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Peter Wilson Award 2022

Peter Wilson Award

We are proud to announce that our father and son team David and Dale Hayward are the recipients of the prestigious Peter Wilson Award 2022. They have been given this award for their work on the grade 1 listed Indigo Hotel in Bath. This was a large, complex, and challenging project which both David and Dale displayed great passion towards throughout.

More About David & Dale

Both David and Dale work in our Clerk of Works division at John Burke Associates. David was appointed as Head Clerk of Works, mentoring his son Dale as Assistant Clerk of Works. Dale worked on this project whilst completing a BSc (Hons) Construction Management Degree. They enjoyed working as a team, especially when they discovered the original Architects were also father and son.

The Project

The project was to enlarge the Indigo Hotel at South Parade in Bath to include connecting buildings within Pierrepoint Street and Duke Street. The development was to provide a total of 166 rooms with associated facilities. This involved the restoration, renovation, conversions, alterations, and extensions of the six-storey building.

The History

The buildings are Grade 1, Grade 2* and Grade 2 listed and form part of an architectural set-piece c1743 to 1749. As mentioned earlier, the original architects were also a father and son team, John Wood the Elder and John Wood the Younger. The properties are constructed on stone vaults and the ownership of the property have a boundary in the centre of a main road. This is because the vaults extend below the highways.

Clerk of Works

As Clerk of Works, their main involvement was recording, photographing, and sketching the original historical features. This is so that such features can be removed for the stabilization and builders works and replaced afterwards. Such features included historical panelling, lime plaster, original coving, stairs, windows, and doors.

Site Inspection

The building inspection was an enjoyable task, as many of the items of the original building had a variety of characteristics. Often the characteristics are the biggest requirement to reflect the age of the building. As such, only the safety aspect took precedence over this. The client’s requirements included out of plumb, bows, curves in walls and open texture of lime wall finish to maintain the charm of the building. There aren’t any British Standards to cover much of the work carried out, but the workmanship of the craftsmen brought out much of the character. The Conservation Office and Architect gave David and Dale guidance on a variable range of acceptable standards of finish for their daily inspections.

The Award

The Peter Wilson Memorial Award was introduced in 2013 and is awarded by the ICWCI to celebrate remarkable achievements. Here at John Burke Associates we are proud of our team and celebrate their achievements. Back in 2019 our colleague Jon Tucker was also the recipient of the award for his outstanding work on the major refurbishment to the Principal Hotel (formally The Russell hotel) London.

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John Burke Associates
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Boosting staff morale whilst working from home.

Boosting staff morale

The past 12 months has seen a rapid rise in people working from home. According to the Office of National Statistics, as many as 46.6% of those in employment worked at least partly from home in April 2020. With the on-going pandemic it is likely that nearly a year on, such figures will have increased. Therefore, boosting staff morale is paramount to your company’s success during this time. Especially with many employees reportedly feeling disconnected from their workplace, it is now as important as ever to find ways to boost company morale – albeit remotely.

Communication

Strong lines of communication create an atmosphere of confidence in the workplace. As such, short, daily meetings and using remote-working technologies will encourage employee trust in the company. As a manager, keep lines of communication open – let your team know they can reach out throughout the workday.

Reward Hard Work

A simple yet overlooked way to boost morale – let your team know if they are doing a good job. Shout-outs in meetings, or personal emails are a great and easy way to reward hard work. Spirits are kept high when hard work is recognised.

Encourage Balance

When working from home, the lines between work-life and home-life can become blurred. Check in with your team; consider discussing a more flexible workday to suit each employee. As a structured workday may not always be ‘one size fits all’.

Virtual Team Building

The idea of team building has been around since the ‘20s – encouraging honest communication, and often forging friendship in the office. There is no need for this to stop whilst working from home. Set time aside in the week to encourage virtual team building activities – a workplace where honest and fun communication is encouraged, results in a happy, productive team.

In Conclusion 

As management, keeping an eye on boosting staff morale is critical – even more so when not, everyone is working at the same location. Keep this advice in mind and watch as you and your team enjoy a happier, more productive working week.

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