Name: Mike Morris
Employer: Laing O’Rourke
Project: University of Oxford New Biochemistry
Contract: JCT 1998
Few sites could have been more constrained. Mike Morris had to build a large building not only in the middle of a city, but in the middle of a university campus with powerful and influential neighbours. The close proximity of research buildings on three sides of the site and the Grade II listed museum on the other made work processing and scheduling a real headache and demanded a robust and well-considered site deliveries plan.
Mike delivered a robust supply strategy by employing a full-time logistics manager who co-ordinated all deliveries on a just-in-time basis. He set up holding areas outside the city from where materials could be called into site when a slot became available. And he solved the difficult traffic congestion problem – the project’s excavation phase alone required the removal of 3,000 lorryloads of waste – through careful planning and clear communications with the council and the neighbours.
He deployed his considerable interpersonal skills to great effect in the many neighbour meetings held. He clearly and effectively communicated the project activities, amicably resolving the issues by putting in major efforts to contain disruption. His personable approach prevented situations becoming polarised and confrontational. And his relationships with the client and the architect were equally harmonious.
He showed a powerful grasp of the technical problems and was instrumental in solving them. For example, the top-down construction of the two-level steel-framed basement posed severe difficulties for the installation of steel columns within plunge piles. Mike spearheaded the development of the solution in the form of 51 18m-long plunge columns.
He instigated technical workshops to add value to the project without compromising the design. One of the many results was a change in the roof construction from screed to an insulation material that brought financial, programme and thermal efficiency gains.
And he had the flexibility to deliver one of the key client requirements: responding to changes requested by newly recruited academics, which ultimately amounted to more than £2m worth of variations. Not only did Mike smoothly integrate the extra work with the programme, he worked hard at ensuring the client gained best-value procurement.
Value: £50.2m