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CIOB Awards 2022 winner: Joe O’Connell MCIOB – Kier Construction
CM Staff
Kier Construction’s Joe O’Connell MCIOB is 2022’s Construction Manager of the Year, with a project for our time: an ultra-energy efficient leisure centre for Exeter City Council.
Project: St Sidwell’s Point, Exeter Scope: Construction of Passivhaus leisure centre, completed in 171 weeks Client: Exeter City Council Contract: JCT, design and build Value: £36m
With 40 years in the industry, and 20 years as a senior manager, Joe O’Connell certainly understands how to motivate and manage teams. And that skill was vital for St Sidwell’s Point in Exeter, which is now the UK’s first Passivhaus-compliant leisure centre.
In fact, so dedicated is Joe to the spirit of teamwork, that he entered the team at St Sidwell’s Point into the ‘Team of the Year’ category – and won that too.
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Even without the Passivhaus requirement, this is a complex building on a difficult city centre site. There are four pools – three for swimming and one in the luxury spa – which had very technically demanding waterproofing requirements for the reinforced concrete, together with a gym and exercise studios, creche, soft play area and cafe.
Exacting standards
The Passivhaus standard is exacting, requiring ultra-high levels of airtightness to reduce the energy required to heat a building. And no less exacting is the process of certification from the Passivhaus Institute; ensuring that all the relevant aspects were identified, correctly executed and evidenced was a major task in itself.
Joe reports that some of the inspection processes developed on St Sidwell’s Point are now being rolled out on other Kier projects as part of their quality processes.
Other finalists
Nigel Griffiths Jenner Contractors, F51 (Urban Sports Park), Folkestone Nick Hamersley Kier Construction, Fitzalan High School Enabling Works, Cardiff Martin Keys McLaughlin & Harvey, Alexander Stadium Redevelopment, Birmingham Mark McCormick MCIOB McAleer & Rushe Contracts UK, Hampton by Hilton Hotel, Bath Stephen McDermott MCIOB Willmott Dixon, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry Steve Morris MCIOB McAleer & Rushe Contracts UK, North Wharf Gardens, London W2 Mital Patel MCIOB Willmott Dixon Interiors, One Gallery, London WC2 Jessica Spain MCIOB Mace, HMP Five Wells, Wellingborough
Involved from the second stage of the two-part tender, Joe engaged early with all of the potential key suppliers to identify the many risks associated with the project and to develop a risk mitigation strategy. His approach was to provide as much information as possible to would-be suppliers so that they understood the implications of the Passivhaus requirements.
Through developing a series of bespoke training modules, Joe looked to instil an appreciation of Passivhaus principles and standards in all those who worked on the project, no mean feat considering there were 71 trades and consultants and over 2,500 people working on site. Each half-day session involved a bespoke presentation followed by a practical workshop where appropriate. The training underlined the importance of each individual’s role and why it was important to the overall scheme and, says Joe, instilled a sense of pride in the project.
Airtight strategy
The building’s airtightness could not be tested until very late in the programme, so Joe opted to develop a number of building facade mock-ups to test and then refine the facade design and components. This led him to instruct membrane manufacturer Wraptite to develop an adhesive with which to fix insulation retaining ties to the membranes, rather than using ties which would have penetrated the airtightness line. This exercise eliminated over 5,000 penetrations.
The Passivhaus airtightness requirement for the leisure centre was an air permeability of 0.4m3/(hr.m2) at 50 Pascals. Joe achieved a certified 0.3m3/(hr.m2), which he reports has not been achieved on any other Passivhaus leisure centre to date.
The centre includes a gym and exercise studios
Achieving the Passivhaus standards for St Sidwell’s Point has implications far beyond the certification:
Requiring 70% of the energy a standard centre would require, this building will cost less to run and help Exeter City Council towards its carbon reduction goals;
all those who worked on the project have new sustainable construction skills;
the people of Exeter have a new facility which is healthy and comfortable to use.
Silver: Colin Tilley MCIOB, Willmott Dixon
Project: Aspire @ the Park, Pontefract, West Yorkshire Scope: Construction of 22,000 sq m leisure centre, completed in 98 weeks Client: Wakefield Council Contract: NEC Value: £19m
With experience of a previous leisure centre scheme for the client, Colin Tilley brought lessons learned with him to this one. This was particularly useful for the two pools in this scheme. He focused on getting the concrete pour sequencing for the water tanks right and mastering the logistics. He also cast the balance tank and backwash tank in advance of both the pools’ main walls.
His innovation came from suggesting direct lighting instead of traditional and unsightly uplighters and mirrors. Colin found a direct lighting solution that did not create safety issues through glare on the water, and which offered great aesthetics and far lower running costs.
The client liked Colin’s honesty, passion and insistence on quality. Just as importantly, he ensured community relations with the neighbouring racecourse and residents never soured.
The November/December 2025 issue of Construction Management magazine is now available to read in digital format.
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