Supply chain is about more than just materials selection and availability; it includes the ability to effectively manage the movement of those materials, making the logistics behind transporting those materials and storing them on the project site a key discipline.

When a project manager in Texas requested a quote for moving materials and freight directly from a nearby manufacturer to the jobsite, he was surprised by the excessively high number he received in response. In search of a better rate, he turned to the transportation logistics experts at OES Equipment, DPR’s longtime strategic partner. Transportation manager Annie Olson, who oversees large scale transportation bookings for OES, turned to her trusted network of brokers and trucking companies.

“I received quotes for the move, conducted an in-depth comparison to ascertain the best price for the job,” said Olson. “Ultimately, we were able to return to the project manager with a quote thousands of dollars below the one he’d received from the manufacturer.”

Finding the right materials at the right price doesn’t mean your supply chain challenges have been solved. Those materials still need to get to the jobsite. More than a standard component of supply chain management, logistics are a highly complex behind-the-scenes effort of collaboration and coordination—and a key planning opportunity for maximum efficiency in materials transportation and storage.

Risk and Reward in the Project Procurement and Delivery Process

Learn directly from building project owners how they manage the risks and make supply chain management effective.

Read More

TRANSPORTATION CHALLENGES

The 2023 Business Continuity Institute Supply Chain Resiliency Report stated that 44.4% of businesses researched in 2022 reported a main cause of disturbance in the supply chain was transport network disruption.

“A wide variety of logistical issues have hit the construction industry during the past few years,” said DPR logistics leader, Ed Lockwood, “But it’s not just the lingering COVID-19 difficulties,” he added. Major influences on disruption issues include railroads, longshoremen and truck driver strikes, high fuel costs, the recent collapse of a national LTL (less-than-a-truckload) freight company, increased demand for shipping containers, and the spiking costs of energy, freight and labor.

Lockwood also noted environmental issues including weather events, such as the impact of low water tides and less water flow severely affecting ocean freight logistics, as witnessed around the world in the Panama Canal and global shipping ports. Additionally, there is the ongoing concern of burning diesel fuel, as most freight in the United States is moved by truck, and some states, such a California, are passing new requirements on the use of diesel trucks.

Often, consideration of transportation logistics and associated challenges can be an afterthought during project planning, potentially contributing to complications down the road.

“Thinking about supply chain needs, and particularly transportation logistics, there’s certainly a higher risk of disruption,” said Lockwood. “Early forecasting and planning by a team of experts dedicated solely to logistics helps warrant the highest level of efficiency and delivery of a successful project to the customer.”

COLLABORATION AND CLARITY

DPR’s supply chain management team has been collaborating with self-perform work teams, front line teams and OES Equipment to tackle this challenge.

“Working with OES’ newly centralized logistics management team provides us with a deeper insight and more transparency around the logistics of getting materials to jobsites,” said Tim Jed, DPR’s supply chain leader. “We provide project teams lead-time forecasts to help them plan and make logistics decisions in a detailed way, ideally before their project starts.” He added that having this level of clarity into proactive planning for inevitable disruptions can mean making decisions differently, including on site early stocking, and can make the difference in weeks and, potentially, even months for a project.

“We can control how we adapt to logistical challenges, and how we mitigate logistics issues proactively alongside a team of transportation logistics experts,” noted Lockwood.

SOLUTIONS IN ACTION

DPR’s quick action plans when navigating logistics comes from long-standing experience in planning for long lead times and maintaining strong relationships with customers and suppliers.

Recently, a client in Seattle had a major issue which was threatening to delay the project’s electrical panel boards. Using DPR’s relationship with the manufacturer, the team was able to mitigate the issues, and deliveries of the panel boards were prioritized, resulting in timely delivery of the panel boards and no impact to the substantial completion date of the project.

In another example for a customer, DPR exported materials to a project site outside of our geography on tight timeline.

“We ran into an issue with getting insulation spray foam to the project site over a holiday weekend. The existing provider of transportation became unresponsive to the project team. We were able to use our transportation providers to fill the gap and meet the projects timelines,” said Lockwood.

