NEW BUILD / REFURB up to 5M

GOLD

Devoted to inculcating leadership skills, the Sandhurst military
academy has acknowledged a leader in another field in Edward Larkin.

His personal example, professional understanding and enormous flexibility ensured success in building an accommodation block for junior ranks to specification, £80,000 under budget and three weeks early in a busy and unique environment.

This site was the second to be completed in the army’s Single Living Accommodation Modernisation (SLAM) project, which replaces substandard and antiquated living quarters with modern, campus-style blocks. Many of Larkin’s team came from the first SLAM project, which had already built up a good relationship, but it was important for Bovis to make it even better, as it would be the bedrock of the SLAM projects still to be undertaken.

Larkin fomented team spirit among the integrated project team and supply chain by housing them both in the same open-plan site office. In the resulting gelling, members passed ideas and contacts between themselves. Larkin’s own no-nonsense but friendly and approachable leadership style ensured that any problems were solved with the minimum of fuss.

With stringent security and access rules applying on a military base like Sandhurst, Larkin held weekly meetings to plan the works within the constantly changing constraints. He updated the programme to reuse productively any time saved on an activity, which resulted in completion ahead of schedule.

This constant driving towards speedy completion was not achieved at the expense of safety. Instead of depending solely on rules and regulations to enforce safety, Larkin applied Bovis’s Injury and Incident Free principles to encourage site workers to discuss safety issues they felt were important and come up with better and safer ways to carry out their tasks. As a result, the site recorded no lost-time injuries.

Responsible for monitoring quality, Larkin established a self-snagging regime which delivered a defect-free project. The client has recognised Larkin’s achievement by awarding the site team the job of delivering another building at Sandhurst under his leadership.

SILVER

The successful completion of this complex project in a restricted live environment must be credited to David Lloyd’s energy, communications skills, attention to detail and passion for construction. His personality and organisation delivered a high-quality building on time and within tight financial constraints.

Lloyd produced the information required and procurement schedules hand in hand with the designers to ensure their buy-in to what the project required. He cemented this by holding weekly design meetings and monthly construction progress meetings.

His effective communication and appreciation of the school’s concerns also ensured that staff and pupils were not disturbed by the progress of the project. And while relationships with neighbours were poor at the start, Lloyd’s open style and consideration for their interests ensured that they were harmonious by the time the project was handed over.

His own research and ability to involve the subcontractors greatly enhanced the project’s sustainability by incorporating energy-efficient underfloor heating, low-energy boilers, and high U-value glazing and insulation.
Conscious throughout of the financial constraints, Lloyd kept the project on budget by value-engineering the M&E. His cost-effective solutions included numerous types of insulation, heating valves and installation methods for the teaching block’s underfloor heating. He ensured quality remained high through persistently targeting standards and implementing an inspection sheet regime, leading to a very small number of items on the client’s snagging list at handover, all of which were resolved within days.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Sam Barker MCIOB (Willmott Dixon Construction) for Plant Growth Facility, University of Cambridge; John Henderson (Willmott Dixon Construction) for Hoole Primary School, Chester; Ross Jahromi (Trak Build) for Hetherington House, Stanwell; Simon Owen (Frank Galliers) for phase 4, Coed-y-Dinas Garden Centre, Welshpool; Dave Pearce ACIOB (Midas Construction) for Home Farm Trust Respite Centre, Launceston; Ross Trivett (Ogilvie Construction) for Centurion Business Park, Glasgow; Mark Wimhurst (Bluestone) for Sports Hall, Bishop Douglass School, East Finchley, London.