Constructing Excellence in Wales

Project of the Year

Winner:   Cardiff Central Library – Laing O’Rourke Wales & West Ltd

In the words of the judges, this project was ‘more than a library’ it was a learning experience.  It benefited from substantial involvement with stakeholders, the wider community and also disabled groups.  Laing O’Rourke took a pro-active approach from the beginning of the scheme, meeting with Cardiff Council Building Control and the Cardiff & Vale Coalition for Disabled People (CVCDP) and this resulted in the LABC commendation received for a public building.

Laing O’Rourke promoted the ethos of collaboration very strongly. At the heart of this is the involvement of our local designers, supply chain sub-contractors and in-house specialist trading companies. In the delivery of any landmark building, quality is an important issue which needs to be managed closely by the team.  Monthly project quality meetings were held between Laing O’Rourke, their subcontractors and consultants to review upcoming work areas, potential issues and create solutions. These meetings often resulted in briefing sessions for operatives in order to transfer knowledge and enhance the skills of the workforce. The benefits of these and other quality control systems were recognised in a BSI (ISO14001) audit which did not record a single observation or non conformance against the site. 

Throughout the scheme there was evidence of strong leadership, a sound management process and excellent collaboration – the result of which was delivering the building three months ahead of schedule.  At the heart of the scheme was a focus on health & safety.  Despite being one of the tightest sites Laing O’Rourke have ever worked on (no more than 1.2m outside the envelope), the excellent safety culture site led to a very safe environment in which to work and excellent safety performance with no reportable accidents recorded for the duration of the contract. In total, 1,191 different people were inducted and involved on-site and circa 343,000 man-hours were worked in total during the 98 week construction period.A key aspect of this landmark building is its sustainability credentials. Sustainability was not listed as a separate item on the cost plan but inbuilt into the design from the earliest stages. As a result, the team achieved the highest ever ‘BREEAM Excellent’ rating for a Bespoke Construction Review for less than 0.5% of the construction cost.

In summary, the city of Cardiff not only has a library to be proud of, but also one which sets a new standard for a sustainable city centre design and construction project which hasn’t ‘cost the earth’!