Collaboration for a Cure: The Knight Cancer Research Building and the Culture of Innovation

collaboration for a cure THE KNIGHT CANCER RESEARCH BUILDING AND THE CULTURE OF INNOVATION

BRIAN LIBBY

collaboration for a cure THE KNIGHT CANCER RESEARCH BUILDING AND THE CULTURE OF INNOVATION

BRIAN LIBBY

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

For my partner of 24 years, cancer survivor and Knight Cancer Institute patient Valarie Smith And for all those who have bravely struggled to overcome this disease

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The idea for this book originated with the team of architects, builders and owner representatives leading the Knight Cancer Research Building’s design and construction process. It was a privilege to be entrusted with their story.

A big thank-you goes to Stefanie Becker of the McCarthy/Andersen joint venture, who not only guided the highly collaborative integrated design and construction culture this book celebrates but was also a wise, trustworthy and encouraging presence as the manuscript came together.

Thanks also to Kip Richardson of SRG Partnership for his first-rate editorial skills and for recommending me as author; to Leslie Boll of SRG for bringing the book alive graphically; and to Tiffani Howard of the Knight Cancer Institute and Ed Trotter of Oregon Health & Science University for their leadership.

And a special thank-you goes to Jacquelyn Martin of McCarthy/Andersen, who served as a project manager and much more. From choreographing hundreds of logistical steps to acting as a co-interviewer to helping edit the manuscript, she was a collaborative partner throughout.

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

Foreword — 06 Introduction — 08

6

Rise of the Knight Cancer Institute 11

Cover Graphic representation of artwork in KCRB lobby: 10,000 hand-painted dots represent the 10,000 donors who came together to raise $1 billion for cancer research at OHSU. Inspired by a challenge from Phil and Penny Knight, these donors from all 50 states and 15 countries united to help end cancer as we know it.

OHSU’s Journey from Marquam Hill to South Waterfront 21

Creating a Vision 29

Overcoming Design Challenges 41

CONTENTS

7

A Better Way to Build: Integrated Project Delivery 49

Focus and Flow: Embracing Lean Construction

Coming Together at the CoLo

71

79

Touring the Completed Knight Cancer Research Building 87

Voices of the Knight Cancer Research Building 105

Timeline — 116 Opening Ceremony Speech — 128 Afterword — 131 Cast & Credits — 134

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

FOREWORD

8

Kate Brown 38th Governor of Oregon

FOREWORD

Oregon has always been home to pioneers and dreamers. From timber to high tech to sneakers, from the state’s earliest indigenous residents to its most recent immigrants, people come here from all over the world—not just because of Oregon’s wondrous natural beauty, but because ours is a culture that embraces a better future.

On September 7, 2018, on behalf of all Oregonians, I had the privilege of participating in the ceremonial ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Knight Cancer Research Building at Oregon Health and Science University. In the light-filled laboratories of this fantastic building, talented scientists will embark on a journey toward the ultimate goal: to end cancer as we know it. Today, that goal seems more attainable than ever thanks to the leadership and vision of Dr. Brian Druker, the Knight Cancer Institute’s director, and his multidisciplinary team.

Scientific innovation starts by breaking down silos and preconceived notions; by approaching longstanding problems from new angles.

When we ask people to work together in innovative ways, we see better outcomes.

That same spirit of teamwork defined the KCRB design and construction process. The building industry has struggled just like scientists to find better ways to work collaboratively: to produce the best, user-first designs on time and on budget. I’m proud to say that the team that designed and built the Knight Cancer Research Building was just that: a team. Architects, contractors, tradespersons—they came together early to share ideas and find common solutions in a manner that will be a lesson across the industry. Whether it’s lean construction or integrated project delivery, it all requires the same thing: collaboration—with trust and with passion—and letting the best ideas win.

As this world-class building and the quest to end cancer reminds us, it really does take a village. It takes

great scientific talent like we have at OHSU and the Knight Cancer Institute. It takes people of both great and humble means pursuing and funding a cause together, as we saw in the Knight Cancer Challenge, pairing philanthropists’ hundreds of millions with the equally-meaningful earnings from children’s lemonade stands. It takes the voices and values of the wider community, which we saw in $200 million of support from Oregonians. It takes design and construction expertise to make that dream a built reality—thinking outside the box to build a better box.

And it compels us to tell the story.

In these pages you’ll hear from scientists and building industry veterans alike: not just multidisciplinary teams, but collaborating disciplines, industries, and communities.

That’s the Oregon way: we blaze the trail, but we do it together.

9

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

INTRODUCTION

10

INTRODUCTION

The Knight Cancer Research Building (KCRB) is one of the most advanced oncology laboratories in the world, but the real story chronicled in this book is how teamwork and culture give birth to innovation.

This building is designed to enable and encourage team science, a major developing trend in medical research: the idea that groups of people with diverse skill sets can better solve complex problems than individual researchers working solo. This same unified approach is also changing the building industry, where the methodology is much different from 30 years ago.

For too long, architects, contractors and clients have operated in separate realms, only coming together occasionally at critical junctures in the multi-year process of designing and constructing a major building. Today, methods such as integrated project delivery and lean construction are showing that close collaboration from the outset reduces conflict, saves money and produces a better building. That’s why early on the Knight Cancer Institute set the tone for the collaborative KCRB design and construction process: by establishing a multi-disciplinary team working not just prior to groundbreaking, but before the design was even generated.

For seemingly everyone on our team, this job felt very special. No doubt that comes in large part from the building’s heroic purpose: ending cancer. But whether in our jumbo-sized colocation trailer or on the job site, something extraordinary transpired: a level of teamwork and camaraderie that was uncommon and inspiring. Like any building project, there were moments of difficulty and tension. So many of us were new to IPD and lean construction, or new to our positions. Yet we were able to ask a lot of the questions up front that normally get asked in the heat of construction. We stayed ahead of the curve.

Group dynamics and making decisions by committee can be tough. There has to be the right balance of

deliberation and action. You can’t spin your wheels all day, or no building would ever get built. Success starts by putting in the time to listen and to develop the right team, one empowered to act confidently and decisively. And it takes vigilance. The adversarial nature of construction means that developing trust and establishing a culture where all are working for the good of the project can be tough. Good teams do not happen just by throwing good people together.

They take time, effort and coaching to truly perform at their peak. Good teams are also enabled by being together. A large CoLocation space for this project was crucial for bolstering these relationships, providing the opportunity to interact professionally as well as personally, which in turn strengthened our bonds.

Through the course of building the KCRB, many of us had the opportunity to interface with Knight researchers, women and men on the frontier of cancer research. Their drive, humility and dedication to the fight against cancer motivated all of us. These people are our heroes, our friends, and an inspiration. While every major building project has its struggles, we believe that together—as contractors and architects building a building, as scientists and researchers turning the tide against cancer—we are stronger.

11

CHAP TER 1

RISE OF THE KNIGHT CANCER INSTITUTE

In 1986, just after reaching its 100th anniversary, Oregon Health & Science University embarked on what would become the institution’s greatest mission: ending cancer. It was a relatively modest move, but it provided an important catalyst: OHSU Foundation Board members led by Charlie Allis and Dick Rubinstein successfully raised funds for what became the university’s first endowed chair devoted to oncology.

13

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

14

“IS THERE A HIGHER CALLING THAN CURING CANCER?” Phil Knight

CHAP TER 1: RISE OF THE KNIGHT CANCER INSTITUTE

Over the next decade, OHSU began to build a real

THE GLEEVEC REVOLUTION

institution devoted to cancer research and care. In

By the turn of the 21st century, equipped with a new

1992, the Oregon Cancer Center was established

name—the OHSU Cancer Institute—advancements

within the university, with President Peter O. Kohler,

kept coming. In 2001, the United States Food and Drug

M.D., appointing Grover Bagby, M.D., as the institute’s

Administration approved Gleevec, the world’s first tar-

first director. Just a year later, Bagby was able to suc-

geted cancer therapy for treatment of chronic myeloid

cessfully recruit the visionary doctor Brian Druker, who

leukemia, and developed by Dr. Druker. Gleevec was

would come to lead the Oregon Cancer Center to new

later approved for treatment against nine other forms

heights.

of cancer, including the first new pediatric cancer

Within five years of its 1992 founding, the Oregon Cancer Center received the industry’s most important

therapy in more than a decade.

Indeed, the results of a five-year study conducted at

and prestigious validation: a National Cancer Institute

117 centers in 16 countries and published in the New

designation from the National Institutes of Health. This

England Journal of Medicine in 2006 were astonishing.

made the OCC the first and only such designee in Oregon.

Prior to Gleevec there was a 70 percent mortality rate

Shortly after moving into its new home at the Mark

for those inflicted with chronic myelogenous leukemia

O. Hatfield Research Center on OHSU’s main Marquam

(CML). Now the results showed a nearly miraculous 90

Hill campus, the Oregon Cancer Center’s efforts began

percent survival rate. “We’ve completely changed the

to pay dividends in the fight against this deadly dis-

outlook for patients with this disease,” said Dr. Druker,

ease, as research here helped establish colonoscopy

who also led the study. “Before Gleevec, patients were

as the international standard of care for early detection

fortunate if they lived five years. Now, we’ve given

of colorectal cancer. For the first time, oncologists

patients a hopeful future.”

from OHSU were making a major contribution to the world’s body of knowledge in the fight against cancer.

Gleevec was an advance that made the world take notice. “There is new ammunition in the war against cancer. These are the bullets,” a May 29, 2001 Time magazine cover headline proclaimed, next to a picture of Dr. Druker’s capsules. “Revolutionary new pills like Gleevec combat cancer by targeting only the diseased cells. Is this the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for?”

On the strength of that success, the momentum continued. In 2006, the OHSU Cancer Institute established one of the nation’s first cancer programs specifically targeted at adolescents and young adults, thanks to the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s support.

That same year, the OHSU Prostate Cancer Program

15

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

Above Brian Druker, M.D. (OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff) Left Lisa Coussens, Ph.D. (Photo courtesy Metro/ Sally Painter)

16

Below (left to right) Sancy Leachman, M.D., Ph.D. (OHSU/Fritz Liedtke) Joe Gray, Ph.D. (OHSU/Chris Hornbecker)

CHAP TER 1: RISE OF THE KNIGHT CANCER INSTITUTE

was selected to join a national consortium to share

the OHSU Cancer Institute was renamed the Knight

knowledge, tools and technology.

Cancer Institute.

By this time, the OHSU Cancer Institute was ready

With a new sense of momentum, the Knight Cancer

to expand its offerings. A radiation-based patient

Institute began growing in size and achievement. Dr.

treatment facility was opened in the newly built

Druker’s team attracted some of the world’s most

Peter O. Kohler Pavilion, for example, and as part of

renowned scientists and oncologists. Lung oncology

OHSU’s broader expansion into the South Waterfront

expert Alan Sandler, M.D., became chief of hematol-

district, cancer clinic space was opened in the new

ogy and medical oncology in 2009. Prostate cancer

Center for Health & Healing. All told, the Institute now

expert and surgeon Chris Amling, M.D., was hired as

totaled more than 200,000 square feet of clinical

chief of urology. Joe Gray, Ph.D., an internationally

and laboratory space dedicated solely to cancer care

recognized innovator in genomics—the branch of

and research. Yet these facilities for the OHSU Cancer

molecular biology concerned with the structure, func-

Institute were noticeably scattered.

tion, evolution and mapping of genomes—joined the team in 2010. His joining the Knight Cancer Institute

THE DRUKER-KNIGHT ERA BEGINS

helped to intensify efforts to understand how cancer

Just over 20 years after its initial founding, the OHSU

grows in order to develop more targeted therapies

Cancer Institute saw two milestones in 2007 and

and save more lives. Lisa Coussens, Ph.D., joined the

2008. First, with Dr. Bagby’s retirement, Dr. Brian

OHSU Knight Cancer Institute in 2011 to continue her

Druker was named director, a position he continues to

research into the role of immune cells in cancer. And in

hold today. Within a year, Dr. Druker was named winner

2013, Sancy Leachman, M.D., Ph.D., was recruited to

of the Lasker-DeBakey Award for Clinical Medical

serve as the new chair of the Department of Dermatol-

Research, widely regarded as the most prestigious

ogy and director of the Melanoma Research Program

research award in the United States.

at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute. That year an

“We are making significant progress in the fight

important private-sector partner also came on board

against cancer and are providing hope to millions of

as OHSU entered a collaboration with Intel to decode

patients and their families,” said Druker. “We are well

the root causes of cancer and other complex diseases,

on our way to making effective and non-toxic therapies

blending the tech industry giant’s expertise in extreme-

a reality for all cancer patients.”

scale computing with OHSU’s biomedical imaging and

In 2010 the heroic work being done to fight cancer earned the attention and support of Phil and Penny Knight, who bequeathed $100 million to the Institute’s mission. In honor of the Nike co-founder and his wife,

genomics expertise.

17

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

THE KNIGHT CANCER CHALLENGE

port Brian Druker’s incredible vision,” Knight added.

In 2013, boosted by a world-class team of scientists

“This is the man who can get this done.”

and an innovative approach to cancer treatment gaining national headlines, leaders of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute met with its namesake benefactors,

accepted the historic challenge. “It is not often that

Phil and Penny Knight, with an audacious sugges-

one is given a billion-dollar challenge. But the cause

tion. With a vision for team science to improve early

is great,” he said. “Failure will not be an option. The

detection of cancer, Dr. Druker’s team sought a billion

Knight Cancer Institute will now have an opportunity to

dollars to build world-class facilities. “That was a lot

position itself—this is not hyperbole—as the premier

even for Mr. Knight,” recalls Steve Stadum, the Knight

cancer institute in this country.”

