Wates Construction site leader Neil Lock has been named Construction Manager of the Year by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).

The CIOB prize was awarded at the organisation's annual celebration of construction professionals.

Member of the CIOB, Mr Lock won the award due to the leadership he showcased on the recent project at the V&A Museum in South Kensington, London.

He led the delivery of the Victoria and Albert Museum's new gallery, courtyard and entrance, facing almost every construction-related challenge imaginable. The nomination even described some of it as "purgatory", noting that "even the briefest consideration of the scheme quickens the pulse".

The project included a "logistical ordeal", with 6,000 lorry movements through a single entrance onto a major central London road. There was "groundworks horror" with a full-perimeter secant wall piled 25m deep for a 16m-deep basement gallery just two metres away from unique, priceless artefacts in a grade I-listed building. The "purgatory" came with the structural work on the largest columnless gallery in Europe, built from 40m-long single-span trusses weighing 12 tonnes apiece, not to mention an outside courtyard cafe created from 5m-wide structural glazing, curved and slotted into an existing stone facade.


All of the above, plus demolition of existing buildings and "merciless tolerances" with just 5mm of movement allowed for an existing masonry structure, a mere metre away. Plus there were close to 1,000 change requests to process.

Mr Lock beat 63 finalists to claim the award.

CIOB President Chris Soffe said: "The CIOB's Construction Manager of the Year Award is a significant one. We know that those in construction often stay in the sector for the duration of their career and acknowledging those at the peak of their profession is important. The skills of all the medal winners have been tested to the limit and I congratulate all of them. But this years' winner has achieved something truly remarkable. A challenging, high-profile project, pulled off with skill, expertise and great leadership is rightly being recognised. It's an inspiration and a great example of why people come into our industry – how many people will look at a unique building like the V & A and be able to say 'I helped build that'."

CIOB Chief Executive Chris Blythe OBE commented: "CMYA has always been a unique barometer for management, and leadership, talent in our sector and in our 40th year it's been no exception. We've had professionals working on projects of all shapes and sizes challenging for a place as a medal winner. Competition was fierce but Neil stood out for the judges with an outstanding combination of technical expertise, professionalism and brilliant communication skills."

Gavin Heaphy MCIOB, Head Judge, Public and Infrastructure Category, added: "As a CMYA judge, it is an honour and a privilege to spend time with some remarkable people, delivering remarkable projects. This year's competition has been fierce to say the least. We have seen exceptional work from true construction professionals, leading teams to great heights of performance, providing clients with buildings and outcomes beyond expectations. Neil has demonstrated these qualities in spades. Taking all the needs of the V&A London into account, keeping a world leading collection open to the public while creating truly complex engineering and a wonderful building at the same time takes enormous effort. Neil led a team with tenacity and skill to do just that. He can count himself among the best in the business with the Construction Manager of the Year Award."

The Victoria and Albert Museum project was completed in March 2017 across 166 weeks on a contract with a final value of £38m.  

(CM)