Louise Dwyer of JLL was a deserving recipient of the Project Manager of the Year accolade at the 2018 Fit Out Awards and she reflected on her prestigious success in conversation with Building Ireland.
Launched in 2012, the Fit Out Awards celebrate excellence in the execution of world-class fit outs, and also the people and clients who drive these projects. Each year, the awards have grown in scale and companies from all over Ireland come together, network, collaborate and showcase their work.
Past winners comprise a ‘who’s who’ of the most notable leaders and projects within the sector.
By providing a showcase to recognise this distinct and unique design and construction industry, the Fit Out Awards seek to encourage greater investment by corporate and public sector clients; the awards also aim to support the development of key fit-out skills and promote best practice to help the sector grow in the years to come.
Submissions were judged by a panel of distinguished commentators, critics, international designers and fit out practitioners and the winners were revealed at the seventh annual Awards night which took place on Thursday, November 1st, at the Convention Centre in Dublin.
The Project Manager of the Year category was open to any Project Manager who has played a key role in project managing a successful fit out project over the previous 12 months.
Louse Dywer of JLL ticked all the right boxes.
“It was fantastic to receive recognition and acknowledgment from your own field,” commented Louise who beat off stiff competition on the night. “It was great to be short-listed in the first place and to win is a fantastic achievement. We submitted an overview of the scale and scope of projects we successfully delivered over the past 12 months and some of the great feedback we received from the clients we worked on behalf of.”
Jones Lang LaSalle is a financial and professional services firm that specialises in commercial real estate services and investment management.
They are in the business to create and deliver real value through commercial real estate for clients, shareholders and their own people. In a complex world that is constantly changing, JLL is committed to helping their clients understand and navigate the intricacies of commercial real estate whether you’re an investor or occupier of space.
To help them achieve their mission, they attract, nurture and reward the best and most diverse people in their industry, who develop enduring client relationships built on quality service, collaboration and trust. Their 70,000 people across 1,000 locations in 80 countries serve the local, regional and global real estate needs of corporates and investors, delivering integrated commercial real estate services built on insight and foresight, sound market research and relevant knowledge.
The Irish office has been based in Dublin since 1964 where they have been closely involved in many of the country’s most iconic and prestigious development schemes. JLL currently employs just under 100 people in this country.
With a background in design, Louise joined JLL three years ago as a Project Manager in their Project and Development Services department.
No other service provider has a comparable bench of professionals or the best practices, process controls and global experience that JLL will put to work to address your real estate project management needs.
From office fit out to health care, retail centres to logistics facilities you gain instant access to a team selected specifically to meet your objectives, and they come armed with expertise in new building and interior build-out, development management, commercial real estate operations, occupancy planning, engineering, architecture and construction.
Their collaborative approach is managed by a dedicated project manager who serves as your single point of contact and accountability.
“Our Project and Development Services department has expanded considerably in the last three years and currently consists of 11 people in total,” Louise explained. “Within that there is a broad understanding of real estate and a broad skill set incorporating engineers, building surveyors and design. That, in turn, enables us to develop our individual skill sets by utilising the people sitting next to you.
“It gives you access to a lot of first-hand information and knowledge straight away and one of the main strengths of JLL, as a company, is the broad spectrum of skill sets that exists across the company under one roof. The team is constantly growing and there’s a fantastic team dynamic with a very strong ethos in all elements and across all sectors.”
These skill sets were put to good use on the refurbishment and fit-out of a large Multi-National client occupying over 100,000 sq ft campus in Letterkenny, County Donegal
“It was a very challenging project that involved a sizeable amount of travel and we brought everything and more to the table at all stages of the project. The project lasted 18 months from project initiation through to completion which will a small time frame for a project of that scale. We were thrilled with the feedback we received from the client on completion.”
Louise added: “You never get a day’s down time in this industry. The sector is currently very hot, booming and were are about to start projects on behalf of valued Irish and International clients.”
Being the best means more than driving projects to on-time, on-budget completion. JLL’s real estate project managers can quickly scale up or down to address your company’s changing needs and the asset types in your portfolio. Whatever the scope, they’ll work with you to set measurable goals and then achieve them together.
JLL Ireland
Styne House
Upper Hatch Street
Dublin
D02 DY27
Tel: +353 16731600
Taken from Building Ireland Magazine, February 2019, Vol 5 No 2