Cancer Institute’s former chief operating officer (now

“This is a transformative moment,” he added, “not

the chief operating officer for Seattle’s Fred Hutchin-

just for OHSU and for Oregon, but for the people who

son Cancer Research Center).

matter most. This is about changing the lives of cancer

Initially the Knights did not respond to the request, but as Stadum recalls, on the eve of the Knight Cancer 18

On behalf of OHSU and the Knight Cancer Institute, the university’s president, Joe Robertson, M.D., M.B.A.,

patients around the world.”

Dr. Druker, as he took the stage, beaming and smil-

Institute’s biannual fundraising gala in September,

ing, was taken aback. “I had a speech prepared, and

Knight asked if he could introduce Dr. Druker to the

I’m just going to rip it up,” he told the audience, “Phil

audience of 400 supporters. Without telling anyone his

and especially Penny, thank you so very much. I just

plan, that evening Knight announced his pledge.

cannot begin to express how grateful we are. You in-

“As I speak, there is a grandfather, a mother, a

spire us to do more and you inspire us to do better. You

child, who hugs a loved one who he or she would not

give us an enormous amount of responsibility to create

be able to hug if it were not for Brian Druker,” Knight

something and to cure cancer. And I can promise you

told the audience. “It is incumbent on everyone in this

from the bottom of my heart that we will do everything

room to do what he can to keep the miracles com-

we can to take the words of Dan Wieden and to tweak

ing. And I speak to myself as well as to all the rest of

that famous Nike slogan, and to just cure it.”

you. Accordingly, I make the following pledge: Penny

The fundraising campaign began quickly, bolstered

and I will donate $500 million dollars to OHSU if it is

by an effort to secure $200 million of the $500 million

matched within two years in a fundraising campaign.”

goal from the Oregon Legislature. While everyone

As Knight made his announcement, there were audible

wants to see cancer cured, there was still pushback.

gasps from the audience.

“The state of Oregon is not a philanthropic organiza-

“Penny and I hope to motivate every person who

tion,” Chuck Sheketoff of the Oregon Center for Public

has a stake in curing cancer to come forward and sup-

Policy told Willamette Week in a December 2013 interview. Legislators from both parties shared the skepticism, citing a host of other funding priorities that could be crowded out. But Senate President Peter Courtney,

CHAP TER 1: RISE OF THE KNIGHT CANCER INSTITUTE

himself a cancer survivor, endorsed the university’s proposal. “The Knight Cancer Institute would be able to attract the leading researchers in the world to Oregon,” Courtney said in a prepared statement. “Their research would have the potential to save millions of lives.”

The Oregon Senate approved the measure by a vote of 28–2 in March 2014. But there was still the matter of another $300 million to raise. There were already multiple $1 million donations, but there were also smaller yet perhaps even more symbolically significant donations, like several hundred dollars from a donut sale organized by a nine-year-old girl, or the $68,868

“This is a transformative moment, not just for OHSU and for Oregon, but for the people who matter most. This is about changing the lives of cancer patients around the world.”

that was raised by OHSU employees in just a 24-hour period with matching gifts from a variety of local companies.

The largest single donation was $100 million from Gert Boyle, chair of the Oregon-based Columbia Sportswear. Boyle’s late sister, a molecular biologist, died of brain cancer and was a scientific mentor to Druker when he was an undergraduate at the University of California, San Diego. The campaign ultimately received more than 10,000 donations, given from people in 14 countries and every U.S. state. Yet three-quarters of the money came from donors in Oregon.

The campaign benefited from creative outreach as well as financial contributions. In May of 2014, twopage newspaper ads ran in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times and San Francisco Chronicle, designed pro-bono by Portland-based advertising giant Wieden + Kennedy.

The left side of the page showed a pair of scissors and an orange ribbon with one end snipped off. The right side read: “Cancer doesn’t need another ribbon. It needs another cure.” It went on to explain how OHSU and Dr. Druker revolutionized the treatment of chronic

myeloid leukemia with Gleevec. “That’s one cancer down. We are going after cancer as aggressively as it goes after us…Help us make cancer the victim.” The ads prompted a flurry of interest and online donations, with an ensuing 50 percent increase in visits to the campaign’s site.

Billion-dollar campaigns are still relatively rare, said Bruce Flessner, a fund-raising consultant at Bentz Whaley Flessner in Minneapolis, in Nature journal.

When universities do set out to raise that much, he noted, they take an average of seven years. He also noted the extra degree of difficulty for the Knight Cancer Challenge aiming to fund a single institute at a university far from the clusters of wealth found in New York City or Silicon Valley. “Portland is a great city, but it’s not minting billionaires at a fast rate,” Flessner said. “If there is a wealthy person in Oregon who hasn’t been asked to make a gift to that cancer program, I would be shocked.”

On June 25, 2015, OHSU announced that it had reached its $500 million target in 22 months. It was the largest amount a U.S. institution had ever raised to

19

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

Live: 23.75"

.5"

Gutter

.5"

Live: 23.75"

Live: 21"

CANCER DOESN’T NEED ANOTHER RIBBON. IT NEEDS ANOTHER CURE. At OHSU, we take a different approach to fighting cancer. We revolutionized the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia with Gleevec. For hundreds of thousands ®

of people, CML is no longer a death sentence. That’s one cancer down.

Cancer doesn’t need more awareness. It needs more Gleevecs.

We are going after cancer as aggressively as it goes after us. And because time is of the essence, Nike cofounder Phil Knight and his wife, Penny, have pledged $500 million if we can raise a matching amount.

Help us make cancer the victim.

From TIME Magazine, May 28, 2001 ©2001 Time Inc. TIME ® is a registered trademark of Time Inc. and is used under license. TIME and Time Inc. are not affiliated with, and do not endorse products or services of, Licensee.

Live: 21"

TRACKING NUMBER

n/a

JOB 9PBOHSM14012 TITLE OHSU Ribbon CLIENT Oregon Health & Science University FILE 9PBOHSM14012_Ribbon_23.75x21 OFFICE USA–Portland ECD Susan Hoffman/Joe Staples USAGE

20

Cancer’s cure is Oregon’s new frontier.

Charting new territory.

It’s always been the Oregon way. We’ve blazed trails, changed history, and accomplished the impossible.

Now, the pioneers at Oregon Health & Science University are mapping the most direct route to curing cancer.

OHSU’s Knight Cancer Institute is launching an unprecedented $1 billion campaign to end cancer as we know it. Many Oregonians have already joined us but we need the support of even more pioneers like you. Visit knightcancerchallenge.org to learn how you can embark on this important journey with us. A cancer-free frontier awaits.

Knight Cancer Institute

Images courtesy of OHSU Foundation

Consult Art Production for usage information.

CD AD CW SD SM PM

Hal Curtis, Jeff Gillette, Anthony Goldstein Chris Thurman Andrew Dickson Dani Guralnick Lenore Prato Andrea Nelsen

AE AP PHOTO ILLUS DESIGN COLOR

Wayne Kasserman Marni Beardsley Marcus Swanson n/a n/a Saski Thomson

PUB New York Times ISSUE May 07, 2014 LIVE 23.75 x 21” GUT TER n/a DMA X 240

CHAP TER 1: RISE OF THE KNIGHT CANCER INSTITUTE

to clinic and I have patients who were told they have months to live and because of the drug we developed,

“We are going after cancer as aggressively as it goes after us… Help us make cancer the victim.”

Gleevec, for chronic myelogenous leukemia, some of them are 15, 16 years out. So I can see the impact we can make by attacking cancer at its very roots. We want to do that for everybody.”

“I think everybody has a connection to cancer,” Knight told Roberts. “My father died of leukemia and a beloved aunt died of breast cancer. So cancer has touched everybody.”

win a challenge grant. “Publicly we were always very confident, because if you aren’t, people aren’t going to donate,” Druker told Nature journal. “But when we first got started, we thought, ‘How are we going to do this?’”

When OHSU made the announcement, Phil Knight and Dr. Brian Druker appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America to talk about the milestone that had just been reached. Asked by interviewer Robin Roberts what had motivated him and Penny Knight to make the pledge, Knight recalled being approached at an awards dinner by a woman who offered her thanks. “She said, ‘Your Dr. Druker saved my son’s life,’” Phil Knight recalled.

Knight went on to express his belief in Dr. Druker, saying, “He’s a champion. He hides it well with his modesty. I used to call it false modesty but he really is modest. But he’s a genius in what he’s done. What he’s done up at OHSU is truly remarkable. They have 40 new cancer research doctors up there, and they’re on the move, and they’re gonna win.”

Roberts asked Knight and Dr. Druker how cancer had affected them personally. “My wife was five years old when her mother died of breast cancer. I lost my father to leukemia and two years ago lost a brother to prostate cancer,” Druker explained. “But every day I go

Dr. Druker told Roberts he was ready to get to work. “Now we have to take the knowledge of what we know about cancer and use it to detect it earlier, when it’s more curable, when it’s easier to treat, and save people from having to go through chemotherapy or radiation, or other debilitating treatments,” he said.

“So it’s setting the stage for moving from advanced cancer to early detection and ultimately to prevention.”

21

CHAP TER 2

OHSU’S JOURNEY FROM MARQUAM HILL TO SOUTH WATERFRONT

The roots of Oregon Health & Science University stretch back nearly as far as the State of Oregon itself. In 1867, just eight years after Oregon received statehood and less than a quarter-century after the opening of the Oregon Trail that would carry hundreds of thousands of pioneers here to start a new life, Willamette University welcomed its first medical students to its Salem campus. A decade later, the medical program relocated to Portland, and merged with the Oregon College of Dentistry to form what for more than a half-century would be known as the University of Oregon Medical School.

23

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

Left Marquam Bridge under construction, 1964 (OHSU)

24

Above Marquam Hill, c.

1930s (OHSU) Right Marquam Hill, 1997 (OHSU)

Left Aerial view of SW Waterfront, 1939 (OHSU)

CHAP TER 2: OHSU ’ S JOURNE Y FROM MARQUAM HILL TO SOUTH WATERFRONT

A SCHOOL ON A HILL

bridge in North America) and the Physicians’ Pavilion

After initially locating in downtown Portland, the

for expanded outpatient services.

Marquam Hill campus got its start in 1917 when

At the turn of the 21st century, as OHSU separated

the Oregon-Washington Railroad donated 20 acres.

from the Oregon State System of Higher Education

Coupled with an 88-acre tract donated by the family of

to become a public corporation, the school reached

C.S. Jackson, former publisher of the Oregon Journal

perhaps the apex of construction of its Marquam

newspaper, it created a real home for the school with

Hill campus with facilities like the Mark O. Hatfield

room to expand. By 1919, the campus had its first

Research Center and the Peter O. Kohler Pavilion. Yet

building: Mackenzie Hall. It was named after Kenneth

OHSU’s leaders were increasingly confronted with a

A.J. Mackenzie, M.D., the medical school’s second

larger problem: running out of room on the hilltop.

dean, who in his previous job as the railroad’s surgeon

But if one were to look east from campus towards the

had convinced the company to donate the hilltop site

banks of the Willamette River, a solution was waiting.

when it proved useless for their needs.

From here, the institution began to take shape and

BIRTH OF THE SCHNITZER CAMPUS

serve the community. In the 1920s the Multnomah

Before the 20th century, the land along the west side

County Hospital opened on Marquam Hill, provid-

of the Willamette was barely land. Rather, it was a

ing services to patients for the first time, as did

marsh, where water covered the grassy terrain for

Doernbecher Memorial Hospital for Children, the first

long periods of time from autumn through winter, and

full-service children’s hospital in the Pacific Northwest.

Ross Island formed one of the river’s widest channels

In the 1930s came a new outpatient clinic and an

before emptying into the mighty Columbia River a few

accompanying nursing-education program. The institu-

miles north. But in the early 1900s, the city drained the

tion continued expanding after World War II, and by

marsh and filled the land with topsoil to create more

1974, the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center

usable riverfront industrial property.

was formed as an independent institution. In 1981 it

On this land that would become the Schnitzer

was renamed as Oregon Health Sciences University,

Campus and future home of the Knight Cancer Re-

becoming Oregon’s only official academic health

search Building, a sawmill was built in the 1910s. The

center and one of 125 in the nation.

banks were expanded with topsoil during World War I

The 1980s and ’90s saw growth accelerate. In

to create room for shipyards, and afterward the land

1987, construction was completed on the Vollum

filled with warehouses and a pesticide plant. Just

Institute for Advanced Biomedical Research building.

to the south, the Zidell Marine Company began as a

The early 1990s brought completion of the Casey Eye

scrap metal business. During World War II, both pieces

Institute and the Biomedical Information Communica-

of property became shipyards. Afterward, both the

tion Center (the first fully computerized research library

Schnitzer and Zidell properties became scrap yards,

in the United States), soon followed by the Veteran’s

with the Schnitzers gathering fuel for their growing

Affairs Medical Center Bridge (longest enclosed sky-

portfolio of steel mills while the Zidell expanded from

25

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

breaking down hundreds of ships that had helped win

And city leaders set ambitious goals to accommodate

the war to building new barges over the next three-

10,000 jobs and at least 3,000 units of housing. In

quarters of a century.

2003, the city created a new street-grid plan and

Yet by the mid-20th century, the central city and its infrastructure were inching closer. The Marquam Bridge

renamed what had been known as the North Macadam District to the South Waterfront District.

was completed in 1966, comprising the final link in the

In 2004, as the South Waterfront was just begin-

Interstate 5 freeway system stretching from America’s

ning to come to life, OHSU’s history began a major new

border with Mexico in southern California to the

chapter. The Schnitzer Investment Corporation donated

Canadian border in Washington. As I-5 stretched north

nearly 20 acres of riverfront property on the South

toward the bridge, it also made this land a kind of island,

Waterfront to OHSU.

disconnected from the rest of Southwest Portland. waterfront land was also growing, as was happening

THE PORTLAND AERIAL TRAM AND THE CENTER FOR HEALTH AND HEALING

in cities throughout America. In 1973, the Willamette

There was just one challenge when it came to OHSU’s

River Greenway Act was passed by the Oregon Legisla-

new land. How would people get there from Marquam

ture in cooperation with local governments, its goal to

Hill, more than two miles away on a winding little road?

enhance the scenic, recreational and natural qualities

After studying several options, OHSU and the City of

of the river and its adjacent lands. At the same time,

Portland’s Bureau of Transportation concluded that an

developers were eyeing this waterside property. 1975

aerial tramway would be the best option. In April 2006,

brought the opening of John’s Landing, a mixed-use

City Council voted by a 3-2 margin to approve a final

residential area just to the south of the Zidell and

budget of $57 million, with the city contributing $8.5

Schnitzer industrial properties. In 1978, just to the

million, or 15 percent of the total.

