Technical

Construction Manager of the Year Awards 2009

After detailed interviews and site visits, this year’s CMYA judges concluded that no fewer than 115 individuals had attained the standards of professionalism, technical expertise and team-building skills necessary to reach the final. Over the next 25 pages, we tell the stories behind the success of overall winner David Wilson (above), and 23 gold and silver medalists – the very best of the industry’s distinguished high-fliers. Photographs by Ed Tyler

A modest man by nature, David Wilson would never have expected to be named Construction Manager of the Year. But the judges just couldn’t ignore his work at York St John University’s De Grey Court. Elaine Knutt met him

Into the limelight

Amid back-slapping congratulations, an impromptu congratulatory speech from
his Morgan Ashurst director, and even an off-the-cuff job offer from another contractor, David Wilson is enjoying the aftershock of having been awarded the title of Construction Manager of the Year. Several judges single him out to tell him he was their unanimous choice and last year’s winner Anthony Joubert (below right) is on hand to offer his congratulations. “Did your life change?” Wilson jokingly asks him.

But even if that job offer is the first of many – “I told him he couldn’t afford my prices!” was Wilson’s quick-fire response – it seems unlikely that certain aspects of his personality and professionalism will be changing. Throughout all the commotion, the 44-year-old responds to the demands on his attention with a smile, a joke and a promise to return later, politely prioritising what happens to be the task in hand – an interview with CM.

As he describes his achievements on York St John University’s De Grey Court, it becomes clear that Wilson’s personal warmth and people skills had a great deal to do with how he ran the project. Describing the no-blame culture within the team, he also talks about “the necessary evil” of email.

“I say, always make a phone call, or pay someone a visit. And if you’ve got to
break bad news, don’t send an email then go to lunch – pick up the phone and talk to them!”

Wilson, a graduate of Ulster University, also stresses the effort he puts into building team relationships and a positive atmosphere. “Life’s work is hard and can sometimes take over, so it’s important that we have some good times along the way,” he says, his accent a blend of his Northern Irish upbringing and his 20-plus years in Yorkshire.

De Grey Court, which consisted of a new-build teaching block and the refurbishment of two grade-II listed houses, no doubt generated its fair share of bad news. First, the client had a fixed budget of £9.344m, making it crystal clear that there could be no overspend. It meant that every item of extra expenditure had to be offset with cuts – and knock-on problems – elsewhere. Wilson succeeded in implementing a tough but necessary strategy. As he told awards host Natasha Kaplinsky: “My wife now understands the meaning of cost neutrality!”

The technical complications were considerable, including an M&E spec of chilled beams and underfloor heating in the new building, and archaeology and underpinning in the refurbishment. But Wilson highlights the project’s location and the resulting logistics challenge as the hardest nut to crack. The site was surrounded by three major traffic routes, other campus buildings and a residential area. “The location on the busiest junction in York was a challenge in itself, as was trying to keep to a build sequence that let us get all the materials in and out.”

Then there were the 57 planning conditions to adhere to, Morgan Ashurst’s commitment to using local suppliers and sub-contractors, and the immovable deadline of the start of the academic year.

But Wilson’s biggest achievement was undoubtedly delivering the design quality that makes De Grey Court the CM cover star and the proud recipient of an RIBA regional award. Under the design and build contract, London-based architect Rivington Street Studio was novated to Morgan Ashurst. As practice director Charles Thomson says, such a relationship can easily become dysfunctional if the indefinables that make up design quality end up at odds with the all-too-definable metrics of budget and programme.

But at De Grey Court, Wilson was responsible for putting quality top of the agenda. “We had our arguments and debates, but there was a very clear sense that they wanted to achieve a quality product, and David Wilson was at the head of that,” says Thomson. “They understood our standards and were rigorous with their sub-contractors if things weren’t going well. David was the lead man, very passionate and interested in the project, and endlessly pushing for design quality.”

Wilson’s passion for the project began during the tender stage, when he was put forward as Morgan Ashurst’s project manager and drew up a strategy to cut £1m from the budget. According to Chris Richards, chair of the judging panel, it was his honesty about the problems ahead that impressed the client and won Morgan Ashurst the job. “He laid out all the logistical problems that would be encountered, and applied his knowledge of construction to solve them. This is an experienced client, and he says that De Grey Court is the best he’s ever done.”

The project is now a landmark in York, and a turning point in Wilson’s professional life. “What does winning the award mean? It gives me the confidence that how I’m running projects must be going along the right lines,” he says modestly. “It’s about working together to find a solution for every problem.”

