Gareth McGlynn: David Askie, welcome to the Preconstruction Podcast.
David Askie: How are you doing, Gareth? Good to meet you.
Gareth: What is the craic?
David: Enjoying myself today.I didn’t get to the office in Chicago to met a few people out here as well.
Gareth: Good, nice.
David: [cross-talk]
Gareth: Jet setting. Obviously, people listening we can quickly realize that David is an Australian. We’re going to dive right in it, Newcastle. You studied in Newcastle, Australia and anybody who doesn’t know that, it’s about three hours north of Sydney, did construction management with Beldon. Take us back there. How was that? Was David a well-mannered young man or was he always destined to lead Lendlease in Project Controls?
David: I guess going back to Newcastle, I did my university there and it was an amazing beach-side town, like you said, a couple of hours north of Sydney and I guess, we really enjoyed just getting into the building side of things. Before, I probably wanted to be an architect but then I didn’t quite get the marks in school because I was always probably doing a bit more athletics and running and stuff, and that was taking up my time when applying myself at school.
Gareth: [cross-talk]
David: [cross-talk] was a good-- a great second choice.
Gareth: I’m glad you saying running and athletics there rather than partying and enjoying yourself. That is what most people get distracted with in college but you know, at Newcastle, just a quick one, I mean I spent a little bit of time in Australia and did the whole trip from Melbourne right up to Cairns in that whole east, I’m sorry, uh, yeah, east coast. I spent some time there than in the west coast. It’s a lovely part of the world, the coral reef.
David: Yeah. That particularly out there in Newcastle, it certainly what do they call it, god’s country? [cross-talk].
Gareth: [Laughter] Brilliant. So, you did the degree, obviously in Beldon and funny, you mentioned that you wanted to become an architect. We had a lot of architects, which are really not architects. They either wanted to be an architect when they’re grown up or they studied architecture and then moved into preconstruction. It’s a funny one. It’s obviously been-- what it was and you’re thinking throughout high school.
David: Well, just growing up. We had sort of, had some construction project going on right sort of near our place and we go away sort of to see some, yeah, there was a big shopping centre that was going up just down the road from us and actually, yeah. Lendlease was building it at that time as well. So that was quite interesting just to sort of see some of these things that was, yeah. It was all about understanding. They sort of all went together in architecture and engineering, and construction was always sort of in the back of my mind just because of some of those things.
Gareth: Brilliant. And as you say, listen, no matter where you were brought up in Australia, there was a Lendlease sign somewhere.
David: Yes, that’s true.
Gareth: And they generally have the marquee, the marquee project as well, which is always nicer.
David: Yeah. A really strong presence abroad and across Australia definitely.
Gareth: Good, good. Well then, obviously studied and then in 2006 went straight into Lendlease. Was that an easy decision? Obviously, they are the marquee brand when it comes to construction in Australia. Was it a case of what when Lendlease come knocking in Australia, you can’t really turn them down?
David: Well, I got back to Australia in 2006. I scaled the market for opportunities and, you know, it was a pretty easy decision. In the end, yeah, there was a few sort of smaller, smaller contractors, one that I’d sort of work with a little bit before, but having the offer to eventually to join Lendlease was too hard to refuse really, just because of that reputation.
Gareth: Good. And then, leaving college, leaving Newcastle, did you see enough in the Construction Management degree to know that you were more suited to preconstruction or the project control side of things? Or, did you go and try the project management? How did that kind of career path take you towards project controls?
David: The course at Newcastle University was very, sort of, broad. So, yeah, it was construction management that did have a bit of that estimating controls all that sorts of the stuffs in there as well. But I guess the opportunity to really came from the Olympics in Sydney as well like so, after getting out of college university, you know, I bump into a small construction company and the Olympics were going on. And it was really that there was so much work to chase at that time. It was like, how do I get in and help out with this company. The Estimating Department was really the first place to go. We need some help here because we’ve got so much to sort of really some work to chase some great opportunities around. That’s why I really sort of gotten into estimating and I think from my background at school and stuff, you know, I was quite good at math as well. And so, it was that sort of understanding and some logical thinking as well as being able to think about numbers. It was really sort of, yeah, an easy way to getting into estimating and preconstruction.
