BAM shaves six weeks off handover for Heathrow UTC
Hemel Hempstead, 2 December 2014 - BAM Construction is on course to complete a £10 million Middlesex school building project within a calendar year after teamwork and innovative thinking helped shave six weeks off the project. BAM, which has offices in London, handed over Heathrow UTC on 26th of November, some six weeks before its contracted completion date of 15 January 2015. Even with time allowed for post-construction personalisation works in early December, the contractor will be off site before Christmas – having started in the first week of 2014.
BAM also built a temporary school nearby with the same site team during that period. ‘This is an incredible achievement, and comes as a result of hard work from our great team of young site managers lead by Lee Macdonald and Andrew Sherwin’, said project manager Brian Kelly. There has been a great spirit of collaboration on this project, with everyone pulling together to find ways of getting the job done quicker.’
All subcontractors have finished earlier than expected, with many works able to overlap as the team found ways to shorten the programme, using the company’s emphasis on ‘lean construction techniques’.
A local feel to the project also helped, according to Kelly, with 30 per cent of staff coming from the borough along with two major subcontractors, Toureen Mangan and Rochfords. ‘We benefitted from having local staff who could walk or get the bus to work, and who bought into the project as it was happening in their neighbourhood’, said Brian Kelly.
The 4,500 sq m building will house pupils from January 2015, eventually holding 600 as the UTC grows.
BAM used 250 tonnes of steel, 30,000 bricks, 25, 000 blocks, inducted 500 workers, and ran 10 apprenticeships.
The finished building houses specialist engineering workshops sitting at the heart of the new facilities with specific areas dedicated to prototyping equipment, composites, welding and turning, circuit design and Cad/Cam.
Carbon emissions will be reduced by 25% against Building Regulation requirements, using a high performing building envelope and photovoltaic panels, which will reduce the overall energy costs for the UTC. Natural light is maximised, rainwater will be collected and used for flushing toilets, and permeable paving will reduce rainwater run-off. There electric vehicle charging points.
After a frenetic year building Heathrow UTC, Kelly is looking forward to a few days off at Christmas. ‘It will be a good feeling to be finished early’, he said. ‘But I’ll be looking forward to my next job come January.’
Further information: Mark Slattery, press and media manager, BAM Construct UK Ltd, (01442 238415).