Having strong relationships with suppliers differentiates DPR as it helps us to mitigate risks, protects completion dates, and helps ensure on-time quality delivery.

For very large projects with a high level of intricacy, DPR and OES have created efficient storage solutions onsite if the nearby OES location isn’t the correct choice for that specific project. With this commitment, logistics managers are on the jobsite full time; they control day-to-day aspects of a project team’s logistics management and ensure that someone is consistently accountable and responsible for any logistical need the project may have.

OES had a logistics manager on site for a DPR project in Nashville, TN, when the rebar vendor suddenly could not meet the tight turnaround for materials delivery.

“OES had 72 hours to get six tons of rebar cut to length, bent to shape and delivered,” said Mathew Gunter, OES’s inside sales representative for the project, who was on site every day. “We reached out to one of our vendors capable of handling the job and got them the drawings. As a result, a key concrete pour stayed on schedule.”

Additionally, OES and DPR works out scheduling so that the customer can ultimately save on warehousing of equipment.

“We’ve done this on a number of occasions for some of our biggest clients,” said Lockwood. “We’re talking about huge projects that are lengthy and complex, and especially on those, logistics management shouldn’t fall back on superintendents, project managers or other leaders. By providing additional expertise, we are able to allow DPR site leaders to concentrate on quality, schedule and budget.”

A recently published American Hospital Association (AHA) e-book featuring healthcare executives, and including DPR’s Deb Sheehan, addresses the rise of violent incidents in healthcare facilities, and how they can be mitigated through technology, training and community involvement within the healthcare facilities themselves.

Healthcare workers are five times more likely to experience workplace violence than employees in all other industries, according to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Safety considerations and planning for violence prevention should be considered throughout the planning, design and construction of building capital projects. Health systems can prioritize prevention and crisis response through an interwoven combination of design and technology solutions.

Developing Effective Workplace Violence-Prevention Strategies

Get the full e-Book on the American Hospital Association’s website.

Get the e-Book

STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE WORKPLACE VIOLENCE-PREVENTION

Hospitals are working to protect their staff and patients by identifying physical security risks throughout the building, modifying facilities and expanding security technologies, adding barrier protection and exit routes, and training staff in violence prevention. This executive dialogue explores how hospitals are using technology to mitigate risk, redesigning facilities and workflow processes to prioritize safety, and re-envisioning relationships with hospital security and others to support prevention and crisis response.

Identified best practices include:

• Comprehensive workplace violence-prevention programs
• Nonviolent crisis-intervention training
• Participating in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design studies
• Evaluate and employ of weapons detection and real-time locating systems
• Financial incentives for security officer trainings
• Assess the vulnerability of off-site locations
• Consider the use of autonomous security robots
• Scale behavioral health care across community partners
• Use dogs as guardians and provide patient comfort

“If we’re not keeping score, it’s just practice.” – Peter Nosler

DPR is committed to its people, partners, planet and communities. Like our customers and partners, we seek to change the world. But just saying that is not enough. As we move ever forward, we challenge ourselves to excel and we track our progress.

DPR leverages several certifications and frameworks like the JUST Label and globally recognized strategies like the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) to hold ourselves accountable on Global Social Responsibility (GSR) efforts. Hear from DPR’s GSR leaders on the value of measurement and the importance of doing what we say we’re going to do.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Why is it important to measure our efforts in global social responsibility?

GSR is about igniting conversation, listening to employee and community voices, and then creating change—not only within DPR, but within the construction industry. We take action on the words we say, and we keep score. It’s how to make the world a safer, healthier, happier and more inclusive place.

HOW CAN YOU
Be a Pillar of Global Social Responsibility?

Designed and created to be a healing oasis for children and their families, Children’s Hospital of Richmond VCU expanded the healthcare facility and intrinsically ties back to the community.

