Name: Paul Lacy
Employer: Willmott Dixon Construction
Project: Swindon Central Library
Contract: JCT 2005
This project was well and truly on the skids when Paul Lacy arrived six months into the construction programme. Difficulties had been encountered in the ground, the erection of the concrete framework was not going well, design information was being released much too late and the project manager had just resigned.
Not surprisingly, the relationship with the client was strained. And just as worryingly, the contractor’s day-to-day relations with the subcontractors were equally poor.
Paul’s arrival changed everything. New to Willmott Dixon as well as the project, he had a point to prove and did so by going back to basics.
He immediately instigated weekly ‘foreman breakfasts’. All the trades foremen attended to discuss and help plan the works. It proved a crucial initiative in gaining the missing buy-in from the subcontractors.
Determined to draw a line under the past, he put design review meetings on a weekly footing, sought to iron out the existing issues as soon as practicable, and took a non-contractual approach to problem resolution. What was in the past remained in the past and Paul rapidly built a good rapport with the design team.
His goal was simply to get the job done, with no hidden agendas going forward. As the client was also the architect, this made for a far more open and harmonious relationship than on traditional projects.
Paul set up a risk register so he could identify and discuss in detail the key risks on all phases of the build at each design meeting. The move vastly improved the original information release schedule.
He then channelled his design management expertise into buildability. By focusing on the building’s curvature − it had 20 different radii − he clawed back weeks for the beleaguered programme. Such simple modifications as a change in design to the eaves to support the aluminium gutters allowed weathertightness work to progress.
By installing the lifts after building the main concrete frame, he recovered more time. He then substituted the lift’s metal carcassing with timber, which proved a time-saving and cost-effective substrate for the ash cladding. He also value-engineered the showpiece helical staircase, reducing the thickness of the balustrade, simplifying the structure and building it onsite with layered joinery.
Yet his buildability advances were not gained at the expense of quality. He refused to rush the 30 carpenters working on the lift cladding and the curved staircase to make sure they both still looked stunning.
Value: £7.7m