At the end of last year, DBIA saw tremendous progress in design-build legislation. After working with DBIA regions, states increased authority for design-build use in public procurement. It was a trend that had continued for several years. In 2006, six states were without statutory design-build authority for public procurement — Alabama, Kansas, Iowa, Michigan, Rhode Island and Wyoming. As of 2008, only Alabama, Michigan and Rhode Island were without it. But that’s not the end of the story. Many other states had increased design-build authority levels in 2007, including, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Texas and Washington.
But what is it like on the ground in many of these regions? Design-builders often get the “big picture” but it may not reveal the local climate in small parts of a given part of the country. In an attempt to get some up-close snapshots from random parts of the country, DATELINE is going to take a look in coming months at individual experiences with design-build to pass along regional impressions of design-build across the nation.
Northeast Bread and Butter
Back in 2003, Bread Loaf Corporation was busy collecting a DBIA National Design-Build Award for its one-of-a-kind private sector project, the Orvis Company’s flagship store in Manchester, Vt.
Chris Huston, architecture operations manager for Bread Loaf says as design-builder they wanted to capture a certain vision of an old Adirondack camp — an atypical request for an architect. “[We] toured different camps [to see] how we could translate that into a retail space type of architecture — a large porch where the hunters left and came back to,” he says. The goal was a comfortable atmosphere, but also one that represented the function of the store. It was a process that Huston says wouldn’t have been possible if not for design-build.
“We were able to meet with subcontractors very, very early in the process — working with a local metal detail subcontractor — [who] helped us to handcraft the fish mounted to the building,” he says. “[We] experimented with them, cutting out some fish shapes.
“You would not get that in a traditional approach — really early in design.”
Integration of these key players early was something impossible had this not been design-build. Through a competitive bidding process — every trade is bid out to at least three specialty contractors — Huston says they are able to get the highest value. Had it been design-bid-build, he says the project likely wouldn’t have met sustainability goals. “We were able to convince them, given the market, we were able to get great value,” he says. “We were able to design precisely to the budget.”
For design-build in that part of the country, it’s a delivery system that is gaining popularity as the years pass, but some hurdles do exist. “There are still institutions such as state institutions …that will not entertain the design-build approach,” Huston says. “I think that it might be simply slow to change. We find that the percentage of our projects [that are design-build] varies from year to year 25 to 80 percent.”
Huston says the integrated team — “all under one roof” is something that is lacking in projects from his perspective. But he said that the region is transitioning to a more hospitable design-build part of the country. Particularly in New Hampshire, he says some public school systems have adopted and are using design-build. He said the challenges are in the very beginning, but once an integrated design-build team is selected, he says it’s rewarding to have clients see the value of an integrated approach. “What I find as an architect,” he says, “there’s a significant amount of education that’s required before we even get the job.”
He also says the notion of trust is another challenge. “Clients will question, ‘Isn’t it more appropriate to have the architects and contractor at odds?’ The simple answer is no.” He adds that design-build is not “the fox watching the hen house,” and as the region gets a feel for — and sees positive design-build results — it’s an attitude that is slowly changing. “We would not be in business for 40 years where we are not giving honest substantial projects,” he says.
Southwest Frontier
Southland Industries designs, builds and maintains properties of various types throughout the country, with healthcare and hospitality projects and a variety of other projects that dot the map. The company, formed in 1949, is one of the top mechanical contractors in the United States, “specializing in innovative HVAC, plumbing, process piping, mechanical controls and fire protection.” according to the company.
Dan Coppinger, vice president of Southland’s Southwest Division notes that projects in Las Vegas have traditionally been design-assist, and design-build is a less frequent method. But that’s changing. “Design-build has been a delivery method few in this market understand, but the interest level is peaking due to increases in construction costs and tight schedules,” he says. “The biggest resistance in our market has been the owner’s concern about validating pricing on their projects. Since we are the only contractor in Las Vegas that currently has the capacity to embark on a project as a full service design-builder, this has left most owners struggling to find a way to compete their projects among a qualified group of builders.”
Right now, Southland is working on The M Resort, a $1 billion property going up on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip being built by Marnell Corrao Associates (see story p. 16). “Nationally, we see success in delivering all of our market segments in a design-build fashion. The federal government has embraced this procurement in our Mid-Atlantic Region and many of our major healthcare projects in California have also been built via design-build delivery. While the design-build approach to construction is more advanced in some areas of the country, it continues to gain more market share even in those regions that have had a traditional design-bid-build approach to their projects.”
According to Coppinger, “Innovation starts with a design that provides the right size system without all the belts and suspenders of your traditional designer and amounts to what would be the best application for that building owner’s needs. Also, having the ability to validate new materials and methods from a construction standpoint by way of our own in house design staff allows us to be on the leading edge in technology,“ he says. “Whether this applies to new advancements in copper joining systems or working with an equipment manufacturer to develop a job specific product for us, we treat each project as a clean slate to look for opportunities to innovate. Culturally this is something that Southland is passionate about and we find important not only to our company’s success, but also for the design-build delivery process.”
A learning curve exists, however. Coppinger notes, not unlike Huston, that getting team members involved in the integrated process, and doing it in the early stages, sometimes takes getting used to. “Design decisions are now being made around cost and constructability the first time that they go on paper which is a shift in thinking in Las Vegas,” he says. “In the past, drawings were produced and value engineered down to a point where they fit within a schedule and budget. With the design-build delivery process, we can influence design decisions and understand what’s important to an owner and help them maximize the product that we’re providing while putting the money into the right spots that add value to the owner’s facility.”
A comprehensive look at these companies is available at their respective Web sites: www.breadloaf.com and www.southlandind.com.