As for the future, he’s thinking ahead to a celebratory weekend away with his wife, and working on projects closer to home and his young family in Shipley, West Yorkshire. Apart from that, he’s just concentrating on enjoying the moment.

Finalists

PROJECTS OVER £45m

John Birch MCIOB, Skanska Construction Private Sector
Dashwood, 69 Old Broad Street, London EC2
Chris Edwards, BAM Construction
C4.1 South Fifth Street, Milton Keynes
Thady Gallagher, Carillion Building
HM Prison Edinburgh, Phase 3
Alan Grant ACIOB, BAM Construction
Darwin Centre, Phase Two, Natural History Museum, London
Tim Hare, Sir Robert McAlpine
New Street Square Buildings 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, London EC4
Hamish James MCIOB, Sir Robert McAlpine
Buildings 005, 014, 016, Porton Down, Salisbury
Martyn Woodhouse, Bovis Lend Lease
The Curve Theatre, Leicester

PROJECTS £20–45m

Sam Barker MCIOB, Willmott Dixon Construction
The Waterfront Building, Phase 1, University Campus Suffolk
John Connell, Bovis Lend Lease
Wells & More Project, Mortimer Street, London
John Daltrey, Wates Interiors
Telecity Powergate, Acton
Mike Gorman MCIOB, Wates Construction
The Headrow, Leeds
Adam Knaggs, SDC Builders
NAPP Phase 1, Buildings 194,196 & 198, Cambridge Science Park, Trinity College, Cambridge
Andrew Mackintosh, Willmott Dixon Construction
HM Prison, Lindholme, Doncaster
Stephen Roome, BAM Construction
Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College, Birmingham
David Saville MCIOB, Laing O’Rourke
University Place, The University of Manchester
Jospeh Schembri, Kier London
129 Wilton Road, London
Kevin Scott, Wates Group
Langley Academy of Science, Slough
Richard Shroll ACIOB, Wates Construction
The Margaret Thatcher Infirmary, The Royal Chelsea Hospital
Roland Spikings MCIOB, Kier Marriott
Victory, Agness, Cobra and Keen Office Blocks,
EDS, Milton Keynes
Cameron Stewart ICIOB, Miller Construction (UK)
Mixed Development Wm Morrison Supermarkets, Granton
Eric Swithenbank, Miller Construction
Carnival House, Harbour Parade, West Quay III, Southampton
Steven Turner, Kier Longley
HM Prison Lewes Houseblock & Associated Infrastructure, Lewes

PROJECTS £15–20m

Richard Black ACIOB, Simons Construction
Warburton Bread Factory, Bristol
Neville Dale MCIOB, Willmott Dixon Construction
Epsom Grandstand
Tom Maguire MCIOB, Bovis Lend Lease
1 The Avenue, Manchester
Mark Powell MCIOB, Wates Construction
Manor Church of England School, York
Eddy Tipping ICIOB, Rydon Construction
Bishop Ramsey School, Ruislip
Chris Woods, Kier Southern
Village Hotel, Elstree
PROJECTS £10–15m
Karl Barr MCIOB, Mace Group
99 Milton Park and 100 Milton Park, Innovation Centre, Abingdon
Mike Fallon, Kier North West
Floral Pavilion Theatre, New Brighton
Damien Froehlich MCIOB, Mansell Build
Stanley Building and Edward Rushton Building,
Paradise Street Development, Liverpool
Phil Heavey ACIOB, Wates Construction
Sunrise Senior Living, Beaconsfield
Simon Neath ICIOB, Wates Construction
The Ann Marie Howes Centre, Sheldon
Gary Owens, Cowlin Construction
Swansea University Student Accommodation Phase 2, Singleton Park, Swansea
Sean Sweet, Morgan Ashurst
Freemans Quay Leisure Centre, Durham
Andy Tolfree, GB Building Solutions
Sunrise Senior Living, Sonning
Jason Wooldridge, Wates Construction
Sunrise Senior Living, Bagshot

