LCEC February 2011 - Integration & Collaborative Working - Hackney City Academy

LCEC February 2011 from Mike Colquhoun on Vimeo.

A full house heard Sabah Abed (Project Director, Willmott Dixon) and Andrzej Kusnell (Studio E Architects) talk about their Constructing Excellence award winning project - Hackney City Academy.
Why did they win the CE Award? This is why -

Hackney is the second of 3 Academies sponsored by the City of London delivered through collaborative partnered team working. Despite relocating sites midway through process and still completed on time and to budget

The challenges of a tight programme and complex site have been successfully met, whilst extending the collaboration to the community and end users by implementing an exemplar programme of “young client” engagement with the participation of the Sorrell Foundation. This approach has resulted in a striking contemporary building that has been delivered on time and to budget by a fully partnered team composed of the City of London Surveyors Department, Willmott Dixon Contractors, Studio E Architects, Max Fordham Environmental Engineers, Dewhurst Macfarlane Structural Engineers, Northcroft Cost Consultants, Subcontractors and The Sorrell Foundation Young Client Team.

A well honed team operating at maximum efficiency under the Partnering Contract, managed to recover the lost 6 months caused by moving sites to process designs, planning application and procurement in time for the construction start in January 2008. For a second time the partnered team succeeded, in spite of adversities, to deliver a quality result to time and to budget.

The confined nature and location of the site next to Homerton High Street meant that construction works had to be monitored and planned to minimise disruption in the area. With the number of workers on site reaching up to 240, arrivals and departure from site also required close management.

The sponsors and project team engaged with the Hackney Community through extensive consultations. With the aid of the Sorrell Foundation a young client group was created from two primary feeder schools, Berger and Morningside as well as the local Hackney Community College and the first City of London Academy in Southwark. These young people participated in the creation of a brief for the new Academy and then worked alongside the project team for two years. Through a series of workshops during the construction phase the client team were given the opportunity to investigate, understand and comment on the delivery of the building and how it was constructed.

In delivering the academy Willmott Dixon’s design team worked closely with studio e to develop the design with the practical input of specialist subcontractors and an in-house services manager, ensuring that the integrity of the design aspirations were not compromised.

Encouraging a sense of identification with the aspirational nature of the facility a hoarding display of the input of the client team was erected and apprentices were employed from local colleges to reinforce this sense of community shareholding.

The team integration continues through the post completion learning including a post completion workshop to evaluate how the partnered process assisted in an effective delivery, and how the process could be further improved.

The team built relationships and operating structures that were professional and respectful but direct, creating a decision making process that was very quick but not irrational. When problems occurred the group focused and overcame the problem. It was also agreed that the use of a partnered contract ensured that decisions were made in the interest of the project rather than in the interest of each entity.

A key element of the project had been the collaborative approach which allowed constructive criticism to be taken on board and solutions reached as a team.  Had this not been the case, the change of site and resulting contracted programme could have seriously impacted delivery of the project.

45% of the supply chain was appointed on a preferred or partnered basis which reflects the delivery team contract. Early appointment and involvement of the supply chain on design saved time and created cost savings. As a comprehensive value engineering exercise had not been able to take place due to contracted timescales, this was important in achieving the budget.

Members of the supply chain were involved in work with the Sorrell Foundation group. This provided them with opportunities to interact with the end users and many expressed how their connection to the project was deepened by the workshops.
(Abridged text)

LCEC January 2011 - Prospects for 2011 and beyond - Two Speed Market? & AGM

LCEC January - Prospects for 2011 and beyond - Two Speed Market? & AGM from Mike Colquhoun on Vimeo.

LCEC December - Wine Tasting

LCEC December - Wine Tasting from Mike Colquhoun on Vimeo.

The ever popular annual wine tasting took place on Wednesday 8 December. Julia Trustram-Eve challenged the tasters to identify a wide variety of wines - sparkling, whites & reds from all corners of the globe. There were some 'interesting' team names such as The Inscrutables, Drunken Monkeys & Base Course; the winning team name - Divine Rouge. The main event, the wine tasting, runners up - What a Corker - the winning team - Record Breakers!

Some stills from the event:

Annual Wine Tasting - Can you spot English wines?

Wednesday 8 December 2010
1800 for 1830 start to wine tasting concluding at 20:30
London Capital Club, 15 Abchurch Lane, London EC4N 7BW

We are delighted that Julia Trustram-Eve has agreed to lead our annual wine tasting evening once again, and this year there is to be a quiz format for the evening. Teamwork will be encouraged! Julia will be challenging us to blind taste three groups of three wine styles: sparkling; white; red. Will we be able to identify the country or region? On the night we shall be working in teams to try and sniff out the quality English wines from amongst their international counterparts from more traditional wine growing parts of the world. Please come and join the fun.

London Constructing Excellence Club…
…meet like minded people and help promote excellence in the construction industry.

Attendance is free for members of LCEC. A charge of £20 will be made at the door for non-members.

Pre-registration is essential for this event as places are limited, see details below.

To register for this event please - click here to email Róisín Fogarty or call her on 020 7504 1828

November Event - The Equality Act 2010

LCEC November Event - Equality Act 2010 from Mike Colquhoun on Vimeo.

Equality Act 2010 - Presentation from Mike Colquhoun on Vimeo.

November event - The Equality Act 2010

A talk by

Jonathan Bruck - Senior Solicitor, IBB Solicitors

Shelagh Prosser - Equality and Diversity Consultant

"The Equality Act - What in means in practice"

Tuesday 9 November 2010, 1800 for 1830 start
London Capital Club, 15 Abchurch Lane, London EC4N 7BW

The Equality Act 2010 (which came into force on 1 October 2010) has been described as “a landmark piece of legislation”. It is the single biggest piece of anti-discrimination legislation ever introduced in this country and applies equally to all employers. Jonathan Bruck and Shelagh Prosser will be presenting on some of the main ways that the Act will impact on employers within the construction industry and what companies can do to reduce the risk of falling foul of the Act.

Jonathan Bruck is an experienced employment law specialist who advises employers on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious work. His experience includes drafting employment contracts and staff handbooks, providing corporate support and TUPE advice on transactions, handling Employment Tribunal claims, advising on dismissals and other day-to-day HR issues.

Shelagh Prosser is an independent freelance consultant, who assists organisations wanting to develop strategic approaches to integrating equality and diversity. She brings over 19 years experience of working on equality issues in employment and service delivery and has particular expertise in strategy and policy development, equality audits, research and analysis, stakeholder engagement and partnership development. Prior to becoming an independent consultant she held senior equality and diversity posts at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the BBC and London Buses Limited.


London Constructing Excellence Club…
…meet like minded people and help promote excellence in the construction industry.

Attendance is free for members of LCEC. See details below.

To register for this event please - click here to email Róisín Fogarty or call her on 020 7504 1828

LCEC October - Project Success Through BIM

LCEC October - Project Success Through BIM from Mike Colquhoun on Vimeo.