The Glasgow Science Centre Tower Project Case Study
Introduction
The Glasgow Science Centre project was conceived as a way of promoting Glasgow as a major high-tech center, as well as a means of revitalizing the River Clyde dock area of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. The Science Centre consists of three main exhibits: the IMAX Theatre, the Science Mall, and the Glasgow Tower. The stunning design of the Glasgow Science Centre Tower was envisioned as a one of a kind structure capable of revolving 360° from the ground up and was expected to become a famous landmark. The unique design of the Glasgow Tower was envisioned to feature a viewing cabin on top of a reed slim tower 330 feet above the River Clyde. The distinctive design presented an array of engineering, technical, and safety challenges to the design and construction teams involved (Kwak, n.d.).
The Glasgow Science Centre Tower Project was highly publicized and viewed with enthusiasm by both politicians and the public. The project had gained immense public support before the cost and time implications were clear. This made it impractical to cancel the project once the full costs and time implications became clear. As a result, numerous constraint tradeoffs were required between the projects cost and scope. Scope changes continued all the way through the Implementation Phase. This caused the opening date to be postponed numerous times. Because of all of the delays and the many scope changes, the Glasgow Science Centre Tower Project took over 10 years to complete and with a cost overrun of US$15 million (Kwak, n.d.).
This paper evaluates the project procurement management process throughout the duration of the Glasgow Science Centre Tower Project. The evaluation is separated into five phases: inception, development, implementation, closeout, and lessons learned. The paper rates each of the four phases using the following criteria: scope management, time management, cost management, quality management, human resource management, communication management,
The Glasgow Science Centre project was conceived as a way of promoting Glasgow as a major high-tech center, as well as a means of revitalizing the River Clyde dock area of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. The Science Centre consists of three main exhibits: the IMAX Theatre, the Science Mall, and the Glasgow Tower. The stunning design of the Glasgow Science Centre Tower was envisioned as a one of a kind structure capable of revolving 360° from the ground up and was expected to become a famous landmark. The unique design of the Glasgow Tower was envisioned to feature a viewing cabin on top of a reed slim tower 330 feet above the River Clyde. The distinctive design presented an array of engineering, technical, and safety challenges to the design and construction teams involved (Kwak, n.d.).
The Glasgow Science Centre Tower Project was highly publicized and viewed with enthusiasm by both politicians and the public. The project had gained immense public support before the cost and time implications were clear. This made it impractical to cancel the project once the full costs and time implications became clear. As a result, numerous constraint tradeoffs were required between the projects cost and scope. Scope changes continued all the way through the Implementation Phase. This caused the opening date to be postponed numerous times. Because of all of the delays and the many scope changes, the Glasgow Science Centre Tower Project took over 10 years to complete and with a cost overrun of US$15 million (Kwak, n.d.).
This paper evaluates the project procurement management process throughout the duration of the Glasgow Science Centre Tower Project. The evaluation is separated into five phases: inception, development, implementation, closeout, and lessons learned. The paper rates each of the four phases using the following criteria: scope management, time management, cost management, quality management, human resource management, communication management,