Bright colors and imagery taken from local natural features, biophilia and native animals, as well as local landmarks are used throughout the facility to aid with wayfinding and create an environment that is calming and engaging. The design by architect HKS draws inspiration from the James River and other natural elements unique to the city. Sky, water and forest themes bring nature to the heart of the urban campus, and with its emphasis on connections to nature, the design reduces anxiety and promotes healing.

The Children’s Tower is a 23-story, 600,000-sq.-ft. acute care children’s hospital. The recent expansion includes a 15-story steel structure over eight stories of existing concrete, which includes 72 patient beds with shell space to expand an additional 120 beds. The facility also includes an emergency department, surgery, laboratory, pharmacy, Ronald McDonald House, kitchen/café and helipad.

SMALL SPACE IN AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT

All of this was achieved while navigating an incredibly tight footprint. The downtown site provided limited space for trades to work, even less for materials and equipment storage. To limit the amount of set-up and laydown space, DPR prefabricated the exterior skin and concrete panels off-site with DPR’s strategic partner Digital Building Components. Doing so not only limited workforce on-site, allowing other trades to work more efficiently, but also enhanced quality and delivery of materials created in a controlled environment.

The Digital Building panels required a ½-in. tolerance on the edge where it met the concrete—necessitating precision in execution. If the concrete were outside of that tolerance, it would cause structural issues with the installation of the exterior panels. Due to this low margin for error, the project team leveraged DPR’s field technology experts to scan and document the slab edge formwork before the concrete was placed to determine if it was within the tight tolerance. After setting 500 control points, the MEP trades were able to accurately set up the site for concrete deck pours. These same control points were used to scan the slab edge formwork, showing the edges that were outside of the 1/2-in. tolerance, and allowing for correction prior to placement, saving what could be extremely costly re-work. After the team determined that the scan was right and the slab edge needed some adjustments, the subcontractor performed the work without any delay to the slab pour. The total process from scan to results was only 24 hours.

SELF-PERFORM TEAMS SHINE

With more than 72 identical patient rooms, the team prefabricated head walls off-site with framing, med-gas, electrical and wood blocking in a panelized wall system. The on-site self-perform work (SPW) crews then installed the head walls and connected the overhead piping to the in-wall piping. With rooms back-to-back, one prefabricated wall accommodated two patient rooms.

In tandem with the prefabrication, DPR’s SPW teams utilized the MEP coordination effort to spool sheet metal stud framing drawings to assist with layout, verification, and quality control of openings for all parts. They also worked with the door and hardware supplier to pre-install all hardware on the doors prior to delivery.

Quality was also enhanced by engaging trade partners and SPW teams early in the planning and virtual design and construction (VDC) coordination process. Work was coordinated months in advance, so when it came time to build, they could focus completely on the quality and craftsmanship. This also streamlined the schedule, allowing teams to advance the project without having to wait for another trade to finish because they had to wait for decisions, questions to be answered, or gaps in scope to be corrected.

SPW teams completed the demolition, concrete, drywall, waterproofing, floor finishing and polishing, door frames and hardware, specialties installation, seismic retrofit of the outpatient facility, infection control program, and general requirements.

“The kids love seeing all the construction, the equipment and the workers, so there were a lot of smiles woven into the active construction site,” said Elias Neujahr, president of Children’s Hospital of Richmond.

COLLABORATION IS KEY

The project team also worked closely, and early on, with the customer, healthcare workers on-site, and even got input from children to determine the best building and design elements that help facilitate healing and health for front-line workers and patients.

“One of the most critical elements of this project has been the intentional inclusion of our families in the planning and design process—this hospital is built by and for them,” said Neujahr.

This also included having designated nursing staff present to advise on what is and is not needed for staff and patients.

“We had to get the clinicians involved because they are the ones that have been living this. They are the ones that know what this treatment takes and what is going to work from a clinical perspective,” said DPR’s Jason Maxwell. “Everybody is engaged. Not everyone is involved in every detail, but they are at the right level of communication and decision making with the right people in the room.”

“Having everybody in the Big Room, everybody together, hearing and seeing, and sometimes feeling what’s going on is very important,” added Shirley Gibson, associate vice president of real estate at VCU Health System, and a registered nurse.

