Awards sponsored by Hays Montrose

Gold

Pierce Browne, George Wimpey West Midlands
Project
The Moated Manor, near Bridgenorth. 13 luxury homes plus barn conversion
Value
拢3 million
Terms
Wimpey鈥檚 own

The Lord of the Manor

A Methodical, meticulous approach delivered the goods for Pierce Browne

When Wimpey bought this site it was a mess. It had previously been occupied by an abattoir and a car breaker鈥檚 yard, and contained a semi-derelict farmhouse, all built on the site of a 13th century moated manor house. Minor contamination was anticipated and a modest archaeological dig was expected, but both were far more extensive and expensive than envisaged, and construction was delayed by about 10 months. During this time, large areas of the original building were excavated, recorded and covered up for posterity, one plot and various drainage runs were moved to avoid damage to the remains, old fuel tanks had been removed, asbestos had been removed, and extensive remediation had taken place. By this time, Pierce Browne was under pressure to complete his site as quickly as possible. Browne knew that there was potential for local opposition to the works and set about to defuse any problems before they started. He visited the neighbours and the Parish Council to explain the scheme and he set up weekly meetings in his site office to keep them informed of progress. He also persuaded the local police to impose a new 30mph speed limit through the village for the duration of the works. His initiatives resulted in a total absence of all complaints to site, head office or the local authority. Because of the site鈥檚 location, very few local sub-contractors were known to Browne or to Wimpey, so Browne became involved in interviewing potential contractors and visiting their previous sites and discussing performance with previous employers. This was particularly important as he knew that, with the additional expenditure on archaeology and contamination, he had to produce a first-class result to maximise recovery from only 13 houses. This was achieved by strict control of programme, quality, and site presentation; by the sale of 鈥渆xtras鈥�, and by encouraging customer involvement from the time of their first visit. By careful control of these matters, and by ensuring that his customer liaison and after-sales care were of the highest order, Browne has succeeded admirably.

Silver

Michael Tully, George Wimpey, West Midlands
Project
59 homes on contaminated land in Shropshire
Value
拢5.4 million
Terms Wimpey鈥檚 own

The 拢5m clean-up job

Michael Tully delivered 59 private homes on contaminated land

With the acquisition of this site came a number of problems. Once the original factory units had been demolished, and the arisings had been crushed, approximately 2000 tonnes of contaminated soil had to be removed, along with 6,000 litres of contaminated liquid. Part of the site was vibro-compacted, roads and sewers were started and the first two show houses were completed within the first 12 weeks. Progress continued relentlessly and Michael Tully was able to exceed the completion target set by his directors. He also maintained his quality standards, handing over virtually snag-free houses and again returned excellent customer satisfaction scores. Tully identified two innovative solutions to local problems. In the first, local planning requirements stipulated chimneys to some of the houses, even though no fires or flues were specified. Tully oversaw the production of pre-formed, glass fibre chimney units to match the facing brickwork. These were produced and craned into position on special roof supports. On the second, floors joists were too weak to support scaffold to upper floors, so Tully ensured the boards were drilled, allowing the scaffold standards to pass through and be supported from the solid ground floor. Upon scaffold removal, the holes were made good. One of Tully's citations summarises his success on this site when it concludes: 鈥淭his site is an excellent example of how the construction industry should operate.鈥�

COMMENDED

Paul Newstead, Denne Group. Paul McCrory, Haslam Homes. Nanda Kodikara, Bewley Homes. David Kiff, Berkeley Homes (Southern). Joe Green, Squires Bridge Homes

Source

Construction Manager