Gold: Ed Dwight, Kier
Project: Addington Valley Academy, Croydon
Scope: Construction of two-storey special needs school, completed in 71 weeks
Client: London Borough of Croydon
Contract: DfE
Value: £14.2m
Built on the plot of an old community centre, this new-build school faced considerable risk with the construction of a new community centre alongside it. With delays in the centre’s construction raising the spectre of blockages on his scheme’s site access road, Ed Dwight acted fast.
He presented the client with three viable alternatives for resolving the looming difficulties. The choice was made and the project got under way with the deadline for the pupil intake in the coming academic year de-risked.
Other finalists
Jess Barrett MCIOB Inside Out Developments, Matthew Arnold School, Oxford
James Cooper MCIOB Willmott Dixon, Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys Annexe
Ernestas Kupcikevicius Morgan Sindall Construction, Amersham School extension, Buckinghamshire
Ryan McGreevy Farrans Construction, Charlton Park Academy, London SE7
Thomas Prince MCIOB Willmott Dixon, Christ Church, Church of England Secondary Academy, Birmingham
Ed then delivered programme and cost certainty by proving the projected power demand could be serviced by the local grid. This eliminated the need to install a new electricity substation and the associated infrastructure.
His power calculations were based on the introduction of a range of energy-efficient appliances and systems. They included daylight sensor-based lighting and natural ventilation and heat recovery that employed ‘peak lopping’ to allow a reduction in the size and power of the fan units.
And when the steel frame was to be erected in winter rather than summer, he protected his cost and programme gains by finding a way to spray fire-protection paint on to the frame on site in lower temperatures. By deploying temporary sheeting and heating, he raised the temperature of the cold-rolled steel-frame sections.
Silver: Mark Turner MCIOB – Willmott Dixon
Project: Royal Liberty School, Romford, Essex
Scope: Refurbishment of Grade II*-listed building, and construction of standalone sports hall, completed in 122 weeks
Client: Department for Education
Contract: JCT 2011, design and build
Value: £22m
As always with listed-building refurbishments, there were plenty of unwelcome surprises here. Thanks to Mark Turner’s calm, open and honest leadership, the client always knew what was going on. And that Mark had the best possible options for remedying the situation.
Among the issues uncovered in the 18th-century main hall were lime plaster walls and slate roofs that were in far worse condition than expected. Mark also advised opening up the flat lead-covered roof over the main hall’s feature staircase. He found that the timbers supporting a large rooflight had deteriorated badly, also threatening the historic mouldings inside it.
Though such news can poison a client relationship, Mark had established trust and gained full acceptance for proposals to replace the timbers and create new mouldings.
