Finalist |
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Category: Projects £7-10m Name: David Taylor Company: Laing O'Rourke Project: Long Eaton Health Centre, Derbyshire Contract: LIFT-specific D&B |
David Taylor's delivery of this large and complex Local Initiative Finance Trust (LIFT) scheme was a victory for diplomacy, drive and determination. The many end-users (among them, three GPs, a podiatrist, a dentist and a primary care trust) plus a large batch of interested parties added real complexity to the aspirations and requirements David needed to satisfy.
And he did. Experienced, objective and inspirational, David perfectly co-ordinated all aspects of the site's design development and constantly scanned the horizon for construction conflicts. He also deployed some finely tuned communication and listening skills, and prevented the stakeholder-heavy contract from stalling without warning.
David broke down the traditional contractual boundaries to ensure all stakeholders received the full attention of the site professionals, taking a personal role in client and end-user meetings to fully understand their wishes and to integrate them into the final design.
Early on he changed the sequencing of the job to fit better with the restricted site footprint, and ensured the design information flow matched the revised sequence.
David was inch perfect in treading the fine line between end-user ambitions and the construction team's allowances. He left the former satisfied while still delivering the project under budget with an increased contractor margin by controlling the build costs and monitoring productivity.
He also coped brilliantly with the late introduction of two operating theatres. He pushed through the necessary alterations to the floor layouts while minimising the effects on the external envelope to avoid planning issues. Variations, however inevitable, always bring the possibility that they will endanger construction goodwill and morale, but David managed the process on this project with tact and timeliness.
Whatever the problems – deliveries through a third party-controlled access, 22 different roof levels, walls projecting above 12 of the roofs, inverted gull wing roofs – David kept construction moving. He was always ready to adapt to the changing ground conditions on the heavily contaminated brownfield site and constantly shifting construction conditions.
Having progressed through the ranks from apprentice bricklayer, David has shown what hard work, leadership and a hands-on approach can achieve: quality and fidelity to both budget and programme.
