Mannok are currently working with Lawrence Baker, one of the country’s leading care home construction companies, as a key supplier on the construction of a number of new care homes across England. With Precast installation work almost complete on the latest projects, this will soon bring the total to nine care homes to date where Mannok supplied and fitted all the precast concrete elements.

Lawrence Baker is a specialist care home construction company, building care homes across the UK for highly regarded care home operators and covering every aspect of the development process. “Care built with care” is the Lawrence Baker way, who have selected Mannok as the contractor for Precast concrete floors, stairs and landings to help ensure the quality supply and fit of these precast elements.

THE FULL PACKAGE

The high value projects for Lawrence Baker include the design, manufacture and installation of all precast elements required for all care homes. This includes a total of over 40,000m2 of Mannok precast hollowcore flooring and all custom built precast stair units. The client availed of the full package offering from Mannok on each project, which includes:

• Bespoke design to meet specification with comprehensive value engineering service
• Manufacture of all precast concrete elements on custom built moulds with rigorous factory-controlled quality procedures
• Dedicated UK based contracts management team
• All site safety requirements, including risk assessments, lift plans and site assessments by approved appointed personnel
• Craneage as required
• Safe and efficient installation by our qualified fitting crews, including grouting to provide a finished working platform to allow other wet trades to access safely

LAWRENCE BAKER EXPERIENCE

The feedback from the client, Lawrence Baker, has been very positive as work continues on the ongoing build projects. The company’s Site Manager, Derek Paramanis, who has worked with the Mannok team on the construction of a new care home in Bingham, said,

“The organisation, scheduling and programming of the works at each stage prior to the placement of the floors was, in my opinion, exceptional.

The importance of forward planning and thinking for the works is often lost, but not in this case, as we were able to agree all matters ahead of time and adjust things whenever required, and that is much appreciated.

However, all of yours and our hard work ahead of your works is only worthwhile when the ‘fitting’ team act in a good way and the Mannok team were excellent.

Their attitude to all matters to do with their works, from health & safety, through to the actual laying of the slabs was the best I have had on site for a very long time.

They worked in the correct sequence and to the time scales required, and in fact enhanced the programme because of the way they worked.

This has been a very pleasant experience and much appreciated.”

EFFICIENCY IS KEY

On any large-scale construction project, efficiency in every aspect of the build is essential to success and to ensure strong working partnerships, whether that’s efficiencies of cost, time, or space. Mannok’s focus on efficiency to ensure the very best outcomes for the client has resulted in a fruitful partnership with Lawrence Baker which continues with the ongoing construction projects.

COST OPTIMISATION

A key part of the process for each project was a value engineering and design process, which can include BIM as required, undertaken by Mannok’s highly experienced design engineers in collaboration with the Lawrence Baker team. By conducting a value engineering exercise at design stage, we could advise the client on the most cost effective, bespoke design solutions to achieve their objectives without compromising on quality.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

From Mannok’s “just in time” deliveries, to speed of installation, timing was critical on each project. Off-site manufacture and fast installation are key advantages to using precast concrete elements, particularly in large scale projects such as these. The Mannok logistics team planned with precision to ensure our delivery and installation crews stuck to the stringent programme of works, often with very tight timelines. The crew successfully adhered to all schedules, and in some cases managed to complete installation works ahead of programme on site. Carefully co-ordinated “just in time” deliveries means no storage requirements and reduced traffic on site for even more efficiency.

This modern method of construction is not only proven to be time efficient, but also offers significant advantages when it comes to quality control, with all elements manufactured offsite under rigorous factory controlled quality procedures, effectively eliminating the risk of many common on-site issues.

LEAN EFFICIENCIES

Mannok have embraced lean methodology throughout the business, and part of this is the highly optimised loading and delivery schedules co-ordinated with the other divisions within Mannok. Thanks to the company’s state of the art Delivery Hub, logistical management of multi-product deliveries ensures maximum utilisation of space and minimising lorries and trucks on the road. Mannok’s mixed loads are effectively utilised to ensure when Precast elements are delivered to site, any available space is filled with other Mannok products to be delivered in the same localised region.