COORDINATION AND LOGISTICS

Due to the tight downtown location, DPR and Children’s Hospital of Richmond had to work very closely on logistics, especially with road closures on the busy Richmond campus.

“We have a lot of patients coming from outside of our region, so to come downtown is already difficult enough, but to come downtown and not know where to go means we had to have good signage, we had to communicate, to work with our staff that made appointments so they could send notices out to patients, we updated the website, we met weekly to talk about the impacts that would happen in the next week. I cannot say enough about how much we had to communicate and coordinate,” said Gibson.

The new pedestrian bridge, which spanned diagonally over a busy intersection, required coordination on road shutdowns because that road was also an access point to the hospital emergency room. On top of that, two tower cranes were erected on top of the existing building because there was nowhere else a crane could be placed. This involved an incredible amount of planning with the structural engineer and sorting through any liabilities that could be present due to interference with the buildings surrounding it, the adjacent Interstate 95, not to mention the hospital helipad, which required coordination with the FAA.

A HOSPITAL FOR THE COMMUNITY

DPR is an expert in the construction of healthcare facilities, but building a children’s hospital struck a chord with the team. The project team launched the “Greater Purpose” campaign to emphasize how the construction work would impact the lives of the children being cared for at the hospital and their families.

“Asking why is so important, and being able to explain what a certain room is and how it will function in the care of these patients brings you down to a different level. It helps you connect what you are building, and see the bigger picture,” said DPR’s Eric Rasmussen.

The leadership team maintained regular communication with the safety managers, which proved beneficial in improving the safety culture on the project. The team conducted more than 60 safety inspections a week. As a result, the project witnessed a 500% decrease in the incident rate from 2021 to the project’s completion in 2023. An overall culture was cultivated where individuals prioritized their own safety and that of their colleagues, driven by the realization of the impact their work would have on the region’s future.

In addition to the technical expertise displayed on planning, designing, and constructing the Children’s Tower, the hospital has become an integral part of the community, and was built with the care and consideration that should be present for a children’s hospital. Due to this, among other efforts, the Children’s Tower received Engineering News-Record’s Mid-Atlantic project of the year.

“This new Children’s Tower is a dream come true for our kids, families, team members and community. We’ve completed an entire city block—nearly 1 million square feet—dedicated to caring for kids and their families,” said Neujahr.

The MEP systems of today’s buildings are complex machines. Not only must every part be installed properly to ensure optimal performance, but it is also vital that systems are commissioned properly, with coordination being of critical importance to the success of the system in the long term. Buildings are not set-it-and-forget-it. The thoughtful coordination that MEP professionals perform during installation and early testing is vital to ensuring that the resulting building operates as designed.

In this episode of On the Inside with MEP, DPR experts discuss the importance of coordination during installation and testing.

This episode of On the Inside with MEP includes the following DPR experts (in order of appearance):

• Andrew Metzger
• Nicole Kueck
• Jen Allen
• Blair Calhoun

VIDEO
Transcription

This discussion has been edited for clarity.

Andrew: I think having a resource that is MEP savvy on site during the duration of your construction project is only going to benefit you.

Nicole: Having an MEP coordinator, especially with a controls background, looking at sequences of operations at the beginning of the project; looking at it from a design and engineer’s intent versus what would be easiest when it comes to the building facilities and management team. Because you don’t want to try and make something too complicated that they wouldn’t be able to run it by themselves.

Jen: So, there’s value ‘of’ coordination, but when you say a value ‘in’ coordination, that’s bringing an MEP team in super early, and it gives you this ability to make relationships early. To ask the right questions, to talk to the engineers, to get to know the architects.

You really need to know the aspect of the whole project and be there throughout, looking at the submittals, looking at, “Yeah, this may look good on paper, but can we actually implement that in the field?”

Blair: What we on the MEP coordination team are always challenged with is the idea that, well, these trade partners are very experienced. They’re experienced not only in the trade that they are specific to, but they’re experienced in working with other trades. So, why won’t they just play nice?

