A design student from Sale is helping to build the new stand at Lord’s, the home of cricket.
When Daniel Dias, 21, began his studies at Loughborough University, little did he know what his work placement would hold.
The third year of Daniel’s four-year course was with BAM Construction and he is now coming to the end of an incredible 12 months.
Speaking to the M.E.N., Daniel said: “I’ve been really enjoying it. It’s been a challenging placement and the team that I’m with on the site have been very supportive and have let me get on with things. They’ve sort of left me to my own devices to see how I can take on a task.”
BAM’s other projects include the Co-operative HQ in Manchester, but the firm wanted Daniel’s assistance constructing the new Warner Stand at Lord’s in London.
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Daniel started his placement on July 6, last year, as part of his course for design management and he will complete the work on June 24, then head back for his final year at Loughborough in September.
He has since been appointed assistant site manager, helping with day-to-day procedures on the construction site, working out problems, managing quality issues, and regularly waking up in the early hours to let cranes in.
He added: “Working on the building site has sort of swayed it a little bit and I quite fancy working on the construction side rather than doing the design management. The experience I am getting now puts me in good stead. Rather than being stuck in an office job, you’re out there facing problems on the day-to-day, having to solve them quickly.”
The Warner Stand project at Lord’s has been split into two stages, with a tight schedule for this first stage that Daniel has been involved with, which must be completed by July 14 when the ground hosts the First Test match between England and Pakistan.
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Stage one sees the concrete frame of the stand go into place, along with precast elements to create almost the empty shell of the stand. Stage two, which starts in September, sees the roof and interior elements – including proper seating – go into place.
BAM’s project manager, Kevin Stoney, said: “He’s doing extremely well, we’ve dropped him in at the deep end, and he’s definitely a talent for the future.”
In summer 2013, after Daniel, then 18, had finished his A-levels and was about to start at Loughborough, he helped with the construction of the Manchester City Academy and Youth Stadiums. Daniel added: “I’ll get the degree out of the way first, focus on that, and then see where it takes me after - with having the placement in London, it’s highly likely that I’ll be back in London.”
