Finalist |
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Category: Projects £7-10m Name: Stephen Crook Company: Geoffrey Osborne Project: The Hub, University of Westminster Contract: JCT 1998 private without quantities, with contractor's design |
Enthusiastic and confident, Stephen Crook won the contract for this testing project by convincing the client of his complete understanding of it, including the likely problems. And problems there surely had to be. The very confined courtyard site was hemmed in by two seven-storey buildings and two four-storey structures, and had just one narrow point of access.
While disruption to university classes was clearly inevitable, Stephen took powerful steps to minimise the impact and reassure users fearing the worst. Before site start, he brought his team to a campus meeting to explain the construction programme and methods.
Stephen used insulated stud partition hoardings to contain the noise and dust from the demolition works preceding construction of the three-storey Hub. He then relied on open discussion and planning to move the boundaries of the site as the project progressed, programming the noisiest works during lunchtimes and other non-teaching periods.
A number of unavoidable delays early in the project could easily have soured relations with the client. For example, a gearbox on the tower crane broke immediately before arriving onsite. With the completion date slipping, Stephen negotiated a phased delivery, winning the client's acceptance through openness and honesty.
Stephen's careful planning and programming also went a long way to pulling the client's irons out of the fire. For example, the contract included adding a sedum roof to an existing building, but by the time the client had received the necessary planning relaxation to give the installation go-ahead, the programmed start date had long passed. Stephen rescheduled the entire project roofing packages to regain the programme.
As well as an excellent rapport with the client, Stephen built a spirit of openness and fun on the project. He encouraged face-to-face plain speaking to get results without individuals feeling they had to defend their corners.
For example, when co-ordination issues arose about connecting the new steel frame to the existing buildings, rather than just issuing information requests to the design team and awaiting their response, Stephen invited the engineer to site to work out a solution with himself.
The result was a happy project team that delivered a stunning building to a very satisfied client.
