Name: Mark Chamberlain FCIOB
Employer: Willmott Dixon Construction
Project: Heart of Hounslow Centre for Health
The pressure on Mark Chamberlain was immense. This project was the first in a new breed of ‘super’ healthcare facilities, had a vast array of stakeholders, and neither he nor Willmott Dixon had much experience of healthcare buildings, never mind a Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) scheme.
But he successfully completed the largest primary healthcare centre in Europe, under onerous conditions and exacting circumstances on time and to budget. In doing so, he has built such a persuasive argument for his employer’s competence in delivering LIFT projects that it has already won more such deals on the back of this one.
Mark had to master a staggering amount of complexity on this project. The host of health-specific technical requirements was matched by the very different priorities of a raft of more than 50 stakeholders, many of whom had to sign off their areas. And with much of the detailed design still unfinished by financial close, Mark had to finalise technical specifications and push user group meetings to close out the design while trying to achieve a highly ambitious programme.
As well as inconsistent and incomplete design information, Mark had to deal with the frequently changing personnel of a large client and stakeholder group. Despite the undoubted worries of financial penalties and managing costs, Mark was committed to building a real partnership – which the client views as the project’s greatest success – and accommodated considerable user variations outside the scope of the contract.
Flexible, patient, approachable and professional, Mark built the excellent lines of communication that underwrote success. His careful planning, accurate reporting and well-judged risk management ensured all the milestones were achieved for decanting 200 staff from the existing facilities onsite and installing them in their newly built areas.
The centre’s eye-catching design is inspiring, but without Mark’s management skills it would never have been delivered to such high standards of quality, let alone to programme and price. Thanks to his efforts and expertise, the client has developed a far better relationship and understanding with the contractor than is usual, which bodes well for future work.