Name: Tom Maguire MCIOB
Employer: Bovis Lend Lease
Project: 1 The Avenue, Manchester
Contract: JCT 1998
It’s no mean feat to design and then build the biggest cantilever in Europe – a three-storey affair that juts 23m out beyond the building’s bottom two storeys – but Tom Maguire pulled this particular trick off with a great deal of flair.
The original intention was to build the cantilever on the horizontal, but it became clear that doing so could affect the performance of the cladding. Tom’s construction advice proved crucial in successfully realising the design and eliminating the risk, which lay with Bovis. He led a lengthy series of workshops to consider a host of factors – floorslab rigidity, the actual steel connections to be used, and site tolerances – that helped determine the correct preset level for the landmark cantilever.
Tom’s technical understanding repeatedly brought project gains. For example, the precontract basement waterproofing strategy was for a concrete wall within the secant piled wall. But his championing of a blockwork wall within the drained cavity took it off the critical path, as well as six weeks off the programme and £150k off the client’s costs.
Likewise, his successful negotiation of a revised and shorter route for the incoming electricity supply, which involved trenching across an adjacent bank’s car park, saved the client another £70k.
Just as remarkable as his technical achievement was his establishment of excellent relations with stakeholders. For Tom was a newcomer to Bovis as well as the Spinningfields project team, which was pretty well already established.
Shortly after appointment, he organised a social function for the client, consultant and Bovis teams that broke the ice. His leadership of last planner workshops to map out the works also stimulated communications between the wider project team as well as with himself. And by forming a relationship of mutual trust with key people in the supply chain, giving them confidence their final account would be dealt with fairly and they would get the opportunity of repeat work, he gained a direct route to the top to resolve any issues.
Value: £15.6m