The public’s interest in reclaiming former industrial

26

north, downtown Portland saw the completion of Tom

An international design competition was held to

McCall Waterfront Park, replacing a highway. That

produce the design, the first in the city since 1979 for

only hastened the southward expansion of downtown,

the Portland Building. Zurich/Los Angeles architecture

particularly with the 1985 opening of Riverplace, a

firm AGPS, co-led by Portland native Sarah Graham,

mixed-use district at the southern edge of the park.

was announced as the winner on March 26, 2003.

By the close of the 1990s, this industrial land was on its way to a different future. In 1999, with much of the land along the Willamette now vacant and under-

Construction began in August 2005, and opened to the public on January 27, 2007.

About the same time the Portland Aerial Tram

performing, City Council directed the Portland Develop-

competition was announced in 2003, ground was

ment Commission (now Prosper Portland) to create the

broken on OHSU’s first building on the South Water-

North Macadam Urban Renewal Area, comprised of

front: the Center for Health and Healing. Designed by

447 acres, with a focus on transitioning from industrial

GBD Architects, a leader in sustainable design, with an

to mixed-use residential and commercial development.

assist from healthcare design specialists PKA Architects, the $140 million, 16-story building is dedicated

CHAP TER 2: OHSU ’ S JOURNE Y FROM MARQUAM HILL TO SOUTH WATERFRONT

to physician practice, surgery and imaging, education and research facilities. Opened in 2006, the CHH was the largest healthcare facility in the United States to be granted the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest certification level, Platinum, in its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system for green architecture.

The Center for Health and Healing and the Portland Aerial Tram became the foundation for what was a new urban district emerging from scratch—and quickly. From 2005-08, a number of projects followed in the South Waterfront next door to the tram and the CHH, including the twin 21- and 24-story Meriwether Condominiums, the 31-story John Ross Tower, and the 23-story Atwater Place. The South Waterfront represented a new approach to urban design in Portland. In the past, buildings this tall were not allowed to be built alongside stretches of the Willamette River for fear of blocking views. But these towers’ developers argued that the structures would also be thinner, allowing views through the buildings toward Mt. Hood, citing the success of such a formula in Vancouver, British

Portland Aerial Tram Portland Aerial Tram passing the Center for Health and Healing, 2006.

(OHSU/Tim Jewett)

in two ranks parallel to the river with a landscaped central promenade between.” The plan formally divided OHSU’s land holdings in South Waterfront into two parcels: the Schnitzer Campus to the north near the Marquam Bridge, and the South Waterfront Central District to the south, congregated around the Portland

Columbia. City leaders agreed.

Aerial Tram and the Center for Health and Healing.

PLANNING FOR GROWTH

Campus. Two of those were combined into one facility:

After that initial growth period in the South Waterfront from 2003-08, the nation’s (and the world’s) economic fortunes took a drastic turn that for a time halted additional development. Leaders at OHSU knew that expansion into the South Waterfront would continue over the coming years and even decades. But the Great Recession, as it became known, was an opportunity to pause and plan.

In 2011, OHSU released its 20-Year Facilities Master Plan, the focus of which was to “arrange buildings

OHSU initially planned three buildings for the Schnitzer the Robertson Life Science Building. The other planned facility was a research laboratory, which would become the Knight Cancer Research Building.

In between the two parcels is the Zidell Yards, a 33-acre area owned by the Zidell Marine Company that for decades housed its barge-building operations but has been planned for mixed-use redevelopment, including new open space along the river. But things might have turned out differently. “There was a time when OHSU approached Zidell about doing some kind of a land swap,” recalls Brian Newman, OHSU’s former

27

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

vice president of campus development. “There was an

really complement our two areas of development, and

interest in having contiguous land not separated by the

vice-versa. When South Waterfront is built out, I think

Zidell property. But now I’m glad that didn’t happen.

walking from the KCRB to the tram will have this sense

We don’t want South Waterfront to become a company

of authenticity that it might otherwise not have if the

town for OHSU. Our core competency is not grocery

district was just a pocket of OHSU growth. We want to

stores or restaurants or hotels, but those are all part

be part of a vibrant district and central city.”

of a thriving, diverse neighborhood. By having the

OHSU’s leaders also saw an opportunity in South

Zidell yards between our two bookends, I think it will

Waterfront to create a campus where the space be-

guard against the excesses of just having institutional

tween the buildings was as important as the architec-

development. What they have envisioned I think will

ture itself. “We went through a long conversation with

MARQUAM HILL CAMPUS

SOUTH WATERFRONT LOWER TRAM TERMINAL

MARQUAM HILL UPPER TRAM TERMINAL

28 TILIKUM CROSSING BRIDGE

Photo by Brad Feinknopf

CENTER FOR HEALTH AND HEALING

ROSS ISLAND BRIDGE

ROBERTSON LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING

KNIGHT CANCER RESEARCH BUILDING

CHAP TER 2: OHSU ’ S JOURNE Y FROM MARQUAM HILL TO SOUTH WATERFRONT

staff here [at the university] to say, ‘What are our needs and aspirations?' What we heard was that everyone agreed that OHSU needed to secure land to grow, but more than that, they wanted to learn from the experience on Marquam Hill and create a sense of place,” Newman explains. “Marquam Hill is just a jumble of buildings. There are some special areas I enjoy, but it doesn’t necessarily have the feel of a university

“We want to be part of a vibrant district and central city.”

campus. It’s basically a very heroic campus on top of a hill with these buildings spanning canyons and hillside.

When we have researchers coming from all over the world and from the rest of the United States, it doesn’t

predicted to use 45 percent less energy than a building

have that sense of place. We wanted to make sure we

designed to code and 62 percent less potable water.

created that in South Waterfront.”

This building and the Center for Health & Healing established a precedent for world-class sustainable

ROBERTSON LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING AND TILIKUM CROSSING The first building constructed on OHSU’s Schnitzer

design on the South Waterfront that the KCRB would be expected to meet or even surpass.

That summer of 2014 also brought a transformative

Campus was the Robertson Life Science Building,

work of infrastructure to the South Waterfront that has

(originally known as the Collaborative Life Sciences

substantially improved connections to the rest of the

Building). It brings together Portland State University,

city. Tilikum Crossing is the first multi-modal bridge in

Oregon State University, and Oregon Health & Sci-

the United States that is off-limits to private automo-

ence University programming in a single structure.

biles. Instead, it carries pedestrians, bicycles, buses,

The 650,000 square-foot complex, designed by Los

and Portland’s two passenger rail systems: MAX (which

Angeles firm CO Architects with Portland firm SERA

connects the city with its suburbs) and the Portland

Architects and completed in 2014, consists of two

Streetcar (for connecting local neighborhoods). Yet

parts: the 12-story Skourtes Tower on the north and a

along with the tram, this infrastructure has transformed

5-story building to the south, connected by an atrium

the South Waterfront from an isolated strip of former

with walkways crisscrossing the multi-story open

industrial land to a well-connected central city district.

space. Inside the RLSB are a variety of teaching and research spaces: simulation rooms for mock surgeries, exam rooms, and an electron microscopy lab with microscopes so sensitive that they rest on their own underground foundation.

The RLSB, which received a Platinum-level LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, is

29

CHAP TER 3

CREATING A VISION

Although the groundbreaking of any building project marks the beginning of a journey, by the time the Knight Cancer Research Building’s construction commenced on June 16, 2016, years of research and planning had gone into the effort to coalesce the Knight Cancer Institute’s disparate facilities and build one of the premier cancer laboratories in the world.

31

CHAP TER 3: CRE ATING A VISION

The KCRB process began with an emphasis on team

ing variables. It is seen as a promising approach to

science envisioned by the Knight Cancer Institute’s

accelerate scientific innovation and the translation of

director, Dr. Brian Druker, who believed the next

scientific findings into effective policies and practices.”

generation of early detection would likely include a

Particularly as it relates to cancer, team science is a

mix of technologies and expertise. “We have to learn

necessary approach. “When you have a complex prob-

about the biology of early cancer as it transitions from

lem such as cancer that has multiple parameters and

something that won’t kill you to something that will,”

changes over time, you have to bring what we call a

he said in a 2014 speech. “We want to see a future

systems engineering approach to solve that problem,”

where we each understand our own risks and can

says Dr. Sadik Esener, director of the Knight Cancer

intervene and use information to change the outcome.

Institute’s Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research

We’ll be making a mini-Bell Labs or NASA or Manhattan

(CEDAR) Center. “In addition, most of the tools that

Project. We’ll bring the best and brightest people here.

we’ll be developing and are being developed require

It’s different than the way science is usually done,

knowledge in electronics, in optics, in biology, and in

with individual people putting the pieces of the puzzle

cancer. So, you really need to merge all these technolo-

together.”

gies and knowledge together. It’s not a one-person so-

As noted by the National Cancer Institute in its

lution. We have to have a team that is multi-disciplinary

Team Science Toolkit, over the past two decades there

and people who can talk the same language, although

has been an emerging emphasis on addressing multi-

they are coming from different fields.”

faceted problems such as climate change and the rise

Although the Knight Cancer Institute’s goals are

of chronic disease teams of diversely trained experts.

ambitious, the move toward team science is partly

This has led to “a surge of interest and investment

born from pragmatism. “I think it’s come out of the fact

in team science,” notes the Toolkit report, in which

that money is tighter now, so competing for research

“scientists across many disciplines and settings are

dollars has become much more difficult,” explains Paul

engaging in team-based research initiatives.”

Howard, the laboratory and operations manager for the

Team science is rooted in cross-disciplinary inquiry,

CEDAR Center. “A logical answer to that is to stop try-

in which collaborators with training and expertise in

ing to reinvent the wheel every time you open a lab and

different fields work together to combine or integrate

work more collaboratively. We’re responding to a trend,

their perspectives in a single research endeavor. As the

but perhaps under-appreciated by some researchers

NCI notes, “cross-disciplinary team science has been

in academia, what we’re doing is a little bit of a hybrid

identified as a means to engage in expansive studies

with industry. Industry often has bottom lines. People

that address a broad array of complex and interact-

tend to operate in larger teams. So, we’re trying to marry the best of both worlds.”

Left Rendering of the social interaction spaces adjacent to the main staircase.

Providing spaces for both planned and unplanned encounters was a key component in the design concept.

If team science is partly pragmatic, its pursuit at the Knight can also be particularly uplifting. “25 years ago when I started at OHSU, the culture in research was

33

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

Top Rendering at right: Daylight and views for everyone in the building, including the lab spaces, was an important goal for the project.

Middle Brian Druker (right) speaks with Sadik Esener, Ph.D., Director, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute Center for Early Detection Research. (OHSU) Bottom Rendering illustrating the level of transparency between computationalists and researchers, as well as connections between indoor and outdoor spaces.

34

“We don’t want the building to get in the way of great science. We wanted to build it from the inside out.”

CHAP TER 3: CRE ATING A VISION

much different,” Howard says. “There was more research

what was exciting was the connective tissue between

money, more camaraderie and intellectual endeavor. As

the workspaces: what I would call the soul of the build-

the years went by, money became so much harder to get

ing,” Newman explains. “That completely got applied

that it became more business-like and cutthroat. It got to

to the planning and design process for the KCRB.”

the point where I wasn’t having fun anymore and I wasn’t

Along with the guidance provided by OHSU’s 20-Year

able to focus the majority of my time on research.” The

Facilities Master Plan, the team spent three months

Knight Cancer Challenge funds will make it possible for

preparing a preliminary programming document before

the Knight Cancer Institute’s scientists and researchers

issuing a request for proposals from architects and

to pursue their work without the distraction of having

general contractors. “We wanted to get key stakehold-

to constantly pursue grants. “What the Knight’s doing,”

ers talking about their vision for this building,” explains

Howard adds, “is removing many of the obstacles that

Sara Vonde Veld, OHSU’s current director of campus

were driving me out of the lab.”

planning and real estate. “How could the design change their culture? What could the building really do for

DESIGNING THE DESIGN

them? It was the first time many scientists were coming

Prior to selecting a design and construction team, OHSU

together from across campus. What was the opportunity

and the Knight Cancer Institute sought to learn as much

there? We learned they wanted the building to further

as they could about what would constitute a state-of-

team science.” The stakeholder groups were more than

the-art cancer research laboratory, where leading-edge

informal conversations; facilitators from ZGF Architects

team science was headed, how oncology existed within

and Cameron MacAllister Group were hired to obtain as

the broader realm of scientific thinking, and what the

much tangible feedback from participants as possible.

industry’s best practices and most world-class facilities

“They actually called each person who was going to

indicated about the architecture.

attend the meeting and talked to them before we did,”

“Brian Druker and I said to the OHSU leadership, ‘We don’t want the building to get in the way of great science,’” Steve Stadum explains. “We wanted to build it from the inside out.”

Members of OHSU and the Knight toured state-of-

Vonde Veld remembers. “They had a wide variety of perspectives even before the meeting.”

