Laboratory Design Newsletter - March/April 2015

design and construction teammates committed to an integrated partnership.

Once the team is in place, owners must empower the core team to make quick decisions without reliance on external departments or unnecessary bureaucratic delay. It’s essential the owner is given adequate information to enable quick go/no-go decisions so the process keeps moving. The design and construction teams must have dedicated, “hands-on” personnel. They provide real-time feedback on design, cost and schedule issues as the project progresses.

John Fitzpatrick, PE, Senior Director, Fa-
cilities for the Jackson Laboratory, describes
our recent collaboration: “Challenges
throughout the fast-track multi-package
CMR (Code of Maine Rules) project were
faced head on by the entire project team
by quickly identifying issues, developing
a range of potential solutions and quickly
making a decision allowing progress to
continue unimpeded.”
Especially on complex lab projects, deliv-
ery is only successful through a well-integrat-
ed team.

PREPARE A SOLID SCHEDULE

In a fast-track process, the project team must recognize the schedule frequently drives the decision-making process. Designers must understand the schedule may limit design alternatives and material selections.

Construction managers must be prepared to hire major subcontractors and vendors in non-traditional procurement options.

In order to make these determinations, the project’s master schedule must include all key design deliverable dates, permitting review periods, procurement lead times and construction durations that drive the project’s critical path.

By: Steve Gurtel, Senior Project Manager, The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. and Stephen Palumbo, AIA, LEED AP (BD+C), Tsoi/Kobus & Associates

When done right, fast-track con- struction delivery methods can bring enormous benefits to the owner and the entire project team. They can significantly reduce the overall project design and construction schedule. Poor execution of a fast-track project will most certainly lead to problems, cost overruns, adversarial relationships and schedule delays.

The reason for selecting a fast-track delivery for a project is often because a fixed deadline exists that makes traditional delivery methods impossible. But there are also other reasons an owner may want to accelerate the schedule. Regardless of the ultimate reason, the methodology to ensure a successful project isn’t so obvious and can pose significant challenges to the entire project team.

How do you balance schedule, budget and quality? Below are key decisions and processes that should be understood by any owner contemplating fast-track delivery.

Many of these ideas were instrumental in the successful, on time and on budget completion of our recent work at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, a collaborative design partnership between Centerbrook Architects & Planners and Tsoi/Kobus & Associates.

WHY GO FAST-TRACK?

In the post-recession period of the past four to five years, more and more owners insist on accelerated schedules. Institutions that needed to delay execution of important projects in 2008 to 2010 are pressured to “reel in” the delays, and fast-track is often the solution. Others see a competitive advantage in improving their speed-to-market to establish or increase their foothold in an emerging field. Finally, some are attempting to reduce escalation of construction costs in a now-growing market or eliminate the “lost profit” of uncompleted, revenue-gen-erating facilities.

SELECT THE RIGHT TEAM

Every project needs a good team, but the
fast-track process elevates the requirements
for collaborative teamwork. The most
important first step after deciding on a fast-
track methodology is selecting experienced
It’s essential that the construction man-
ager expands and develops an extremely
detailed schedule very early in the design
process—often with little or no informa-
tion—based on prior experience on similar
fast-track projects. This schedule is then
used to drive decisions, and the entire team
must commit to meet or beat the required
dates. During construction, knowledgeable
design and owner representatives must
commit to being at the project site, with
the authority to make confident and timely
decisions.

Keys to success:

• Reframe the instinctive fear of “speed” as a necessary and helpful boundary of creativity and innovation. There’s nothing quite like a looming deadline to focus a team’s efforts on a collective goal.

• Establish a working group of the entire owner/architect/contractor team early in the process. The owner team must be inclusive of both executive-level “ strategic” thinkers and technically focused users to provide the breadth of perspective needed for quick decisions. In the absence of existing users for a future facility, select a group of “surrogates” to act on their behalf.

• Don’t sacrifice design quality. Fast projects need not be reduced to a rectangular box with no visual impact. It may help achieve the schedule, but likely will run counter to other equally important project goals.