CIOB: French national wins gold for building liberty

Thursday, 30 October 2008 12:00 AM

Anthony Joubert from La Chapelle Heulin, France has been named Construction Manager of the Year by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), for the £10.5million development of Liberty Wharf in Jersey.

French national Anthony exploited his European expertise with huge success on this project. He not only managed to chair project team meetings in two different languages, but even more admirably generated the £3.5m of budget savings demanded by the client through seeking out specialist solutions.

Chris Blythe CIOB chief executive said; "Even for the most experienced manager to win CMYA is a remarkable achievement. What makes this year's winner so special is that this was Anthony's first construction manager job. He showed great determination to give the client what they wanted with the minimum of fuss, an enviable ability to deal with people at all levels, and a natural instinct for risk management. His innovative strategies and partnering approach produced two high-quality buildings on time and to budget."

Anthony commented; "Good team spirit was essential for a hard working and productive site. In that respect we organised regular social functions to engender good morale, which also helped integrate the French members into the team. We had no industrial relation matters throughout the duration of the project, and not a single reportable incident."

On 45 square miles of land steeped in history and on the same site that once housed the Island's abattoir, Liberation Place and Liberation Station now mark the beginning of a new space for Jersey. Flanked at the other end by Liberation Square, the land in between is being developed to provide a 'Covent Garden' type experience with café culture, restaurants and boutique type retailers.

The first phase of this redevelopment was Liberty Wharf which incorporated a new visitor information and transportation tourism centre. Anthony who works for Camerons, a Chartered Building Company*, took charge of the project from conception through to completion.

During the construction process Anthony sought out specialist solutions to ensure the project was delivered on time and within budget. An independent facade consultant was called in to review the design work and reduce the risk to the project. The European cladding and scaffold system allowed the facade to be constructed on time and within the critical path, with the upgrade incorporated during the onsite works. He also employed ground-penetrating radar which made a saving of £250,000 and 6 weeks on the programme.

To encourage clever thinking from the subcontractors, Anthony firmly embedded partnering ethics across the project and formed excellent relationships with consultants as well as the client and the two users (both of which were government departments with a high political and public profile).

Like many construction projects this development offered its own unique challenges. Fixed on the site of the tourism building was a Second World War gun emplacement. The existing granite wall was carefully dismantled, numbered and re-built to include the new restored gun as a reminder of the history and experience endured by the residents of the Island.

For thirty years the CIOB's CMYA event has been the leading industry event to celebrate the individual achievement and excellence of managers in construction, rather than the projects, processes or design.

The awards are widely recognised as a benchmark for the industry and the premier accolade for management in the built environment. To be held in such esteem requires a judging process of the highest standard. It takes thirty judges six months of meticulous site visits and interviews (including the nominee, client and contractors) before the overall winner can be decided upon.

This year's competition had almost 100 finalists and was held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on 29th October.

For further information please go to www.cmya.co.uk

* For further information about the CBC schemes please go to www.cbcschemes.org.uk

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) represents for the public benefit the most diverse set of professionals in the construction industry.

The CIOB's role is to:

· Promote the importance of the built environment.
· Lead the industry to create a sustainable future worldwide.
· Encourage leadership potential.
· Set the highest standards in quality, safety and qualification.
· Create an industry where excellence prospers.

Further information is available by contacting Saul Townsend CIOB press and communications manager on 01344 630 766 - stownsend@ciob.org.uk.

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