Building Ogier House

Ogier House is the new home of Ogier, one of the world’s leading offshore legal and fiduciary service providers.

Apart from providing a state of the art environment for staff and clients, the building is the Channel Islands’ largest and greenest single occupancy office development and the first locally to conform to stringent national BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment method) sustainability standards.
Environmental responsibility is very much part of Ogier’s ethos as it was one of the first companies to sign up to the States of Jersey’s Eco Active scheme helping organisations to make a positive impact on the environment.

Employee and client requirements were at the heart of the design process ensuring that the new building provided a top quality working environment as well as an outstanding experience for clients.

As the Island’s largest suite of offices occupied by one organisation, it has enabled all specialists to be gathered under one roof providing clients with a seamless and integrated service. This has also had a profound impact on the way in which staff interacts on a day-to-day basis as they have recognised the importance of face-to-face communication.

Having been involved with Ogier House for three years, Camerons knows the site inside out. Managing Director, Marc Burton and Construction Director Bob Matthews explain why it showcases their company’s expertise.
They describe Ogier House as an outstanding piece of design and construction, adding that the complexities of the site and the building presented challenges but overcoming these meant that everyone involved left their mark on the building.

The most challenging aspect structurally was the construction of the basement and the supporting structure of the steelframe. “The site was located between existing buildings on both sides but unfortunately several of the existing structures’ foundations were insufficient to support the existing walls whilst we formed the basement” said Mr Burton. Camerons installed temporary supports to neighbouring buildings whilst the basement to Ogier House was being constructed. This temporary work had to be put in place in such way that it did not affect the construction of the basement which would have delayed the programme of works.

The most challenging aspect from a fit-out perspective was ensuring that the work was kept to the dates in the programme. Before the original building was demolished, Camerons’ project team re-sequenced the initial build of the shell, which reduced construction time by several months. These complicated changes to the schedule meant that they had to adopt innovative construction techniques, saving both time and money.

Mr Matthews commented, “In a large project like Ogier House, any slippage affects the programme of works and means follow-on trades are not able to have access when they need it. This can lead to a possible delay of the handover date. It was important to get the whole build team involved with progress meetings and to have a very disciplined approach to the set targets. This in itself was a challenge but we had a great team and all of the targets were met.”

“From the beginning, Ogier wanted an iconic, landmark building that would serve them for many years to come. There is no doubt that this has been achieved and for us at Camerons, we are equally as proud of the exterior as well as the interior. Handing the keys over is always a most enjoyable part of a job. The project was completed exactly to the day that we had planned because the whole team, from the top down, was committed to ensuring that Ogier was given the keys to its new home on the day we had intended when we first started the project in 2007” said Mr Burton.

Jersey Evening Post Supplement - Thursday 4th November 2010

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