Perhaps there was no better place to search for a model of how a laboratory of the future should look than to Dr. Brian Druker himself. Vonde Veld believes

the-art cancer centers and research institutes through-

the stakeholder facilitations also gave Dr. Druker “a

out North America, including facilities at Princeton

forum to tell us what he was thinking. I remember him

and Harvard Universities and the Broad Institute. They

talking about one of his favorite times in life, college,

also looked at combined spaces for public and private

and wanting this building to feel collegiate, where

sector entities where professionals from different dis-

creative juices are flowing and maybe it’s less formal,

ciplines could work together, such as the Cambridge

but people are excited to be there. That was part of

Innovation Center in Massachusetts. “They may have

his vision for the KCRB: just a fun place to work. If you

lab space, or they may have computational space, but

walk through Brian Druker’s lab, it’s a hub of activity.

35

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

Some wet labs tend to be quieter. His is just bustling

ENVISIONING THE KCRB PROCESS

all the time and has good energy. How do you make a

When OHSU issued a request for proposals, one of the

building foster good energy? A building can’t do all of

most important early decisions was to call for contrac-

it, but it was a good conversation to have.”

tors and architects to submit as teams, as part of an Integrated Project Delivery model. “The basic notion is

36

MISSION STATEMENT AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES

to align the contract between the owner, architect and

All of this input enabled the Knight leadership to

contractor financially,” explains Stadum. “If you can

identify how it wanted to operate and what design ele-

do it, which is not easy, you make better decisions. If

ments were needed in the building in order to support

you involve the contractor early in the design and the

the collaborative culture they desired. When the design

architect during construction, there’s no hand-off from

and construction team was assembled, they responded

one to the other,” which happens in the traditional

with their own mission statement: “Create a dynamic

design-bid-build delivery method.

environment that fuels transformative cancer research

“The institution was already on this journey em-

by driving innovation and discovery.” They also created

bracing IPD,” recalls Brian Newman. “We hadn’t had a

a series of Guiding Principles, which were then broken

project under our belt that really implemented those

down into Operating Principles and Design Principles.

ideals on the ground. We had never done IPD for any of

Go

Standard Project Delivery

Architect designs $

Owner

Integrated Project Delivery $

Contractor builds

CHAP TER 3: CRE ATING A VISION

GUIDING PRINCIPLES THE OPERATING PRINCIPLES:

THE DESIGN PRINCIPLES:

/ For scientists who are part of the Early Detection Program, and increasingly for the Knight Cancer Institute’s other cancer research efforts, multi-disciplinary teams have to be able to work together toward a common goal.

functional & flexible space

team science

/ Lab space will be flexible, reflecting the fast-changing scientific landscape, and it will support the non-territorial culture and the conduct of team science.

/ The building will include visual and physical connections between floors to promote interaction and collaboration between researchers and an internal campus feel.

vertical connections

/ One common goal or set of goals will unite research teams. The focus should be neither on grants nor individual publications, but rather on collaborating and sharing of knowledge to achieve collective success.

team results

/ The KCRB will be the heart of the Knight Cancer Institute. Services and amenities for the Knight will draw others to meet and collaborate, promoting a sense of community with social events, scientific conferences and seminars.

intellectual & social hub

non-territorial / Researchers are asked to think of themselves as co-owners of the entire building, while merely temporary occupants of a particular lab area. Lab heads need to expect their space assignments to be reviewed frequently and should anticipate moving to different parts of the building as needed to support scientific collaborations.

/ The building will operate like a vertical campus. The first floor of the building was conceived as public space where building occupants can interact with members of the OHSU community and the public. It will contain traditional retail space and public entrances, a food-service hub, as well as a state-of-the-art conference center. Access to the remainder of the building will be secured but will maintain an open and welcoming environment. The upper floors will have an engaging community feel much like a high-tech company working toward a common goal in a creative team environment. vertical campus function

shared scientific resources / The Knight Cancer Institute spaces will maximize efficiency by centralizing shared scientific resources to the extent appropriate. In some cases, this will be achieved by centralizing a given service for the entire building, and in other cases, two or more labs may share common equipment and lab staff. This model will have the added benefit of fostering opportunities for researchers to interact with one another.

primary corridor / Each floor will have a primary corridor to channel all pedestrian movement into a common space, encouraging interaction between researchers and enhancing a sense of continuity and team science.

/ At the more public groundfloor level, a state-of-the-art conference center and dining facility will expand the reach of the Knight Cancer Institute, inviting in visitors, partners and other Knight Cancer Institute and OHSU departments not located in the building. Other conference spaces, eating areas and amenities on upper floors will encourage interaction among researchers and other building occupants.

conference & social amenities

shared services / Shared resources will be logically distributed in the building in prominent locations to encourage interaction and improve efficiency. clustering offices near labs / Researcher offices will be located near their lab spaces to maximize convenience and efficiency, and to provide a visual connection from office to lab.

These Guiding Principles provided a common language for discussing design and construction and created the framework for the team to make hard decisions when tradeoffs became necessary. The Principles for the KCRB’s design and construction team also set a precedent for how the Knight Cancer Institute itself will approach building its culture.

37

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

our major projects. The OHSU team had been work-

STUDYING THE USERS

ing for a couple years on trying to change our form of

Even before the selection of the combined design and

agreement to implement IPD. It nicely dovetailed just

construction team—a joint venture between McCarthy

as the master plan laid the groundwork for the KCRB.”

Building Companies and Andersen Construction,

The impetus for Integrated Project Delivery and its early collaboration between owner, architect and

impacted the design of the KCRB. “When we went

contractor was part of a larger initiative within OHSU

into the team selection, we assumed it would be a

to manage its capital projects in-house, “and be very

pretty vertical building,” Stadum explains. “SRG really

forward-looking in basing the delivery around modeling

challenged that and said it should be more horizontal.

better behaviors,” recalls Bill Bowen, who manages

I give them a lot of credit, especially [firm principal

major capital projects at OHSU; he cites the university’s

and co-founder] Jon Schleuning. We ended up picking

then-director of design and construction, Kyle Maj-

them and McCarthy/Andersen in part because they

chrowski, for spearheading the effort. “It was getting

challenged our thinking.”

people to build trust in order to change the culture:

38

with architecture firm SRG Partnership—they already

Reducing the amount of floors and widening them

building highly collaborative teams, putting all the

was key for the architects. “They said, ‘We want to be

experts in the room early on, including consultants and

more flexible, like Google or Apple.’ We realized that

sub-consultants, and leveraging that expertise early in

Google and Apple are not headquartered in high-rise

the design phase. It’s breaking down the building into

buildings,” Schleuning explains. “That’s very intentional.

systems and setting targets for those budgets. It inher-

Horizontal interaction is much greater than vertical.” By

ently felt right and a better way to deliver a project.”

going with wider and thus fewer floors, “it meant you

An extra $2 million was invested to bring more people

could make this largely a stair-based building rather

onto the project early, which in turn has resulted in an

than an elevator building,” with open stairways connect-

estimated $20 million return on investment.

ing floors. “The route to the coffee or to a colleague you

“It was getting people to build trust in order to change the culture: building highly collaborative teams, putting all the experts in the room early on, including consultants and sub-consultants, and leveraging that expertise early in the design phase.”

CHAP TER 3: CRE ATING A VISION

need to ask a question of passes by people you might

clinical models, and the demographic changes taking

not see otherwise, and that leads to still other conversa-

place within the institution’s workforce.

tions. The idea is to get a beehive going.”

Within each individual floor, adds SRG Partnership

“The scientific leadership at OHSU was convinced this building does not exist anywhere in the world. It’s

principal Tim Evans, increasing its horizontality “is like

a new thing,” recalls Bryan Croeni, a principal with

a chemical reaction. There’s more people bouncing

B+H. “If the building was to serve as a transformational

off each other and sharing things. Behavioral science

platform, there was value in looking at how the work

shows people are more likely to interact with others on

gets done, and possibly looking to other sectors for

a given floor than they are with colleagues on different

translatable lessons.”

floors.”

Collaboration was in mind before the design

B+H has worked with many tech-industry clients, including Microsoft, Amazon and Google, and Croeni’s

process began. Newman suggested and SRG

team suggested to their OHSU and Knight Cancer

Partnership concurred with the need to study

Institute clients that some aspects of these workplaces

workplace strategy in a pre-design phase, which

could be translatable. “Initially we got pushback,”

included working with consultants such as B+A

Croeni recalls. “It was, ‘We’re not Google. You need to

Architects (through what’s called their Advance

see how we work.’” But luckily that was the plan. B+H

Strategy team) and Jacobs Consultancy to determine

began conversations with a variety of scientists and

just what a state-of-the-art or beyond state-of-the-art

researchers, much as OHSU’s leadership had. But this

cancer research laboratory would look like. The idea

time it wasn’t in a conference room and it wasn’t just

was to take a holistic look at what the KCRB needed

talking. The consultant team acted more like anthro-

to be and do: an evaluation of new technologies, new

pologists, observing scientists in their natural habitat.

“We documented how they moved, whether they were working collaboratively or individually, and

Originally envisioned as a taller building served by elevators, the design team turned the tower on its side and created a larger floor plate with social hubs connected by stairs.

39

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

collected data,” Croeni adds. “We observed five

the computationalist side was growing, and it behaved

different lab groups and 17 different scientists: a

differently.

cross-section through their research ecosystem. That

pattern: they don’t move around as much,” Croeni

how these folks moved through their habitat over the

explains. “We were able to go back after this and pres-

course of a day.”

ent our findings, and tell them, essentially, ‘You’re not

Traditionally cancer research laboratories are

Google yet, but a third to a half of your people are go-

comprised of two sides. There are biology and wet lab

ing to be more Google-like than you’re used to seeing.

experimentalists (also known as bench scientists),

And to build this capacity, you’re increasingly going to

who come from a variety of sub-disciplines, including

be competing with the Googles and Facebooks in the

microbiology, biotechnology, and biochemistry. Then

talent market.’ ”

there are computationalists, who use computer model

“All of us working together at this stage—SRG,

simulations and visualization in tandem with complex

Jacobs, B+H—really argued for more space for com-

data analysis to come at the research in an entirely

putationalists because they’re increasing in numbers

different way. But experimentalists are increasingly

and importance,” Evans recalls. “Normally it would be

dependent on computational research to solve big

an equal split, but we increased the ratio. We reduced

problems. What the consultant team found was that

experimentalists from 51 percent down to 48 percent and increased the computationalists from 16 to 24 percent. We got a two-to-one ratio.” Going from a nine-

COM P

ONALIST RESE ATI A UT

HER RC

ALIST RES ENT EA IM

HER RC

ER

story tower to a seven-story building with wider floor

EXP

40

“Computationalists have a different movement

enabled us to gain insight and have hard data on

ADMIN

07

ADMIN

06 05

MECHANICAL

EXPERIMENTALISTS LABS

04

TERRACE/ LOUNGE

COMPUTATIONALISTS LABS

03 02 01 P1 P2

CONFERENCE CENTER MOODY

SERVICE

CAFE/ RETAIL

RETAIL

PARKING / SERVICE

PROMENADE LAB SUPPORT

CHAP TER 3: CRE ATING A VISION

plates also meant that the computationalists could be

ent in the years ahead, and the kinds of design aspects

clustered together instead of scattered throughout

they would need to be effective in this new building.

different floors of the building. “There’s a tendency to

“The incoming workforce does not have much patience

think of computationalists as providing data in sup-

for hierarchy,” Croeni explains. “They preferred a flatter

port of what experimental researchers are doing, but

transparent culture. That’s a challenge for more tradi-

actually computationalists increasingly generate a lot

tional, hierarchical thinkers.” There was a desire for an

of their own research,” Evans says. “We had to account

open, collaborative environment at the KCRB that was

for that.”

not about closed-door executive offices. It would be a

SRG and the consultants also wanted to understand

place where everyone felt equal, and where the best

how the workforce that would populate the KCRB was

ideas would win, no matter where in the organizational

changing—in particular, the human tendencies of

hierarchy they came from.

individual scientists of different ages and generations.

They ran a focus group dubbed the “Young Scientists

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL SPACE

Club,” and completed a series of exercises around

Related to the notion of an open, collaborative environ-

cultural visioning: how they saw research being differ-

ment, the entire team knew that places outside of the laboratory where scientists and colleagues could come

Knight Cancer Research Building (KCRB) Major Building Occupants April 6, 2015

M

CURRENT PROGRAM

“It’s not always common in laboratory buildings, but we felt for team science to work you needed a generous amount of different collaborative and social interaction spaces,” Evans explains. “You needed cafés and open stairways, but also things like quiet rooms.

EXPERIMENTALISTS Lab Head: 48

together would be paramount.

Research Staff: 384

If you’re working on a grant application or crunching data, you need places to concentrate. It’s trying to understand the patterns of use in the building and the spaces that foster that use, whether it’s collaborative

Experimentalist Data Analyst

Senior Scientist/ Lab Manager

COMPUTATIONALISTS Lab Head: 24

Research Staff: 120

work or social interaction.”

These collaborative and interactive spaces also needed to be distributed throughout the building, offering a variety of choices. “When you distribute the attractors, and have multiple places for people to go to,” Evans says, “people will self-select the venue in which they feel most comfortable. You can’t force people to

Lab Heads Research Staff

72 504

Total

576

interact, but if you give them multiple venues, they will gravitate there.”

41

CHAP TER 4

OVERCOMING DESIGN CHALLENGES

The site in South Waterfront presented challenging conditions for the project from the outset. “It was industrial land for a century, and that use left behind some significant contamination,� explains Matt Johnson of KPFF Consulting Engineers, who provided civil engineering services for the project. As a longtime scrap yard, the property was contaminated with PCBs, benzene and other toxic chemicals, as well as hundreds of small residual pieces of rusting metal and some 2,200 pilings still in the river from docks dating back to the shipbuilding days of World War I.

