At the point where we came in, it was 18 empty floors taking up over 63,000 sqm in area and 80m in height that needed to be taken from just a shell to the operations base of the highest revenue generator of the country.

From the outside, the project represented a new identity around tax in Nigeria; however, from the perspective of the fit-out team, it meant taking on the challenge of turning this physical identity into a functional workplace capable of supporting its day-to-day operations.

The process involved more than just installing finishes, supplying furniture and hanging fixtures. It required varied levels of coordination between specialist contractors, constant engagement with stakeholders, dealing with the literal nightmares that came from uncertain procurement lead times as well as managing our subcontractors. At Stretford Hill, we approach these complexities by keeping a tight grip on sequencing and communication from the start, as well as anticipating friction points before they become full-blown delays, rather than reacting after it happens. Generally, SHL’s ultimate goal was to ensure that the spaces we were setting up worked long-term for those who would be using them.

Looking back, multiple things stand out, but 4 of the most important lessons that I believe are most relevant to successfully delivering a large-scale public project of this nature in Nigeria, especially one where procurement, requirement changes, logistics and tight delivery timelines can have significant impact on the outcome include: adjusting quickly to situations you cannot change; consistently maintaining the trust of your clients; coming to terms with the path to great quality not always being linear; and understanding that building good relationships matter much more than you may realize.

1. Quickly Come to Terms with Things You Cannot Change, Then Re-strategize
One of the realities of anything at all is that, often, execution does not go according to plan, even more so for large construction projects such as this. A major process that can quickly alter scheduling is procurement. When procuring carpets for the entire building, we had planned for delivery according to the estimated lead times which we were given, and also provided a sizeable buffer for uncertainties. Regardless of all the steps taken to ensure that most of the possible scenarios were included in the planning, logistics was still top on the list of things to affect the plans made. The carpet shipment, which should roughly take about 2 months to arrive, started to look like it would take over twice the allotted time. Meanwhile, the arrival of the carpets had multiple work items dependent on it, which then had a cascading effect on the timeline of the overall project. Luckily, we had a backup plan, and I quickly learned that while I couldn’t do anything to speed up the arrival of a shipment in transit, I could get ahead of its impact by spending less time feeling panicked about the situation, informing the key stakeholders, identifying potential delays as early as possible and coming up with a catch-up plan that would mitigate the loss in time.
In the end, the lesson was simple: you may not be able to control external factors, but you can always control how you respond to it.

2. Manage Your Clients’ Expectations Without Losing Trust
Communication. This is one of those things that sounds like good relationship advice but also works great as a guide when fitting out a building, especially one of this magnitude. Managing the clients’ expectations during the project execution was challenging at times, one of which was when we had to do a complete overhaul of the furniture arrangement across 95% of the floors as the layout design which we had been working with so far did not align with the clients’ newly updated functions and priorities. This was a different direction not specified within the initial scope, and we knew implementing the changes would affect multiple factors, among which were execution time and cost. Once it was clear what needed to be done, these factors were then communicated clearly to ensure that our objectives still aligned and that both parties were in agreement of the new work plans we had put in place to resolve the challenge.
In a nutshell, this lesson confirmed that while managing people had a lot to do with fulfilling obligations, communication and going the extra mile to back up what has been communicated work together to solidify their trust.

3. The Path is Barely Ever Linear
Working as a contractor on a project typically means executing a design which has already been created. In some cases, you would find that the on-site conditions differ greatly from what’s been designed, which then turns to a challenge that needs to be solved. While this may be seen as a problem, as an architect working as a contractor, I found that I quite enjoyed having to figure out ways that the situation could be resolved while retaining as much of the integrity of the design as possible. It served as a different and unexpected outlet for me to try to be creative. One of the ones which I had the most fun with was the kitchenettes. The kitchenette drawings had already been issued by the architects, and at the start of the procurement process, measurements for the 3 kitchenette typologies were taken for accurate fabrication. Close to the set time to install the pre-fabricated cabinetry, a duct had to be included in one of the kitchenette typologies by the MEP contractors across all floors, which changed the space for this installation.

Because the cabinets were prefabricated, we then had to collaborate with the architects to brainstorm on the best arrangement we could come up with, considering the functions which needed to be maintained, the new space we had to work with and the existing cabinets available. Of course, a new and functional design was achieved.
This took me back to the concept of ‘Design Thinking’ which outlines the stages of design from start to finish but emphasizes that, in most cases, the sequence is not linear. One will very often have to go back and revisit different stages of the process to create the best and most functional version of a product. Adaptability is a valuable skill, which keeps one open to change and learning from everyone around regardless of what skillsets they bring to the project.

4. Relationships Matter More Than You May Realize
With so many moving parts involved in the fit-out of a project of this scale, multiple levels of interactions are carried out on a day-to-day basis, whether with the clients, consultants, other contractors, subcontractors and even with the security detail on site. Seemingly straightforward work items such as carpet and furniture installation meant coordinating with the MEP team to ensure that all their below-floor installations are completed, signed off on for every floor being worked on, and the official go-ahead is given to proceed with the furniture installation. Same went for the installation of the decorative wall cladding used. This involved an even deeper level of coordination because lights were incorporated into most of them and we had to work hand in hand with the project MEP contractors. Multiply this sequence by eighteen floors with each of them potentially being at a different stage, then you’d begin to understand why coordination wasn’t just nice to have; it was critical. Everyone had to be updated constantly to ensure that all versions of the plan stayed consistently aligned. I found that having to coordinate with all these moving parts and people almost daily was a much better experience when a relationship or an interaction had already previously been established.

Fitting out a public building of this scale feels surreal now that it has been commissioned and is currently in use, but it was not the most glamorous process. It involved a lot of tracking, intensely difficult calls, multiple site walkthroughs (I hit over 10k steps daily for months) and a multitude of lessons learnt.

Being a part of its transformation from just a structure to a functional base of operations created to serve Nigeria has taught me that managing a project is not about having all the answers. It is about staying present during uncertainties, communicating honestly when things don’t go along with the plan, and holding a large web of people accountable to achieve the shared goal of providing a quality, appealing and functional building.

This is the standard that remains constant at Stretford Hill Limited regardless of scale: treating public and private infrastructure not just as a contract that has to be delivered but as an experience during the construction process and a responsibility to everyone who will use it long after we have handed over the keys. As we take on more projects, these are the lessons we carry along with us.