Name: Grant Mears MCIOB
Employer: John Sisk & Son Ltd
Project: Travelodge, City Road , London EC1
Contract: JCT 98
In building this largest ever Travelodge hotel, Grant Mears has given a masterclass in how a decisive construction manager can deliver a superb job for both client and contractor.
With the project deemed high-risk because of possible asbestos contamination in the ground and adverse conservation decisions on the listed building element, Grant determined to meet the big hazards head-on and as early as possible. And when much more asbestos was found than anticipated, he avoided the project turning sour right at the start by programming its removal in a sequence that maintained the programme.
Grant quickly arranged for scaffold erection to allow detailed inspection of the external Portland stone and steel-framed windows. He procured stone-cleaning and window repair for a lump sum and carried out work samples to get speedier conservation approval.
When the client asked for early delivery, Grant started fit-out six months early. He used the 55 bedrooms of the listed building as a test-bed for the 337 bedrooms of the new-build extension. This canny move let him develop the design, understand client expectations of scope and quality, iron out difficulties, trial new subcontractors, work out the best sequence of activities and refine the programme.
Unconvinced that the new-build area had a high water table, Grant had borehole monitoring points drilled, which confirmed his suspicions. The resulting solution of contiguous piles – rather than a secant cut-off wall around the perimeter so the site could be drained ahead of groundworks – cut two weeks off the programme. He then found a way to bring forward the new-build fit-out by combining temporary gullies and downpipes with a new roofing product called Widopan to waterproof the Metframe superstructure’s multiple drainage slots and through connections.
Determined to prevent the typical chaotic run-in to handover, Grant persuaded his team to work a seven-day week during the final seven months. Given that no team member worked more than three weekends during the period, and time was always taken off following weekend working, it was less stressful than it might sound. It also allowed Grant to support the key subcontractors if they needed to work weekends to hit the three-week-early handover.
Decisive, honest, fair and appreciative of others’ abilities, Grant was fully backed by his team, and delivered a profitable, enjoyable and early project with zero defects.