Construction Global magazine - April 2017

A p r il 2017

www.constructionglobal.com

MONIKA

SLOWIKOWSKA GOLDEN HOUSE

DEVELOPMENTS

SKANSKA’S UVA Hospital expansion project

BUILDING

SUCCESS How Turner Construction is leveraging a century of experience to raise standards at Texas State University

• The LARGEST STADIUMS in the world •

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April 3–5, 2017 | Marriott Marquis | Houston, Texas Produced by Diversified Communications

EDITOR’S COMMENT

BUILDING THE FUTURE HELLO AND WELCOME to the April edition of Construction Global.

The cover this month features an exclusive interview with the founder and CEO of Golden House Developments Monika Slowikowska regarding her career in construction to date. With a limited number of female CEOs in the industry, readers are able to garner great insight into her experience in construction, what drives Golden Houses to provide quality builds, and how an exceptional team delivers consistent results.

Also included is an in-depth feature regarding Skanska’s UVA Hospital expansion project in Virginia. We speak with Project Executive John Calvin, who details the project’s progression and use of key technologies to ensure the project is completed on time and on budget.

Also included is our top 10 article covering the largest stadiums, providing first-class entertainment throughout the world.

We sincerely hope you enjoy the issue, and as always, please tweet your feedback to @ConstructionGL

Enjoy the issue!

Catherine Rowell Editor catherine.rowell@bizclikmedia.com

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F E AT U R E S

06 Construction’s PROFILE

Golden Girl TECHNOLOGY

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SKANSKA’S UVA HOSPITAL EXPANSION PROJECT,

VIRGINIA

14 4

April 2017

LIST

24

Top 10 largest stadiums in the world

C O M PA N Y PROFILES

34

Turner Construction

46

Vantage

USA & CANADA

USA & CANADA

Rosendin Electric

USA & CANADA

66 5

PROFILE

Construction’s Golden Girl We speak to Monika Slowikowska, founder of Golden House Developments, a booming London property builder which has grown six-fold in the space of two years W R I T T E N B Y: C AT H E R I N E R O W E L L

SINCE ITS ESTABLISHMENT in 2014, Golden House in London has turned the construction and building industry on its head and won a multitude of awards. The company has recently been part of George Clark’s TV programme Ugly House to Lovely House, successfully completing the build of a large number of houses and flats in seven weeks.

Founded by Monika Slowikowska, 6

April 2017

the company’s turnover at the end of 2014 was approximately £1.5 million, but has now grown to over £10 million.

With a background in advertising, Slowikowska fell in love with London and swiftly relocated from her native Poland. Experience within structural engineering, cladding companies and a partnership with her brother in a former business fully cemented her passion for the construction

industry, rising from administration and procurement, to property project manager, before going solo.

Slowikowska is exceptionally down-to-earth regarding her achievements not only as founder, but also behind her motivation in driving the construction company, being one of the only women in the world to do so. She cheerfully adds on meeting George Clarke:

“In his 20 years I was the second woman he met in construction.”

Growing the business Unlike a large number of companies which subcontract each package, Golden House has an entire in-house team, with 170 employees on board, solely utilising external subcontractors for specialist work.

Slowikowska explains: “Ever since 7

PROFILE the beginning, I decided to follow this strategy because I believe that people who know each other and are a team can work together better”. This in effect also minimises potential risk and conflict, but also incorporates less management.

Previously working alongside her brother enabled Slowikowska to gain essential experience in contracting, financial and logistical elements, exposing the often-complex side of contracting. One of the duo’s projects was previously nominated for the Royal Institute of British Architect Awards (RIBA) back in 2011, at which the project incorporated a number of sophisticated technologies and world-class design. She adds enthusiastically: “You build houses which are comparable or similar, but this was very different. What was satisfying was that a lot of architects’ details were modified by us and improved, which made it work”.

When building Golden Houses from scratch, Slowikowska recalls that “it actually took a good four to five months to make up my mind and come up with enough courage to take on the challenge”.

A hands-on approach has enabled 8

April 2017

the development of key relationships with workers, but Slowikowska is all too aware of the consequences of becoming disengaged, with this being the biggest asset the company has. She explains: “As a leader, if I become too estranged, then the values which we operate on would not be so alive during daily operations.” To this effect, she spends time on the different sites each a week, but also has formal meetings

CONSTRUCTION’S GOLDEN GIRL

with clients and its own in-house designers when they are on site.

Building a resilient workforce Strong internal working relationships and teamwork is essential within Golden Houses operations, and Slowikowska stresses that the amount of investment and time it took to build the team has spurred her to ensure workers are never without work.

She comments: “I have never sent

people home due to no work, there is always a continuation and they have that security”. Slowikowska shows deep pride in her workers and has a passion to see teams grow.

With this in mind, she has based her management around tackling challenges in a constructive way, taking interest in how to support her workers to reach their key potential.

However, Slowikowska admits that any worker who is not willing to work 9

PROFILE

hard and embody the core values of the company are swiftly let go, stating: “Its tough love – I’m not keeping on the books anyone who cannot pull their weight or do the work, because no one wants to work with someone who is lazy.” With such a hard-line approach, teams are able to self-manage themselves and managers have not had to micro-manage workers.

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April 2017

Company growth Nonetheless, with the vote to leave the EU, the future for building and construction in the United Kingdom is unclear, with over 10 percent of the UK workforce originating from Europe and eastern Europe. Slowikowska acknowledges that such change has the potential to affect the industry dramatically, but cautiously adds,

CONSTRUCTION’S GOLDEN GIRL

“this depends on the conditions which are negotiated”. Despite this, she adds that “ever since the beginning of 2016, wages for workers are increasing; we have captured it as a 12 percent rate increase, which we are prepared to do in order to match current market rates”.

With the company’s accelerated growth, it is able to be selective in the projects it undertakes, and has therefore increased the minimum number of projects in process.

The long-term goal is to undertake projects for £8 million and then work on a couple of projects to provide sustainable turnover. However, Slowikowska notes that “there is a very delicate balance between growing too fast and losing touch with what’s happening on the ground”.

