Client led innovation on megaprojects : novel low-energy cooling system case study in Singapore's SportsHub

Innovation requires a social governance environment that supports creativity. This research examines the governance context on megaprojects focussing on the client's role. We present the preliminary results of a case study client involved with the finance, design, build and operation of an innovative megaproject in Singapore. It is the largest sports facilities infrastructure Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) project in the world. It is also the largest and first PPP project in Singapore. PPP projects have multiple 'clients'. In this study the client network comprises the sports government agency responsible for setting up the project framework and the various PPP consortium stakeholders. A narrative analysis approach is employed drawing from the theory of cultural political economy and the concept of governmentality. The innovation explored in this paper is the creation and development of a low energy cooling system used in the National Stadium. The novel cooling system, which relies substantially on air movement, aims to provide a comfortable spectator environment in the country's challenging tropical climate. The innovation was initiated by the sports government agency, designed and developed by various interdisciplinary consultants and regulated by a government agency. The process in which the innovative cooling system was designed and developed to overcome conflicting priority agendas and achieve spectator comfort, sustainability objectives and regulatory approval is described in this paper. The findings indicate that although formalised structures and protocols were established for project coordination and communication decision-making was deeply influenced by informal communication embedded in multi-level networks. Power was constantly exercised and exchanged through various instruments of power including legitimate or position power, expert power and strategic games. The findings demonstrate that decision-making often occurred outside the pre-established structures and that the advancement of specific interests were facilitated by the political economic decisions of players in hierarchical positions of power. The social network analysis (SNA) method is proposed to demonstrate how the structure of networks influences the delivery of innovations such as the bowl cooling system on megaprojects.