Gareth: Brilliant. And then, obviously, the Olympics were in town. Did you guys have a set package of? What work did you get and what was your first project?
David: It was probably more of the periphery stuff as well. Like so there was a lot of new residential development, a lot of the smaller office buildings, a lot of things that were connected to the Olympics but as the sort of small construction company. The activity in the market was really just booming. So, yeah, we’ve got a few others as small as a residential thing that we got going there. That was a great time to be in the city.
Gareth: Fantastic. And then, Lendlease in Sydney, give us an idea of marquee projects that you have worked on particularly in Sydney.
David: When I was working for Lendlease in Sydney, typically I was working on some of the shopping centres that we were developing there as well. So, Lendlease has a property development as well as investment, as well as construction. We bought a new-- we bought an existing shopping centre and then we need to expand it. Macarthur Square was probably one of the ones that we worked on recently. When I was there, Top Ryde Shopping centre was something that we sort of pulled down the existing shopping centre and then dug a big hole and sort of rebuilt the whole thing which was just sort of near the Olympics as well. There was another one in Western Australia that we really developed called Joondalup as well. So that is Joondalup Shopping Centre. We expanded that probably back in around 2010. I think it might have been then.
Gareth: Brilliant. Joondalup have been there. Nice shopping centre. Good job. Tell me about the mall in Sydney or the shopping centre in Sydney. Obviously, you’re not junior, you’re well into your career at this stage, give us an idea of the methodology and the principles, and how did you go about it? Was it a GMP? Was it CM at Risk? IPD? What do the process look like and what did you learn during that huge project?
David: Yes. Well really, I connected really well to the development team. The development team sort of look at it from a really sort of early concept perspective, where that was going, what’s the option and ways that we can sort of really accelerate this development, accelerate the way did the shopping centre works. So, we were getting there early, we had the construction team. So, I was all part of the construction team. Soon, we have to development team. We were just working together on some concepts around it. We had sort of a lot of good benchmarking from the previous projects that sort of just applying the sort of high-level rates to things to make sure that we could come up with a good scheme. So, we are running through different options, different schemes, pricing them from the high level but using some of the design metrics as well like, you know, how much house converted back to sort of retail area but we had in this and what was the parking ratios, all that sort of stuff to really help guide the development team.
Gareth: Brilliant. I saw on your-- on your-- because I know your were Head of Retail for a while and then you came on to Head of Cost Planning in Europe. I mean, that’s a huge title for Lendlease. How was that, I mean, was there a lot of travel involved? What sort of strategy did you guys have in Europe? Was it geographical? Was it the type of project?
David: Yeah, it was more of the type of project really like so. We were looking for-- working with some of the local councils who’s really part of the big gap that we had there was at the development business was chasing those really big sort of urban region. Redevelopment projects with the local councils where they were sort of going, “Yeah, we got this old stock or this old pieces of land that we were looking to redevelop into housing for the London market.” That was a big one and then some in Milan, was another really sort of big regeneration area where there was a lot of opportunity for needing extra housing but I guess attached to all that housing, there was always some retail aspect. There was also some office aspect you had to-- that makes use of development as well. So, we really-- Milan is a-- The old Expo site was a big one that we sort of worked on. It’s still going. It is called MIND that we are working on and I guess they are the ones that we’ve been working on for a really long time was Elephant Park, Elephant Castle. They were just beyond. And then Deptford is another one. That’s another 1000 units that we’ve been sort of just developing over the last few years. Lots of other opportunities that were-- Euston Station and Harringay, I think, was the other one west. Lots of good opportunities that we get going all those day and--.
Gareth: How do you do that? What are the challenges and what’s the hardest thing about doing a project in Milan, a project in London, run a team, keeping on top of project planning costs? What’s the secret because it’s all well and good but building something in Sydney or even in Joondalup across the country, but delivering something in a completely different region, different language, different culture, different subs, different legislation, different permits, how do you keep on top of that?
