Name: Sabah Abed MCIOB
Employer: Willmott Dixon Construction Limited
Project: The City Academy Hackney, London
Contract: PPC 2000
This project would have broken a lesser professional. Faced by daunting planning and highway restrictions, with major service diversions and lengthy negotiations with rail operators, Sabah Abed set about delivering a spectacular scheme.
But then, six months later, the client relocated the site. Although similar in size, it demanded a complete rethink of the design solution to cope with the more challenging topography and a differently oriented major axis. New planning approval was required and, to cap it all, the practical completion date could not be changed.
Sabah managed the project shock with consummate skill and judgement. He kept the design team motivated, and powered through a swathe of serious setbacks including delayed planning approvals and piling rigs, and the failure of the utility to supply temporary power. Despite everything, Sabah remained enthusiastic, totally in control and always confident of his programme.
He embraced the partnering contract, leading the professional teams in open and frank discussions, both formally and informally. He constantly came up with practical, buildable solutions to meet the design and budget constraints.
Take just one example: the internal acoustic-attenuated duct bulkhead that was a key feature of the natural ventilation and noise control strategy. When the original plan of constructing it offsite proved impractical financially, Sabah constructed onsite a robust bulkhead with substantial framing to vent warm air as well as house the services. His initiative, plus a host of other value-engineering proposals such as waterproofing concrete rather than tanking in the basement, saved the client £600K.
Value: £27.8m