For the City of Phoenix, a design-build policy has been the most difficult to grasp and the most elusive. The city had completed only five design-build projects before the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication facility project began, and it’s turning out to be another successful design-build project for the city. The nearly-complete six-story, 223,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art journalism education complex is located in the heart of downtown Phoenix. The centerpiece of the new Arizona State University (ASU) downtown campus, it is part of a larger movement, which has already had — and will continue to have — a tremendous impact on the city.
Phoenix uses alternate project delivery methods quite extensively thanks to the leadership and vision of city engineer Wylie Bearup, who spearheaded the efforts to move the city in a collaborative direction. Gone are the days of adversarial relationships as this new approach of cooperation has become the standard. But it hasn’t been easy. Architects, engineers, contractors and specialty contractors as well as private and public sector entities — all with their own individual cultures and goals — needed to learn how to collaborate to successfully complete the project.
Downtown Phoenix is in the midst of an unparallelled resurgence and revitalization effort. The first phases began with the completion of some of the city’s first design-build projects: Translational Genomics Research Institute / International Genomics Consortium (TGen/IGC) headquarters and ASU Phase I — the renovation of three existing buildings to create the College of Public Programs and the College of Nursing and Healthcare Innovation. With these successes, along with the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, the design-build delivery method has proved its worth and become a model for building efficiently, timely and collaboratively.
The Decision
City leaders envisioned a revitalized downtown area while ASU wanted to become the “new American university.” As a result, the two entities joined forces and discussed the possibility of a centrally located downtown campus. Talks began in early 2004, and today the Colleges of Public Programs and Nursing are celebrating their fourth semesters of classes in downtown Phoenix. Design-build was the catalyst behind this speed.
The city selected design-build for a variety of reasons. Project timelines for each stage — design, build, furnish and ultimately open doors for classes — were inflexible, and budgets were fixed, not negotiable. City officials knew these would be significant challenges, which made design-build’s one-stop shop approach the best and quickest method to completion.
Phoenix was the only major city without a university until August 2006, when the first phase of ASU Downtown opened for classes. The $31 million project was completed in approximately 15 months and included renovations to three facilities with a combined square footage of more than 360,000. The design-build team of Smith Group/DPR Construction successfully accomplished their goal of revitalizing these structures due to their careful coordination and cooperation. Design, permitting and construction activities commenced almost simultaneously.
The buildings opened Aug. 15, 2006, and classes began the following Monday. To keep the momentum going, ASU’s second downtown phase immediately began. In fact, the news that the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism facility was funded came just a week before the Phase I grand opening. The initial advertisement went out on Aug. 16, 2006, and the design-build team was selected on Oct. 6. By Nov. 30, 2006, the final concept and design was completed.
Teamwork has remained the impetus behind the $71 million journalism school’s design-build success. Open communication and positive attitudes of all team members and stakeholders has been a project driver. Not originally intended to be managed by the city, last-minute circumstances changed this, and when handed over to the city, the goal was completion by fall of 2008 — a two-year timeframe. Similar projects take years to accomplish what has been done on the journalism project in little over a year. The project still remains on schedule and on budget.
The design-build team of Sundt Construction, HDR Engineering and Steven Ehrlich Architects has managed to keep moving forward into a construction phase that, even with all the typical problems, is being completed as the visionaries had promised. The crowded utilities in a narrow street, aging infrastructure, an urban environment, downtown activities, classes in adjacent buildings and construction activities all around were only a few of the challenges the design-build team faced.
This dynamic team, that was set in place at the very beginning, has met these, as well as all other, challenges head-on and succeeded, due in part to the collaborative efforts and shared vision of all team members.
Another factor of success has been co-location. All team members — designers, architects, engineers, contractors, specialty contractors, as well as owners — worked side by side throughout the design process in the “war room.” An impressive by-product of this arrangement is the camaraderie among team members. Additionally, the contractor began thinking and acting like an owner, team members were non-confrontational and focused.
The bureaucracy created by the development process that consultants and contractors must endure is no secret. Meeting the needs of the city and ASU while moving through the process could have been quite frustrating. But with the collective goal in mind, the experienced team has successfully maneuvered through the complex development process, while remaining focused and committed.
This facility, along with the rest of the downtown campus, is designed to bring a sense of community to urban student life, and is part of the larger plan for the Phoenix’s urban core.
The design-build project delivery method, with its foundation of cooperation and collaboration, has made this all possible. The project is only a few months away from completion.
Tauny Woo, PE, LEED AP, is the assistant engineer for the City of Phoenix. Lynn Williams is a management assistant.