The company is continually on the lookout for good management to match its increasing growth. However, Slowikowska is quick to caution too rapid a growth, citing a possible compromise of company values.

Recognition The company has been shortlisted for a second time by the National Federation of Builders (NFB) for

several awards, at which Slowikowska is continually humbled by such recognition. She recalls her disbelief at being shortlisted for the European in Construction Award and gaining recognition for the work at Golden Houses. She recalls that “it was a lightbulb moment, where I realised that myself and the company are doing something right and it gave me courage to see whether what we do at Golden Houses is comparable with other companies”. Since this time, both Golden Houses and Slowikowska have won a multitude of awards, such as the Construction News Awards, where the company’s innovative approach was acknowledged by the biggest contractors in the market, and fellow judges were impressed by the company’s new and completed projects.

With the aim to provide built homes which will become desirable properties, Slowikowska continually looks for projects in which the company’s in-house design team can make prospective builds work better with the space allocated, rather than what she firmly classes as “shoeboxes, where there is not enough storage space”. It is clear 11

PROFILE

that Slowikowska envisages building houses or flats which show respect for prospective clients, at which she adds, “clients deserve properties which are better designed, better built - the cost difference of doing it badly and doing it well is not illegible”.

The future of construction In addition to providing buildings which are well designed, constructed and fit for purpose, Slowikowska also aims to create buildings which do not hinder human health. She describes it as a challenge within modern construction, believing that the industry will soon have to counteract this to improve 12

April 2017

the health of tenants and residents.

She explains: “With electromagnetic radiation in houses, we are living with steel beams, thousands of cables, and we have more and more intelligent equipment, all of which operate on a frequency comparable with mobile phones”, further adding, “we are creating houses which are as alien to the natural environment as we can possibly imagine”.

This also extends to the products which are utilised in construction, increasing the level of allergies and breathing problems, linking to sick building syndrome (SBS).

The construction industry is

CONSTRUCTION’S GOLDEN GIRL

continually undergoing a number of other challenges, Slowikowska adds that “unfortunately it is a traditional industry. Some professionals have shown a lack of respect, providing designs late, costing the company a considerable amount.” In past projects, designs have been changed at last minute, or essential details have not been provided, creating increased pressure. However, it has allowed the company to play to its strengths and to see what work can be completed to a high standard within certain timescales.

Slowikowska adds: “When we are faced with a challenge like that - how

to resolve things, how to do unusual detail, I love that as it pushes us.”

“Whether its supply chain, design, networking or collaboration, I find joy in seeing how I can tweak everything to make sure that it works well.” Acknowledging that this has become the most challenging role in her career, she adds that “it is our dream and desire for Golden Houses to be associated with good quality builds, quality design and a demonstration of care.” She will no doubt continue to push the construction industry to provide innovative solutions in building and design. Watch this space.

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TECHNOLOGY

SKANSKA’S UVA HOSPITAL EXPANSION PROJECT, VIRGINIA Written by: C AT H E R I N E R O W E L L

Project Executive John Calvin discusses Skanska’s aim to develop and expand the University Hospital in Virginia by utilising key technologies and utilising a highly skilled workforce

COULD YOU PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF YOUR ROLE WITHIN THIS NEW EXCITING PROJECT?

After becoming fortunate enough to win the project, I became part of the construction management (CM) team to help facilitate the design scope and cost as the constructor.

University of Virginia Health System had the vision to procure designers and construction managers early in the Schematic Design phases.

During the design phase, I led the Skanska team and participated with the designers to work on scheduling, cost estimating, cost trending, assembling Design-Assist subcontractors, value management, constructability analysis, construction phasing and document reviews.

I managed the procurement phase to secure a team of qualified subcontractors to work directly for Skanska. The construction phase services include construction administration and full responsibility for the successful completion of all construction.

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TECHNOLOGY UVA Hospital has seen significant growth in the number of patients visiting the Emergency Department. The emergency department, operating rooms and inpatient bed area comprise the expansion of the current emergency department. The new wing, including the emergency department, operating rooms and additional inpatient beds will provide 80 beds and enable the facility and its professionals to treat patients effectively, particularly those requiring special equipment.

The new wing of the department is being built on the site of the hospital’s ground helipad. It will include a sixstory bed tower – three of which are shell space at this time – directly above the new wing, with a rooftop helipad. The first three floors are known as the Plinth, which will support the Emergency Department, along with dedicated space for mental health care, more operating rooms, expanded radiology services and cardiac labs.

The new construction is approximately 440,000 square feet and the associated renovation is approximately 90,000 square feet, through many phases. The work will encompass new drop off and entries into the emergency department for ambulance and ambulatory patients.

WHAT WAS THE RATIONALE FOR THE EXPANSION AND RENOVATION WORKS?

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W S I P C

WHAT STAGE IS THE PROJECT AT CURRENTLY? The project is summarized in 4 major phases: 1. The enabling projects are completed 2. The Plinth is underway with steel and concrete going vertical 3. The tower 4. The renovations Currently the team has completed all of the enabling phases which include:

MRI relocations 35KV work, which is high voltage electrical underground duct banks and manholes

Emergency power site work Utilities on Lee Street, one of the streets bordering the project; inclusive of electrical, storm, sanitary, steam connections to the new construction

U V A H O S P I TA L

utilities on Crispell Drive, another street bordering the project; inclusive of electrical, storm, sanitary, steam and chilled water to the new building

Air intakes and an ambulance-ambulatory temporary entrance.

With the enabling projects phased out of the existing site footprint, the team has now concurrently started construction on the Plinth and tower. We are currently standing steel on levels G, 1, 2, 2M and 3 of the Plinth. The east stair concrete shear tower has been topped out to its full height, approximately 175 feet tall. Our two tower cranes are in place and are servicing our project, the whole time coordinating this work with the still-active Trauma helipad located adjacent to our construction site. Currently we have $60 million dollars work in place.