David: I mean, yeah, I’m certainly being fortunate to have a great team and being able to really support that. Trusting in some of these very experienced people that were guarding those regions has been, I guess, I’ve been trying to, I guess, direct them in a certain way but in trusting that they know what they’re doing. Bringing a few things from different areas as well I think that was probably something that really worked well with, yet, I learned something in Australia that the Australian team did well bringing that to the UK, bringing that to Milan, bringing that to America as well. Something I learned in the UK that I can bring down to the US business and then even transferring some of the American stuff to my colleagues in the other regions. I think that has really been a strong point of the way Lendlease has been working that connection between regions using that best practice sort of around the world has been quite helpful and having a lot of good people in the region that they understand what they’re doing, they understand the rates, they understand the market. That’s the thing we need from most of those teams.
Gareth: Brilliant. Yeah, very well said, I mean, knowledge and experience, you can’t beat it really and Lendlease obviously travels, the name travels well and more importantly, you’ve travelled well. Have you always wanted to travel the world because you’ve gone obviously to Australia and UK for five and a half years, and now in 2018, you arrive in the US. Was it always something that interested you?
David: I think, you know, in reality I’ve just been lucky to, you know, very fortunate, I guess, to have these opportunities. My wife, Heidi, she has been very supportive of us saying yes to these opportunities as well. I think that has been a great thing that we’ve been having sort of saying let’s take this next opportunity that is out there. Have I ever been chasing it? I probably haven’t been chasing it but I’ve been really sort of willing to say yes to some of these great things that have been happening now.
Gareth: Yeah. And again, being able to say yes as well doing different projects in different countries in different continents, it lays you the land. You learn and you develop so much faster because you’re going to have someone sitting, teaching these things in Sydney but until you actually go out there to test yourself and do it, that’s how you really do learn. So, I’m sure--
David: I think the diversity of your background is something that is sort of publicized and in Lendlease, it’s like how do we get the diverse backgrounds together. I think that’s definitely what you’re saying is that I have had always diverse people that have been sort of taking a bit from here, taking a bit from there, taking a bit from all these different people. We’ve got some amazing talent at Lendlease and all around the place and being able to sort of learn different skills from different regions has been amazing for me.
Gareth: Yeah. Absolutely. I can’t-- I can’t tell you how much I learned when I start to travel to 2029 and it just naturally happens whether you like it or not, you do get in your own kind of time. You do get kind of stuck on a rough and you don’t really broaden your horizons. That’s good. So, I mean, I’m sure Lendlease New York and Lendlease US were delighted to welcome you in 2018. Such a knowledgeable person was in Project Controls. When you arrived in New York, obviously Lendlease are building and building and getting the momentum is really starting to hit home. How exciting of an opportunity was it?
David: It was the place that we were starting to really experience the most over and above, we’ve seen a lot of construction projects across America that we’re still doing but yet, doing all those some of the biggest residential buildings in the country. It was exciting to be coming to New York to sort of participate in some of that but also starting to expand our development opportunities as well. Being able to, you know, look at the next things that we can build in residential building, offers of building Life Sciences. That’s really what we are sort of aiming for and then, yeah, expanding all across the country. Yeah, it is very exciting to find.
Gareth: Brilliant. And for anybody listening that doesn’t understand or isn’t aware of the projects that you’re doing, I mean, give us an example of what you are working at the moment in LA, San Fran, New York, Chicago. Give us an idea of the marquee ones.
David: So, yeah. In construction, yeah, we’ve really just completed the Jacob Javits Center, a large sort of redevelopment of the convention centre there in New York. Amazing sort of a huge project that the team had been working on for years. That was a really-- a really marquee project for the business. Central Park Tower was another one that, yeah, the New York team delivered a few years back, you know, a really tall residential buildings just south side of the park, Central Park in New York. In Chicago, we were currently sort of developing a project called Lakeshore East just along the-- just near the lake that is just completing and we’re ready to get the next stage going, as well as a few buildings at Southbank that we’re developing which is right on the river in Chicago and then over in San Francisco, we’re about to start to work on a project at 30 Van Ness, which is another residential with some office buildings. In LA, we’re doing a residential project for a developer with another sort of 400 apartments in the center of-- in downtown LA and then we’ve bought a block of land just nearby LA. Then we’re going to redevelop some apartments and office on as well.
