Making the Rounds
Senior Superintendent Kris Mannen has mastered the art of aligning teams and keeping complex healthcare projects on track.
On a typical morning, Kris Mannen logged over 10,000 steps during his daily rounds of the 16-story Plaza West Tower under construction at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
While traversing the corridors of the signature 660,000-square-foot project, he tracked the progress, quality and consistency of everything from equipment installations to paint colors.
The issues Mannen identified during these daily walkthroughs informed his priorities in directing seven McCarthy field teams assigned to the project.
My job was to make sure everyone had what they needed to be successful and help them when they ran into roadblocks or challenges."
Because of the logistical and scheduling complexities, he regularly met with each field team leader to review their current work activities, manpower allocation, coordination of trade partners and obstacles. “The team on level 12 didn't necessarily know about a problem on level six, so it was my job to make sure everyone understood and communicated the solution so we wouldn’t repeat the same issues,” he says.
Ultimately, Mannen’s goal was to keep one of the Midwest’s largest, most complicated hospital construction projects on track throughout the five-year planning, design and construction process.
Construction progress at Plaza West Tower.
Plaza West Tower at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
Topping out at Plaza West Tower last summer.
Family respite area at Plaza West Tower overlooking Forest Park.
Healing rooftop garden at Plaza West Tower.
BJC Healthcare's Barnes-Jewish Hospital campus in St. Louis.
It was like a giant game of chess—constantly making strategic moves while thinking 10 steps ahead. It was super challenging, but it’s what I love doing, so it was fun for me."
With the recent opening of the Plaza West Tower, Mannen adds to an impressive healthcare construction resume that includes the New Orleans VA Medical Center and a new tower at Oklahoma Heart Hospital.
“I've spent my entire McCarthy career building hospitals,” he notes, a specialization that originated with a trio of McCarthy internships that introduced him to the estimating process and active jobsites in Omaha and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. “I just love watching the trades in the field and understanding how a building comes together.”
Built for Building
Born in Chesterfield, Missouri, Mannen exhibited an early aptitude for construction.
He was the kid erecting elaborate Lego structures, taking apart household items just to reassemble them and constructing a treehouse in his buddy’s backyard—all by himself.
As he matured, the projects grew more ambitious. Mannen replaced all the wood flooring in his parents’ house and spent summers working with his stepdad’s contracting business, tackling everything from painting to cabinet installations to roof replacements.
Those formative experiences led him—and his twin sister Katie—to Elon University, a North Carolina institution known for its experiential learning environment. Through the university’s three-two engineering program, Mannen earned a physics degree before transferring to North Carolina State University to complete his mechanical engineering degree.
After joining McCarthy full time as a project engineer, Mannen's first assignment tested both his resolve and his adaptability. Six weeks before completing work on a medical office building and wellness center in Oklahoma, a tornado dropped directly onto the jobsite.
The damage was catastrophic—every window blown out, the roof ripped open and a water main broke, flooding the entire building. “It felt like a horror story," Mannen recalls, noting the twister caused $25 million in damage and added another full year to the project timeline. But it also taught him valuable lessons about perseverance that have continued to serve him as he’s taken on increasingly challenging assignments.
In 2014, he relocated to New Orleans to work on the VA New Orleans Replacement Medical Center, a sprawling nine-building campus that replaced previous facilities damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
It was there that he met Joe Lewandowski, a McCarthy project leader who would become both a mentor and an advocate for Mannen's ongoing career development. Lewandowski encouraged him to take over as superintendent on one of the VA project’s most challenging components: the conversion of a historic former brewery building into a new laboratory research space.
At the completion of that project in 2016, he followed Lewandowski to Oklahoma City and continued to expand his expertise as superintendent on a new six-story patient tower shared by Mercy and Oklahoma Heart Hospital.
Back Home Again
When BJC HealthCare awarded McCarthy the Plaza West Tower project at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in 2020, both men headed to St. Louis and teamed up once again.
While collaborating on early planning activities, Mannen convinced Lewandowski to let him serve as a primary superintendent on the project. “It was definitely the most ambitious and challenging job I've taken on,” he admits.
The role also came with wide-ranging responsibilities that included leading jobsite tours for a steady stream of VIP guests and visitors—from McCarthy Chairman and CEO Ray Sedey to former company executives and retirees eager to see McCarthy’s expertise and craftsmanship in action.
For Mannen, an unexpected bonus of returning to McCarthy’s headquarters location after a decade of traveling to remote jobsites was the opportunity to build strong bonds with his St. Louis-based coworkers.
Many Friday evenings, he and his wife, Lindsay, host a dinner at their home for several McCarthy partners and their families.
My best friends are all McCarthy employees and the people that I've traveled with over the years. I don't know anyone else who has the close work relationships that we do here at McCarthy."
Kris Mannen with his wife, Lindsay, and their daughters, Addie (5) and Sophie (2).
Get to Know Kris Mannen
- Kris lives in Ladue with his wife, Lindsay, and their daughters, Addie (5) and Sophie (2).
- The couple met when they were teenagers, dated in high school and got married in 2018. Lindsay is a registered nurse who works at Mercy Hospital South.
- Kris’ twin sister, Katie, is an attorney and partner at Mannen Browne LLC, a law firm she founded in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
- Each year, the extended family travels to an international location to experience its distinctive culture and landmarks. An African safari is on the docket for 2026.
- His favorite hobbies include golf, scuba diving and snow skiing. He also enjoys experiencing St. Louis’ diverse food scene and cultural attractions.