43

CHAP TER 4: OVERCOMING DESIGN CHALLENGES

The adjacent property owner, Zidell Marine, worked

LEED BY EXAMPLE

with the City of Portland on a voluntary 20-year, $30

Over the past 25 years, the biggest change in the

million effort to clean not only the banks on their own

building industry has been the rise of sustainable

property, but a strip of riverfront that is part of the

design and construction practices. According to

Schnitzer Campus. A large-scale sediment-cap reme-

figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administra-

diation was pursued in which multiple layers of sand

tion, buildings today are responsible for 47.6 percent

and rock were used to cover the contamination. The

of all energy consumed. While energy conservation

process, guided by scientists, habitat specialists and

and early green design had first bloomed in the 1970s

landscape designers, created a natural barrier through

in response to the energy crisis, then dissipated in

which contaminants would for the most part not pass

the 1980s, the modern sustainable building move-

through. On top of those layers were several inches

ment began in 1994 with the establishment of the

of soil to which the topsoil was added, an act of soil

U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in

bio-engineering wherein the roots of trees and plants

Energy and Environmental Design) rating system for

become a kind of skeleton that holds the riverbank’s

sustainable buildings. In the ensuing years, additional

new soil layers together, preventing erosion.

green-building rating systems have joined LEED, such

“Because of the industrial history, you couldn’t just

as Green Globes and the Living Building Challenge. But

approach this as a typical project where you dig the

the basic idea is the same. Through tighter building

foundations and go,” Johnson explains. “There’s a soil

envelopes, more robust insulation and windows and

cap we had to respect. There was a lot of prep work

use of alternative energy, buildings have the potential

to get to a point of excavation, and a certain protocol

to not simply use far less energy, but to in time become

that made this site different. I’ve worked on other sites

positive sources of energy generation.

that had soil contamination, but the approach was,

For building owners, the bottom line provides plenty

‘We’ll stay away from those boundaries.’ Here in South

of incentive. For all the millions that may be spent

Waterfront that’s not an option.”

constructing a building, if it is occupied for a generation

Even beyond the cleanup and site work necessary for

or more, then the resources it consumes, such as water

the riverbank, the water itself presented a potential haz-

and electricity, will ultimately be a greater expense than

ard. “South Waterfront’s greatest asset is also its greatest

the initial construction cost. Strategies such as cutting

threat: the river,” Johnson says. “We were looking at data

potable water consumption by using gray water for

from the 1996 flood and had to take into account the

flushing toilets, though, can reduce water bills immedi-

possibility of a massive flood event like that, especially

ately. Or adding extra insulation and multi-pane win-

given the impact of climate change. Designing a site

dows can reduce heating and cooling costs. Yet an even

immediately adjacent to a river, you must respect that.”

greater factor is how a building’s sustainable design can impact human physiology and thus performance.

South Waterfront, 1964 Ships being decommissioned on the site of the future KCRB, with the Marquam Bridge under construction in the background.

Photo courtesy City of Portland Archives.

For most private and public-sector entities alike, labor is the greatest cost. More productive workers make for

45

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

decisions according to how they would impact efficiency. “It’s going to be an extremely efficient building, especially considering its use,” explains Nick Collins of

“We were encouraged to challenge ourselves. We didn’t call it done when we got to a reasonably efficient level. We kept looking at it.”

PAE, the project’s mechanical engineering contractor.

“It’s challenging to bring the energy use of a research lab down without compromising the performance, but we ended up with an EUI [energy use intensity] rating of 106.8 for the building when it was projected to be around 170. It was a continual process of updating the modeling and making system choices that had the biggest effect.” The design includes a heat recovery ventilation unit, as well as energy-efficient lighting systems that work in tandem with the extensive use of

46

more productive companies and institutions. Studies

glass to minimize the electric lighting load. The team

have shown, for example, that introducing more natural

of architects and trade partners also collaborated to

light into a building can improve schoolchildren’s test

right-size the mechanical system, avoiding the com-

scores, or the amount of breaks an office worker takes,

mon industry tendency to choose oversized equipment.

or the sales figures of a retail establishment. As a result,

“That’s really what gets you to that high level of energy

a sophisticated, research-based strategy of investing in

efficiency,” Collins says. “We were encouraged to chal-

well-placed windows and skylights can basically pay for

lenge ourselves. We didn’t call it done when we got to

itself.

a reasonably efficient level. We kept looking at it.”

The KCRB was designed to achieve a top-level

Sustainability is not just about saving energy, but

Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building

also creating healthy interior environments for the oc-

Council’s LEED rating system, and to even meet the

cupants. In partnership with Brightworks, the project’s

2030 Challenge, which calls for a reduction in fossil

sustainability consultant, SRG helped create what was

fuel consumption to be 80 percent below the median

known as the Healthy Materials Initiative to evaluate

for the corresponding building type by 2020. This

the potential human impact of different materials

process began with an eco-charrette (a design brain-

selections. The team implemented LEED v4 Materials

storming session) at the outset of the project with key

and Resources suite to find and vet materials for the

stakeholders and building occupants to identify and

project that would positively impact the day-to-day

rank values related to sustainability, and to make sure

experience of the research scientists occupying the

the building’s sustainability strategies were in align-

building. “We said, ‘Let’s do our best to get rid of

ment with the client’s mission and values.

carcinogens in the building,’” recalls Tim Evans. “We

The KCRB’s approach to energy efficiency began with extensive energy modeling, which weighed design

decided we really needed to analyze the materials going into the building for their physiological impacts.

CHAP TER 4: OVERCOMING DESIGN CHALLENGES

It became important enough that OHSU decided to

about its ground-floor level and proper accessibility

incorporate this kind of thinking into their master de-

along SW Meade Street. Following revisions, the design

sign standard for interior materials in projects around

was formally approved. In the conclusion to the report

campus.” The designers sought not only to provide

the building was praised for the contribution it will

a healthy indoor environment at the KCRB through

make to OHSU’s growing campus.

strategic selection of building materials without any

“The Knight Cancer Research Building will be at

carcinogens or dangerous chemical components, but

the heart of the growing OHSU Schnitzer Campus,” the

to leverage this effort across OHSU and to advocate for

Design Commission report reads, “and will face the

transparency and healthier materials manufacturing

future OHSU Commons to the east, giving this building

throughout the industry.

a distinct urban presence and an opportunity for views and connection to the Commons, the Greenway, the

DESIGN REVIEW

Willamette River and views beyond. The building is

The design had to work not just for the KCRB’s oc-

impressively detailed with high-quality materials, and

cupants but also the larger community. The City of

is compositionally expressive of the critically important

Portland’s approval process for new buildings in its

cancer research functions that will be going on within.”

Central City includes a review from its Design Commission, a volunteer body that seeks to maintain

TAILORING THE SUIT

overall design quality in the downtown core, with an

While the building’s design had now taken form, there

emphasis on the ground-level pedestrian experience.

was still much fine-tuning to be done. The team con-

Many issues were discussed in testimony. Commission

ducted a series of mockup exercises and workshops

members were concerned with maintaining a view

with the building’s future tenants.

corridor from the historic Lair Hill neighborhood to the

Not everyone can look at a two-dimensional

west. They also raised the topic of exterior glazing,

rendering and get a feel for what it’s like to move

particularly at the north side, where there are fewer

inside a space and understand its proportions. For the

windows because the façade will be hidden in the

building’s design to be vetted by users, the team used

future by another building. Treatment of the penthouse

both full-scale mockups and virtual reality headsets to

was also discussed, particularly how far recessed from

provide different perspectives and experiences of the

the perimeter of the building it would be.

design. While virtual reality has made substantial leaps

The KCRB went before the Design Commission

in quality of imagery, in this case cardboard mockups

four times: twice for what is called Design Advice,

were still the most useful in giving users a sense of

comprised of an initial, non-binding response from this

their future space.

volunteer body; and twice for official Design Review on

Sometimes the mockups had to do with how

April 7, 2016 and May 19, 2016. After the first Design

the scientific equipment fit into a space. In January

Review hearing, the project was not yet recommended

2016, for example, there were mockup exercises with

for approval, due to Commission members’ concerns

researchers devoted to tissue culture rooms, while

47

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

The design and construction team built a series of mockups for the users, starting with simple cardboard constructions and ending with actual furniture systems.

48

CHAP TER 4: OVERCOMING DESIGN CHALLENGES

February brought mockups for office furniture with

recommendation. Skipping any one of those steps

administrative workers, and March was a time for

likely meant that circling back would be necessary.”

lab bench workshops. One mockup looked at where

Most buildings constructed from the traditional

to place the glass wall between wet labs and their

design-bid-build process are like suits purchased off the

adjacent offices, another at types of office furniture

rack, needing alteration after handover to the customer.

available. “We knew mockups were essential, and

But a design vetted by end users through extensive

it speaks to the client’s commitment that they were

mockups is more like a tailored suit. It’s not always easy

willing to make the commitment to get the design

making time for all the measurements in advance, but in

truly dialed in,” explains Phil Lopez, a senior associate

the end no other garment has a better fit.

and architect with SRG Partnership. “It’s the only way to make sure that when everything is installed, that everybody feels good about it.”

One key to mockups was getting a robust number of end users to participate. At times it wasn’t easy to convince a range of scientists and other future occupants of the KCRB to walk through a series of cardboard laboratory configurations inside a warehouse and really immerse themselves in the proposed design enough to speak up and provide tangible feedback.

The team also had to learn how to present design concepts to stakeholders. “In the beginning, we gave too specific of information to stakeholders,” recalls Tiffani Howard, Ph.D., the Knight Cancer Institute's Program Director and project liaison for the new building. “And in some cases we presented design ideas that were unlikely to be carried out because of budgetary concerns or other reasons. In retrospect, we immersed them too far into the details too fast.”

Eventually a working formula took hold. “First, we gave stakeholders a heads-up that the topic was coming for their input. Second, we gave them an opportunity to weigh in regarding what was important to them about the topic. Finally, we came back to users with two to three clear design options, accompanied by our strong

49

CHAP TER 5

A BETTER WAY TO BUILD: INTEGRATED PROJECT DELIVERY

Over the past half-century or more, it has been widely recognized and documented that the design and construction industry has not kept pace with the productivity and efficiency gains other industries have achieved.

That’s not to say buildings haven’t become more sophisticated, safe and energy-efficient. Yet there is an inordinate amount of waste in the process due to rework, redundancy and lack of coordination.

51

CHAP TER 5: A BET TER WAY TO BUILD: IPD

Even when new technologies are introduced, such as

throughout the industry, it is still not uncommon for

BIM (Building Information Modeling, which creates

general contractors to be hired well into the design

one evolving, three-dimensional, virtual model shared

process. As a result, elements of the building program

by designers, contractors and subcontractors alike),

have to be cut or the quality of its materials must be

design teams and building teams typically don’t share

reduced through what’s known as value engineering—

the same system. It is not uncommon for a design

which could easily be called value-reduction engineer-

team to produce a detailed model of the building, only

ing. Regardless, these late cost-cutting moves argu-

to have the contractor redevelop significant portions

ably result from contractors having less input earlier in

of the overall model so that it is compatible with their

the process. And once the building is occupied, teams

shop drawing and fabrication systems and those of the

do not usually stay involved to make sure it’s operating

trades that work with them.

as designed and that the client and users are happy.

An even bigger problem than the waste—or perhaps

The team behind the Knight Cancer Research

its root cause—is the adversarial relationship that

Building believed there was a better way to work: a

developed over the years between contractors and de-

team effort from the beginning, a marriage of owner,

sign teams because of litigation around liability. Both

architect and general contractor that included key staff

sides became more focused on pointing fingers to

working together in a shared jobsite location.

protect themselves than in solving problems together,

To fine-tune these details of any building, but espe-

and litigation grew all too common. Not only is this

cially a sophisticated science laboratory like the KCRB,

lack of collaboration counterproductive and wasteful,

it took a great deal of collaboration between not only

but it also suppresses the kind of innovation that is

the architect and general contractor but the owner,

generated when problems are analyzed from multiple

subcontractors and trade partners. And that collabora-

perspectives.

tion couldn’t just be something verbally agreed to or

The traditional building process also suffers from

viewed as a good intention. It needed to be written into

its assembly-line-like structure and its lack of long-

the contract, committed to by everyone and embedded

term accountability. Until recently, in most cases the

in the delivery model from the beginning.

architects developed the design without input from the

The story of the KCRB is one of how its culture was

contractor. As a result, when the contractor was later

created: by employing leading-edge delivery methods

brought on board and developed cost estimates, the

such as Integrated Project Delivery; by what are known

project would be declared over-budget. This in turn

as Lean construction methods that help the team oper-

required redesign by the architect, making for an ineffi-

ate smartly and assure that the best ideas always win;

cient and expensive process. While today coordination

and quite simply, by gathering together under one big

amongst architects and contractors has improved

roof—architects, contractors, subcontractors, owner’s representatives—in one of the biggest, nicest coloca-

Left The pull planning wall in the CoLo served as an important tool for communicating progress on milestones between all members of the team.

53

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

54

IPD Poster Graphics were used throughout the CoLo to communicate the culture and goals of IPD.

CHAP TER 5: A BET TER WAY TO BUILD: IPD

tion trailers (informally known as the CoLo) anybody

integrated—specifically as it relates to collaboration

has ever seen.

among the owner, architect and general contractor,

“Every person out there, glazing the building or putting a stick of drywall up, believed they were part of curing cancer. The belief ran pretty deep,” says

commencing at the beginning of or early in the design stage.

“With IPD it’s not just about the outcome. It’s

McCarthy/Andersen project director Tim Albiani. “I’ve

a process,” says Albiani. “IPD is something that is

built hospitals where I never felt everyone was aligned

organically developed. It is not something mandated.

the way they are on this job. But again, it goes back to

If it is, it’s a task-driven component and you don’t have

the university and the Knight—the culture they built.

the culture behind it. It has to start from the top down.

They’re the reasons this worked. Even when they were

This job, the owner came in with this vision. They said,

scared they believed in it.”

‘We understand we need to do this with you. We can’t

Anyone can talk about collaboration and teamwork, but the KCRB team has lived it, in a way that

stand back and watch.’ OHSU dove in head-first.”