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TECHNOLOGY

HOW IS TECHNOLOGY HELPING YOU UNDERTAKE WORK MORE EFFICIENTLY AND TO A HIGH STANDARD?

The technology tools that we are implementing at UVA Hospital improve our communications, productivity, efficiency, first cost, life cycle cost, constructability, productivity, schedule and quality, to name a few benefits.

Specifically, we enable utilisation with field connectivity; we install temporary infrastructure to support on-site data stations, deploy software programs, allow for mobility in the field using electronic tools; and use many communication devices from the field to the office. They all allow us to notify our construction team in “real time� and ensure the construction documents are up to date. We have found it to be an essential part of our success in providing a quality project to our customers. Construction documents include plans, specifications, safety programs, modelling, submittals, tracking programs, inspections, clarifications, schedules and many other aspects.

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April 2017

U V A H O S P I TA L

For this project, we have elected to use various programs by Autodesk.

We have found that their systems are user friendly for all members of the construction team as well as provide detailed information about the status of the project.

We are using the Revit, Navisworks and BIM 360 Glue programs for the coordination of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) trades. These systems do well in detailing the required information in addition to presenting an overview of site logistics to owner representatives.

For quality control, we have implemented the use of BIM 360 Field which provides us with more than ample documentation of Owner, Designers and Contractor concerns and inspection items in the field, in addition to the most current construction documents.

This tool has allowed Skanska to document everyday milestones and challenges that are encountered throughout the project.

There are many additional levels and layers of technology applications that are implemented for every CM employee. Through the use of high speed internet, multiple servers, Wi-Fi accounts, smart boards all as a home base in the collaborative, big room job trailer we are able to execute our technology plan daily. Our plan starts early in pre-construction and is then implemented daily in construction, which includes:

WHAT TECHNOLOGIES ARE YOU USING FOR THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT?

• Noise/vibration inSite Monitor • Primavera P6|Oracle • Virtual reality tools • Mobile technology • A SharePoint portal • O n site kiosks with real time information.

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TECHNOLOGY

“Real time” data is essential to the delivery of a quality project. At the peak of construction there will be approximately 400 workers who must be notified of changes that occur in design. The technology available allows our team to implement these changes in the field and provide the most current information.

IS DATA AN IMPORTANT PART OF SKANSKA’S OPERATIONS?

IS SUSTAINABILITY AN IMPORTANT PART OF SKANSKA’S PROJECT DELIVERY? Sustainability has become integral in the measurement of success for construction. Skanska is proud to utilise the most advanced technology to ensure our team delivers the most green construction available. The team is well versed in LEED projects and is committed to environmental, economic and social sustainability.

This project is designed and being constructed to a LEED Silver project list following the LEED 2009 for Healthcare, USGBC document.

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April 2017

U V A H O S P I TA L

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES YOU HAVE FACED THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT?

A successful construction project requires a collaboration of individuals from various backgrounds. These backgrounds often stem from a mixture of traditional construction methods to new technologies that have not yet been tested in the field.

The biggest hurdle faced as a Construction Manager is maintaining patience with new users. To overcome these challenges, Skanska pushes construction team members to attend regular training sessions and have resources readily available on a national and international level.

It is a challenge to implement new technology to improve efficiency, yet margins are extremely competitive, projects are complex, access to a skilled labour force is tight and wage pressures are mounting.

Communication and updating as a team continuously with remote resources located around the country or internationally is another challenge. We also have to ensure that the temporary infrastructure

is set up to handle the high-tech requirements to implement all the new technology and handle the volume of users on a large project.

We also must be able to hire, train and retain a skilled workforce on a project from start to finish that have the proper background to implement the technology. It is a hot market and the employees with this skillset are in high demand.

Finally, it is crucial to communicate and utilise the advanced and changing technology to all levels on the project. We have to ensure the most technical of engineers; the creative architects, finance people, superintendents, and the skilled worker in the field can all obtain useful and real time data all at the same time.

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TECHNOLOGY

With the ever-increasing volume of technology, Skanska is constantly looking for the best ways to improve quality and production. Lately we have seen the emergence of artificial intelligence and the utilisation of virtual reality. In upcoming years, we could see the use of artificial technology for interpretation of construction documents which would drastically improve the daily production for Project Managers.

The use of Virtual Reality will be a tool to convey the design for our customers.

We envision that this tool will provide our customers with a clear design intent without the use of mock-ups, saving the client both time and money. This is already being utilised on this project to some degree.

Robotics and Mechanised construction aspects will be emerging as an option, due to the skilled trades people becoming harder to find when the market is hot. The everimproving sustainable technologies such as wind, solar and water will also be constantly incorporated into projects as these industries improve and become more cost effective.

ARE THERE ANY EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES TO WATCH OUT FOR IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY?Â

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Top 10 largest stadiums in the world

Where in the world will you find the largest venues for sports, concerts and other enormous events?

W r i t t e n b y : C AT H E R I N E R O W E L L

TOP 10

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TOP 10 Providing mass entertainment worldwide, stadiums have been areas of sporting prowess since ancient times. Many existing stadiums have been expanded since their initial construction as a result of rising popularity of various games, therefore catering to ongoing supply and demand.

We take a look at the top 10 largest stadiums in the world which continue to develop and modernise to cater for the increasing number of spectators.

MELBOURNE CRICKET GROUND AUSTRALIA Previously built back in 1853, the Melbourne Cricket Ground has an eventful history and was even used as a military base during the Second Wold War. Situated within Yarra Park, the Melbourne Cricket Ground is the largest stadium in Australia and holds a number of sporting events per year. The arena has a maximum capacity of approximately 100,000 citizens and is placed on the Australian National Heritage List.

The ground has undergone extensive restorations and was the stadium in which the 1956 Summer Olympic Games, 2006 Commonwealth Games and Cricket World Cups in 1992 and 2015 were all held 26

April 2017

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L A R G E S T S TA D I U M S I N T H E W O R L D

DARRELL K ROYAL-TEXAS MEMORIAL STADIUM TEXAS Located in Austin, Texas, the Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium is the second largest stadium within the region and the ninth largest worldwide.

