The rebuild of a Swansea arson-hit school has been hailed as a shining example of how projects should be done across the country.
A special award has been given to the team driving forward the project to rebuild Penyrheol Comprehensive School whose collaborative approach could now be a blueprint for similar projects nationwide.
Swansea Council officers John Fletcher and Geraint Flowers are celebrating winning the Judges Special Award at the 2010 Constructing Excellence in Wales Awards.
The honour was given in recognition of the success of the project which saw Penyrheol Comprehensive School rebuilt following an arson attack in 2006.
Judges made the special award because of the huge personal commitment and leadership made by the small team challenged to rebuild the fire damaged school.
They were impressed by the way they were able to work to a fixed budget and in a tight timeframe while maintaining the children’s education in what remained of the building.
The award citation said: “Not dismayed by the scale of the project facing them, the team decided to move away from traditional adversarial procurement and chose collaborative working.
“They pursued a tough performance measurement regime and became the first of the new style Welsh Demonstration Projects so that this should not be just a one-off but should be the first of many projects delivered this way.
“Their commitment extended right down to supplying Welsh Cakes for team meetings.”
In addition to the special recognition award, Swansea Council was also shortlisted as finalists in five other categories.
Paul Smith, Swansea Council’s Chief Executive, said: “To be recognised across a range of categories is a tremendous achievement and testament to the hard work that is going on within some very tight financial pressures.”
Eira Rowe, Director Operations and Events at CEW, said: ” These award winners are the best of the best and proof that the collaborative approach to the procurement and management of projects delivers outstanding performance and results every time. It is a shining example for the rest of construction to follow at a time when we need to improve our procurement methods and measure performance more than ever.”
