How Mace managed daily coordination with Pure DC on its Brent Cross data centre

The project

PURE DC is constructing an advanced data centre that will feature one of the world's largest green walls. This massive project involves complex coordination between multiple teams handling underground services, civil works, and structural framing.

The project presents significant coordination challenges, with multiple contractors working simultaneously across the site. To ensure everything runs smoothly, the team needed a robust solution for their short-range planning that would replace spreadsheets and facilitate better communication.

Mace is the general contractor responsible for managing the construction of this data centre, so we spoke with Isaac Speight, Mace's Construction Manager in charge of civils and underground services, to learn more about how Aphex has transformed their daily coordination.

Daily coordination is key

For complex construction projects, daily coordination is essential to ensure work progresses safely and efficiently. The team working on PURE DC LON01 B2 runs a Daily Action Briefing (DAB) at 3 PM daily to coordinate the next day's activities.

As Isaac explains, "At three o'clock every day, we sit down in a room, and the contractors upload all their work activities. Then we sit down and go through the work activities, highlighting any clashes or any further exclusion zones that people need."

After implementing Aphex, both Mace and Pure DC witnessed an improvement in coordination efficiency and collaboration across the delivery team. Visually presenting the short-range plan at the 3 PM meeting made identifying and resolving any planning conflicts between work areas much easier and allowed everyone to coordinate effectively across the project. 

"We brought in Aphex because we wanted a user-friendly solution that would make it easier for all teams to collaborate. It's helped us run more effective meetings and gave everyone visibility over the entire plan, which has been transformational for coordination across the project."
_{Roheel Babla, Mace Planning Manager}

Structured planning routines

The PURE DC delivery team has established a clear planning routine using Aphex.

As Isaac explains, "We use Aphex to collaboratively create our two-week lookahead. Then every fortnight, we create our four-week lookahead, which allows us to take a slightly longer view of upcoming work.” 

This structured approach ensures that the team maintains both a detailed view of immediate activities and a broader perspective on upcoming work. It has created a rhythm to their planning process that keeps everyone aligned.

The Mace team have found Aphex much easier to use than other construction software products they’ve tested in the past. “Aphex is simple and user-friendly. It’s not difficult to use at all, which means everyone can talk through their planned activities”.

"Our lookahead meetings have become much more productive since implementing Aphex. Having all trades and packages represented visually across the different work areas allows us to talk through our plans for the week quickly.”
_{Mick Stephens, Mace Construction Lead}

Beyond short-range planning

The Mace team working on Pure DC’s data centre uses Aphex for more than just their standard two-week and four-week lookaheads. They've expanded their use to manage temporary service requests, creating a dedicated tab for contractors to request power for certain areas.

"We have a tab on the top that says temporary service request. So in our daily and weekly meetings, we ask the contractors if they have anything that they need from our supply chain partner, EPS," Isaac explains. "This gives EPS a bit of time and means they’re not getting urgent ad hoc requests."

This has proven invaluable for managing logistics and ensuring that contractors have the resources they need when they need them.

Improving site safety through better visualisation

Safety is paramount on any construction site, and the Pure DC delivery team has found that Aphex's visualisation capabilities have enhanced their ability to communicate safety information effectively.

Aphex's clash detection feature automatically identifies when two or more activities are scheduled to occur in the same location at the same time. This helps the team spot potential conflicts before they become problems on site. When a clash is detected, the system highlights the overlapping activities, allowing the team to adjust their plans proactively rather than reactively managing conflicts after they've occurred.

As Issac explains, “Aphex is great for highlighting clashing activities. It shows you where the activities are close together, so you can coordinate and avoid clashes happening.”

The team has also begun using Aphex to manage exclusion zones across the site. "We also have an exclusion zone tab there as well, which we've started to put into use, so they're now putting their exclusions on so people aren't walking into restricted areas.”

"The map visualisation in Aphex gives everyone a clear picture of what's happening where. When you're dealing with hundreds of workers across a complex site, that visual clarity becomes essential.”
_{Mick Stephens, Mace Construction Lead}

Results that speak for themselves

The impact of Aphex on the Pure DC project has been significant. The team reports better coordination, fewer clashes, and improved safety management across the site.

As Issac says, "We use Aphex every day without fail. Aphex has been great for our Daily Action Briefings and makes it much easier for us to coordinate the next day's work activities."

The project is currently progressing well, and this success has led the team to fully embrace Aphex as the planning tool of choice for the construction delivery team. 

As Roheel says, "The simplicity of Aphex has made implementing the tool quick and easy, while the ease of use means all teams are onboard and are updating it regularly.”

With Aphex firmly embedded in their daily routines, the Mace team supporting Pure DC is well-positioned to maintain their momentum and continue the excellent progress to date.