Originally established in the 1920s, the stadium is now home to Texas Longhorns football team.

The stadium has undergone several developments to cater for the increased numbers who visit the games. In the 1920s, the stadium held approximately 28,000 spectators; however, the stadium can now seat over 100,000 guests, with the last renovation works completing in 2009 at a total cost of $27 million. A further $62 million will be invested into the stadium to ensure spectators receive a world-class experience at each game The Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium is appropriately named after the Texans who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars, alongside coach Darrell K Royal who helped lead Texas into three championship games.

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TIGER STADIUM LOUISIANA

TOP 10

BRYANTDENNY STADIUM ALABAMA

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Home to the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team is the Bryant-Denny Stadium, situated in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The stadium is the eighth largest stadium in the world, with a seating capacity of 101,821.

Established in 1929, the stadium (previously titled Denny Stadium after George Denny), the stadium’s previous capacity of 12,000 has been increased, in addition to expansion works, such as an upper deck in the 1980s to cater for an extra 10,000 people. Over 150 skyboxes are also now incorporated at the stadium.

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April 2017

Owned by Louisiana State University, the Tiger Stadium is the seventh largest stadium in the world. With expansion works increasing seating from 12,000 to 102,321, the stadium has undergone several renovations to make sure it remains fit for purpose in all weather conditions.

The stadium also contains ‘the Stadium Club’, incorporating over 3,000 amenity seats, in addition to 70 suites and 3,000 club seats, completed in 2014.

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L A R G E S T S TA D I U M S I N T H E W O R L D

KYLE FIELD TEXAS

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NEYLAND STADIUM TENNESSEE

Originally named the Shields-Watkins Field, the stadium is now named after coach Robert Neyland. Home to the Tennessee Volunteers Football Team, the stadium is also popular with the National Football League (NFL).

The Neyland Stadium is one which has undergone the most extensive renovation works, with over 15 development projects attached to its name, costing over $300 million.

From one grandstand upon its original completion, the stadium now incorporates several stands and zones to increase the number of seats available.

Home to the Texas A&M Aggie football team, the Kyle Field stadium is the fifth largest stadium worldwide, with a capacity of 102,733 seats.

Named after Edwin Jackson Kyle, President of the General Athletics Association in the early twentieth century, the stadium has undergone extensive development and expansion works, costing over $480 million in total.

Expansion incorporated demolition and reconstruction work and the widening of walkways, in addition to implementing a Sports Museum within the Bernard C. Richardson Zone and embedding first-class technologies.

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TOP 10

OHIO STADIUM

Designed in 1922 by architect Howard Dwight Smith and constructed by E. H. Latham Company of Columbus, Ohio Stadium adopts a double-deck horseshoe design and has been placed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

Built at a cost of $1.3 million in order to replace Ohio Field, it was the largest poured concrete structure in the world at the time of completion, with a capacity of over 66,000 spectators. However, through extensive renovation works, the stadium now adopts a seating capacity of 104,944.

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April 2017

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L A R G E S T S TA D I U M S I N T H E W O R L D

BEAVER STADIUM PENNSYLVANIA Home to the Penn State Nittany Lions, Beaver Stadium now has a capacity of 106,572, with over 100 rows on each side, with approximately 60 enclosed skyboxes. The last upgrade to the stadium was in 2006, with supporting structures replaced to ensure the safety of spectators.

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TOP 10

MICHIGAN STADIUM

Since its establishment in the 1920s, the capacity at Michigan Stadium has risen from 72,000 to 107,601.

Constructed at a cost of $950,000, setbacks were initially seen with regards to foundation works of the stadium due to high levels of moisture, at which over 400 tonnes of reinforced steel were implemented into the build.

The stadium underwent a $226 million renovation in 2010 to modernise the stadium, increase the number of seats and make it increasingly accessible.

The renovation works also improved the safety of spectators through the instalment of hand rails and the widening of the stadium’s aisles.

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L A R G E S T S TA D I U M S I N T H E W O R L D

RUNGRADO 1ST OF MAY STADIUM NORTH KOREA Established in 1989, the Rungrado 1st of May Stadium occupies over 50 acres and is the largest stadium in the word. After undergoing renovation works from 2013-2015, it is one of the most sophisticated stadiums in the world.

Enabling a capacity of 114,000 spectators, the stadium houses 80 exits and 10 lifts. The unique arch roof design has been compared to flower blossom, at which the stadium encompasses eight storeys, reaching heights of 60 metres.

Famous for its sporting events and Mass Games, the stadium has a number of training halls and sporting facilities to enable various teams to train in a number of sports.

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BUILDING

SUCCESS

How Turner Construction is helping to raise standards at Texas State University by drawing on a century of experience Written by Nye Longman Produced by Tom Venturo

TURNER CONSTRUCTION – TEXAS UNIVERSITY

T

asked with carrying out a $62 million expansion project for the Texas State University Events Center (UEC), Turner Construction is achieving something truly special. Leveraging over a century of construction industry experience while deploying a team highly experienced in expansion work, the global construction company is ensuring that the UEC will be a focal point for the university for many years to come. We speak to Eric Wildt, who is overseeing the construction as its Project Manager. We discuss how Turner Construction’s approach is delivering timely, cost-effective results while minimizing disruption at one of the busiest venues in the area.

With nearly 50 offices across the United States, and with a presence in over 20 countries, Turner Construction offers a truly global experience.

Employing in excess of 5,200 people, the company completes around $10 billion of construction on 1,500 projects every single year.

“It is a pretty significant project,” explains Wildt. “It’s not just upgrading an arena - it becomes the front door of the campus and that is very significant in terms of kind of the image that the university has for future students. It is definitely impactful.”

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CONSTRUCTION

The project As Texas State University continued to grow in popularity and student numbers subsequently began to swell, the case for a greatly expanded and upgraded Events Center gathered speed.

