Name: Ian Wade ACIOB
Employer: Verry Construction
Project: Holmesdale Technology College, Snodland
After 30 years in the construction industry, Ian Wade still feels a surge of pride whenever he completes a job. By replacing what have been described as some of the most desperate college buildings in the country with an inspirational educational campus, he has made sure that the client, the staff and over 1,000 students are buoyed by the same feeling.
Starting onsite soon after he joined Verry, Ian immersed himself rapidly in the project. He encouraged a series of meetings between key subcontractors and the designers to ensure buildability, generate value-engineering opportunities and iron out problems at the earliest possible stage.
Ian continually scrutinised the design to introduce efficiencies that would benefit both client and contractor while maintaining robust construction values. His decision to eliminate screed and powerfloat the concrete floors instead brought the project significant time savings: screed dries at about 1mm a day, and some of the screed on this project was up to 100mm thick.
He also ditched the reinforced concrete frame originally planned in favour of a steel frame with fibre-reinforced concrete decking and concrete to the upper floors and roof, which allowed an earlier start on the internal finishes. Other areas where buildability gains were made included the roof membrane, internal walls and even the types of carpet used.
Ian collaborated with the architect and consulting engineer to produce energy-efficient buildings that incorporated durable materials. The five new buildings incorporated movement-sensitive lighting and passive ventilation, and a large part of the spoil from the demolition of the existing college buildings went back into the new-build and the site infrastructure.
He performed constant site quality checks and insisted that works could be signed off only when a job was up to the best possible standard. He joined the architect and the client’s clerk of works on regular site tours to ensure they were happy with the detail and to discuss any issues immediately. The result was zero defects on completion for a client as proud of the new facility as was Ian himself.