Name: David Rowsell
Employer: Wates Construction
Project: Kingston Business School, Kingston University
A little like the director of an epic film, the construction manager assembles and sets to work what may be a cast of thousands for a unique production. On this business school new-build, David Rowsell ushered the stars onstage and off with a perfect sense of timing, skilfully marshalling the scenes to great acclaim from the client and the users.
He smoothly managed one of the role’s deceptively difficult key tasks: bringing the right people to the project at just the right time. Whether it was consultants, specialists and subcontractors, his casting was impeccable and his sense of timing immaculate.
Technical issues led to a change in design in the ground source heat pump system. David nailed the design by bringing in an academic expert to deliver a presentation on the technologies.
With the M&E the project’s biggest package and quality risk, he brought in an expert to 3D-model the service runs. The resulting re-engineering of the services included plant reduction and prefabricated modules that arrived onsite lagged and tested, providing a quality installation, improved maintenance access and abundant programme benefits.
His management was made even more formidable because it was backed up by his own technical expertise. He championed replacing the precast slabs of the original design with a post-tensioned reinforced frame that sucked six weeks out of the programme, relieved pressure on the fraught site access logistics, and saved £100k.
Value: £17.7m