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Technical
CIOB Awards 2024: Restoration
CM Staff
St John’s College Library Refurbishment
Winner Gold Award: Jon Brock, Beard Construction
Project: St John’s College Library Refurbishment Scope: Refurbishment of libraries, including Grade I listing Client: St John’s College, University of Oxford Value: £9.45m Form of contract: Two-stage JCT standard build contract with quantities 2016
Jon Brock, who began his career aged 17 as a carpenter and is a fellow of the Institute of Carpenters, considers this project a once-in-a-lifetime job.
It involved the refurbishment of the Old Library and the Laudian Library at St John’s College, Oxford, and the reinstatement of the Paddy Rooms beneath the Old Library, which had been lost in a 1970s conversion.
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Kiran Giri BAM Construction, Plaza Redevelopment Wayne Gray Messenger BCR Group, Oxburgh Hall David Hartley BAM Construct & Ventures UK, Project Icon, Selfridges Birmingham David Mills Sir Robert McAlpine, 80 Strand Nick Sturge Sir Robert McAlpine, Elizabeth Tower Restoration
The Grade-I listed Old Library is supported by 28 structural columns, forming the historic Canterbury Quadrangle, which had to be removed and replaced, requiring the 400-year-old building to be supported on temporary props.
Among the technical challenges overcome by Brock, and the skilled team of trades contractors he assembled, was the replacement of 44 lengths of missing decorative carved oak tracery, which would have taken longer than the 91-week programme to carve. By using CNC machines at the limit of their capability and finishing by hand, the tracery was perfectly recreated.
Brock also devised an ingenious solution for running mechanical and electrical services below the ceiling while maintaining a fire barrier between first and second floors, by safely drilling through asbestos installed between ancient oak beams in the 1970s.
Achieving the high quality required was not a challenge, says Brock, because every one of the skilled people who worked on this project cared as much as he did about it. The project came in on time and under the tender value.
Cleveland Pools, Bath
Winner Silver Award: Mark Tregelles MCIOB, Beard Construction
Project: Cleveland Pools, Bath Scope: Restoration of disused swimming pools and Grade II* listed buildings Client: Cleveland Pools Trust Form of contract: JCT Intermediate with CD 2016 Value: £6.85m
This project for Cleveland Pools Trust saw the refurbishment of Georgian swimming pools and a crescent-shaped Grade II*-listed building after 40 years out of use.
Sandwiched between two residential buildings, the main access to site was the River Avon. Some 95% of materials, plant and waste had to travel by the river, a constraint which ruled the programming of the works, construction sequencing and day-to-day activities on site.
Tregelles managed these complex logistics with constant communication and a flexible approach. The result is a lido with its historic elements restored and the modern-day benefits of warm showers, a refreshment kiosk and accessible facilities.
The January/February 2026 issue of Construction Management magazine is now available to read in digital format.
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