St. Jude Medical Center NW Tower Earns Two AGC Alliant Build America Awards
The St. Jude Medical Center Northwest Tower in Fullerton, Calif., recently received two Alliant Build America awards in the categories of Partnering Excellence and Design-Build Merit from the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America. Holly Cindell, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. project director, and James Ho, Petra-ICS vice president of operations, accepted the awards during the Alliant Build America Awards Luncheon on March 19, 2015 at AGC’s Annual Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
A collective effort of St. Jude Medical Center, Petra-ICS, McCarthy and Taylor Design, the new $228 million (construction cost) healthcare facility, which opened in November 2014, was completed five months early and more than 10% under the original construction budget.
Located on the northern side of the St. Jude Medical Center campus at Bastanchury Road and Harbor Boulevard, the new tower replaces an existing tower and meets California’s strict seismic requirements. The project entailed construction of a four-story, 200,000-square-foot hospital connected to an existing tower; a 20,000-square-foot central utility plant; a 215-car parking structure expansion and re-routing of major site utilities on an active medical campus.
The Northwest Tower project team overcame various project challenges and exceeded project expectations by implementing Lean Construction methods, utilizing technological advancements and effectively harnessing the talents of an experienced and collaborative team through integrated design-build delivery. The progressive design-build form of delivery implemented on the St. Jude Medical Center project includes IPD “lite” terms and conditions with unique contractual incentives for the design team, contractors and subcontractors while still providing the owner with the certainty of a Guaranteed Maximum Price. To receive these incentives, the team members needed to meet specific goals for safety, budget, design, facility satisfaction, quality and schedule.
“We chose a design-build project delivery method in an effort to lower the overall design and construction cost as well as to bring a heightened level of accountability to the design phase of the project,” said Jim Bostic, V.P., Construction for Petra ICS. “It is a known fact, that as an owner representative, our best opportunity to control the cost of a project is during the design phase.”
Facilitated by Ventura Consulting Group (VCG) and Lou Bainbridge Consulting, the Partnering process was also instrumental to the project’s success. “Having achieved world-class level success on previous projects, the project team wanted to use Partnering to reach greater heights,” said Paul Crotty, VCG facilitator. To meet this lofty objective, project team members implemented a project-wide process of continual improvement and, in doing so, reinforced the importance of cultural alignment, common goals, core values and rules of engagement.
The following excerpt authored during one of the final Partnering Sessions sums up the team’s extraordinary results: “In the end, the Northwest Patient Tower was completed approximately five months ahead of schedule and under the initial budget by more than 10 percent. The team achieved these results despite a complete change in project direction, as well as changes in scope including the unanticipated build-out of 50,000 square feet of space that was originally planned as shell space, and a shift on the operating room floor to include new technology that had received funding. More importantly for St. Joseph Health, the new Northwest Tower will effectively advance the ministry’s purpose in the community, serve as a benchmark for future hospital projects, and perpetuate the bottom line value of developing the right team.”
The Alliant Build America Awards highlight the nation’s most significant construction projects and are considered by many to be the most prestigious recognition of construction accomplishments in the United States. According to the AGC, a panel of judges, representing all areas of construction, evaluated an impressive number of submissions this year, accessing each project’s complexity, use of innovative construction techniques and client satisfaction, among other criteria.
The Partnering Excellence category of the Alliant Build America Awards is a part of the Marvin M. Black Partnering Awards which are presented annually to construction projects that epitomize the principles of partnering. Inspired by the AGC’s Past President Marvin M. Black, this award was designed to recognize construction project teams for their ability to achieve a common goal, honor all stakeholders, maintain momentum, perpetuate partnering, improve communication and incorporate team-building activities.
About Taylor Design
Taylor Design is a full-service firm with practices in architectural, interiors, and strategies; with offices in northern and southern California, the 55-person firm has built a strong practice with a national reputation in the healthcare design industry, and is now poised to explore additional market sectors, including education, and science & technology. Taylor Design’s dynamic and effective strategy-based practice assures that decisions made at every stage of the design process make a positive difference for organizations and communities. Clients of the firm have included: Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland, Oakland, CA; Scripps Health, San Diego, CA; Hoag Hospital, Orange County, CA; UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, CA; and numerous service areas for Kaiser Permanente, among others. For more information on the firm, visit www.WeAreTaylor.com.
About Petra Integrated Construction Strategies (ICS)
Petra-ICS is a subsidiary of The Innovation Institute, an organization fueled to cultivate innovative solutions to transform healthcare by doing more, with less, for more people. Through a diverse team of professionals, Petra creates safe environments and holistic solutions, which enhance the way care is delivered and the way people live. Services include program and construction management; facility master planning and pre-design; facility infrastructure; organizational resource planning; communications; and community engagement. For more information, visit www.petra-ics.com.
About McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has been building communities across America for more than 150 years, delivering certainty for clients in a diverse range of markets. Throughout all phases of a project, from early integrated design phase services, through construction and after completion, McCarthy builders utilize industry-leading construction techniques and the most sophisticated technology to deliver the highest quality, job-site safety and ultimately, the best value. The firm has approximately 1,600 salaried employees with offices in Newport Beach, San Diego, Corona, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Jose, Calif. as well as St. Louis, Atlanta; Collinsville, Ill.; Portage, Ind.; Kansas City, Kan.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Dallas, Houston and Albuquerque. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at the website or by following the company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.