There is no panacea for guaranteeing a healthy

all agree was a rewarding act of culture building. As

project rooted in collaboration and trust. But IPD offers

is inevitable, mistakes were made along the way, but

an environment where, as the Guide puts it, “facilities

those moments became learning opportunities and the

managers, end users, contractors and suppliers are all

team continued to get better and solve problems with

involved at the start of the design process,” “processes

ingenuity born of trust and empowerment.

are outcome-driven and decisions are not made solely on a first cost basis,” “all communications throughout

INTEGRATED PROJECT DELIVERY

the process are clear, concise, open, transparent, and

In Integrated Project Delivery: A Guide, the American

trusting,” “designers fully understand the ramifications

Institute of Architects defines this project delivery

of their decisions at the time the decisions are made,”

approach as one that “integrates people, systems,

“risk and reward are value-based and appropriately

business structures and practices into a process that

balanced among all team members over the life of a

collaboratively harnesses the talents and insights of

project,” and where “the industry delivers a higher

all participants to optimize project results, increase

quality and sustainable built environment.”

value to the owner, reduce waste, and maximize ef-

If a project is not contractually IPD – one contract

ficiency through all phases of design, fabrication, and

signed by the owner, architect and contractor – but

construction.”

seeks to employ its principles, the collaborative

IPD is sometimes viewed not as a specific proj-

process should still start with some form of agreement

ect delivery method, such as CM/GC (Construction

between the three parties to outline expectations. For

Manager/General Contractor) or Design-Build, but a

this project, OHSU signed separate contracts with the

philosophy that can be employed in any of these. The

McCarthy/Andersen team and SRG using used a CM/

point, in a certain sense, is not necessarily to be offi-

GC-style agreement. There was a secondary contract

cially IPD but to embody the first letter of that acronym:

document, however: a three-party agreement between

55

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

the owner, contractors and architect. The three-party

and mutual respect that would bring out the best in

agreement also included an official Behavioral Memo-

everyone working on the project.

randum of Understanding that described the relation-

members. Representing the Knight Cancer Institute as

expected to behave. On all collaborative projects, team

a project liaison was Tiffani Howard, Ph.D., who spoke

members have found that the contract is not as impor-

for the scientists and their needs to the architects and

tant as the attitude that everyone brings to the project.

contractors. “My role was designed to make sure that

There was also an incentive pool where innovations,

the architects heard what the science users needed

collaboration and efficiency were rewarded. The

and were able to interpret it correctly, and to engage

contract required the integrated team (SRG Partner-

our scientists, the future occupants, in the design pro-

ship and McCarthy/Andersen joint venture) to place 50

cess,” Howard recalls. A research scientist with OHSU

percent of their estimated profit at risk.

for 24 years after earning her Ph.D. at the university,

“OHSU had never done a straight IPD contract. We

56

The KCRB Core Team was comprised of four

ship between the parties involved and how they were

Howard specializes in cell and developmental biology.

have reams of CM/GC contracts,” explains Mark Wil-

Representing OHSU on the Core Team was Ed Trotter,

liams, the Knight’s chief strategy officer. “We came up

a senior project manager and longtime construction-

with the idea of having a fairly traditional delivery con-

management veteran. Before joining OHSU, he helped

tract with the architecture and general contractor, but

deliver projects ranging from correctional institutions

joining the parties together with the owner as a way to,

to resort hotels to wastewater treatment facilities.

in essence, graft elements of IPD onto what had been a

“We are the first level of upstream decision-mak-

fairly traditional delivery system. Our agreement is not

ing,” Trotter told the Tribune. “We have Tiffani heavily

100 percent IPD. It’s probably 85 to 90 percent there.

focused on the specific technical parts of the labs. I’m

But I’ve seen a lot of value emerge out of this project,

better at knowing what kind of chiller and what kind of

and I’m sure the IPD process fosters that.”

hot water heater we want.”

Representing SRG Partnership was Laurie Canup,

THE CORE TEAM

now a principal at the firm with more than 20 years of

Successful IPD projects are built around a core

experience who has dedicated her career to serving

leadership group that includes representatives for the

public clients by providing leadership with a focus on

client, contractor and architect. Acting as equals, they

program delivery, building performance and teamwork.

make decisions together based on what is best for

Finally, representing the McCarthy/Andersen joint

the project. On the KCRB, the Core Team became just

venture was Brian Price, Andersen Construction’s

that: the core—an embodiment of the culture the team

operations manager for Oregon (who began the KCRB

hoped to achieve. Working collaboratively toward a

process as a McCarthy-Anderson project executive).

common goal, the Core Team’s primary responsibility

Price grew up working in the construction industry and

was to create an environment of transparency, trust

after studying construction management has worked

CHAP TER 5: A BET TER WAY TO BUILD: IPD

for both McCarthy and Andersen, in the latter case for

was also chosen, like other Core Team members, for

the past 23 years.

a mix of soft skills: an ease with organizational and an

In myriad ways, the quartet comprising the Core Team was different from the norm. Given how traditionally both the construction and architecture professions

ability to relate to others, plus a willingness to learn paired with a quiet self-assurance.

Today the Core Team’s members talk of being not

have been disproportionately male, “it’s important to

just colleagues, but friends. “We’ve built trust and re-

note half the major leaders on this project are women,”

lationships. It’s been an incredible experience,” Canup

Tiffani Howard says. “I think things would have been

says. But it took time. “At the beginning we were all

very different if it were an all-male team. All four of

trying to figure it out. We were completely new to IPD,”

us were also new to the IPD process. Laurie, Ed and I

she says. “We were all coming from different vantage

were all new to our companies; Ed was hired by OHSU

points, with different ways of seeing the world and

specifically for this project and had never worked on

different goals. We coalesced around shared goals and

a lab building. Laurie was new to SRG. I was new to

getting behind the mission of the project. That took

the Knight and to construction. And none of us were

some rewiring of our brains, to put our companies on

in truly senior positions in our organizations—me in

the back burner and focus on the project first. And that

particular.”

was hard. Initially there was a little bit of tension on the

If the Core Team members were new to such roles, it was a reflection of the other reasons they were

Core Team: ‘How are we going to do this?’”

Early in the project, Core Team members confess to

chosen. “We all brought something specific and differ-

difficulty getting along. “We had days we were nearly

ent,” Howard explains. “They brought the experience in

in tears,” recalls Trotter. He points to a moment back

construction I lacked, and I brought the science. I think

in 2015 later dubbed the “Pole of Consternation.” “We

the important thing to state is if you have the right

took a tour of some facilities in Utah, and afterward

strengths, you can learn the rest. You can’t turn some-

we were going back to the hotel on light rail,” Trotter

body into a different person, but you can teach them fit

continues. “Someone took our picture and you could

and make them successful. Choosing people for their

see us hanging on to this pole in the train car, looking

strengths is more important than their knowledge.”

like we’ve been beat up and thrown over a cliff. It was a

The Core Team membership also changed through the course of the process. Canup, who was hired onto the project as a senior associate, replaced a more

tough time but we looked at the picture afterward and laughed. The struggles made us stronger.”

A key step for the Core Team was working with a

senior member of her firm who had initially been

coach, Saskia Dennis-van Dijl of Cameron MacAllister

assigned to the Core Team. Price, after a promotion

Group, which prior to the beginning of the project had

that saw his availability dwindle, entrusted a McCarthy/

helped OHSU solicit stakeholder feedback. “I’ve been

Anderson colleague, project director Rich Brecke, to

in design and construction for 35 years, and I’ve never

work in his stead. As much as his many years of project

seen a team work through their problems like this,”

management experience with the company, Brecke

says Dennis-van Dijl. “The Core Team had formed,

57

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

Brian Price

Ed Trotter

58

Tiffani Howard

Rich Brecke

Laurie Canup

CHAP TER 5: A BET TER WAY TO BUILD: IPD

broken apart and been re-assigned. The fact that it was

institutions they worked for. It’s all in the interest of

IPD was secondary in this case. At the end of the day

curing cancer. We called it our North Star. If you have

it’s about trust and it's about trust and accountability.

that clear North Star, it makes everyone trust each

It’s a team overseeing an incredibly tight timeline and a

other and work together that much more.”

tight budget, and no one had been on an IPD project or

Ultimately it’s precisely because the Core Team was

in some cases had built anything before, yet they were

able to overcome their miscommunications and initial

being asked to own this process. You can imagine the

lack of trust that the bond among members became

trust issues.”

so strong after they learned to work together and trust

In his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick

each other. “The energy was a little bit like a family.

Lencioni describes a desirable behavior-based culture.

It feels so personal. I think that’s why at the end of

The corresponding graphic is a pyramid with the word

the job it’s very emotional,” Canup says. “But in the

trust at its base, with successive levels going upward:

beginning it was a little overwhelming for me. I’d come

constructive conflict, commitment, accountability, and

on board thinking I thought I was going to be a project

finally, results. It formed the mindset that Dennis-van

manager. Being placed on the Core Team was a huge

Dijl then tried to reinforce in her coaching. “We asked

shift, but it was such a growth opportunity once I got

everyone to get comfortable with the uncomfortable,”

my feet under me and I had so much fun. It really al-

she explains. “We had to create a culture where

lowed me to work on things like emotional intelligence

conflict is accepted within a context of respect and

and leadership skills instead of just minding the dollars

seen as constructive. But you could see the evolu-

and the schedule. It’s really about people.”

tion. What it takes is everybody letting go of his or her

Looking back on the early challenges and the Pole

turf. We needed the Core Team to make decisions in

of Consternation, Howard cites an observation by

the interest of the project first, not the companies or

author Daniel Coyle in The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups. Effective groups, Coyle writes, have used a make-or-break moment for inspira-

The Lencioni Pyramid

tion. “The difference with successful cultures seems to

RESULTS

be that they use their crisis to crystallize their purpose.

When leaders of those groups reflect on those failures

ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITMENT

now, they express gratitude (and sometimes even nostalgic desire) for those moments, as painful as they were, because they were the crucible that helped the group discover what it could be. It’s all about the culture we have built here.”

CONSTRUCTIVE CONFLICT

TRUST

59

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

60

GOING SLOW TO GO FAST

judge if we were going to make it. That was where the

Throughout much of history prior to a few recent cen-

time we put in building trust with each other paid off.”

turies, there was no distinction between architecture,

For this more circular design stage, the team ad-

engineering and construction. The project was carried

opted the phrase “Go slow to go fast,” which really had

by a single team, which remained involved from initial

two meanings. First, it had to do with team building:

napkin sketch to final ribbon cutting. All the great

spending time together building trust at the outset of

monuments of Western civilization, from the Parthenon

the project and outlining how to work together before

in Athens to the Colosseum in Rome, were designed

buckling down to the task at hand. But “Go slow to

and built by a master builder. This intuitively makes

go fast” also relates to the process of design iteration

sense because it means the design takes construction

that precedes a final building design. If the project

techniques and engineering challenges into account.

team works collaboratively and takes the time neces-

However, the master builder paradigm began to break

sary to collectively resolve as many of the design and

down during the late Renaissance as buildings became

technical issues as possible during the design phase,

more complicated. Trades were established to design

as well as the time to explore a variety of ideas, then

and build various elements of the project and laws

the construction process can ultimately go faster and

began to differentiate between the art of architecture,

risk can be minimized. When done well, the result is a

the science of engineering, and the craft of building.

project that meets or potentially shortens the overall

IPD is not about returning to the past, yet it is

schedule, lowers overall project costs (making changes

in some ways a re-conceptualization of the master

in the design phase is much cheaper than making

builder paradigm, or at least reaps some of the same

them during construction), and creates a better asset

benefits. Turning the architect, contractor and client

for the client.

into a single high-performance enterprise focused on

“Early on in the design process it’s iterative. We’re

project success, IPD brings people of complementary

solving similar problems multiple times for different

expertise together for a more holistic approach. Yet it’s

reasons,” explains Eric Wilson, a principal with SRG

not always so simple for architects and contractors to

Partnership. “The ability to sit down with, for instance,

work together.

someone whose job it is to install emergency genera-

“Architects are used to a more circular process,

tors, and understand the implications of different

trying out different ideas. Contractors think in a more

configurations, to a level of detail far beyond where the

linear way,” says McCarthy/Andersen’s Steve Libby,

design sits, and to use that discussion as a basis for

who oversaw planning and scheduling. “As contractors

making decisions—that was phenomenal.”

we wanted to respect that iteration, because it makes

At the same time, Wilson adds, the disparate ways

for a better design. We were looking at the schedule

of approaching the process had to be managed.

and seeing there was a finite amount of time. Permit-

“Contractors are such great problem-solvers,” he

ting deadlines were coming up, and it was difficult to

explains. “But once they start down that path, they have a strong drive for closure. In some cases the

CHAP TER 5: A BET TER WAY TO BUILD: IPD

architects and engineers were saying, ‘Let’s make sure

like tree branches, stimulate the brain as one subcon-

we understand the issue first.’” Yet Wilson also credits

sciously tries to discern their shapes and patterns. Yet

McCarthy/Andersen leaders like Core Team member

it took collaboration to pull off the effect.

Brian Price and integrated design director Stefanie

“Suspending the panels at different heights in a

Becker for understanding “it was worth it to give us the

subtle undulating pattern was challenging,” Wright

time to do that. That manifested into what I felt was an

recalls. “How do we do something that’s buildable and

extremely respectful regard by McCarthy/Anderson to

affordable? I happened to be sitting next to the framing

allow us to have the time to do what we do.”

trade partner from Fred Shearer and Sons at the CoLo.

