Name: Wes Day
Employer: Dawnus Construction
Project: One Guildhall Square, Southampton
Tight budget, challenging timeframe, limited access, constricted site and a £1m fit-out variation towards the end of the contract: Wes Day’s project offered little comfort on the essentials. He transcended the difficulties through his command of innovation in build methods, excellent communication, solid organisation, motivational site leadership and accomplished management of client aspirations.
His value engineering brought big budget and buildability gains. He reverted from a traditional reinforced concrete frame to a post-tensioned frame with flat slab construction. It eliminated downstand beams, reduced building height and created a flat soffit for service installation. Instead of blockwork, he used prefabricated cladding panels externally and drylining for the partitions, not only reducing wet trades but accelerating construction.
Until that huge fit-out variation arrived, Wes was a storming eight weeks ahead of schedule. He incorporated the £1m variation with only a three-week overrun of the contract period. Even more importantly, he handed the project over at an extremely attractive price and to the highest quality standards, with just 26 minor defects at practical completion.
Value: £14.2m