Paul Morrell will leave a big hole when he says goodbye to Davis Langdon
Quantity surveying is about to lose one of its few true stars. This week Paul Morrell, the veteran Davis Langdon man who has built up a unique reputation in the industry as a thinker and a supporter of fine design, announced that he is to resign.
The timing seems appropriate: Wednesday marked the 35th anniversary of the day he joined the company as a fresh-faced 23 year old. It was also the 92nd birthday of his father, who had earned his living as a contractor.
Although Morrell Jr considered becoming a lawyer, and briefly studied for the bar, he eventually followed his childhood ambition and entered his father鈥檚 industry. 鈥淚 flirted with the idea of law, but I chose construction as it has a product.鈥�
He believes he was the company鈥檚 first employee to have studied to be a QS, and his brightness told 鈥� he became a partner within five years. In 1988, he joined the main board, and became senior partner in 1998. In the five memorable years he held the top job, he reorganised the company into an international network.
But it was Morrell鈥檚 ability to construct high-quality buildings to time and budget that made his name. Architects agree that he has been a joy to work with. Ken Shuttleworth, the former director of Foster and Partners, said in 1997: 鈥淧aul is brilliant. He鈥檚 more than just a QS 鈥� he鈥檚 part of the design team and comments on things beyond his discipline.鈥�
It is not surprising, then, that Morrell names Shuttleworth as one of the two 鈥減roudest relationships鈥� he has in construction.
The other was with his great friend Sir Stuart Lipton, the former chairman of Stanhope. Morrell worked with both on the ITN building on Gray鈥檚 Inn Road in London during the 1990s, a scheme that required 400,000ft2 of office space to be built in one year 鈥� and came in on budget.
I鈥檓 not going to stop. I鈥檓 going to live what鈥檚 known as a portfolio life
Paul Morrell
Along with ITN, it is the Tate Modern that Morrell hopes to be remembered for. The Tate was a particularly difficult job, 鈥渁 brute of a building鈥� that had to be completed for 拢134m, right down to 鈥渢he red carpet for the Queen at the opening ceremony鈥�, he laughs. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the big difference in my lifetime. It鈥檚 not just about the construction cost of the building, but the total investment that QSs have to deal with.鈥�
He will also be remembered for his work with the British Council for Offices, which he co-founded and led for a year. He has been rewarded for his work: he was appointed a Cabe commissioner in 2001 鈥� a rare honour for a QS 鈥� and named one of the 40 inaugural members of the 好色先生TV Hall of Fame.
As Shuttleworth says, Morrell鈥檚 expertise extends beyond quantity surveying. He was appointed chairman of dance company Siobhan Davies two months ago and has served on the board of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has a passion for the stage: 鈥淚 go to the opera once every two months, dance twice a month and the theatre twice a month.鈥�
Not that he will leave the construction industry behind. Morrell will be 59 when he leaves Davis Langdon next April, and will continue to work for the company as a consultant.
鈥淚鈥檓 not going to stop, that鈥檚 for sure,鈥� he laughs. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to live what鈥檚 known as a 鈥榩ortfolio life鈥�, working on an assignment basis.鈥�
One of these assignments is a rather cushy-sounding job on a 拢2bn resort scheme in the Bahamas 鈥� he ran a company set up by Davis Langdon to advise on the project, and he will continue to help with it.
However, little else about his future is clear yet. But he doesn鈥檛 intend to go on and on like that other great name in the discipline, James Nisbet, 86, who spends a few days a month at the firm he founded.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a legend,鈥� says Morrell of Nisbet. 鈥淏ut I won鈥檛 be doing that. I don鈥檛 want to be haunting the corridors here.鈥�
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