Jen: I kind of look at it like the trade partners are experts in their field, but there’s nobody talking on their side individually to every foreman. Their goal is to do what they’re designed to do, right? So if he wants to put an air handler there and a fire pipe is in the way, he’s going to put the air handler there because that’s where it says to go on the drawings.

It’s great to have an MEP coordinator on the site so that you can prevent those things from happening rather than paying to rework it later.

Andrew: We deal with situations all the time where engineers, designers–we’re all human. We put our best foot forward. We do our best to make sure that the design is perfect, but there are also things that are intentionally left with blanks to fill in.

Blair: Between trade partners, especially MEP, there are a lot of small gaps: Who has what? We try to cover much of that in our contracting, itself. We try to cover much of that in design coordination, but there’s got to be an entity, a person or people who lead that.

Andrew: You know, here’s a general understanding of how we want this system to operate or look, but we’re really leaving it up to the mechanical, electrical, or plumbing contractor to use their expertise to fill in those blanks.

Blair: We continue to talk to our clients about the importance of the building system integration and that integration piece is an individual or a set of individuals. It cannot be left to the trade partners.

Jen: As MEP coordinators, our role is to involve test and balance. We need to know every piece of equipment, reread the submittals, and make sure that we’re at the right GPMs we need and the airflow we need per the spec of the unit.

The customer needs to know what they’re getting and then what we’re delivering, right? So, the tab will make sure that the way we built it, and the way it was engineered, is the way it’s performing. So, I really like being in that mix with them because when something happens or an air handler goes down, or chillers go down, which is mostly when I get called, they’ll call me at 4:00 in the morning, 3:00 in the morning, 9:00 at night, and I actually enjoy it.

I’m going to be able to go there and help figure out what’s going on. I’m going to tell them, “Hey, you have this valve in hand. Now, you’re condensing water is going through two chillers. The temperatures are off. Let’s close this valve. Let’s get your building back up and running,” and then we can kind of work from there, right?

We all have expertise, and if we don’t know personally, we have a team that will. We’re not just going to build your building, “Here you go,” turn it over and walk away. We are going to be there for you.

WORKING TOWARD A HEALTHIER PLANET TAKES TEAMWORK

While sustainability is talked about as creating a healthier planet, what that ultimately means is a healthier living environment for people. Improving the shared environment isn’t up to any one organization, person or action, but rather the collective efforts of many.

HEALTHIER PLANET=HEALTHIER PEOPLE

Humans spend more than 90% of their lives indoors, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and in cases of poor indoor air quality, those spaces can negatively influence health. Reducing carbon emissions from construction and operation of buildings (decarbonization) and other green building practices are important for air and water quality and the surroundings people touch every day. As an industry, construction contributes about 40% of the total global carbon emissions.

“There are two main contributors to a building’s environmental impact—embodied carbon and operational carbon,” explained Monica Chhatwani, decarbonization leader at DPR. “It’s important to think about how to bring down both—to decarbonize.”

Embodied carbon is emitted during the lifecycle of the building, including the construction phase. Operational carbon is emitted while operating the building. Employing a combination of tactics, with environmentally conscious partners and customers, can reduce emissions to net zero, meaning a balance between carbon emitted and removed from a space.

A snapshot of programs shows how planning and teamwork can change the environment and lead to better life quality.

USING TECHNOLOGY FOR PRECONSTRUCTION LIFECYCLE ANALYSIS

“DPR uses software to design the building and perform life cycle assessments or calculations for its carbon footprint,” said Chhatwani. “Tools can help with determining the footprint and material selection.”

Most analysis happens through digital building information modeling (BIM). Virtual design and construction (VDC) is integrated into DPR’s approach to plan ahead for construction and reduce rework, which not only causes project delays and added cost, but also results in additional waste and carbon emissions during construction. This allows DPR to see conflicts before ordering and installing material, reducing unnecessary waste taken to landfills.

WASTE DIVERSION THROUGH DECONSTRUCTION

Demolition accounts for 90% of construction waste, which inherently carries embodied carbon through its production and decomposition.

