About the Project

‘It is an honour,’ said the client of Conor O’Keeffe, ‘to work with someone who puts all his efforts into something he loves.’  

The engineering graduate’s delight in working on challenging projects because they test his ability to find the right solution was entirely evident here.  

By sheet-piling the basement box with a vibrationless rig, he avoided excess ground displacement affecting sewers running either side of the build. He avoided the road closure costs of craning the rig onto site by coming up with a ramped solution that let it be driven onto site.  

Conor eliminated the expensive oversail licence required for a standard luffing jib crane on the 25m-wide site by finding a raptor crane with a folding jib to do the job. By resiting the hoist from the front of the site to the rear, he won quick council permission for its deployment.  

His solution of casting 12mm-thick rips of plywood into the concrete lift shaft gave enough tolerance to install standard 900mm lift doors rather than an expensive bespoke set.  

His finessing of the permanent works installation to get around the clashes posed by another contractor’s temporary works for the party walls was impressive. It got the contract signed in the first place and accelerated the structural frame.  

With a client based in America, Conor held weekly online meetings to keep the client up to date and help reach crucial decisions to keep the project flowing.