£10m-£15m

Brian Foster is the paragon of a 21st century construction manager. He brought success at every level to this 7,500m2 structure through awesome technical expertise and superb team leadership.

When the groundworks produced a larger-than-expected volume of contaminated spoil, Foster quickly reconfigured the basement to facilitate a larger external area for backfill, effectively absorbing the spoil quickly and cheaply on site.

Concerned by the quality and programme implications of the proposed concrete frame design, Foster worked with the design team to find two innovative solutions.

First, he proposed building the cores from precast sections for the lift shafts and traditional construction for the staircases. Second, he achieved the architectural intent for exposed concrete soffits rather than traditional suspended ceilings by using precast concrete planks. And he reduced the weight of the concrete frame which was of such concern by using the BubbleDeck void-forming system.

Foster successfully allied his technical supremacy to a non-adversarial management style that engendered a committed team ethic among the professional team and subcontractors.

Silver

Richard Tyler ACIOB I Project manager, HBG Construction I Freebrough College, Teesside: construction of three-storey school, completed in 68 weeks, £14m , JCT 1998 with contractor’s design

A skilled and knowledgeable construction manager, Richard Tyler’s input into design innovation and risk management was a key factor in HBG winning this contract. With the contract won, Tyler led the design team meetings which carried out the all-important value engineering, saving the client £250,000 on its very tight budget.

Just as important was his decision to delay the site start by 10 weeks to give the design team time to produce sufficient information prior to its novation to HBG.

Tyler was the hub of the team and promoted communication, information flow and relationships. He set up meetings between the designers and the end-users to agree the final room datasheets and to integrate services with furniture positions. And he took the teachers around the site to get their feedback and to familiarise them with the building.

He also instigated meetings with key subcontractors to discuss programme and sequencing to ensure they integrated the activities of other trades into their own programmes, which helped individual subcontractors understand the importance of achieving the milestones to prevent delay to following trades.

Tyler’s hands-on approach was a shining example of active motivation and he delivered the project in a thoroughly professional manner.

Highly Commended

• Sabah Abed MCIOB (Willmott Dixon Construction) for Morrisons, Diss, Norfolk

• Neville Dale (Willmott Dixon Construction) for Excel Leisure Complex, Walton-on-Thames
• Matthew Garnett (HBG Construction) for David Young Academy, Leeds
• Mark Gibson (Sir Robert McAlpine) for Horsley Hill Campus, South Shields
• Jeremy Gill MCIOB (Bovis Lend Lease) for 20 Bank Street phase 2, Canary Wharf
• Steve Hallett MCIOB (Sir Robert McAlpine) for British Library Centre for Conservation, London
• Mike Hedges MCIOB (Wates Construction) for Kings Orchard, Bristol
• Jason Newbold (Rydon Construction) for St Margaret’s Hospital, Epping
• Jim Rooney (HBG Construction) for Liverpool South Parkway
• Russell Stewart (Bovis Lend Lease) for Building 4, Hardman Square, Manchester