Page 14 - spaces4learning, July/August 2020

spaces4learning DESIGN-BUILD
communication and brings about more efficient workflows, academic institutions gain greater quality control and assur- ance that their vision will to come to fruition. Designers and builders are working together with high quality standards at every stage. With the two entities working together as one, each brings out the best in the other, thus creating a better building.
Case Study - UNH
DiMella Shaffer has extensive design
experience in the academic sector, span-
ning from primary/preparatory institu-
tions, to secondary and higher educa-
tion. We’ve been thrilled to see a greater
adoption of the design-build method of
project delivery in the academic space,
as these schools and institutions have
come to better understand the process’
benefits and its application in an aca-
demic setting. One school with whom we’ve delivered sever- al design-build projects is the University of New Hampshire (UNH).
At UNH, the addition of two new residential buildings to the existing 600-bed Gables community was the first of a two-phase 1,000-bed expansion project. After nearly a year of preparatory work, the university had clear expectations on the program and quality of work desired for two additional build- ings adjacent to this 15-year-old community. The school chose
a design-build approach as they believed it would be the most efficient, and because it would allow simultaneous control over both budget and design.
The Gables project was one with a short timeframe – the design-build process kicked off on December 15th with a project completion and student move-in by August, 19 months later. As a client, Doug Bencks, University Architect and Director of Campus Planning at UNH, feels that design-build affords a
THE DESIGN- BUILD APPROACH OFFERS A MORE SYNERGETIC DELIVERY SYSTEM.
higher level of comfort, largely because of the minimal cost variance from pre- design to project completion and lowered costs associated with time and labor saved. But for Bencks, the commitment of the design-build team to having onsite representation throughout the process to make quick, collective decisions as needs arose was where the sense of support and ease stemmed on this project. Onsite design staff accelerated the decision-
making necessary in the field, allowing for faster project completion.
Bencks states there has been significant growth in the aware- ness of design-build as a delivery option in the past five years, particularly in the academic sector. Since 2006, UNH has com- pleted 17 design-build projects, with a total of 50 design-build projects to date. This approach has accounted for over 34% of projects over $3M at the university since the same year.
Photos © RichardMandelkornPhotography
14 JUL/AUG 2020