“We are adding around 1,800 seats to the arena,” Wildt says. “We are also adding new locker rooms, coach’s offices, and renovating a fair portion of the arena and putting in new fire protection and new lighting in the existing area.

“It is pretty significant because the president has committed that

future generations’ families will no longer have to watch the graduation on a big screen, instead they can watch it live in the UEC. It’s a pretty big deal for the university.”

Wildt recalls a time when the university was a much smaller operation – one that has now grown to house upwards of 37,000 students, whose Event’s Center hosts rolling ceremonies, as well as countless sporting events.

Designed by Sink, Combs, and Dethlefs Architects, the 81,300 gross square feet (gsf) expansion consists of space dedicated to

w w w. t u r n e rc o n s t r u c t i o n . c o m

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ceremonies, athletics (relocated from Jowers Center) as well as space for a variety of functions.

The adjacent Riverside Apartments have been demolished to make way for a chilled water plant, loading dock, parking, sports locker rooms, and offices.

The project will also enable the Jowers Center to be turned over for 100 percent academic use, while all current Department of Athletics offices and functions will move into the UEC. “We are giving them a new scoreboard and a new

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infrastructure in terms of mechanical and electrical,” Wildt adds. “One of the things we have brought to the university is that we understand that we are going to work with the university to find periods of time to conduct structural tie-ins and electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems integration.”

Tools for the job “We were selected because of the planning we did ahead of interviewing for the project and

CONSTRUCTION

the thought we put into how the existing building would tie in with the new expansion,” Wildt continues, somewhat modestly. In fact, Wildt and the teams he heads have carried out major expansion projects in the past – and are using LEAN methodologies and technology to supercharge this knowledge.

Another factor that ensured Turner Construction’s selection was both Wildt and the company’s extensive experience working on

“WE DO MORE COLLABORATIVE PULL PLANNING AND IDENTIFY A MILESTONE AND WE MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS MAKING A PROMISE TO BE DONE WITH THE WORK ON A PARTICULAR DAY” ­ – Eric Wildt, Project Manager,

Turner Construction

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TURNER CONSTRUCTION – TEXAS UNIVERSITY

“IT’S NOT JUST UPGRADING AN ARENA - it becomes the front door of the

campus and that is very significant in terms of

THE IMAGE THAT THE UNIVERSITY HAS FOR FUTURE STUDENTS” – Eric Wildt, Project Manager, Turner Construction

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CONSTRUCTION

Eric Wildt Sr. Project Manager

expansion projects that did not involve full cessation of operations.

“I did a large expansion to the Washington state penitentiary a number of years ago,” Wildt recounts. “There was a situation where the end-user’s business was basically sacrosanct. You couldn’t disturb the operation of managing the inmates. We had to really collaborate and interface with the owner in terms of work planning and sequencing to make sure we were aligned.

“I’ve also done some airport work inside active terminals. It is

one of things that Turner does a lot of – it’s going into somebody’s house while they’re working and conducting work and trying to be as least impactful as possible.”

Turner Construction recognized that the building can’t be shut down for two years: “We were able to tweak our work plan and timing on events and sequences to work with their schedule,” he adds.

“One of the things that we are pushing heavily on this project is LEAN construction. For us, it is removing constraints and roadblocks and making sure

Jeremiah ‘J.R.’ Hudson Project Executive/Director,

Special Projects Division

TURNER CONSTRUCTION – TEXAS UNIVERSITY

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CONSTRUCTION

people have the right tools and a clear path to do their work. We make sure to engage all the stakeholders – universities facilities, administration, athletics all the way to the end user, all in a room with our people and the sub-contractors.”

Ensuring that all parties involved in the expansion project are informed of the latest best practices, Turner Construction takes a top down approach. Wildt explains: “On a project level, it starts with me and if I am not living and breathing it then nobody else will. On a company level it starts with our executive leadership and works down.”

This more holistic approach even extends to how the company conducts its meetings: “We try to run all of our meetings no longer in the old school way where the superintendent will come in and throw a schedule on the table telling the subs this is what you have to do.

“WE WERE SELECTED BECAUSE OF THE PLANNING WE DID AND THE THOUGHT WE PUT INTO HOW

THE EXISTING BUILDING WOULD TIE IN WITH THE NEW EXPANSION” – Eric Wildt, Project Manager, Turner Construction

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CONSTRUCTION

“We do more collaborative pull planning and identify a milestone and we make sure everyone is making a promise to be done with the work on a particular day. It becomes a real group effort instead of lecturing to people, everyone has some input which means that they take ownership too.”

In order to ensure that the teams are well versed in the most recent methods, Turner Construction deploys a mixture of different methods while training its workforce. Wildt explains: “There’s the formalized classroom training; we have a one week program called Advanced Lean. It really gets you indoctrinated and thinking about what you can do and how you can improve the world around you. There’s also more traditional ‘on the job’ training.”

Wildt and his teams have also benefited from introducing technological solutions into the project. “Everything is on iPads now, we’re using Blue Beam pretty heavily,” he explains. “Everyone has access to the latest structural drawing on their iPad - people can check the drawing and go out in the field and use their iPad to have the drawings right in front of them when they’re building.”

He concludes: “You have to put yourself in the mind-set of their operations – you don’t want that to be affected. You need to look at what you’re doing under the guise of putting yourself in the owner’s shoes. How are things going to react to what I’m proposing?

How am I as an owner reacting?

How am I doing my work?”

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The tremendous growth of

leading data center provider

VANTAGE With customers on the Fortune 100 list and an everexpanding client base, Vantage is growing fast, no better shown than by a massive new construction program Written by Leila Hawkins Produced by Tom Venturo

VA N TA G E D ATA C E N T E R S

T

he data center market is one of the most competitive in the world. Yet in the face of this, Vantage is experiencing astronomical sales, becoming an industry leader with clients who are on the Fortune 100 list of the biggest companies in the US. Since it was founded in 2010, Vantage has undergone a

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dramatic revamp. With campuses in Silicon Valley and Washington and several more in development, it’s expanding extremely fast.

