BAM Construct’s Stephen Roome, the CIOB’s Construction Manager of the Year 2013, told the audience at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel last night that he’d achieved the “pinnacle” of his career.
Roome achieved the top award in his field for managing the technically challenging £25m remodelling of Derby’s Council House.
Accepting the award from presenter Sian Williams, Roome proudly told her: “It’s the pinnacle of my career. In construction, you can’t do better than this.”
Roome was named overall winner for overcoming multiple risks on the high-profile project, selected by the CMYA judges from a field of 11 gold medallists across the CMYA categories.
He also took home a gold medal in 2006 for the Matthew Boulton Campus in Birmingham, and this year won gold in the New Build and Refurbishment £19-26m category.
Derby Council House was a 68-week design and build project, for Derby City Council and project manager Mace, that consolidated disparate offices for 1,300 staff and created a focal point for the council’s services to residents of Derby.
The project involved creating a dramatic new council chamber and office space in the courtyard of the the 1931 building, created by first linking a 500 tonne steel frame to the existing frame. This presented challenges with multiple connections and changes of level, which Roome addressed by commissioning a point cloud laser survey of the old building to produce a digital model.
Logistics presented a constant challenge, with 6,000 inbound deliveries and 850 skip movements to remove the original materials. Roome, who grew up in Derby and is still a Derby resident, told Williams that he dealt with the problem by appealing to the goodwill of Derby residents – but he also installed a temporary road and offloading area.
The project was also a showcase for innovative energy-efficiency technologies, including a summer cooling system that utilised the waters of the nearby River Derwent, hydro-electric power and an extensive PV array.
On the podium, Roome also credited BAM Construct for helping him to build a 25-year career that began as a new graduate and trainee site engineer. “They’re a very supportive company, I’ve worked for them for 25 years and I’m very glad to be there.”
Finally, Williams asked Roome about the kind of project he’d like to manage next. His smiling reply was: “As big as possible, the bigger the better. You never know, I might get promoted after this!”
For a full interview with Stephen Roome, see the November/December issue of Construction Manager