DPR’s self-perform work (SPW) teams can also perform deconstruction, achieving over a 95% diversion of waste on numerous projects across the country. For example, a project in Georgia had 97% of deconstruction waste diverted, and most of it through facilities within four miles of the location, further lowering carbon emissions.

USING BUILDING MATERIAL ALTERNATIVES

Chhatwani noted if the cement industry was its own country, it would be the third largest carbon emitter in the world.

“A focus in the industry is how we decarbonize concrete because it is a big deal in terms of percentage of contribution to emissions,” she said.

DPR uses digital tools, together with supplier and constructability knowledge, to procure low carbon concrete, steel, and insulation. In addition, alternative building materials are gaining ground. For instance, mass timber is prefabricated for ease of installation, and it is engineered for loads similar in strength to high-emissions structural materials. It allows crews to build tall, with a lighter, natural, low-carbon and high-quality resource.

Sustainability efforts require planning and commitment, but the results mean a safer and healthier environment for all of us.

DPR’s Be a Pillar series shares the unique viewpoints of employees and partners. Throughout the year, you’ve met individuals who have built great things, and you’ve learned about their backgrounds, motivations and experiences.

In November, we recognize and honor Native American History Month. We’re elevating the voices of DPR employees who identify with the Native American community. Read below to learn more about how they started in construction and what their experiences within the industry and at DPR have been.

IN THEIR WORDS
What has been your experience in the construction industry?

HOW CAN YOU
Recognize Native American History Month?

When complete, Waterline will be a 74-story mixed-use residential, office and retail skyscraper, and the tallest tower in Texas.

They identify urban landscapes without a word. They decorate postcards and serve as backdrops for city-dweller balconies and commutes to the office. Iconic skyscrapers give their homes personalities and proof of economic growth, but what makes them special to those who help erect them from the terrain below?

As an established tower contractor in downtown Austin, TX, DPR’s toolbelt for constructing some of the tallest, highest quality and most unique structural giants in the city is overrun with expertise. And it because of that trusted expertise and commercial market prowess, they are on track to build Waterline, which will be the tallest tower in Texas: a 1,022-ft., 74-story mixed-use residential, office, hotel and retail skyscraper aptly named Waterline in homage to its proximity to downtown Austin’s Lady Bird Lake and Waller Creek.

Building a project of this magnitude takes a lot more than expertise though. One key factor to achieving success is approaching the construction journey with an unwavering commitment to efficiency, which DPR sees as the only way to scale the quality that must go into every floor.

Growth starts at the bottom, and establishing the foundation for this unique tower involved its share of challenges. For the first time ever, the City of Austin contracted the general contractor to perform the underground piping for the chilled water system. Two 18-in. pipes were tied into an existing vault approximately 25 ft. deep under the road. Due to the project’s location in a very prominent and widely used intersection in the city, logistics and planning were crucial. Starting the work right after the globally attended SxSW festival in March 2023, DPR maintained a tight schedule despite unforeseen utility challenges, and turned the road back over faster than projected if the city were called on to perform the work. They even have scoped realignment of one of the major roads in the intersection to create a new drive lane.

Elevating Material Delivery

When prioritizing schedule, climbing north of 70 stories to deliver workers and material is a gargantuan task. Because of this, logistics of the tower crane and vertical transportation require intense planning and a process that is different from a more typically-scaled project. With Waterline, the Common Tower hoist serves as the mainline transport for the duration of the project and will reach all the way to level 74. All six cars on the hoist were custom built for this project—a lot more oversized than what you would normally expect. All cars will hit one common platform and then a single ramp into the building.

“Using a single ramp allows us to minimize the space needed to block off on the skin of the building, and much more easily, progressively remove the ramps and install the skin as we move up,” said project superintendent Emory Sweeney.

To put it into perspective, using the traditional hoist method for 74 levels, a project would need to wait for it to be topped out, the hoist to be fully removed, and then the skin installed, or “closing the zipper,” all the way down—a significant impact to the schedule and efforts facing the team.