Sales have rocketed in the last few years, so to meet this ever increasing demand three new data modules were added to the V1 building in Santa Clara in 2014. Currently it operates

CONSTRUCTION

five wholesale data center facilities: four in Santa Clara, in the heart of the Silicon Valley which is one of the top data center markets in the world, and one in Quincy, Washington, known for being home to data facilities owned by Microsoft, Dell and Yahoo.

Vantage is currently in the process of a monumental construction program.

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CONSTRUCTION

The non-stop construction project Director of Construction Spencer Myers is in charge of budgeting, scheduling, hiring the construction teams and generally managing the overall building program by keeping stakeholders and management informed along the way. He stepped up to the role after being the company’s senior project construction manager, prior to which he spent 14 years as senior project manager at engineering consultancy firm Alfa Tech.

Two new facilities are in development on its existing Santa Clara campus, which will deliver an additional 24MW of capacity, bringing the total capacity of the campus to 75MW. V6 began construction in October last year, and it’s estimated it will be up and ready in the summer of 2017 with another 9MW over two stories. V5 begins construction this month, bringing 15MW of new capacity in a four story building when it’s finished in 2018.

While the internal construction team has around a dozen people,

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The Name Says It All Optimal Power Solutions is involved in all aspects of the critical power infrastructure from sales, to service, to the more in-depth design assist with the engineering community and the end users.

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CONSTRUCTION

there can be up to 250 people working on the project each day once construction has commenced.

As Myers explains, “we’ve had to find ways to duplicate ourselves or delegate responsibilities by adding more project team members, more construction team members, and basically aligning ourselves with more partners so we could still get the work done within the necessary timeline.

We had a zero to 60 ramp up speed when all of a sudden everything had to get done. We hired a bunch of people to leverage their skills and resources to allow us to do that.”

The building designs are flexible, making it possible for them to handle different rack heights, room configurations, power redundancies,

cooling strategies and more. The two new buildings will deliver raised floors (V5) and slabs on grade data modules (V6) that allow for highly variable layouts and configurations to meet any specific customer needs.

Additionally, the buildings are designed to be as energy-efficient as possible. In the case of the Silicon Valley campus, it abides strictly by California’s Title 24, which states that buildings must keep their impact on the environment to a minimum. As Justin Thomas, Vice President of Design Engineering and Construction says, “wasted energy is wasted dollars”.

Thomas is in charge of the data center building projects for both campuses. He also oversees all

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DESIGN THROUGH COLLABORATION PASE is on the cutting edge of Mission Critical Facility Design. Our project portfolio includes notable developments located throughout the United States and around the world, including 1,000+ MW of dataspace over the last eight years.

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CONSTRUCTION

Aerial view

planning and design for expanding into new markets, coordinating with sales, understanding customer requirements, and translating these plans into physical, deliverable products.

In his current role he has helped the facilities achieve lower PUEs (Power Utilization Efficiencies) than many other data center providers in the region. The PUE is the multiplier of energy that goes above what is used to power the computer racks such as cooling, lights, and security cameras.

“We try to be very cognizant of the design, especially on the mechanical side,” Thomas explains. “Mechanically there are a lot of different technologies

you can use to drive it down. We try to be an industry leader in terms of the wholesale side, and having our PUE down in the 1.2 to 1.3 range.”

All the keys to success While the architecture and design of the facilities are integral to its success, having an expert workforce plays a big role in it too.

Three years ago Vantage moved most of its operations in-house.

This was possible thanks to having highly skilled on-site engineers. Staff regularly attend external courses to add to their skills and take part in in-house training programs. Vantage

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Ted Mahl and Albert Chiang set out to create a technology-oriented firm that combines experience, superior quality staff and exceptional team spirit to ta take on the challenges of today's data centers.

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CONSTRUCTION

We have to go vertical,

so instead of building a single story

our projects are now four stories high.

data center

We’re literally going up

– Justin Thomas, Vice President of Design Engineering and Construction

M engineers, inc.

T H

Project Planning and Design Equipment Procurement Services

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CONSTRUCTION

We repair things faster since we’re not waiting for callouts, and usually at a lower cost because we’re not paying overhead for another company – Chris Yetmam, Chief Operating Officer

has also produced a library of training videos in areas like software, safety and arc flash prevention.

This has the added effect of keeping employees motivated. Chief Operating Officer Chris Yetman is largely behind this culture. He brought to his role a wealth of expertise, having spent almost 20 years leading operations in the internet infrastructure industry, including spells as Vice President of

worldwide Infrastructure Operations at Amazon, and as Senior Vice President of Process and Technology at Integra.

It also means problems can be solved more efficiently. “We repair things faster since we’re not waiting for callouts, and usually at a lower cost because we’re not paying overhead for another company,” Yetman says. “So with that in mind we know that well-trained facilities

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Intelligent Structural Solution

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CONSTRUCTION

We’ve had to find ways to duplicate ourselves or delegate responsibilities... We hired a bunch of people to leverage their skills and resources to allow us to do that – Spencer Myers, Director of Construction

engineers become a huge plus for us.”

This naturally results in an immensely happy workforce.

“Employee satisfaction is huge when you actually get to do the job versus being paid to babysit someone else,” Yetman adds. “You also round up your skill set which makes you more marketable.”

This also has a positive effect on the customers. “Happiness is like

a cycle,” Yetman continues. “If the customers are happy to see you every day and they complement you, you feel better about your work which makes you want to do better for your customers. It becomes this neat virtual cycle where they’re very happy about the environment, and employees are happy being here for the same reason.”

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there’s never been a better time for Innovation 1919

Year Founded

6000

Employees

8

rosendin.com

Countries

Celebrating 25 Years of Employee Ownership As an employee-owned company, we know our continued growth and success are a result of outstanding teamwork and commitment to superior service and innovation.