Gareth: Brilliant.
David: All around the country, lots happening. Too many opportunities to list at the moment.
Gareth: That’s it. That’s what you want. You want to be able to say no. David, that’s the key when you’re saying no, you’re winning. Trust me. [Chuckles]
David: [Chuckles]
Gareth: So give us an idea now, David, I mean, something that the preconstruction prodcast is all about is technological advances, preconstruction technology. It’s evolving at a rapid pace. There are new shiny toys arriving every day of the week. How do you guys kind of navigate that area because I see that you’re head of Integrated Solutions. Try and give us an idea of what that role entails and how preconstruction technology comes in there and how important it is.
David: It’s an amazing sort of topic to discuss really because I’ve been involved in it for many years now. I guess I took about six months of the main part of the Lendlease business to then focus on our sort of preconstruction technology and so deliver an estimating system that we could use across the country. That, I guess, focused my mind on what we needed to do in construction technology and how we can use it to be sort of more productive, more, yeah, make things simpler and easier for us. How do we get templates in there to do things quick enough, reinventing the wheel every time. It’s like we got these templates, we can use things. And then using the software to be able to, I guess, automate a bit of a few other things for us. How can we connect the model to the other quantities. It’s more about extraction rather than measurement. It’s like how do we connect those things. The new technology around some of the BIM and VDC that we’ve got going at the moment. There is amazingly exciting that the team is really sort of, yeah, pushing forward on one of the next things that we need to do, the reality capture, the point things that the team are really doing, the laser scanning, yeah, all that good stuff is really exciting for our business that we are really starting to get our teams working together really well around. So the cost team, the scheduling team, and the VDC team. I guess that’s-- we call, yeah, my role is called Head of Integrated Solutions but I guess it’s the term that we use. It’s the same as preconstruction, really, it is that getting VDC, scheduling cost and then our sort of subject matter experts as well as our supply chain team as well. So, bringing all those people together in a functional group. I think it gives us that consistency of the way we’re doing things to give management the confidence around how we’re coming up with the designs, the schedules, and the numbers.
Gareth: Brilliant, yeah. I mean, it’s a common problem I hear all the time from contractors and talking about small, mid, large contractors, every office that has got multiple offices all over the US. They are all estimating and running through precon in different ways using different tools, and on Excel, and on different technologies. You mentioned there that you’ve kind of formalized an estimate software that everyone uses.
Gareth: [chuckles] So, David, let quickly now go back to your plans. Obviously, you’re going to be heading quite a lot of recruitment, the development of the teams. Give us an idea of what you will be looking for in a different geographical areas that you have offices.
David: So, across the country, we are looking at how can we build our teams because of those opportunities, as I have mentioned earlier, we are really looking to expand our teams. California seems to be a place where we’ve got a lot of good opportunities with the FBLA project I mentioned. Also, up in the South Bay area, we’ve got an opportunity that we’re working on with Google and it’s to build sort of 15,000 homes over the next 10 years where we’re going to be building up the . We’re also working on the master planning part of that with Google as well, so yeah, to deliver those things. We’re going to sort of doing it in different ways. Well, we can’t just do it fairly traditionally so we’re needing to, I guess, look at exciting new ways of the way we can build buildings, what’s the modularization type of stuff that is at different wave, I guess, at different mindset, a different thinking around that. I think it’s good to think about the future.
Gareth: . What a project to be able to have a landmark or a marquee project. I mean, if you get that right and I know Lendlease has been doing it for years in the UK and Australia, and even in the US but to be able to build 15,000 homes in such an expensive part of the world, and if you do, you use prefabrication or modular, whatever it may be. I mean, that will be a serious project that stick on the Lendlease resume and go right. The next project comes up like that. We’re in first place.
David: I think the really exciting thing I find about it as well is there is that housing crisis that people are talking about in the West Coast as well and it’s like we’re contributing to try and help some of that as well and I think the company really supports that.
