星空传媒

It may not seem like a big deal to some: a new 12-storey concrete frame apartment block. But it was the first project of its kind for Leicester-based Westleigh Developments, whose principle activity to that point had been timber-frame housing. What is more, this type of project was bound to come up again for Westleigh. Housing associations, a big part of Westleigh's client base, are under pressure to provide higher density accommodation. In short, this was not a project they could shy away from.

This was where Ian Price came in.

"They'd already won the job, but they were wondering how to do it," he said.

Price, who is "about as close to 50 as you can get", had been design and build manager for William Davis Ltd, a long-established contractor and residential developer based in Loughborough, with projects throughout the east and west Midlands and beyond. He had been there for 16 years.

As is usual for construction, he was located through an informal web of personal contacts: a former colleague of Price's happened to be Westleigh's business development director, and Price and Westleigh's MD had been known to each other for a number of years. Calls were made, conversations took place, and Price climbed on board - not, he says, for some whacking great pay hike, either. He was simply ready for the challenge.

A real challenge

And a challenge is what he got. He joined in December 2004 as special projects director. By then the project had been running for a few months. Located on Woolmonger Street in Northampton, the building will be a 135-flat development on behalf of Nottingham Community Housing Association. The prelims had been complicated by considerable archaeological interest in the site, which has been populated since Saxon times. There were nine wells on a fairly tight footprint, which necessitated some rethinking of where to place all the piles.

But the biggest looming problem was cost, which, according to the designs developed so far, was growing to uncomfortable levels within the agreed maximum price figure with the client. Price's idea, which he admits did not come to him straight away, was to replace a substantial amount of the concrete frame structure with steel, which allowed them to halve the number of piles. Further savings were introduced by substituting the originally-specified terra cotta cladding system with architectural block work. His idea was risky. It meant further delays because they had to resubmit aspects of the project for planning.

"It was a bit of a wing and a prayer," he says, but it worked, and they are now back on budget and on programme.

"It is the sort of project that needs a lot more in terms of time and resources than most building projects so it needs exclusive management," says Price.

It is the first time I have tackled anything quite this big

Ian Price, westleigh

"It is the first time I have tackled anything quite this big. It is made up of 402 concrete piles which are 16m deep and it is going to be an impressive-looking building when it is finished," he adds.

Steep learning curve

It may have been a challenge for Price, but Westleigh too, as a company, will have to absorb new skills to complete this job successfully. As a house builder, Westleigh has had a long time to squeeze cost and inefficiency out of its programmes. It even has its own timber frame fabrication division, called Westframe.

With the Woolmonger Street project, Westleigh have stepped up to a learning curve is, at times, steep. As the storeys rise above the ground, they will have to organize compliance with different regulations governing fire, disproportionate collapse, sound transmission and energy use. They will have to engage a team of specialist contractors different from the ones they usually deal with: concrete frame, mechanical and electrical, roofing and cladding.

On top of that there is the continuing need to abide by the Housing Corporation's stiff development standards on resource conservation, which can lead developers into technical difficulty and extra cost. For example, in striving for an acceptable EcoHomes rating, Westleigh chose a gas heating system. Price thought it was a bit awkward and expensive for a 12-storey building.

"There is nothing incredibly special about this," he said. "Except for a tight site and a tight budget. But for us it's huge. We'll have to use tight control measures and early input into design has been crucial."

And for Price himself, has this career change been worth it?

"I'm coping," he said. "We've got the job onto programme and that's a relief to everybody. But I've still got to finally deliver it."