Winner

Manchester City Council and Rowlinson Construction

The development at Willowbank of 16 self-contained one to four-bedroom apartments, was just the latest in a long line of projects by Rowlinson Constructions and Manchester Building Control – a relationship that has spanned more than 50 years.

The scheme was designed to provide supported housing for homeless families three miles from the centre of Manchester.

A good working relationship was established through the early involvement of building control officers. Extensive discussions took place before, during and after completion, ensuring that the maximum benefit was gained from the team’s knowledge and expertise, and allowing best practice ideas to be shared.

Runners-up

Cambridge City Council and Haymills

An excellent working relationship was established from the very beginning of this residential project, when senior contracts manager Paul Rodwell met with building control surveyor Andrew Dean on site to discuss initial project details.

From this first meeting it became evident that the Contractor and Cambridge City building control shared a like-minded approach and as such, good communication was established early on.

Throughout the development, this close partnership helped to ensure that construction delays were avoided, inspections were scheduled and agreed, and any site or construction issues were resolved quickly with the project team, who were all based locally.

London Borough of Wandsworth and St George South London

A close working relationship between Wandsworth Building Control and St George on other projects within the borough ensured that both teams were already well acquainted with one another’s ways of working. The judges noted that St George works at the cutting edge of emerging building techniques, presenting many challenges for the building control team, but they welcomed the opportunity to research the innovative methods used.

Weekly site meetings with the design team also ensured that any potential problems were quickly identified, and solutions swiftly found, and frequent site inspections were co-ordinated across the range of disciplines on the site.

Newcastle City Council and Sir Robert McAlpine

Not even the damage caused by a huge fire that swept through a neighbouring site could prevent the team from delivering this project in time and on budget. The £46m design-and-build project presented many challenges. The innovative design and detailing meant close co-operation was necessary throughout, between both client and each member of the team. The result was that the campus’ two five-storey buildings are expected to be among the greenest in the UK.

Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead and HBG Construction South East

This redevelopment involved a Sainsbury’s superstore, a five-storey car park, 94 residential units and two satellite buildings. As you might imagine, co-operation had to be a strong feature of this project, a point that HBG and building control fully appreciated.

The programme set for the project meant that the store had to open four months before the entire building was to be completed, meaning everything had to run to a tight schedule. However, as the deadline approached for the store opening, building control remained on hand, and helped to provide solutions that enabled the store to open. The relationship worked so well that Windsor building control has since been linked to several other HBG projects outside its borough.

Sheffield City Council and Gleeson Regeneration and Homes

This £15m mixed-use development created a public space in the Heart of Sheffield and transformed former education offices into a hotel and housing.

Sensitivity was key to this project, as the grade II-listed buildings were converted into a mixed-use scheme, with contemporary additions, set around landscaped courtyards. The project was developed by a consortium of Gleeson Homes and Westport Developments. Sheffield council liked its bid because of its distinctive style and visual impact, coupled with sympathy for the historic buildings on site.

LABC Awards 2008