CONSTRUCTION EXECUTIVE | FEBRUARY 2015

22

An innovative renovation and addition designed by WORKSHOP8 and built by

Pinkard Construction turned the dilapidated South Lowell complex into what one
official described as the best property in the Denver Housing Authoritys portfolio.

WITH

COLLABORATE

PURPOSE

Enhance Project Eiciency, Budgeting and Scheduling

With More Meaningful Teamwork
By Joanna Masterson

improvements on future jobs. Such best practices for

quality, innovative and collaborative project delivery
are exempliied by Associated Builders and Contractors
Excellence in Construction Awards (listed fully on
page S1). Following are highlights from a few recent
award-winners that underscore advice from Hill on
extracting high-level teamwork from project participants.

INVITE HELP
Even small design-bid-build projects ofer opportunities
to ask project team members if they would change
anything to improve the jobsite atmosphere, reorganize
materials deliveries or simplify the schedule.
Instead of pushing a schedule on subcontractors, invite
the trades to discuss actual handofs so they can minimize disruptions to worklow, Hill says. his involves
in-person, cross-group conversation. So often teams have a
schedule but no real plan to deliver that schedule.
W.G. Yates & Sons Construction, Fort Worth,
Texas, put this philosophy to work on the Residences
at Stoneleigh, a 22-story luxury residential high-rise
in Uptown Dallas. he condo project was forced into
bankruptcy during the recession, with the building shell
remaining uninished for three years before Maple Wolf
Stoneleigh, LLC brought W.G. Yates & Sons on board
in 2012 to turn the eyesore into a completed tower with
beautiful city views and top-notch amenities.
In addition to reviewing drawings with the design team
and recommending building systems and materials, W.G.
Yates & Sons invited its ield team staf and subcontractors

CONSTRUCTIONEXEC.COM

Daniel OConnor Photography

ets be honest: Every project team says they

collaborate, but do they really go as deep
as they can to change their behavior and
modus operandi? According to Kristin Hill,
president of InsideOut Consulting, Inc.,
most project participants collaborate from their own
(or their companys) perspective, rather than examining the job from multiple perspectives.
hey tend to collaborate post-fact. hey review
things together and call that collaborating, but it should
happen before they go of and do the work. hats where
the real opportunities for innovation happen, she says.
When youre just reviewing or commenting on somebodys work, youve narrowed the perspective to focusing
on what they already produced.
In short, the top opportunity for making project
delivery improvements across the board is planning
jointly and early. For example, examining how trades
will interact onsite does a lot to eliminate waste and
other constraints that slow down or stall projects.
On the soft side, planning ahead changes the
relationships of the people involved in the project,
Hill says. When people understand each others work
diferently, they have a deeper level of respect and
better ability to deal with each other. he way designers
need to plan is diferent from how constructors think
and plan. Both sides need to be patient with that.
Ultimately, patience and planning yield more successful projects, which often leads to repeat business
and the opportunity to make additional incremental

23

Harbor Pictures

John Thomas Photography

CONSTRUCTION EXECUTIVE | FEBRUARY 2015

24

W.G. Yates & Sons cooperated closely with the owner, architect and
subcontractors to complete the Residences at Stoneleigh, a 22-story
luxury condo project in Dallas that had been abandoned for three years
during the recession.

Kenpat USA spearheaded the exterior metal faade and structural wall
system installations for Canaveral Port Authoritys seven-story Exploration
Tower Welcome Center.

to a building envelope review meeting so they could

discuss and resolve any potential issues prior to commencing work. Meeting activities included reviewing transitions
between envelope components to ensure compatibility
and integration, conirming every scope had contractual
assignments and ensuring continuity of all critical barriers.
Collaborative eforts like this allowed W.G. Yates &
Sons to complete the $28.4 million job three months
ahead of schedule in November 2013 and earn $700,000
in additional owner-initiated scope enhancements.

installing exterior metal faades and structural wall systems

for Canaveral Port Authoritys seven-story Exploration
Tower Welcome Center. he project, led by Skanska USA,
features a dynamic form with a parabolic metal-panel shell,
an exposed steel-tube canopy and iridescent skin.
he buildings huge structural panels had to achieve
exceedingly tight tolerances in order to meet the dimensions
of the cladding panels that were being manufactured
simultaneously and before measurements could be taken
onsite. Facing an installation challenge, Kenpats superintendent had to come up with a way to hoist the panels into
position without a crane. He devised a plan based on how
the ancient pyramids were built in which the panels were
positioned on top of the slab in soft containers illed with
sand. Gradually, the sand was released until the exact height
was achieved, at which point the panels were clipped back
to the steel/concrete and into permanent position.
Texas-based Aggregate Technologies, Inc., also had
a chance to share its expertise on eicient installation
during renovations to the 22-story G.T. Mickey
Leland Federal Building, which takes up a city block
in downtown Houston. he modernization project, led
by Gilbane, Inc., required the removal of 340 concrete
precast panels weighing more than 2,000 pounds each.
With no tower crane tall enough to perform the
work, Aggregate Technologies collaborated with 3D
(continued on page 26)

