For its Waterford, Conn., Cancer Center, a comprehensive treatment facility affiliated with Dana-Farber Community Cancer Care, Lawrence + Memorial Hospital decided to try something new: true three-party Integrated Project Delivery.
The contractual agreement covered L+M, architecture/engineering firm TRO JB, and construction manager Suffolk Construction, with programming, design, and construction all informed by Lean principles.
To further extend the collaborative theme, this three-party project management team invited three trade partners to participate in an incentive compensation layer, involving a pool consisting of at-risk potential profits.
TRO JB, Suffolk, and three handpicked HVAC/plumbing, electrical, and site work subs would participate in the ICL. If the project came in over budget or exceeded the schedule, the ICL profit pool would be tapped to pay the penalties. If the facility came in under budget or ahead of schedule, the ICL group would get the profit pool plus 50% of the savings, with the hospital pocketing the remaining savings.
Bronze Award
Project SummaryLawrence + Memorial Hospital Cancer Center
Waterford, Conn.BUILDING TEAM
Submitting firm: Suffolk Construction (GC/CM)
Owner/developer: Lawrence + Memorial Hospital
Architect, MEP/FP: TRO JB
Structural: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
Civil: DiCesare-Bentley EngineersGENERAL INFORMATION
Project size: 47,000 sf
Construction cost: $24 million (IPD contract value $34.5 million)
Construction period: May 2012 to September 2013
Delivery method: Tri-party integrated project delivery
Early collaboration on the design, schedule, budget, and quality goals was a must for making the plan work. Using 3P (Production Preparation Process) Lean design and pull planning tools, the Building Team was able to make key decisions efficiently. Input from about 70 Cancer Center stakeholders—including administration, medical staff, support staff, patient advocates, and partners from Dana-Farber—was solicited in an intense three-day 3P charrette, which resulted in schematic draft floor plans.
Only minor changes were needed after this point, testifying to the effectiveness of the event. (The most significant contract alteration, requested by L+M as a value-added item, was a geothermal well field system that will pay for itself in just a few years.)
A co-location center set up in two of L+M’s hospital conference rooms was made available to the Building Team for the duration of the project. This home base proved crucial to ensuring efficient communication and also provided a convenient setting for stakeholder evaluation of mockups.
As a result of the collaborative efforts, the overall project schedule was reduced by six months, and the facility came in $1.2 million under budget. Actual construction was completed in only 10 months, meeting a “stretch goal” previously set by the client. Streamlined front-end decisions played an important role, including an RFI process that was 80% shorter than the client had previously experienced.
Building Team Awards judges were impressed with the participants’ ability to weigh wants and needs and craft a facility that achieved ambitious goals. The client has engaged Suffolk and TRO JB for a second IPD contract, this time to renovate a three-story medical office building. As with healthcare itself, new ideas about delivery are proving indispensable to positive outcomes.
Related Stories
| May 22, 2014
NYC's High Line connects string of high-profile condo projects
The High Line, New York City's elevated park created from a conversion of rail lines, is the organizing principle for a series of luxury condo buildings designed by big names in architecture.
| May 22, 2014
Just two years after opening, $60 million high school stadium will close for repairs
The 18,000-seat Eagle Stadium in Allen, Texas, opened in 2012 to much fanfare. But cracks recently began to appear throughout the structure, causing to the school district to close the facility.
| May 22, 2014
Senate kills bipartisan energy efficiency bill over Keystone pipeline amendment
The legislation focused on energy efficiency standards such as water heaters with smart meters and cheaper heating and cooling systems for office buildings.
| May 22, 2014
IKEA to convert original store into company museum
Due to open next year, the museum is expected to attract 200,000 people annually to rural Älmhult, Sweden, home of the first ever IKEA store.
| May 21, 2014
Evidence-based design practices for the palliative care environment
Palliative care strives to make patients comfortable as they are receiving treatment for a severe illness. As hospitals seek to avoid Affordable Care Act penalties for poor patient satisfaction, many expect this field to grow quickly.
| May 21, 2014
Gehry unveils plan for renovation, expansion of Philadelphia Museum of Art [slideshow]
Gehry's final design reorganizes and expands the building, adding more than 169,000 sf of space, much of it below the iconic structure.
| May 21, 2014
Check out Pandora's posh NYC offices [slideshow]
The new East Coast office for the Internet radio provider is housed on two interconnected floors of the classic 125 Park Avenue building, and features multiple spaces for music performances, large gatherings, and “all hands” meetings.
| May 21, 2014
Architecture Billings Index in the negative for second consecutive month
The March ABI score was 49.6, up slightly from a mark of 48.8 in March, but still below the growth threshold of 50.
| May 20, 2014
Kinetic Architecture: New book explores innovations in active façades
The book, co-authored by Arup's Russell Fortmeyer, illustrates the various ways architects, consultants, and engineers approach energy and comfort by manipulating air, water, and light through the layers of passive and active building envelope systems.
| May 20, 2014
Gensler envisions 'law firm of the future' with pop-up office project
Called "The Legal Office of the Future," the pop-up demonstration project made its debut this week at the annual conference for the Association of Legal Administrators in Toronto.