“With the common platform here and holding the hoist off the building, once we’re going to be done with phased levels, we’ll pull this platform out, put the crash wall and curtain wall in and be done—progressively closing up the building as we go,” said Sweeney.

Knowing the importance of this method on this project, DPR visited previous projects by the hoist vendor in New York City, which boasts many “supertall” buildings, before selecting them to work with on Waterline.

A Giant Concrete Footprint

Future visitors will experience Waterline’s mixed-uses via grand three-floor tall lobbies, separated for residential, office and hotel spaces. However, each is home to monolithically placed, single pour concrete columns, expertly placed by DPR’s self-perform concrete team. There are 91 total sculptural columns planned for this mammoth tower, ranging from 30 to 53 ft. each and averaging 70 cubic yards. Their architecturally exposed finish will draw eyes to all who enter the floor-to-ceiling glass atriums. In addition, there are 24 complex teapot columns that line the lobbies co-starring in the drama of the space with glass elevators connecting the upper levels with the garage and a glass terrace with views of the neighboring Waller Creek—also in revitalization mode to accompany this landmark tower.

It’s no secret that a 74-story tower needs a solid base and secure foundation, and all of these skillful concrete columns add more value to the structure than it does the aesthetics. The heaviest columns average close to 28,000 pounds, which is about equivalent to 21 of Austin’s most famous four-legged icons: Texas longhorn cattle.

The self-perform concrete showcase was one for the books: among challenging site logistics, design coordination, and managing the sizeable crews needed for a job of this caliber, the mat pour consisted of 3,213 yards, and the largest deck pour to date was 1,023 yards. If your calculator has timed out, that is combined 42 football fields that the OTHER Texas Longhorns take to on Saturdays. And the tower is just starting to scale—there is 2,436,642 sq. ft. of elevated deck left to pour.

“What I’m most proud of on this job, is how our team has come together to take on the biggest and most challenging project any of us has ever, or will probably ever do,” said SPW concrete project manager James Dunn. “Everyone has stepped up to put in the time and effort to make this project a success and a great place to work every day.”

And before long, there will be more and more literal stepping up, as Waterline begins to ascend to its incredible goal. Teamwork on a daily basis will be crucial, efficiency mandatory, and as far as tracking progress goes? Well, all you have to do is look up.

REVITALIZATION TO AN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY

Just north of downtown San Diego, a 100+-year-old healthcare campus sits overlooking Mission Valley, built over decades of different development projects and sitting upon a maze of underground utilities. The DPR team had its work cut out when it began Phase 1 of a multi-phase redevelopment plan of the Hillcrest Campus at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) Healthcare System.

The first phase of the redevelopment plan includes a 255,000-sq.-ft outpatient pavilion that provides a new space for a broad range of diagnostic and treatment services in a number of specialty areas, and addresses existing demands for outpatient services.

“The community in and around Hillcrest which has been historically underserved by health and wellness programming will now have access to state-of-the-art medical services that were previously hard to come by in this part of San Diego,” said Ian Pyka, a DPR project executive.

This phase also includes a 1,850 stall parking deck, a central utility plant, modeling and mapping of underground utilities, and planned road re-alignment so Hillcrest community members can still access their neighborhoods and the hospital can remain accessible.

PLANNING AND PREPARATION IN ADVANCE

The budget for this project was very strictly controlled with very little room for changes. UCSD brought on the designer, Arcadis, in early 2019, and DPR was brought on only a few months later. While not necessarily a strictly design-build approach, DPR worked with Arcadis from almost the beginning of the design phase to make sure that that the design was achievable and remained affordable.

DPR’s escalation plan, a step that occurs during preconstruction of a project and outlines a series of steps that mitigate and plan for any risks or surprises on a project, was praised by the customer and the project team, because the preconstruction team put so much care into making sure all risk was accounted for, trade labor and market conditions were considered, and control of internal factors was closely tracked.