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CONSTRUCTION

Overcoming challenges The biggest challenge now lies in the land. While in Washington it’s mostly unencumbered greenfield, in Silicon Valley it’s significantly more expensive than elsewhere in the country, partly because most has already been built on. For instance, the second Santa Clara campus was formerly a fruit processing plant, so Vantage is taking it all the way down to the ground and re-building it from scratch.

There are other hurdles too.

“Maybe there isn’t enough power,” Myers explains. “Let’s say we identify a property, it can take three to six months just to figure out if it’s viable.” After that it may be another two years until the facility is ready, factoring in obtaining permits.

Space in Santa Clara may be at a

premium, but Vantage is maximizing what’s available. “We have to go vertical, so instead of building a single story data center our projects are now four stories high. We’re literally going up,” Thomas says.

The company has achieved huge levels of success, juggling complicated construction projects while staying ahead of competitors.

But there’s no letting up as Vantage continues to keep a keen eye on expansion. Beyond all the work already underway, Vantage has also secured land for a completely new second campus in Santa Clara. This project will leverage all of the great work and learning achieved to date as the team brings four additional buildings and another 69MW to the market in the coming years.

Unparalleled construction

For nearly 100 years Rosendin Electric has been providing market leading construction services for some of the world’s biggest corporations Written by Dale Benton Produced by Tom Venturo

ROSENDIN ELECTRIC

R

osendin was founded by Moses Rosendin. The company started life supporting the agricultural business in turn-of-thecentury Silicon Valley, winding pump motors, and rural electrification.

As Rosendin grew over the next 95 years, the company developed into a multi-billion dollar, full service design+build electrical contractor and technology integrator. Expansion was first derived from working with Intel across Oregon, Phoenix and Albuquerque then jumped to geographich expansion encouraged by other customers, leading to what Rosendin Electric is today.

For Bill Mazzetti, Senior Vice President, his journey with Rosendin started back in 2005 and his introduction represented what he describes as a “changing of

Rosendin Electric Year founded

1919

the guard”. Mazzetti joined after divesting his family’s engineering business in 2004 to his old partners.

“Looking at our progression as a company in the late 90’s and into the 2000’s, management bought out the Rosendin family via an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), which widely distributed ownership of the firm. And then starting in 2005, several new executives joined a growing number of home grown leaders all to add new perspective to the company,” he says.

“As we had some new ideas and our existing markets were getting a bit crowded, we started looking at opportunities that weren’t organically grown. Before, we worked with existing clients like Intel, we now work more prospectively and in concert with a strategic plan for the company.”

Some of that growth came in the renewable energy and data center businesses. While the renewable energy business was founded as a wind power group in 2000, in the past five years, it has blossomed into a leading provider of grid storage, distributed generation and grid-based

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Simplify here.

For agility here.

Comprehensive Data Center Solutions Today, through Schneider Electric’s Data Center Solutions, Square D® brand equipment appears in the data centers of some of the nation’s largest companies and government agencies. Whether Tier I or Tier IV, we design and deliver an ultra-reliable, tiered system that addresses even the greatest data center challenges.

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©2017 Schneider Electric. All Rights Reserved. Schneider Electric | Life Is On is a trademark and the property of Schneider Electric SE, its subsidiaries, and affiliated companies. 998-19136926_GB_A

USA

solar work. Similarly, their data center business grew from zero in 2005 to over $650M in installed work in 2016, while simultaneously giving birth to Modular Power Solutions, Rosendin’s factory-built provider of complete electrical systems, and the leader in the field today.

Rosendin Electric is the largest speciality contractor in the United States and works with some of the US’s largest companies, with particular focus on tech companies in Silicon Valley, Rosendin’s home court.

While Rosendin works with many of the most sophisticated companies in the US, their tech clients press the known limits for speed to market and innovation for their builds.

By all accounts, everyone marvels at the work’s size, scope and design aesthetic. Some projects are so large that the Pentagon could be dropped into the middle of them and the Pentagon would not touch the outside walls.

“Like many of the large, complex and rapidly-constructed projects we are engaged with, there are often times that labor resources or the

“If you don’t have customers, you are not a contractor” – Bill Mazzetti, Senior Vice President sheer speed of the work demands a different approach to delivering the project on time and with quality.

But with a job of this size, we at Rosendin had to ask ourselves, “How do we build it differently,” he says. “The traditional approaches

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and techniques simply won’t work at that scale and speed.”

While the public has seen the design and scale of the recent projects in Silicon Valley, it’s the construction techniques that are the most innovative approaches that Rosendin had ever seen. The use of prefabricated system, modular

Number of employees at Rosendin Electric

7,250

power and the general assembly of the building electrically will give a road map for what is now possible.

“This level of innovation in construction will make people turn their heads and is reflective of where we feel the industry needs to go.

With the commercial construction business losing skilled craftsmen at twice the rate it is replacing them, the construction methods and habits must address this labor shortage.

Especially with one of our ongoing projects, it is a good step in showing people that, actually, we can do something different and change our methods to address projects

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that while aren’t labor-constrained but certainly very, very fast.”

With a commercial construction project, the size of the project often dictates just exactly which company can take on the project. Once a project is announced, contractors must look at the resources at hand, the field leadership, their finances, and supporting resources, both internal and external to the company. For large and complex work with a high degree of schedule or performance risk, this makes the list of contractors who are compatible with the project relatively shorter. It is an arena that Rosendin thrives in.

Another key challenge is the resources available. Mazzetti believes that there is a general societal mindset that looks down upon the construction industry - that it is not technology savvy, too dangerous, difficult and therefore unworthy of their consideration. In the current economic climate, this poses an especially acute problem as employments rates are persistently low in the most active construction markets.

“There just aren’t enough people coming through the door who see construction as a noble, intelligent and worthwhile career,” he says.

Couple this with the fact that even

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DESIGN BUILD MAINTAIN

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though there are a huge number of young people who come out of college and into the construction industry, the process in going from fresh out of school to fully licensed and certified electrician or electrical engineer ready to work is often a long one.

