Name: Karl Barr MCIOB
Employer: Mace Group
Project: 99 Milton Park and 100 Milton Park Innovation Centre, Abingdon
Contract: Construction management
Many a construction manager has had reason to rue unknown objects hidden in the ground, but Karl Barr took in his stride the discovery on his site of 40,000 discarded anti-aircraft shells from World War II. After calling in the bomb disposal experts and seeing off the journalists who flocked to the site, he resequenced at this late stage the groundworks and landscaping packages to claw back the lost time.
It wasn’t the only significant unscheduled event he successfully negotiated. For example, he had to remove an entire floor from the design because of the proximity of a telephone mast.
Then, with early M&E returns projecting a potential £600k overspend, Karl subjected the design to an intensive value review. He identified the large savings required by re-engineering the services and separating out the trade packages. The biggest savings came from changing the rainscreen specification to a more cost-effective product (£100k) and enhancing the lights specification while increasing the spacing between them to reduce the number required (£150k).
Indeed, Karl’s careful and responsible control brought the build cost down to £300k below the original cost plan. It equated to a construction cost of £150 per square foot rather than the £160 per square foot market norm.
In a super-lean project structure, Karl acted as the client’s project manager, construction manager, contract administrator and design manager. As the hub between client, designers, specialists and trade contractors, he provided the strong leadership and decision-making that promoted the essential teamwork.
He undertook the robust discussions at meetings and workshops required to move the issues forward within the considerable budget and time constraints. And even though he could not contractually insist on early completion, he convinced the trade contractors that it was achievable. It delivered the buy-in to a team strategy of liaising independently to work together in areas that would not previously have been considered.
Value: £11.6m