5 Questions with Gary Shaw – Building Services Engineer at PSA
How did you get into Engineering?
I actually left school not knowing what I wanted to do. I thought I wanted to be an architect, so I went to look at some universities.
They told me I wasn’t suited to be an architect, but that if I wanted to work in the construction industry I could work with architects and be a building services engineer.
They explained what it was, and I thought “OK, I’ll go for that then.” That’s how it happened – maybe I was more technically minded or practical rather than having the vision that an architect might have.
What is your most favourite project you’ve worked on in your career?
The isolation ward at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. It was very mechanical engineering intensive – about 80% of the money was spent on mechanical engineering because it was all air handling, with an air handling unit and exhaust system together with discharge stack per room. There were 8 rooms and we had to fit this into a really tight roof space. It was a really interesting and challenging job.
What I liked about it was all the little problems to solve – it got my brain working. The architect initially thought it was just isolation, but it was a lot more than that and needed a lot more space.
I worked with Malcolm Thomas, the author of the HTM (Health Technical Memorandum), the standard that every hospital has to build to. We designed it together. I think, at the time, it was the first ward of its type.
What do you do outside of work?
I volunteer at my local Cubs group, I watch football, and play darts, need to get the practice in for the PSA annual tournament. And then I’ve got two teenage children, which brings its own challenges.
What do you enjoy about working at PSA?
I think it’s a good group of people – there are no big egos around here and everyone just helps out. There’s always someone you can go to for advice. I’ve worked with small companies before and you find you’re on your own a lot and you’ve got to resolve your own problems.
Here, if you have an issue or something you need to discuss, you can just have a group meeting with a few people and work through problems together. They’re a very friendly bunch of people. It’s just a nice place to work.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of your role?
Seeing jobs completed – we`ve just handed over a project at a Hospital, and with the technical challenges we’ve overcome on the job, seeing it completed and everyone happy with it. That’s rewarding.
And fitting lots of plant into very small spaces – that’s obviously what gets me excited! The job I mentioned earlier at Blackpool hospital where there was loads of ductwork everywhere, it was crazy, and I had to design it to fit into a snug space, and we didn’t even do it in Revit because it didn’t exist then, it was all drawn by hand on CAD.
