INTERVIEW: Lawrence Evans, Greenway Associates
Greenway Associates is excited to welcome Lawrence Evans to our team as a Senior Quantity Surveyor.
GA: Welcome Lawrence! First things first, how did you come to be a QS?
Lawrence: Well, I started out my working life wanting to be an architect and worked in a firm doing CAD work during the first year of my career, before realising that the design side of things wasn’t for me. I’ve always had a love of mathematics and wanted to stay within the construction industry, so quantity surveying ticked all the boxes. I was able to secure a degree apprenticeship with Mace in Quantity Surveying, and I haven’t looked back since!
GA: You’re coming to us from Mace - why the change from contractor to consultant side?
Lawrence: Whilst I spent two years working for Mace’s Construction division, I actually started out as a QS with Sense / Mace Cost Consultancy, and for the past few years I've been within Mace Consult as a Cost Consultant. I really enjoyed my time in the construction division—especially being so close to the detail and action—but it was always my goal to start my own business one day, which is much harder to do on the construction side! I also missed working on multiple projects at the same time.
GA: Do you have a particular specialism?
Lawrence: My experience has been pretty varied so far in my career, but I’d say procurement is probably where I’ve spent the largest portion of my time. I particularly enjoy helping clients realise their vision—guiding them through the design process to an end result they can afford, and then selecting the best contractor to deliver it.
GA: Favourite project that you’ve worked on in the past?
Lawrence: I have a fair few, but a standout for me was the time I spent working on a flagship store for a luxury fashion brand in Milan. It was one of my more challenging projects—delivering in Italy during the summer, working with American clients, all in the midst of a pandemic—but the end result was incredibly rewarding. It definitely helped me understand how we could still add value remotely, especially when travel was severely limited by government guidelines for part of the project. I also improved my skills in communicating across—and being the ‘buffer’ between—two very different cultures.
GA: Can you say what you’re going to be working on at GA?
Lawrence: Yes! I’m currently working as QS on two luxury hotel schemes. One is a full refurbishment of a 15-story hotel in Mayfair, with works due to start soon! The other is the fit-out of four floors at a newly opened 8-story hotel in Marylebone. It’s a stones throw from our offices, so I’m enjoying that! I’m also enjoying the logistics challenge of costing out works for a space that will remain open to the public during the programme.
GA: What’s your favourite space in London and why?
Lawrence: It’s hard to say what my favourite space is, but I really like Granary Square near King’s Cross Station. It’s a lovely open space with a few great restaurants, pop-up exhibits, and it’s a really good example of what a well-thought-out redevelopment can do for an area.
GA: Favourite pastime?
Lawrence: Outside of work, I love being active—anything from country walks to going to the gym or playing a game of football is right up my street. I’m also a big fan of travel; I love discovering new places, experiencing different cultures, and most importantly—trying the food!