund Nuttall was appointed as the main contractor in July 2005. Kent said finalising the contract with the firm 鈥渢ook much longer than originally anticipated and as result the construction programme has altered so that practical completion is now due to be autumn 2007鈥�.

It is understood that the gallery will be opened four years later than planned, in the first six months of 2008.

Hollandia is the preferred steel sub contractor. Kent said the steel contractor would need 11 months to construct the gallery building, float it to Margate and install it on the marine foundations during the weather and tide 鈥渨indow鈥� in September 2006.

Practical completion is now due to be autumn 2007

Kent County Council

鈥淚f this is not achieved, the project could be delayed by six months with associated costs,鈥� the council warned, although it added that this process was currently on track.

Kent has fixed 54% of the full contract price with Hollandia.

It is aiming to achieve 71% price certainty once it has appointed an M&E contractor, but emphasised it has 拢1.25m contingency built into the budget.

A source close to Davis Langdon said: 鈥淐ertain projects represent particular difficulties and require technical solutions that are inherently innovative. Packaging up projects in a way that鈥檚 attractive to contractors is harder on some projects than others.鈥�

Sn酶hetta and Spence designed the building.