Due to the project’s location in an urban setting and on an active hospital campus that included a 24-hour Level 1 trauma center, plus sitting on top of 60 years of underground utility additions, the complicated site logistics required planning and coordination to ensure not only that construction ran smoothly, but that the nearby homes and living areas remained accessible and were minimally impacted by construction. Using its expertise in preconstruction and virtual design and construction (VDC), DPR created a robust and thorough plan for the budget, site logistics and mapping of the project site, including all underground utilities.

Access to the emergency room and trauma center had to be kept open, so a complex series of road closures accommodated the movement of different trades and equipment, like concrete trucks and cranes.

“Part of the scope of work involved adding and updating underground utilities,” said DPR VDC engineer Hannah Mahfood.

In addition to the standard modeling of all utilities, the DPR team scanned every utility it placed and utilized that data along with pothole data of existing utilities to compile a more precise 3D map of everything underground.

“With this data, UCSD Health can more easily and accurately maintain pipes and utilities and it will also give insight for design and later installation of the future connections for the remaining phases of redevelopment on the campus,” said Mahfood.

“ONE TEAM”

The project team also worked closely, and early on, with the customer and healthcare workers on site, taking part in meetings and keeping open and transparent communication from the start. Combined with the early integration of the construction and design teams, this resulted in great teamwork from a very early stage. According to Pyka, the team was working together for two-and-a-half years before construction began.

“Our mission is ‘One Team.’ It takes time to build trust with any new team that you’re working with. On this project, we were purposeful in building a collaborative and inspired team. During design, budgeting, scheduling, logistics, we’re also making efforts to build trust and perform together at a high level, which I believe wholeheartedly are paying dividends right now,” said Pyka. “This business is about relationships. It’s about people working together. It’s Lean. It’s trust. There’s a level of trust with the owner, designer and build teams, even with our subcontractors, that is allowing us to move more nimbly and more agile.”

Phase 1 of this project is expected to be completed in 2025. DPR will also break ground on Phase 2, which includes a multi-purpose research and wellness center.

The lab real estate market continues to be regionally challenged, especially regarding startups, but is underpinned by “Big Pharma” consolidation and growth plans across the country. The current lab space inventory built and in construction is creating increased competition and a surplus in supply, increased tenant leverage, and reduced rental rates.

The downstream manufacturing sector remains hot driven by supply chain resilience, in-shoring and biopharmaceutical drug approvals. The market continues to see investment in both in-house and contract manufacturing across the globe with hot pockets in the Southeast and Northeast. All this combined with an environment ripe for M&A, the outlook remains strong for the foreseeable future.

What We Are Seeing

Although we are seeing some positive shifts toward more historically normal escalation and improvements in select supply chain lead times, mitigating volatility of price and schedule uncertainty will remain a priority.

Ever-increasing demands and focus in Life Sciences on speed to market, sustainable strategies, safer installations, and competition for qualified labor, particularly on complex large-scale or more remote projects, are driving alternative approaches to project delivery and design.

How Can We Help?

Our dedicated in-house subject matter expertise, capabilities, and experience uniquely allow us to deliver Life Sciences projects with greater predictability under today’s demanding market needs.

Prefabrication

Prefabrication capability to build more safely, save time, money, and meet the challenge of labor shortages while constructing high quality facilities to enhance your brand with more detail and precision than traditional construction methodologies.

Sustainability

Our teams are supported by global sustainability resources that can evaluate opportunities to optimize a project’s sustainable goals throughout the project lifecycle. Our corporate commitment to sustainable construction practices can further reduce a project’s environmental impact.

Process Equipment Procurement & OES

Our process equipment procurement team can provide purchasing services that will mitigate schedule, logistical, and coordination risks, as well as optimize skidding solutions that best fit a project’s execution plan. Combined with the power of DPR’s OES (Organized Efficient Services) organization we provide a one stop shop for construction supplies and requirements.

Systems Expertise

We have technical experts in MEP, process, and I&C/automation systems that allow us to provide critical early design and cost inputs and facilitate alternative procurement methods that ensure more predictable outcomes for schedule, cost, and constructibility.

Photo: Ryan Gobuty | GENSLER

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