Name: Jason Curtis MCIOB
Employer: Laing O'Rourke
Project: Imperial College Southside Student Accommodation, Kensington SW7
Contract: NEC
Having won this contract by convincing the client that he could meet the hugely testing programme, Jason Curtis then had to deliver what no other bidder considered possible.
Not only did he have to hand over a nine-storey new-build before an immovable deadline set by the client’s September student intake, he also had to do so on a site in a very expensive residential area. The client was emphatic that the project should cause minimal disturbance to its neighbours and stipulated strict adherence to working hours, so Jason could not rely on the usual acceleration measures to meet the tough timetable.
What he did deploy, with stunning effect, was the whole panoply of modern, innovative construction techniques. Offsite manufacturing was the key theme. Jason put his trust and the project’s fortunes in precast and in situ concrete. It underpinned fast construction with high quality.
Precast twin-wall systems allowed the team to omit internal plastering and paint the fair-face walls direct. The same technique was used for the floors, with an in situ topping on precast planks giving a finish to the bedroom soffits that required no further treatment beyond a coat of paint.
To reduce time onsite and dispense with scaffolding, Jason had the traditional French limestone for the northern facade set in concrete panels offsite and lifted into position. Likewise, for the south elevation he installed large panellised sections of brickwork.
Prefabricated bathroom pods and staircases with integral balustrades (to permit immediate safe usage after installation) further contributed to the huge quantity of factory-engineered elements in this project. By regularly visiting the manufacturers, Jason ensured quality was achieved before installation, which did much to ensure that elements were constructed right first time.
He also enlisted a mobile IT supplier to help develop a snagging system. The management team was equipped with hand-held touchscreen devices to record and close out defects as they toured the site. The information they entered was relayed back to a central database, where it could be viewed.
The result of Jason’s ultra-modern approach is a superb scheme, delivered on time and to budget. The client’s understandable satisfaction was clearly demonstrated when it advanced its plans for another student block, and awarded the £47m contract to Laing O’Rourke well before the completion of this one.