SHARE EXPERTISE
Contractors, including third-tier subcontractors, also
should ask to be given the opportunity to make the
project more efective during the design phase. As irms
amp up their collaboration, one of the biggest lessons
they learn is how to build trust so team members feel
conident to speak up when they have an idea.
Subcontractors are often in a position of being told
what to do, but they need to think of themselves as supporters and enablers of the design intent coming forward
in the most efective way possible, Hill says. hey are
in a position to ofer up their subject matter expertise to
show how things can be done more eiciently.
Kenpat USA, Apopka, Fla., did just that as the subcontractor responsible for designing, manufacturing and

Aggregate Technologies, Inc.

CONSIDER THE WHOLE BUDGET

Its not uncommon for contractors to walk out of a bid
with an idea of how they could have saved money, but
feel they must stick to building what theyve been given.
As a result, they just focus on their bucket of the budget.
Teams should value engineer in real time and
on an ongoing basis instead of after the fact, which
causes rework. Constructability collaboration during

CONSTRUCTION EXECUTIVE | FEBRUARY 2015

Aggregate Technologies and 3D Design & Engineering designed two

roof-mounted cranes capable of removing 340 concrete precast panels
weighing more than 2,000 pounds each from a federal building in downtown Houston.

Design & Engineering to design two specialty cranes

that were mounted on the buildings roof. A crew
comprised of one worker operating the crane, two
workers on a mast climber, one worker inside the
building and one worker on the ground would mobilize
for 10 to 14 days and then leave the job for one to four
weeks while Gilbane installed new perimeter walls and
energy-eicient glass.
Over 19 months and 12 mobilizations, Aggregate
Technologies removed every panel safely and without
damaging the new building faade. Plus, all of the
concrete from the panels was recycled.

26
HEAVY-DUTY HAND CLEANER with moisturizers

2015 WD-40 Company

NET WT 5.75 OZ. (163g)

he designer, WORKSHOP8, was eager to tackle

the unique solution, and together the team members
devised a plan that met dozens of city and county
requirements as well as DHAs $10 million budget.
hat spirit of teamwork continued as the project
faced serious obstacles, including rampant mold
and asbestos and other unforeseen site conditions
plus occasional design input from DHAs program
manager. As construction manager at-risk, Pinkard
was successful in inding corresponding cost savings
elsewhere in the project to accommodate these
ideas without adding to the overall budget. In
addition, when installation costs for an elaborate
water feature were deemed too high, Pinkard
crews volunteered to do the work themselves so
the residents children could have somewhere
to play.
Joanna Masterson is editor of Construction Executive. For
more information, email masterson@abc.org, visit www.
constructionexec.com or follow @ConstructionMag.

THE REDESIGNED POWER OF PRECISION. The 3-IN-ONE Telescoping

Marksman Spout extends a full 6 inches to pinpoint hard-to-reach targets, every
time. Its compact size fits easi y in pockets and toolboxes, the ergonomic shape
makes it easy to grip, and the new product-fi indicator lets you know when its
time for a new bottle. Now thats reliabi ity. 3inONE.com

CONSTRUCTIONEXEC.COM

design doesnt change the design intent, but it could

unfold to support the budget better, Hill says. In
the lean world, this is called target value delivery.
he team uses diferent collaborative approaches and
stays focused on the budget without having big value
engineering loopbacks.
Continual attention to the bottom line was a
hallmark of the addition to the Denver Housing
Authoritys (DHA) dilapidated South Lowell Property.
When Pinkard Construction Company, Lakewood,
Colo., reviewed the projects schematic plans as part
of a request for proposal, it knew something wasnt
right. Although the structural engineer determined
the existing building could support a third-story
addition, Pinkard felt it was too much of a risk for the
owner and tenants.
Rather than resign DHA to a straightforward
renovationand ignore its desperate need for more
unitsPinkard proposed resurrecting and modifying
an earlier idea of constructing a new four-story
addition inside the courtyard of the existing building.

27