“Our cycle time between layman and fluency is a much longer than most jobs and when the economy is busy, good people are hard to find. That is not news, but it is one of the biggest challenges the industry is facing today.”

This is nothing new for Mazzetti.

When he was chairman of his former business, Mazzetti, his own father spoke of the challenge in getting fresh out of high school and college kids excited about construction and engineering. This generational problem has been one that has been tackled with constant outreach, but Mazzetti admits that while the mindset is changing, it is still an ongoing and difficult process.

Recognition 2016 has proved a very successful year for Rosendin Electric, with

two of its projects being selected for the 2016 Global Best Projects Awards by Engineering News Record (ENR). When it comes to singling out achievements though, Mazzetti places greater value in two areas – customer satisfaction and employee retention.

“The rewards you don’t see is what keeps 6,000 people in the field and 800 people employed in the office every day, the customers coming back,” he says.

This echoes the ethos that Mazzetti has had with him since he was a child, the most important aspect of being a contractor really is the customer.

“If you don’t have customers, you are not a contractor. The key to building a great firm with a great team is having great clients that allow you to do that every day.

Those sophisticated customers have high standards and unique demands. “Rosendin really takes that and says if you don’t offer something different then you don’t get to work with those customers.”

Integrity As a contractor, competition is

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ROSENDIN ELECTRIC

“The key to building a great firm with a great team is having great clients that allow you to do that every day” – Bill Mazzetti, Senior Vice President inescapable, and in all ways healthy.

There are a wide number of other people out in the market who could take on a job that you are chasing. But when it comes to what separates Rosendin from others is the integrity of the business.

“If we tell you it’s going to cost a dollar, it’s going to cost a dollar.

Or should we suggest any one of several courses of action, they will be viable, with proper cost, schedule and risk attached to them.

It is about arming our clients with the information to make the right decision for themselves. This is in our DNA. Clients reach out to us because they want a peer who is sophisticated and forthrigth,” says Mazzetti.

This “straight shooter” approach is something that Mazzetti firmly believes in, but admits in some instances has lost potential customers. “The

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buying process and experience varies widely in construction, as it does for all commercial endeavours for that matter. But when you are trusted with hundreds of millions of dollars of your client’s capital, and in all cases, being further trusted to deliver a strategic asset absolutely vital to their business, there is no room for nonsense and not having a crisp, truthful and sober approach to it all.”

Integrity, and bringing out the best behaviour in people to generate a more beneficial relationship with a client, is a mindset that is coached throughout the business from the CEO on down. It is this approach that has allowed Rosendin to retain customers over the years, a level of trust and respect but also safety in the knowledge that the company will be the best for the job.

“There’s a saying I have, ‘I worry

USA

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about a great many things but the one thing I don’t worry about it is us doing a great job’,” he says.

Technology Rosendin has invested heavily in its people and not simply the customer facing part of the business. Training, employee ownership and safety are hallmarks of the Rosendin culture. And while Rosendin has been entrusted to deliver for our clients and our confidence in that is no issue, Mazzetti is mindful of one thing – complacency.

“The fact is, you want to stay far enough ahead of everyone so they can’t catch you but at the same time not too far where you are not relevant,” he says. “In every way, we are only as good as out last project.”

What most folks don’t see is

Rosendin Electric annual revenue

2.2 billion $

(USD)

that technology is continuously transforming the commercial construction industry. Rosendin has extensively invested in technology over the past decade. “The realities of our business today is that the speed, financial size, operational complexity and the sophistication of the projects themselves demand it.” That includes drone observation and testing, interactive design and building modelling system and business intelligence.

For Mazzetti, technology has enabled Rosendin to ask the question, whether it comes to budgets, quality of work, timescales, safety or logistics, are we in the spot where we believe we are and is the project going as we expect it to?

“To put it simply, we are giving the pilot better instruments to fly with,” he says.

Rosendin uses Oracle software for data analysis and their ERP and this allows the company when working on projects to understand exactly where it is with regards to its projected outcomes. This is something that isn’t restricted

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to Rosendin, but its customers too. Over the past three years, process automation and business intelligence has reached every corner of their business. That allows us to give a very accurate picture of where our projects and the firm is every day.

“Sophisticated customers want sophisticated reporting and execution,” he says. “Customers want jobs completed faster and cheaper with very high quality, and you have to have the processes in place to support that.”

Globetrotting Looking to the future, Mazzetti sees Rosendin expanding both geographically and in its offerings. The company has worked with their tech clients in countries such as Sweden and Israel. As it was in the first days of expansion Rosendin follow its clients.

Whatever the future does hold for Rosendin, Mazzetti is wise enough to acknowledge that the economy is uncontrollable, but as a company it can continue to make smart business decisions.

“We are a company that flows to need, like the river flows where it flows. While we have strong roots in several industries and markets, we are wise enough not to force it either, we’ve all learned the hard way earlier in our lives,” he says.

“Rosendin allows me to do what I want to do and what is best for our clients, which is solve problems for clients and customers every day. There’s an inescapable draw based on our capabilities and our client’s challenges that we can’t resist.”

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FT FUTURE OF CONSTRUCTION SUMMIT Driving productivity through disruptive innovation and collaboration 18 May 2017 | One Great George Street

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On 18 May the Financial Times is hosting the FT Future of Construction Summit in London.

The event will bring together developers, planners, architects, engineers, contractors, material and solution providers, among others pivotal in the global construction supply chain.

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SPEAKERS INCLUDE: Jérôme Stubler Chairman, VINCI Construction

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• Learn from industry leaders about the game-changing trends and technologies impacting construction • Discover how the technological and digital transformation of the industry can boost efficiency and profitability • Explore how the next-generation of energy efficient buildings will look like and whether it’s time to fully embrace the Circular Economy model in construction • Understand why achieving cultural change across the industry as well as building and retaining a talented workforce is key for a successful digital and technological transformation Save 10% with this ad using marketing code: CONG10

Rob Perrins Chief Executive, Berkeley Group plc

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