Name: Chris Brown
Employer: Shaylor Construction
Project: 100 Hagley Road, Birmingham
Contract: JCT 2005
Little fuss, clear leadership and a commercial focus were Chris Brown’s strengths on this project.
The contractor had not previously worked with the client, so Chris took great pains to understand the needs and priorities, and to provide satisfactory solutions, creating over time a foundation of trust. That trust grew during the project to the extent that the precise conditions of the heavily amended contract were abandoned in favour of Chris’s verbal briefings.
One of the biggest risks in the project was the design and build of a sixth storey on top of the 1960s concrete frame of the old block. Chris overcame all the structural issues raised by means of accurate surveying. Success also required the careful detailing and co-ordination of the raised access flooring voids and the curtain walling, which was a bondless, frameless glazing system new to the UK.
And two-thirds of the way into the programme, Chris offered the can-do flexibility to reset the programme to undertake the vast changes in the range and scope of works required by a tenant’s newly formulated fit-out plans. As the tenant had been with the client for over 50 years and would occupy 70% of the refurb, Chris’s accommodating approach was key to client satisfaction.
That pleasure only grew when practical completion was achieved with zero defects. Chris had been quick to change specifications if quality of finish was below par. He had also constantly monitored quality, attending to defects as soon as they were identified.
Value: £7m