星空传媒

Gold

Making a home from home

New to the area when he was asked to manage this site, Darren Dockerill had no knowledge of local subcontractors and suppliers. So he visited various local sites to introduce himself and to build up a local network. Dockerill also realised that there was a great deal of competition in the area for tradesmen and for completed units for sale. He set out to ensure that his site was able to attract and retain good tradesmen, and encouraged his head office to increase the specification of the units and to increase the speed of construction from three years to just two and a half. Dockerill ensured the site was clean, tidy and efficient and that all trades had continuity of work. He has been able to demonstrate that by creating a 鈥渢eam approach鈥� they could improve financial performance and cash flow. He encouraged all trades to 鈥渂uy into鈥� the programme and to provide suggestions for attainable targets, continuity of work and quality. By these means he has been successful in retaining most of his workforce throughout the contract. The exposed coastal location of the site, with some of the units within about 50 paces of the high water mark, has created its own problems. It soon became clear that the planned tower cranes would be 鈥渨inded off鈥� too often to make them efficient. Potential high wind loads required special adaptations to the scaffold and to the weather-protection system. Many site operations proved to be weather-dependant and forecasts were carefully monitored. By loading-out each floor slab with materials for that floor and protecting them well, there was a saving in programme time as well as a significant reduction in manual handling. This enabled following trades to make an early start so that, by the time roof tiling was complete, the units were watertight. Programme gains were also achieved by off-site prefabrication of some components. One of Darren鈥檚 citations refers to his 鈥渘atural management skills, his energy and his enthusiasm鈥�. Dockerill鈥檚 faith in his product is such that he has bought one of the units on site. So has one of his directors.

Silver

Mean time for Greenwich

Phase 1B of the Greenwich Millennium Village project comprises 199 units for a competition brief by English Partnerships. This was selected for its minimal impact on the environment, and imaginative use of new materials and technology. To add pressure, the project had a number of sustainable development targets, including a 50% reduction in embodied energy of construction materials, 50% reduction in construction waste, 30% reduction in construction costs and 25% reduction in the construction duration. Darrell Bergesen joined the project in January 2001 with the immediate challenge of getting the programme back on track. The project, which went onsite in December 1999, had a complex history due to contractual problems, which had delayed progress of the works. Bergesen resolved the problems and delivered the first phase on time, to budget and to the satisfaction of the client. The challenge for Phase 1B, which began in May 2001, was to develop a system that embraced partnering, demonstrated flexibility in meeting client needs and provided an opportunity to alter completion dates to suit both parties. Through workshops Bergesen encouraged a design to suit a more productive constructive sequence while maintaining the budget. A further major task was to redevelop the programme,as it required re-sequencing. This involved detailed planning and complete buy-in from subcontractors, consultants and client.

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