Name: Mike Morley
Employer: Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd
Project: City Campus East Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne
Contract: JCT 98
Projects don’t come much harder than Mike Morley’s.
Naturally, the programme was ridiculously tight. Mike had 20 months to complete £50m worth of construction, with no possibility of delay given the client simply had to meet its September opening date or risk serious damage to its reputation and its income.
And, of course, the budget was cast in stone. Indeed, the client insisted that Mike deliver savings of £2.85m without any reduction in facility provision or quality.
Then there was the distinctive futuristic design of both buildings. The faceted elevations with stainless steel mesh and aluminium tube solar shading that form concave and convex curved forms posed technical problems that few construction teams have had to find answers to.
Not to mention major delays with the construction materials. Cladding elements arrived seriously off schedule. And six months into the construction period, the client abandoned its open-plan concept for one building in favour of acoustic partitions, forcing Mike to respecify lighting and mechanical ventilation components and installations.
Having overcome every single one of the potentially project-derailing challenges, Mike then woke up one day three months prior to handover to find a major fire on an adjoining site had destroyed the facade of one of the buildings, causing £2m worth of damage. As with every other issue on this complicated project, Mike rose superbly to the challenge, scheduling remedial works around the client’s fit-out and occupation, and instilling confidence that the due date would still be hit, as indeed it was.
Mike’s personal leadership was the key to the success of this project. He understood at the outset what client, consultants and architect wanted to achieve, and ensured that proactive and positive relations between all team members were the norm.
He identified the cost-effective construction methodologies and innovative design solutions that underpinned the programme and the budget. Imparting a sense of urgency and balance to the team, he identified exactly what was required to ensure smooth delivery.
Mike’s pragmatism and ‘anything is possible’ attitude delivered a stunning project, on time and on budget, against all the odds.