Gold Winner: Jason Hunt MCIOB, Willmott Dixon
Project: Bristol Beacon
Scope: Renovation and transformation of Grade II-listed building into a concert hall and performance hub, completed in 235 weeks
Client: Bristol City Council
Value: £95m
Project director Jason Hunt’s solutions-focused leadership, risk insight and determination overcame major historic defects on this ambitious project. These ranged from poorly executed previous alterations to fire-weakened masonry.
Hunt averted financial catastrophe through shrewd technical stewardship, propping and supporting fragile heritage elements while creating new spaces and installing new structures.
He instilled a collaborative mindset across the whole team, which created and drove an engaged project dynamic. This approach delivered for the client, determined to have a world-class facility, exactly what it had envisioned.
Other finalists
Jonathan Brock MCIOB Beard
Colin Cameron MCIOB Morgan Sindall
James Friedmann Eric Wright Construction
Bolts from the blue on this scheme landed with enough force to sink the entire project. Shock setbacks included the discovery that the existing decorative brickwork columns were hollow. It turned out they had been part of a historic hot-air heating system that also included open trenches in the floors.
Yet the design relied on these columns to support a new steel and concrete floor in the auditorium above. Hunt’s solution involved temporarily supporting the columns and filling them with structural concrete.
Hidden Elizabethan wells
Further surprises included three hidden Elizabethan wells found in the basement areas, immediately beneath load-bearing walls and a planned lift pit. Hunt had them filled with concrete and monitored for movement, reprogramming work around them as he developed and implemented his structural solutions.
Hunt’s shrewd technical leadership saw off all these challenges. Meanwhile, his project-first strategy of making decisions based solely on what was right for the scheme, and resolving the commercial or programme implications afterwards, were key to fostering a collaborative mindset that drove the project’s success. It led to a handover with a client and user thrilled to have a facility of such tangible quality and craftsmanship.
Silver Award Winner: Steven Gilbert MCIOB, Abbey Extensions & Renovations
Project: Rollscourt Avenue, London
Scope: Extension and refurbishment of Edwardian house, completed in 30 weeks
Client: Private
Value: £500,000
Director Steven Gilbert set the goal of becoming the best residential developer in the UK when he set up his company five years ago. This project – to construct a side extension, convert a mansard roof into liveable space and refurbish an Edwardian house – illustrates his ambition.
Gilbert was recommended to the architect and packed nine months of work into a six-month timeline, due to the fixed deadlines with severe financial penalties.
Before the steel-framed glazing could be ordered, the window arches needed to be fully formed and the kitchen installed. Gilbert tested moisture levels daily to ensure his temporary weatherproofing solution was working properly.
Gilbert demonstrated he worked with his clients in mind. He suggested, for example, creating a fun, secret crawlspace in the eaves between the bedrooms of the clients’ two daughters. The clients were delighted, and Gilbert’s business is now working on another three projects with the architect.
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