The BBC…!!?
The job nobody could or would do.
Reacting to a phone call out of the blue, Commercial Workspace Consultants Ltd were asked if we could arrange delivery, logistics, and installation of five high-spec, electric rise-and-fall console desks. We of course, said YES!
It transpired that the workspace they were destined for was the most sensitive and highly secure BBC London Security Operations Centre within the original old building at Portland Place.
Our initial confidence was somewhat marred by the extensive (but expected) BBC ‘Red Tape’ and we finally had the 1st desk installed by 2.30pm. We then came up against the incumbent BBC electrical and data engineers, who were strangely unable (unwilling) to carry out these elements of the changeover. My chaps leapt into action immediately to save the project, and we were approved to carry out the undressing of the main control table, make sense of all the ‘viper’s nest’ of wires and remove much historic but disused cabling. The whole desk, PCs, monitors, CCTV drives, police call systems, 2 main critical servers, and multiple peripheral devices were fed by just TWO spurred power supplies. Over the years one lead onto a 4-way extension block had been plugged in, followed by a 6-way plugged into that, and then an 8-way plugged into that!! All extremely fragile in terms of both reliance and indeed fire concerns.
After much client liaison with the room controller and the BBC facilities representatives, we managed to get everything into a modern and safe condition. Over the 3 days onsite, we took delivery of 8 enormous crates, unpacked and carted them all upstairs (aided by the BBC Porters Team – thanks boys!) and assembled the 5 desks, 1 divisional table, and 6 specialised 24/7-rated operator chairs while carefully taking apart, breaking down and removing the old setup down to a waiting caged waste truck. We even ended up replacing some carpet tiles as a matter of courtesy because the BBC person whose job it was could not be found…
We are now due to return for one more day to assemble and install a full bespoke framework system for the monitor wall behind the desk bank.
All in all, an extremely challenging project but ultimately successful once we had a good grip on it—thanks to my team, well done lads.