Gareth: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it’s a constant problem many of my clients over there, they’re looking for people. People love to that part of the world. They love the companies, they love the projects. It’s just the cost of living and the more homes we can get built there, the better for everyone. And then, what about the levels. Obviously, you’re Head of Project Controls or Head of Integrated Services, what sort of levels would you be looking for? Is it senior estimator, preconstruction managers, directors, VPs? What would you-- what’s the sweet spot?
David: I think, yeah, we’re really thinking around some of the graduate places that we needed to develop, get some people from there, the graduate level but all the way up to some, yeah, we do need some senior level cost resources and senior level scheduling resources and we need some more people in the VDC team as well. We’d love to get some people that had few years experience here in preconstruction that understand a little bit about-- that had a little bit of experience but we understand that. We’d love to train some people as well to really get into both scheduling VDC and cost estimating, cost planning that we do here. I think we’ve really started to train our people really well. Over the last few years, we’ve got a lot of good experienced people. We have enjoyed bringing people along the journey, get them trained. I think what we’ve started to develop is understanding what the advantages of preconstruction is like. I think we get a variety of those projects as well. I think a lot of people in the preconstruction generally find exciting is like, “This week, I might be working on a residential project here and might be working on a Chicago office development the next week as well.” It’s getting the different exposure to different things and then working with changing different areas across the country I think is pretty exciting for a preconstruction team.
Gareth: Absolutely. I mean, this preconstruction podcast is all about. To me, if I were studying again or graduate and being able to work on a marquee project all over the US using the best technology and learning from the best people, whether it be nationally or internationally, I mean, it doesn’t get much better. So, an organic growth, as you said, bring them on a graduate level and training them up is the best way to go if you can do that, it’s getting more difficult though.
David: What we’re trying to do as well is we connect that globally, . Before the pandemic, we had a group of the Australian team, the UK team, and the American team sort of all come together in one location to sort of do some of the education and training. It was a bit of that sharing of understanding of how we do things as well. Like I was saying before around sort of how do we take the best bits of different areas, the sharing that the teams did in those sort of forums to, I guess, educate people about it. This is why we were doing something and based on their functions and features of what we are doing. It was a bit of an eye opening for each of the regions to just go there. They got similar problems to what we do but this is how they solved it in a little bit of different way.
Gareth: Brilliant. And as you know it is, David, it’s more of what not to rather than what to do. [Chuckle] You know what I mean? Because you don’t learn a lot from a successful project but I tell you what, you learn a whole lot from a bad project and we don’t want that to be-- Well, listen David. This has been incredible. A huge thank you to yourself and Lendlease to have someone at your level and your international experience come on and talk about it has been invaluable. For anybody who’s looking to reach out to you, what’s the best channel to connect with you? Is it LinkedIn, email, what’s--?
David: I do look at LinkedIn a little bit. So, LinkedIn is a great way to connect with me. Sure.
Gareth: Brilliant. What I’ll do any of the content that I would be your contact information below that as well.
David: [cross-talk]
Gareth: You’re an avid swimmer, I’m sorry, runner, cyclist, and snowboarder or is it skier?
David: Snowboarder, yeah. Sure.
Gareth: Brilliant. Goal next week? Where are you heading off [cross-talk]?
David: In Breckenridge for a week there. So, looking forward to it. I hope there’s a bit more snow .
Gareth: That’s what I’m going to say. We need a little bit of snow. Well, a snow dump maybe this week and then that’ll be another work week for you next week.
David: Yeah. a blue sky after that, the rest of the week.
Gareth: Exactly. Yeah, you don’t want to be snowboarding on too many blizzards.
David: Yeah .
Gareth: Good,nice. Well, thanks again--
David: [cross-talk]
Gareth: Go ahead, David.
David: I really enjoyed my time here. I really enjoyed it . It’s great what your doing for the preconstruction teams. That publicity, I appreciate it.
Gareth: Yeah. If we can get more people into precon, the better. I know and you may have noticed, there’s a lot of people coming from operations over the precon. I mean, it’s where the big decisions are made and setting us all for success when it comes to projects.
David: Yeah.
Gareth: Good, mate. Thank you, Sir.
David: [cross-talk]
Gareth: Have a good week.
David: Thank you very much. You, too. .
