Name: Elizabeth McCartney
Employer: Kier Construction East Midlands
Project: Mansfield Central Library
Despite incorporating many additional elements outside the original scope into this library refurbishment, Libby McCartney completed on time and under budget.
Her organisational and communication skills were key to the team taking on the extra within their original workloads. Having worked with many of the local framework contractors, she handpicked the key trades. She co-located the consultants and the architect in an open-plan office alongside the trade supervisors to foster collaboration and practical solutions. The inclusive approach instilled a sense of pride in the job.
The library was sited above a shopping centre, so there was plenty of scope for claims from retailers for loss of earnings through noise, dust and disruption. Libby managed the risk effectively and smoothly.
She corralled all drilling into concrete between 7 and 8.45 each morning before the shopping centre opened, and shifted opening hours by 30 minutes to reduce the costs of out-of-hours working. She turned the external works into nighttime activities. And she dispensed with a second manager in favour of a working foreman who liaised with retailers to manage deliveries in the busy service yard.
Her practical approach helped bring cost savings and project advantage. She suggested cheaper alternatives to the glazing installation. She helped design a scaffold that could be supported from the balcony below rather than the street level, where it would have blocked retailers’ sightlines. The scaffolding solution then helped broker an agreement with the landlord to allow the roof repairs to be undertaken. And she expertly reworked the edge protection for the roof so those repairs could be carried out more safely.
Value: £2.2m