Ray O’Rourke, chairman of Laing O’Rourke, part of the consortium that will build the London Olympics, was speaking in a rare public address at the Chartered Institute of Building.
He said the UK was nowhere near to looking after the environment compared with Japan, and warned that the industry had to continue to innovate.
“I visited a factory where they were employing 500 people as well as using robots and were manufacturing 67,000 homes each year, which is more than the total output of the UK,” he said.
“We have to think differently, keep it simple, but keep it sophisticated. Whether it be from ever more imaginative designers, clients and business partners, or from ever more careful scrutiny and regulation, we cannot deliver on any of this without excellence in innovation.”
