Technical

CIOB Awards 2022: Office

Gold: Conor O’Keeffe MCIOB - Kier Construction

Project: 80 Grosvenor Street, London W1
Scope: Construction of block and Cat A fit out, completed in 160 weeks
Client: Frelene (Grosvenor Street)
Contract: JCT 2016
Value: £24m

“It is an honour to work with someone who puts all his efforts into something he loves,” said the client of Conor O’Keeffe. Conor delights in challenging projects because they test his ability to find the right solution, as was entirely evident here.

By sheet-piling the basement box with a vibrationless rig, he avoided excess ground displacement that would have affected nearby sewers. And road closure costs were avoided with a ramp to bring the rig on site, rather than using a crane.

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Other finalists

Tom Arkley MCIOB Willmott Dixon Interiors, Edmonton Green Housing Hub, London N9
William Chambers MCIOB ISG, HMRC Regional Centre, Birmingham
Andrew Hill MCIOB ISG, Shoreditch Village Phase 2, London E1
Colin Patterson MCIOB Henry Brothers Midlands, Sherwood Lodge, Joint Police and Fire HQ, Nottingham
Stephen Rafferty McAleer and Rushe Contracts UK, The Ewart, Belfast

Conor eliminated the expensive oversail licence required for a standard luffing jib by finding a raptor crane with a folding jib. And his solution of casting 12mm-thick rips of plywood into the concrete lift shaft gave enough tolerance to install standard 900mm lift doors rather than an expensive bespoke set.

His finessing of the permanent works installation to get around the clashes posed by another contractor’s temporary works for the party walls was impressive. It got the contract signed in the first place and accelerated the structural frame.

With a client based in America, Conor held weekly online meetings to keep them up to date and help reach crucial decisions to keep the project flowing.

Silver: John McCarthy - BAM Construction

Project: 103 Colmore Row, Birmingham B3
Scope: Construction of 26-level tower, completed in 135 weeks
Client: Sterling Property Ventures
Contract: JCT 2016, design and build
Value: £88m

John McCarthy’s ability to inspire teamwork drove the success of this 108m-tall skyscraper and its 225,000 sq ft of office space.

With a similar BAM project just completed and another under way, John captured cutting-edge insight by organising workshops and peer reviews between the teams.

Similarly, he championed 4D BIM, which he had used on a previous project. This proved to be the key to sequencing the complex major works on the four-level basement.

When a Victorian wall clashed with piling positions, the piles and their caps were redesigned and complex temporary works formed to retain the wall. By resequencing the structural steelwork and the ground-floor concrete slab, he pulled back a five-week delay.

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