Name: Tom Weal
Employer: The Apollo Property Services Group
Project: The Michael Tippett School, London SE24
Contract: JCT 2005
It’s easy to see why the chief executive of Building Schools for the Future described Tom Weal’s project as his favourite building of the year. Tom’s ability to manage the inspired design, drive the ultra-rapid development and keep it all affordable points to a construction manager at the top of his game.
And the key to this universally praised outcome? Passion. Or, to be precise, Tom’s effectiveness at transferring his own passion for the project to the rest of the team. He started each meeting by reminding everyone of the project vision and impressing on them the importance of the goal. It was a motivational tour de force that welded the team together with a common aim.
Relationship management and communications were crucial to complete the fast-track project on time and to the satisfaction of all stakeholders, including the students, whose special educational needs made change particularly disruptive and upsetting. Tom showed a mastery of the soft skills, employing an inclusive and communicative managerial style. He even built a site viewing platform for the students that helped them cope with change by acclimatising them to their new school.
He ran implementation workshops to analyse the design brief and provide a good understanding of what was required. The workshops helped define a series of tasks, linked back to the design vision, for each member of the team.
His close management of the supply chain aimed at making savings and improving quality. And he encouraged his team to make practical recommendations at every stage. Successful examples of his value management include altering the timber glulam columns from round to square with detailed bevelled edges, and using the resulting savings to incorporate circular windows into the building to create a more stimulating user environment.
Value: £8.5m