At times estimators could feel overwhelmed

I think being able to talk to him made things like the

because they were being asked to continuously re-

hexagonal ceiling happen when it otherwise might

adjust their estimates, particularly early in the design

have been cut. It wasn’t just the architects designing

stage. The learning curve here involved the pace and

in isolation and then having it going out to bid and the

frequency with which design ideas were brought

subcontractor saying, ‘What the heck is this?’ I could

to the construction team for estimates. Eventually,

share with them our intent and say, ‘How do we build

rather than the design being considered a live docu-

this?’ And they helped us figure out how to achieve our

ment that was continuously updated with new pricing

design intent within the budget.”

information, it was decided there needed to be certain

In a traditional project there is a moment commonly

milestones or junctures at which pricing information

known as a handoff, when design is complete and

was provided.

construction commences. At the KCRB, with designers

Managing the friction between linear builders and

and builders collaborating from the beginning, there

iterative architects wasn’t simply a matter of making

was no passing of the baton like a relay team. Instead,

sure people got along or were staying on time and on

the process was more like basketball, soccer or football,

budget. It was about encouraging collaboration that

in which everyone on the team works together to move

would, little by little, make for a better building experi-

the ball to the goal. In those examples, such as in the

ence. Take the hexagonally shaped ceiling panels

NCAA’s annual “March Madness” basketball tournament

that are suspended from the ceilings in open-office

when a small school upsets a powerhouse, teamwork is

sections on several floors of the KCRB, which filter

shown to matter at least as much as talent.

the lights above and mask the mechanical equipment

A designer open to input from contractors and en-

in the ceiling. Interior designers from SRG, including

gineers in the early stages of creating the architecture,

Emily Wright and Tracey Bascue, wanted to hang the

or open to designing a second or third way to build

ceiling panels from varying heights in order to follow

something, will in the end design a better building,

the concept of biophilia: design that borrows from the

while a contractor or subcontractor looking to achieve

natural world in ways conducive to positive human

design intent throughout the construction process in

physiological responses. Unexpected patterns, shapes

effect becomes a kind of co-designer.

and surfaces, such as ceiling panels of varying heights,

61

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

FUNCTIONAL TEAMS AND TARGET VALUE DESIGN

problems. When you let them do their jobs you get

If the Core Team had to learn to get along, trust each

more buy-in. It’s likely you come around to the same

other and work effectively so they could champion the

conclusion, but everyone has already bought into it.

vision for the project, an equally important task was to

You don’t have to sell it to them.”

manage the Functional Teams, as part of what’s called Target Value Design, a core concept of IPD.

62

The overall KCRB project budget was broken down and allocated into nine buckets of funds, as they were

In Target Value Design, the project team works

known, each representing a major aspect of the build-

collaboratively to create as much value for the client

ing: Site/Civil, Structural, Envelope, Interiors, Mechani-

as possible within the set budget. Having a general

cal/Plumbing, Electrical, Low Voltage, Laboratory/

contractor that can provide cost information during the

Lab Equipment, and Soft Costs. Each of these buckets

early design process enables the design team to focus

represented a Functional Team, which was assigned

its exploration on those ideas that add value and are

a target value based on benchmark cost data and

feasible based on the budget. It also enables the team

project-specific variables. Each team had a designer,

to look for synergies that will address multiple cost

owner, contractor and trade partners, and each team

challenges with a single design move. This requires a

had to be assigned a leader.

cost estimator who understands the design process

These configurations also remained fluid. For

and can think conceptually along with the team about

example, some teams were too large, not in numbers

different design ideas and their cost implications. As

of people but in terms of the issues they covered, and

the design progresses, the contractor’s trade partners

were divided into smaller sub-groups, like the Low

can add additional detail to the cost estimates to more

Voltage team branching off from the Electrical team.

accurately reflect actual costs in the field. Engaging

Yet there’s no doubt the Target Value Design process

trade partners early also means they are more invested

was effective.

in the project and can think creatively about how to achieve the project’s goals within the budget.

The heart of Target Value Design is budget trans-

“It just makes sense,” says Jeff Slinger, a senior project manager with McCarthy/Andersen who led the Mechanical/Plumbing Functional Team. “If you were

parency: letting a variety of decision-makers see the

going to go shopping and had $50 to spend, you’d buy

books. “You’ve got to be willing to show your cards and

items in your head adding up to $50: maybe $15 for

let people see the things you don’t normally let them

wine, $10 for crackers and cheese. So much of what

see,” explains Rich Brecke. “One, it’s the right thing to

we do in construction and design is the opposite. You

do with this contracting method, and two, it’s going to

get to the cash register, the bill is $100 and you have

come out anyway. You can’t have secrets. There’s just

to try to re-shop for everything in two minutes because

no way to keep them. Don’t be so obsessed with being

you don’t have enough money. We’re constantly in

right. Let the group work on it. The Core Team should

crisis mode. What was cool about the KCRB was we

not be trying to solve every problem. We’ve got a whole

could sketch the mechanical system, the mechanical

bunch of people who are experts here to solve those

contractors could price it, we’d realize it was too ex-

CHAP TER 5: A BET TER WAY TO BUILD: IPD

pensive and create detailed drawings that were closer

focus on meeting schedule and budget strictures), a

to the budget. It saved us some huge loops going in

look at recent and upcoming decisions, and a two-

the wrong direction by taking a little bit of time at the

week look ahead.

beginning. Before you step in the wrong direction, take

Just as the Core Team itself changed hands, so too

some time and make sure you’re going down the right

did Functional Team leadership evolve until there was

path before you walk very far. If you don’t, you can walk

the right fit. “I think we’ve done a good job of filling

in the wrong direction quickly and waste a lot of time.”

roles on this job with people who rose to the chal-

Instead of the typical process of going from design to a phase completion, where the architect hands over

lenge,” Tiffani Howard explains. “Fit is not about title.”

The approach that the Core Team took with Func-

the design to the contractor and waits for decisions

tional Teams also evolved as circumstances and stages

about value engineering to get the project on budget,

of the project changed. “At first we were huge influenc-

The Core Team managed dollars in a highly fluid and

ers on the culture and the process,” Brian Price says.

proactive manner. There was an absolute belief that

“Another stage we were a decision-making body. Then

the process would bring the project in on-budget

we tried to push more of the decision-making to the

despite being over budget on paper much of the way.

Functional Teams and be there when they needed our

The fluidity of the process allowed decisions to be

help. Ultimately the success of the project was in the

made at the right time. “We tried to let our Functional

hands of the Functional Teams. We’ve tried to have our

Teams do their job,” Ed Trotter explains. “If we didn’t

eyes open about our mission at every given phase.”

think we were getting the information we needed we

Even so, sometimes when a consensus couldn’t be

told them, but we tried to let each team find their

reached, a judgment was needed: each side arguing its

groove. We realized that the Functional Team members

case and then a verdict reached. The team could have

were experts and we knew they were the ones to find

named this process after a heroic judge like Thurgood

the best solutions.”

Marshall, but they called it the “Judge Judy effect.” In

Yet the Core Team had to find the right balance

this setting, however, giving each side its day in court

between micromanaging and staying too hands-off.

was as important as the verdict. Even if one argument

“Periodically teams would go back to their old habits,

lost out to another, there was value simply in both

staying in silos and not trusting each other,” Laurie

cases being made. It gave both ideas a chance to be

Canup explains. “We had to remind everybody of our

heard, which in turn helped whoever lost out in the

North Star: creating the best environment for cancer

ruling to feel a sense of closure and thereby support

research. We did that a number of times. Particularly

for the winning selection. That was important for the

early on when the schedule was really tight, people

team to eliminate any residual negativity resulting from

would be ready to duke it out. We said, ‘We can solve

any decision.

this together.’” Everyone gathered for Functional Team

“On the KCRB, we did a great job establishing trust,

Report Out meetings with the Core Team every Thurs-

but people weren’t ready for conflict at first and tough

day, with fresh looks at overall project health (with a

decisions weren’t getting made,” says Tim Albiani. “I

63

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

64

Scenes from the CoLo. Representatives from OHSU, the Knight Cancer Institute, architects, engineers and the construction team worked side by side every day, exploring ideas and solving problems together.

CHAP TER 5: A BET TER WAY TO BUILD: IPD

had to start saying, ‘We’ve got to meet our deadlines.’

for a specialized research area. Tiffani Howard real-

Healthy conflict is a very important piece of building

ized that what the team was attempting to minimize

the overall relationship. You have to be able to disagree

was not actually noise going from room to room, but

and resolve it. But soon the trust we had built began

instead from corridor to room. Due to her practical

to allow a healthy version of conflict. It has to be

understanding of the conditions, the team refrained

about the project. I think people trip over the notion of

from adding more acoustic isolation between rooms,

problem solving. But a lot of people have become more

and thereby saved funds to apply elsewhere.

keen problem solvers through this process. You think differently.”

Another key to the project’s success: having trade partners on board as early as possible to establish

One example came from a choice between two

trust while allowing the design to be explored with

ceiling materials. Wood clearly had a greater aesthetic

enough practical knowledge of pricing to make the

appeal, but it was more expensive and, perhaps more

iterations worthwhile. The KCRB team brought trade

importantly, it would have made accessing mechanical

partners onto this project at various stages depend-

equipment behind the ceiling more difficult. “A metal

ing on the scope of work. Mechanical, electrical and

product that had the look of wood was more affordable

plumbing teams came on very early, for example, with

and, because it came with an access door, more practi-

teams related to foundations, concrete, drywall and

cal,” Slinger recalls. “But it was essentially fake wood,

façade work shortly thereafter. The consensus les-

and thus inauthentic. After Functional Teams could not

son learned was that it should have happened even

reach a decision in the great wood-metal debate, the

earlier in the process. When trade partners came on

Core Team was asked for a Judy-style ruling. A middle

board, the nine buckets of funds had already been

ground was chosen: half wood and, for access at one

established. In theory, these trade partners could have

portion of the ceiling, metal. Along the way, both sides

provided valuable feedback guiding the establishment

made their points.”

of those buckets.

Underscoring the success of the Target Value

Asking trade partners to come on board during the

Design process was that the team was always able to

design phase obviously involves a commitment of time

understand what was truly important to the owner and

and thus money. Yet it didn't need to be a cavalry of

the end user—because that voice was represented

people. In this early stage, having an estimator commit

and a constant presence within the team. Having that

to about 20 hours a week was sufficient. On the KCRB,

knowledge helped drive toward a design that stayed

when the trade partners did come on board early they

within budget while ensuring that the owner and end-

were paid for this time, which is not typically a con-

user got what they really needed.

struction cost; most owners expect them to offer that

Having complete immersion by the owner in the de-

time for free. But the KCRB team felt it would achieve a

sign process paid other dividends as well. One example

better product by wholly committing to this early plan-

is when the interior framing trade partner, Fred Shearer

ning. It was considered money spent up front to save

and Sons, challenged the acoustic isolation approach

money on the back end.

65

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

STAYING FLEXIBLE

owner contingency: an anticipation that the owner

Target Value Design is meant to reduce hasty decision-

might choose to change something once installed, like

making. Traditionally in this industry, whenever a

moving walls or adding scope. The last resource, if the

project goes over budget there is a reciprocal budget-

team maxed out contingency and buyout savings from

trimming move. With the KCRB, the team learned

something costing less, was to borrow from what was

to wait, allowing a new innovation to underwrite a

called the Value-Add (VA) log: items that were enhanc-

cost rise that came before it. Time and time again it

ing the project. “We could say, ‘We’re saving $50,000

allowed money to be put back into the project that no

on the floor coating by using a different material.’ We’d

one thought would be possible. For example, a more

use those savings to offset those unexpected extra

ergonomic furniture choice the client wanted at first

costs,” Rich Brecke explains.

seemed too expensive, but ultimately the purchase

66

All contingencies were gathered together for the

was made after the team found cost-saving moves

Core Team to manage in an effort to motivate the

with structure and concrete.

team to do what was right for the project—no matter

The team also had to continuously make sure

what the contract said. This removed tension about

Functional Team budget buckets were accurate and

responsibility for mistakes and allowed the team to

that pricing information was up to date. During the

move forward in such moments more easily. Decisions

design process, for example, the team was surprised

about contingency and how to do the right thing were

when a curtain wall was quoted at $125 a square

still made on a case-by-case basis. When pouring of

foot when for many years the market price had been

cylindrical columns on the first floor had to be redone

well under $100. It was determined that several glass

because of negligence, for instance, the subcontractor

producers had closed their doors, creating more

redid the work at their own expense. But there were

scarcity. At first, the team was resistant to accepting

other instances where the Core Team decided to pay

the costs they were being quoted and second-guessed

for rework to be done when honest mistakes were

the information. But the market by definition is one of

made.

continuous fluctuation. The team had to right-size the buckets of funds overseen by Functional Teams.

The team also considered contingencies, the

To find a solution to the more-expensive-thanexpected curtain wall, the team “had to come up with strategies to mitigate the cost,” SRG’s Nick Hemmer

setting aside of a percentage of contracts’ values for

explains. “The owner did add a lot to the Exterior

the purpose of risk management. The general contrac-

TVD bucket, but it didn’t get us the whole way.” In

tor and each trade partner had a contingency broken

a workshop led by the KCRB's integrated design

down by design segments. When something cost

director Stefanie Becker, “We decided to select a

more than anticipated yet was competitively priced,

unitized window system on the south façade, which

the team would absorb that hit by either pulling from

was still expensive but could be installed much faster

a contingency or offsetting it with a situation where

than a traditional curtain wall system, so it brought

things cost less than anticipated. There was also an

the labor cost down. Ultimately what we got on the

CHAP TER 5: A BET TER WAY TO BUILD: IPD

south façade was a much better curtain wall system.

a diverse team takes extra preparation but delivers a

At an earlier point in the process, the cost estimator

better product.

expressed significant doubt about being able to move

The KCRB team also sought to be mindful of how it

to the unitized window system because of cost. But by

evaluated and chose subcontractors and trade part-

tapping the expertise of our subcontractors, Benson

ners. A system called Choosing by Advantage (CBA)

Industries and Wausau Window, we made it work. The

was used, the purpose of which is to help decision

multidisciplinary IPD team made this possible.”

makers differentiate alternatives and to understand the importance of those differences. By following the

TEAM MEMBERS AND BEHAVIORS

CBA method, instead of just taking the lowest bid, the

Having a successful team of owners, contractors, ar-

team looked at other factors such as the candidate’s

chitects and trade partners is first and foremost about

commitment to MWESB, quality control and safety.

people—not just individuals, but communities.

