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CarlDainter
Nic Hamlin

Project Director, Construction, UK

Nic joined Mace in 1992 and spent 15 years working on a variety of construction projects at Gatwick and Heathrow airports. He left Mace in 2007 but returned within six months to work on a series of data centres.

How did you get into what you do?
In the early 1990s I was working in construction management in central London. Mace was formed in 1990 and was expanding rapidly with a good reputation in its early years. I heard they were recruiting heavily and having worked with the founders on the Broadgate development during the 1980s prior to Mace being formed, I applied and was successful.

What do you enjoy most about your role at Mace?
The sense of achievement at the end of each day. The great thing about building is you start on day one with a greenfield or brownfield site and, after a lot of hard work, sweat and tears, you end up with something you can stand back and admire. I also enjoy the challenge of working with the client, designer and contractors to get the best solution to meet the client’s requirements.

What’s your proudest achievement at Mace?

I’m proud of working on Heathrow Terminal 5, but the one that’s up there is being involved in The Emirates Airline. It’s not often you get to work on such an iconic, unusual project. I’m proud to have delivered it within what was a tight, challenging timescale.

What advice would you give to someone looking to get into what you do?

Always listen – there’s a lot of knowledge out there. Be passionate and enjoy what you do, and make sure you have a good sense of achievement.

What do you see as the big trend for your specialism in the next five years?

In construction, clients are becoming more knowledgeable and want things delivered ever quicker and more cost effectively - which can’t continue forever. Hopefully, traditional construction management will come back to the fore, where the client relies on our skills and knowledge to advise them on the best type of procurement and programme timescales.

Within the data centre sector, clients increasingly want more sustainable buildings. Traditionally, data centres were built to maximise the heat loss from the buildings, to keep the servers as cool as possible ­- quite the opposite of a sustainable ethos. Increasingly, the demand is for environmentally friendly, state of the art data centres built on brownfield sites that reuse the heat generated by the servers.

What are you passionate about outside of work?

Spending time with my family, including my two grandchildren. If I have the time, I watch rugby or golf. Back in the day I used to play rugby but now I only get to watch, I try to go to Wasps matches whenever I can.
“The great thing about building is you start on day one with a greenfield or brownfield site and, after a lot of hard work, sweat and tears, you end up with something you can stand back and admire.”
Nic Hamlin
Project Director, Construction, UK