CM at Risk project with a 5-month preconstruction timeline and a 17-month phased construction schedule. The project included partial demolition of the existing fine arts building and construction of a new 2-story suspended slab fine arts facility addition tied into the existing structure on both floors. The facility includes a band hall, orchestra space, theater, workshop, dance studio, and mezzanine.
North East ISD
Lopez Salas Architects
CM at Risk
September, 2019
28,800
$9,100,000
Our team provided over $650,000 of accepted value engineering items to the district. These savings accelerated the schedule of the project. The largest value engineering success was was changing the structure from concrete to metal deck and structural steel framing.
Despite the project taking place in the middle of high school campus, our innovative scheduling allowed us to continue operations during the school year without disruption to the students and the daily functions of the campus.
Underground concealed utilities meandered throughout the site and building footprint and were not present in any as-builts or drawings. Each utility line had to be individually traced by hand-digging, verified if active, and rerouted. The second big obstacle came in the form of differing floor elevations between the existing structure and the new construction. Resolving the challenge meant aligning the new structure to the classrooms and constructing an interior ADA compliant ramp system from the second floor up the auditorium stage level. The final challenge was aligning the existing structure's slab edges and rooflines to the new structure.
For a 17-month phased construction schedule, over five of them were impacted by weather. Our team overcame most of the delays, despite the temptation to build an ark, and delivered the facility in time for the fall semester.