PROJECTS £7–£10m

Stephen Brook FCIOB, Kier Western
Sainsbury’s Superstore, Taunton
Noel Cafferty MCIOB, Willmott Dixon Construction
University of Cambridge Centre for the Physics of Medicine
Michael Devaney ICIOB, Kier Wallis
Wolfson Education Centre, Hammersmith
Nicholas Dodd, (formerly of Verry Construction)
Newhall Projects
Newhall North Chase Phases 1 & 2, Essex
Stephen Forshaw, Interserve
Parliament House, Edinburgh
Richard Hamlin MCIOB, Kier South East
Faraday House, Isle of Grain, Rochester, Kent
Phil Hodgson, BW Interiors
Geneva House and Zurich House, Aerospace Centre, Farnborough
Paul Lacy, Willmott Dixon Construction
Swindon Central Library
David McEwan, City Building (Glasgow)
St Fillans Primary School, Glasgow
Ben Moylan, Carillion
Thanet Phase 2, Kent
Paul Nash, Leadbitter Group
Aardman Animations Headquarters, Bristol
Garry Stamp, R Durtnell & Sons
Tonbridge Schools Sports & Media Centre, Kent
Chris Travers ICIOB, Mace Group
Riverside Buildings A, B & C, Granta Park, Cambridge
Stephen Waldron, Willmott Dixon Construction
Forest Way SEN School, Leicester
Tom Weal, The Apollo Property Services Group
The Michael Tippett School, London SE24
Keith Williams MCIOB, Morgan Ashurst
Kentish Town Health Centre

PROJECTS £5–£7m

Ian Armitage, ISG Regions
Ramada Encore Hotel, Barnsley
Tom Clarke, Midas Retail UK
M&S Home & Food, Cardiff Capital
Philip Greville, ISG Jackson
TC3 New Catalysts Technology Building, Johnson Matthey, Royston
John Hastie ICIOB, Kier Scotland
Loch Primary School, Rutherglen
Colin Hodge, Leadbitter Construction
Chelsea Football Club Youth Academy
Peter McStay, Kier Wallis
Australian House Refurbishment, Strand, London
James Roberts ACIOB, Morgan Ashurst
Rye Community Primary School and Childrens Centre, East Sussex
John Ross MCIOB, Central Building Contractors
Carrochan, Balloch
Chris Taylor, Kier Marriott
Think Tank Lincoln Innovation Centre
André Witter MCIOB, Willmott Dixon Construction
St Agnes Church of England Primary School, Manchester

PROJECTS £2–£5m

Geoff Bull, The Apollo Property Services Group
Rockmount Primary School, London SE19
Kevin Donaldson MCIOB, Robertson Construction Northern
Mezzanine Floor, ASDA Store, Elgin
Toby Goplen MCIOB, Debut Services
Project SLAM, Commando Training Centre, Lympstone
Christian Huckstep, Morgan Ashurst
Queens Hill Primary School, Costessey, Norfolk
Alan Kelly, Killby & Gayford
Royal College of Pathologists Education Centre, London SW1
Matt Sidwell MCIOB, Midas Retail
Wm Morrison Superstore, Horndean
Roy Ward, ISG Regions
All Saints Church of England Primary School, Bradford

PROJECTS £2m AND BELOW

Lyndon Burrell, Wates Construction
Oxford Jet New Business Aviation Terminal, Oxford
Neal Kavanagh, BW Interiors
40 Portman Square, Level 4, London W1
Danny Roberts ACIOB, Ashe Construction
UCMK, Milton Keynes
Andrew Robins MCIOB, Snibor
JM Upward Academic Centre, Port Regis School, Dorset
James Woolfrey, Killby & Gayford
HBOS Fit Out, Westfield, W12

PFI

Alasdair Fernie MCIOB, Balfour Beatty Construction
New Victoria Hospital, Glasgow
Tony Harrison, Kier Regional
The Radclyffe School, Chadderton
Derek Jones, Cowlin Construction
Maesteg Comprehensive School, Maesteg, Cardiff
Tony Miller, Rydon Construction
Newton Abbot Community Hospital
Donald McPhail, Sir Robert McAlpine
St Pauls R.C Academy, Dundee
Steve Watson, GB Building Solutions
Sidcup Leisure Centre & Sidcup Golf Club House

RESTORATION

Gary Collings, Cathedral Works Organisation
The Monument, London EC3
Brian Shackleton, Laing O’Rourke Construction North
Leeds Grand Theatre, Phase 2

RESIDENTIAL OVER £14m

Tudor Fordham, Hill Partnerships
Wenlock Street, Hackney, London N1
David Sershall ICIOB, John Sisk & Son
Forum House, Empire Way, Wembley
Ray Toft ICIOB, Galliford Try Partnership
Taylor Place, London

RESIDENTIAL UNDER £14m

Tony Butcher ICIOB, Taylor Wimpey North Thames
Croft Court, Campbell Park, Milton Keynes
Matthew Cooper ICIOB, Cowlin Construction
John Foster’s Almshouse, Bristol
Lloyd Hardy ICIOB, GB Building Solutions
Oaklands and Eden View, Barcester Healthcare Home, Bottisham
Cain Peters, Hill Partnerships
Osprey House, Bishops Green, Hants
Ross Taylor ICIOB, Inspace Partnerships
Blue Court, 6 Sherbourne St, Islington