ARCOM

Each year ARCOM awards a number of sponsored prizes for best papers. This is an important recognition of the hard work the delegates have put into conducting much interesting research and developing the papers that publish those efforts. The awards all enjoy a £250 prize (or equivalent) together with the certificate that honours the award.

ARCOM has a number of commemorative awards we give annually on surveying/project management (Paul Townsend Commemorative Award), innovation (Rod Howes Commemorative Award) and social impact/significance (David Langford Commemorative Award). The past members of our community ARCOM commemorates each made a significant contribution to the field.

Paul Townsend was a strong supporter of ARCOM and an industry representative on the ARCOM committee for many years. He became an academic at Sheffield Hallam later in his career. The ARCOM award was instituted to celebrate his contribution following his untimely death.

Rob Howes is one of the founders of ARCOM and our first chairman, a charming and eloquent man, who was one of the key members in our community for many years.

David Langford, ARCOM’s Honorary Life President, sadly passed away in 2010. He led many of the ARCOM’s activities especially in the 1980s and 1990s.

The professional institutions (CIOB and RICS) and publishers associated with ARCOM (Wiley Blackwell, Taylor and Francis and Emerald) also award prizes at the conference. Themes for these prizes include the best international paper, innovation and sustainability, best technical paper, best theoretically informed contribution, and research methodology.

Click on the links below to view the prize winners for each year.

• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014
• 2013
• 2012


‘Rod Howes’ Commemorative Award

Jonathan Gosling, Denis Towill and Mohamed Naim – “Learning how to eat an elephant: implementing supply chain management principles”
The reviewers commended Gosling et al. on their well written paper and clearly articulated research problem. Very robust case was made for their research by way of a critical analysis of supply chain initiatives from 2002 to present, building on established principles and learning approaches, and using a case study to refine supply chain management framework.

‘Paul Townsend’ Commemorative Award

Ashokkumar Subbiah – “Investigation of factors that influence the success of construction planning of 2012 Olympic Stadium: an ethnographic study”
Subbiah's paper was praised for an innovative methodology on a seminal project together with some important and relevant findings.



‘David Langford’ Commemorative Award

Herbert Biggs and Amy R Williamson – “Safety impacts of alcohol and other drugs in construction: development of an industry policy and cultural change management program”
Biggs and Williamson's paper was commended for their relatively large scale research, which has potential for far reaching consequences in Australia and internationally.



CIOB Award for the Best International Paper

Beatrize Manzoni, Peter Morris and Hedley Smyth – “Managing the performing paradox in architectural competitions”
Manzoni et al's paper was found to be very well written with an insightful analysis of the research findings and explicit identification of implications for construction management.



RICS Sustainability Award

Dennis O’Keefe, D. S. Thomson and A. R. J. Dainty – “Beyond Scoring: advancing a new approach to the design evaluation of NHS buildings”
The reviewers of O'Keefe et al's paper found the paper “first-rate; important and somewhat radical”, with an underlying message that if interpretive methods help us to make sense of the world in our research, then they ought to be helpful in making sense of the problems to which construction projects are an answer. Brilliant work way ahead of its time!



CRI Innovation and Sustainability Award

Timothy Lees and Martin Sexton – “The domestification of low and zero carbon technologies in new housing in the UK”
Lees and Sexton's paper provided an engaging read where the research findings were presented using interesting quotations from the research participants.

 



Wiley-Blackwell Best Technical Paper

Mumtaz Patel, Fred Sherratt and Peter Farrell – “Exploring human error through the safety talk of utilities distribution operatives”
Patel et al's work was commended on its relevance to the industry and the strength of the research methodology employed. The qualitative research presented was well executed and nicely written.



Taylor and Francis Award for best theoretically informed contribution

Paul Chan – “Constructing a sense of time in project time overruns: implications of a Bergsonian view of time in construction”
Chan was praised for his engagement with an adventurous topic and putting into focus why people are important in construction: the conceptual basis of time is key to how individuals connect with society.