Office

Winner Conor O’Keeffe MCIOB, Kier Construction

Winner John McCarthy, BAM Construction

Project: 80 Grosvenor Street, London W1 Scope: Construction of block and Cat A fit out, completed in 160 weeks Client: Frelene (Grosvenor Street) Contract: JCT 2016 Value: £24m

“It is an honour to work with

someone who puts all his efforts into something he loves,” said the client of Conor O’Keeffe. Conor delights in challenging projects because they test his ability to find the right solution, as was entirely evident here.

By sheet-piling the basement box with a vibrationless rig, he avoided excess ground displacement that would have affected nearby sewers. He also avoided road closure costs by creating a ramp to bring the rig on site, rather than craning it in.

Conor eliminated the expensive oversail licence required for a standard luffing jib by finding a raptor crane with a folding jib. And his solution of casting 12mm-thick rips of plywood into the concrete lift shaft gave enough tolerance to install standard 900mm lift doors rather than an expensive bespoke set.

His finessing of the permanent works installation to get around

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the clashes posed by another contractor’s temporary works for the party walls was impressive. It got the contract signed in the first place and accelerated the structural frame.

With a client based in America, Conor held weekly online meetings to keep the client up to date and help reach crucial decisions to keep the project flowing.

Other finalists

Tom Arkley MCIOB

Willmott Dixon Interiors, Edmonton Green Housing Hub, London N9

William Chambers MCIOB

ISG, HMRC Regional Centre, Birmingham

Andrew Hill MCIOB

ISG, Shoreditch Village Phase 2, London E1

Colin Patterson MCIOB

Henry Brothers Midlands, Sherwood Lodge, Joint Police and Fire HQ, Nottingham

Stephen Rafferty

McAleer and Rushe Contracts UK, The Ewart, Belfast

Project: 103 Colmore Row, Birmingham B3 Scope: Construction of 26-level tower, completed in 135 weeks Client: Sterling Property Ventures Contract: JCT 2016, design and build Value: £88m

John McCarthy’s ability to inspire

teamwork drove the success of this 108m-tall skyscraper and its 225,000 sq ft of office space. With a similar BAM project just completed and another under way, John captured cutting-edge insight by organising workshops and peer reviews between the teams.

Similarly, he championed 4D BIM, which he had used on a previous project and which proved to be the key to sequencing the complex major works on the four-level basement.

When a Victorian wall clashed with piling positions, the piles and their caps were redesigned and complex temporary works formed to retain the wall. By resequencing the structural steelwork and the ground-floor concrete slab, he pulled back a five-week delay.

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