Alumnus of the month - June 2012
Stuart A Johnson
BSc Building Surveying, 1984
After completing his Building Surveying degree at LSBU in 1984 Stuart went on to work for a number of high profile companies within the industry before setting up his own practice and funding a scholarship at LSBU…
Stuart graduated from The Polytechnic of the South Bank in 1984 with 19 of his peers. From a young age he had a keen interest in buildings and construction, so when it came to deciding on a career path he began researching courses, stumbling across Building Surveying as a discipline. A school friends’ sister, who was a Quantity Surveyor, highly recommended South Bank for the reputation of the courses. Stuart visited the four Polytechnics that offered his course before selecting South Bank. “I preferred South Bank; it just felt the right fit. I never regretted picking it as I really enjoyed my time there”.
Whilst on his four year course Stuart was required to complete a one year placement, which the University organised for him at Jones Lang LaSalle and after completing his degree, Stuart was offered a full time position as a Surveyor at the firm.
Stuart went on to work at Savills, then Watts Group plc where he became Equity Partner and one of three members of the Management Board as well as running a team of 60 people, before returning to Savills as Director of Professional Services.
Throughout his career Stuart has had an incredible drive and passion for new challenges and developing himself. Being the first member of his family to go on to higher education; Stuart has recently funded a scholarship at LSBU to provide MSc Building Surveying, MSc Construction Project Management and MSc Quantity Surveying students the same opportunity. “I wanted to help others that didn’t have this opportunity and to show my gratitude to LSBU for the support I was given”.
Photograph of the Sainsbury Laboratory – Cambridge by Hélène Binet
In the late 80’s a few years into his professional career, Stuart was approached by Macmillan and asked if he would be willing to write a book on sustainable buildings. His book “Greener Buildings” was published, featuring contributions from a variety of professionals in the industry. The book was amongst the first to provide a guide for Surveyors and Architects on how to make buildings more sustainable.
After completing some very successful projects at Savills, Stuart started thinking of setting up his own practice. “Even though I really enjoyed what I did, I wanted to take on projects where I could get fully involved. By setting up my own practice clients are effectively buying a senior level personal service”.
Since opening his practice in 2006, Stuart has completed some high profile projects. He has delivered several projects for The Gatsby Charitable Foundation, including the Sainsbury Laboratory and offices for The Institute for Government. He has just completed the headquarters for The Academy of Medical Sciences and a Forum for The Royal Academy of Engineering amongst many other projects. Stuart has built a strong reputation of completing projects on time, on budget and to a great standard. He takes pride in establishing project teams based on merit and reflecting diversity, and believes that this underpins his success.
Having been mentored whilst at Watts Group plc, Stuart could see the benefits this had and was keen to offer that same support to others. He does this by making time to act as a member of the Continuing Professional Development Foundation’s advisory panel, lecturing at events throughout the year and has sat as an external examiner for two degree courses at the University of Plymouth.
We wish Stuart the best of luck for the future and look forward to hearing how his practice develops.
Visit Stuart's company website: Stuart A Johnson Consulting Limited