A building that was to be West Berlin’s tallest building, and to be the cornerstone of the revered Charlottenberg neighborhood, was nine months behind schedule and slipping. Built on a site that had a 20-year history of derailed projects, the Abu Dhabi based developer - Swan Operations Limited, was determined not to repeat history. The project needed a turnaround, and a total change in attitude

The 32 story Zoofenster, a name derived by its proximity to the historic Berlin Zoo, was being built to be the marquee structure in the West Berlin skyline. A mixed-use development designed by Christoph Mäckler, is located in the center of the city overlooking the majestic zoo, will comprise 555,000 square feet of built-up space and feature a 230-room Waldorf-Astoria hotel, apartments, office spaces and retail outlets. The €200 million project had great promise, but was also experiencing great problems.  It needed a fresh injection of expertise and attitude so, in July of 2010, Hill International was hired as owner’s representative to the project.
 
“This project was behind schedule due to lack of local monitoring and there were no budget controls exercised on site. It was in danger of heading in the wrong direction” said Richard Davidson, Hill International’s Project Director. “When we were hired, we had an attitude that we would do whatever it takes to get this job done. We did our due diligence, identified and stabilized the problems, identified solutions, then just got to work,” he added.
 
The project had large gaps in scope due to lack of site-based project controls.  This put both the client and the project itself at risk.  The Hill team worked tirelessly to fill management gaps that could not be filled by the existing local companies.
 
“Our client was not in a position to personally supervise the day-to-day operations of the project,” said Davidson. “We were brought on board to establish a layer of accountability for every manager, consultant and contractor,” he added. This protected the clients’ interests by defending its position without increasing legal exposure or taking back risk from the contractor. Hill’s approach was to intervene without interfering with established contractual relationships. Hill took the critical role of defending the client’s interests by countering any party tempted to take advantage of shortfalls involving the local design and management teams.
 
“The primary pressure points on the project were cost, schedule, MEP, design management, and overall project leadership,” said Davidson.  Davidson filled the management gaps with some of the most experienced professionals in the industry.  He took it upon himself to fill the leadership role. “As long as we were on the job and action was necessary, we would provide it ourselves with whatever resources we had available, regardless of our defined scope. When we saw a problem, we aggressively attacked it,” he added. 
 
This project certainly had its share of obstacles outside the scope of an owner’s representative. The Contractor was not performing and was well behind schedule. Hill assisted the client in negotiating project extensions each resulting in allocating risk where it belonged, while minimizing or eliminating prolongation claims. Towards the end of the project, with more delays imminent and revenue jeopardized, Hill actively commanded completion by de-scoping the contractor of certain tasks and taking on critical construction management scope themselves. This was achieved this without transferring unreasonable risk to the client. 
At critical points in the project, the client was faced with unexpected obstacles that could have derailed the schedule.  The first was when the MEP designer went bankrupt during design development and the contractor was awarded design/build to maintain schedule, reducing potential catastrophic delays.
 
“On a project like this, you have to expect the unexpected,” said Davidson. So when the client terminated the original interior designer late in the project, potentially six months were lost during transition to a new designer. “We lost critical institutional knowledge between the interior designer and the architecture/MEP. It was six months that we couldn’t afford to lose,” proclaimed Davidson. 
 
The combination of events resulted in Hill imposing a fast-track approach that required the drawings be fed to the contractor based on construction necessity rather than traditional design-bid-build. Substantial scope had to be procured under established provisional sums, all audited by Hill. More importantly, Hill provided architectural expertise by sitting in on every design coordination meeting. Hill's design manager procured advanced design completion from each consultant to meet the construction schedule. “We served the critical role as the hands-on design manager, saving many months in the process and an estimated €200,000 in MEP cost savings alone,” said Davidson. 
 
The scope of this project was constantly expanded and consistently at risk of delays, but adding more staff was not an option. Hill brought in supplemental expertise when and where it was needed. “We managed the expanded scope through a determined mindset and outstanding work ethic. Our team went above and beyond in every sense of the word,” boasted Davidson.  Hill began the project as a traditional owner’s representative. The scope then expanded to cost management, design management, MEP field management, scheduling, and furnishings, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) management, along with a substantial amount of informal project management.
 
Cost management was not up to Hill's standards on the project in June, 2010. Reporting was incomplete and subject to repeated challenge. Hill therefore fashioned its own clear monthly report specifically suited to the Client's needs. A dedicated cost manager was a must-add to Davidson’s team. The cost manager derived a project-specific anticipated cost report that tracked budget/scope changes against commitments. Based on this data, estimated future commitments were calculated.  An instruction system was introduced to the local project manager and a scope change request system for the hotel operator and asset manager in order to establish accountability and predictability. Hill managed owner-direct contracts, including FF&E and fit-out through their cost software. Eventually, Hill ended up managing costs directly because the client only trusted Hill's figures - which were easily accessible, clear and auditable.
 
Davidson’s leadership and day-to-day management kept all parties working in concert. But his attitude is what kept this project moving.  He created a well-defined project management structure which enabled Hill to help the client with many types of challenges, beyond the traditional scope. Some components of the project fell by the wayside without Hill’s involvement.  Hill inherited the task of FF&E management and successfully took it under its management wing. Artwork management and procurement became Hill’s sole responsibility and it was delivered on time and under budget. Hill successfully developed a partnership with the University of Art - Berlin (UdK), which became the major provider of interior art. 
 
As it stands today, The Zoofenster Skyscraper will be completed for a Grand Opening in early 2013 and serve as a rejuvenating force for West Berlin. Guests of the Waldorf-Astoria will have unmatched views of the famed Berlin Zoo as children marvel at the elephants from the hotel window.  They will also enjoy a lower carbon footprint thanks to the hotel’s sustainability features such as an automated shutter system, double-glazed windows, chilled ceilings and heated floors to name a few.  And they will experience safety second to none through a fire/life & safety system that is one of the few hotels rated to SIL criteria.*
 
The Zoofenster Skyscraper and Waldorf-Astoria hotel will become a destination in Berlin, but without a change in attitude, this may not have come to be. Hill’s aggressive approach to troubled project turnaround successfully saved the owner over €2,500,000 and most importantly, got this project done. It serves as a prime example that when expertise is mixed with the right attitude, anything is possible.
 
Frank Peter Sockett CEng FICE, ICE Member in Greece, is Vice President & Co-Managing Director of Hill International and worked on this project. The article was submitted by Kleopatra Kyrimi, Marketing Specialist - Europe Projects at Hill International.
 
*SIL = “Safety Integration Level” has been used by international organizations to define a relative level of risk-reduction for life safety systems.