This system was used to choose a steel contractor for

For example, the team felt if it were not diverse,

the project, for example. The team decided the lowest

they would be missing out on talent. Hiring minority-

bidder wasn’t right because they did not offer the

owned, women-owned and emerging small businesses

best value. For the steel contractor selected, Raimore

(commonly abbreviated MWESB) to be part of the

Construction, this was a bigger project than the com-

team was not only mandated by city and state, but

pany had ever worked on, but it was clear their culture

was also part of the team’s value system. This has

upheld striving for excellence.

become a nationwide trend for municipal and major

A successful IPD project also depends on trust

corporate projects. And besides, the best teams are

and a healthy set of behaviors from the entire team.

diverse in myriad ways. Yet there may be an extra

A component of the three-party agreement was the

price to be paid: the team found that fulfilling MWESB

Behavioral Memorandum of Understanding, specify-

quotas sometimes meant bids were higher due to less

ing how team members would treat each other. For

competition, especially in a smaller city like Portland.

example, the Memorandum stated that “no” should not

MWESB companies also statistically tend to be smaller,

be anyone’s first answer to an idea (even if it becomes

which sometimes translated into less cash flow and

the final answer, after exploring the options). In some

thus potential difficulty with the 60-day timetable for

ways, this was the most impactful part of the agree-

the KCRB’s bill-payment system. And even when pa-

ment because it set the tone for the culture. It also

rameters are followed to utilize MWESB partners, they

prompted the team to try ideas that might otherwise

can be subject to narrow definitions. For example, one

have been rejected.

of the KCRB’s trade partners, Cherry City Electric, is a

For example, the initial design plan was to leave the

women-owned business in California, but the company

KCRB’s second and third floors empty, reserving them

did not qualify in the team’s quota system for MWESB

for future use. After the budget had been set, the client

because they lacked local ownership. Like opting for a

found a use for those floors and wanted to build them

home-cooked recipe over prepackaged food, choosing

out. The knee jerk answer would have been to ask for

67

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

HOW WE BEHAVE

TE IN

NT

TRUST

ME

E OV

GR IT

PR

Y

IM

We will approach interactions and decisions with a sense of humility and respect. Ethical behavior and fairness will be expected and rewarded.

We will "put the project first" and in doing so seek to continually improve ourselves and our institutions to support the process.

VULNERABILITY We will be completely open and honest with the team members and stakeholders allowing transparency that elicits trust.

68

INCENTIVE COMPENSATION PROGRAM (ICP)

Designer = 1/2 of project profit

Contractor = 1/2 of project profit

Subcontractors = 1/2 of project profit

EVALUATION CRITERIA • End User Satisfaction • Communication of Design / Construction Solutions • Innovation through creativity in design, construction, project delivery, and providing best value • Owner Satisfaction

% RETURN BASED ON Team Performance % of Contribution

Contractor

Subcontractors

Designer

CHAP TER 5: A BET TER WAY TO BUILD: IPD

more time and money to fulfill the request. Instead,

PULL PLANNING

the team resolved to explore how much this might cost

Once the right teams are on board and working well

and how it might impact the schedule. They ended up

together, the essence of lean construction in action is

committing to the two floors. The budget did have to

what’s known as pull planning.

be increased, but no extra time was provided and the team didn’t ask for it.

OHSU, McCarthy/Andersen and SRG Partnership

In its simplest terms, pull planning is a technique for coordinating the sequence and timing of the design and construction process. Working backward from a

also sought participation of all major subcontractors in

target completion date with specific milestones, tasks

the Incentive Compensation Program, which provided

are defined and sequenced so that their completion

financial rewards for innovations that positively

is aligned and coordinated with the work of other

impacted the budget and schedule. The ICP required

team members. Just as air traffic controllers need to

trade partner participants to put forth a portion of their

organize what planes are landing when and on which

profit margin that would be given back in full once the

runways, so too must the team have a way to manage

terms of a quarterly scorecard returned with favor-

the construction process so there’s as little wasted

able marks; OHSU also provided additional funds as a

time, effort and money as possible.

reward for performance. Continuing from design into

Weekly pull plan meetings helped highlight key

construction, the hope was that trade partners would

issues each Functional Team was facing. The meetings

be suggesting value propositions to inject money back

were held on the same days as Functional Team meet-

into the project. Unfortunately, it took time for these

ings, so everyone was participating. It was an oppor-

incentives to be written into subcontractors’ contracts,

tunity for every Functional Team to get an overview of

thereby unintentionally minimizing their opportunities

the project and hear from other trades and Functional

to be incentivized. Team leaders also suspected that

Teams on what problems they were experiencing,

ICP only incentivizes management because they are

and what solutions they were coming up with. The

the team members concerned about finances.

meetings would often take less than 30 minutes, but

Writing contracts for trade partners is a challenging

afterward project team members often lingered to talk

aspect of IPD because the design has not yet been

over and solve problems informally since all the right

generated and trade partners do not yet fully under-

people were in the room.

stand the project’s scope. This led to lengthy negotia-

The team’s first attempt at pull planning was

tions that, in retrospect, could have been avoided

chaotic. There were too many people, too many details,

with a different kind of contract: a simple consultant

and no framework for presenting and representing the

contract for pre-construction and a more robust

information. Most of all, much of the follow-through

construction contract once the design was generated,

was happening over the phone and wasn’t visual

construction was ready to commence and their role

enough. The project was being organized primarily with

was better understood.

Primavera P6 Professional Project Manager software.

“We’d bring the project onto our screens and have a

69

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

“People stepped up and said, ‘How can we help?’ I think that’s where individual accountability turned into team accountability. It really helped us carry on in this fast-paced environment and kept the quality of the decision making alive.”

70

daily phone call about the work that was supposed to

was on schedule, they would cross off their sticky note

be happening and whether it was on schedule. That

on the paper grid on the wall. If a team was not able

resulted in some frustration for the design team,”

to meet their deadline, they would let everyone on

remembers Stefanie Becker. “P6 could be cumber-

the team know with a circle around the sticky note so

some because it was hard to look at the project in its

that those affected could adjust and a new deadline

entirety in a way that allowed everyone to see the big

could then be set. The latter kind of moment was an

picture. We realized in the pull planning process there

example of where relationships mattered. Extra effort

was great face-to-face communication. We said, ‘Let’s

was made to state clearly that a reported difficulty was

try pull planning without the call.’ But there were still

not a time for shaming or blaming, but instead was an

people calling in too. Next we tried to make the meet-

opportunity for the team to work together and develop

ings shorter and have them every week.”

a strategy for getting back on track. In other words, it

The team found the simple Post-It or sticky note to be a regularly used supply, and in a variety of different colors. On a huge wall-sized paper grid, they used

was an opportunity for team members to show they had each other’s backs.

“That’s when things really took a turn: when

the sticky notes to represent tasks that needed to

people began putting the project first above their own

be completed, building a sticky-note trail backwards

ambitions,” explains Mike Buckiewicz, a construction

from that listing milestone dates and tasks needed to

project manager for OHSU. “We’d come into the room

reach the goal. A different colored paper was used for

with the pull-plan board. We’d stand in front of it, with

each Functional Team, and each tag would indicate

the entire project team, and say, ‘We didn’t meet this.’

who was responsible, how long it would take and what

That was effective not because it was a shaming, but

constraints must be met to finish the task. Each week

because of the next thing that happened, which in

they would hold a pull planning meeting known as the

retrospect still amazes me. People stepped up and

Project Check-In, where key tasks were discussed and

said, ‘How can we help?’ I think that’s where individual

tracked. The pull planning wall was a living document

accountability turned into team accountability. It really

that provided transparency and accountability.

helped us carry on in this fast-paced environment and

Pull planning thus became a physical act, and a public record of promises kept. If a Functional Team

kept the quality of the decision making alive.”

CHAP TER 5: A BET TER WAY TO BUILD: IPD

MEETINGS AND MANAGEMENT EQUILIBRIUM

the conversation, might have an important idea with

Although pull planning grew to be effective, more

regard to interior design—or vice versa.

broadly the Core Team still struggled between micro-

This prompted the creation of the Tuesday morn-

managing and staying too hands-off. There seemed

ing all-hands project check-in for Functional Teams.

to be value in encouraging Functional Teams to make

Teams would start with the pull plan and talk about

decisions for themselves and for good ideas to flow

where they were, where they’d been the last week, and

from the bottom upward. After all, the trade partners

how the team could reach its upcoming milestones. It

and their laborers were the hands-on experts. Yet when

got everyone focused and spurred productive post-

inevitable problems and challenges arose, Functional

meeting conversations. Each team was asked their top

Teams sometimes found themselves at an impasse as

three issues that were “spinning,” or still unresolved,

an issue raised in a meeting waited to get resolved and

which were then helped to reach a decision. For

Core Team members began to feel out of the loop.

example, one team wondered if a generator should be

When Core Team members became just slightly

moved to L1 to avoid the effects of flooding. The Core

more hands-on, the process began to gel. They began

Team decided against it, instead creating a protective

sitting in on Functional Team meetings and a document

bathtub-like enclosure around the generator. Having

was created (and continually updated) allowing Core

everyone in one room together seemed to achieve in a

Team members to quickly understand at any given time

few moments what might have taken multiple days and

how the project was developing. A regular biweekly

multiple phone calls.

meeting schedule between the Functional Teams and the Core Team was established.

It was also imperative to make sure that Functional

“With pull planning exercises, the first few times you weren’t sure how it was going to assist you. You were relying on how you previously approached projects. But

Teams were coordinating with each other and not

as time went on, it was a teacher in itself,” says Matt

siloed, and that all trade partners were involved. The

Johnson, an associate with KPFF, who provided civil

design team, for example, was split between the

engineering services for the project. “It really drew you

Exterior and Interior teams. Sometimes one Functional

in and you had to leave your ego at the door and say,

Team did not know enough about impactful deci-

‘Even though I’m not comfortable with it and I don’t

sions made by other Functional Teams. In the design

understand all of it, I’m going to do it.’ It pushes you out

stage, the architects from across Functional Teams

of your comfort zone, and I appreciate that.”

would meet regularly, but later in the process those regular meetings were canceled and the gap between designers on different Functional Teams only widened.

Architecture is a holistic endeavor. Sometimes an architect assigned to exterior cladding, if included in

71

CHAP TER 6

FOCUS AND FLOW: EMBRACING LEAN CONSTRUCTION

If Integrated Project Delivery formed the foundation of how the owner, architect, general contractor and subcontractors would work together from an early juncture, equally important were lean construction philosophies and techniques—an extension of lean business thinking that first gained notoriety in Japan with companies like Toyota as a means of empowering and encouraging assembly-line workers to actively participate in improving the manufacturing process.

73

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

“Lean thinking has been applied with much success in

created, there is waste. Lean construction philosophy

many industries and service-provider organizations,”

identifies eight types of waste, corresponding with the

explains the Lean Construction Institute in Transform-

acronym DOWN TIME: defects (efforts caused by re-

ing Design and Construction: A Framework for Change.

work, scrap and incorrect information), overproduction

“Lean concepts can be applied to any recurring effort

(that which is produced in excess of what’s needed or

at work, home or play. The construction industry rec-

before it is needed), waiting (unused time gaps before

ognizes it needs to keep pace with the ever-growing

the next step in a process), non-utilized talent (under-

complexity of the built environment, and to make prog-

utilizing people’s skills and knowledge), transportation

ress toward the same efficiency gains other business

(unnecessary movement of products), inventory (stor-

sectors have achieved. Lean construction extends from

ing excess material not being used), motion (unneces-

the objectives of a lean production system—maximize

sary movement by people), and extra processing (more

value and minimize waste—to specific techniques and

work or even higher quality than is required by the

applies them in a new project delivery process.”

customer). More succinctly, a mantra important to the KCRB was PDCA: plan, do, check, adjust.

PEOPLE POWER 74

Perhaps the most important part of lean construc-

There are four primary tenets of lean construction:

tion is the transformational effect it can have on the

continuous improvement, removal of waste, generation

morale of employees and team members. In Lean

of value, and focus on process and flow. But at base,

Thinking, as evidence of this effect, Womack and

"going lean" is about respecting and empowering

Jones cite the research findings of Hungarian-Ameri-

people. “People transform ideas and materials into

can psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi with regard

final useful value,” explain the authors of A Framework

to the psychology of work. “Instead of asking what

for Change. “Respecting the contribution of each

makes people feel bad (and how to change it),” they

individual is necessary to tap this resource.”

explain, Csikszentmihalyi explored “the types of activi-

In the lean construction landscape, that respect for

ties which people all over the world consistently report

individuals comes not just from a desire to play nice or for

as the most rewarding.” The connecting thread was

workers to feel happy (although those are important too),

that these endeavors “involve a clear objective, a need

but also out of a desire to make each team member a kind

for concentration so intense that no attention is left

of sniper seeking out waste and improving the flow of the

over, a lack of interruptions and distractions, clear and

process. “In a lean system everyone—subcontractors,

immediate feedback on progress toward the objective,

first-tier suppliers, system integrators, distributors, cus-

and a sense of challenge—that perception that one’s

tomers, employees—can see everything,” write James P.

skills are adequate, but just adequate, to cope with the

Womack and Daniel T. Jones in the book Lean Thinking:

task at hand.”

Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation, “and so it’s easy to discover better ways to create value.”

Lean construction is rooted in the idea of creating value for the customer. If there is not value being

The collaborative culture prompted by Target Value Design and lean construction principles often showed itself in the construction of basic building components and mechanical systems alike. An incident involving

CHAP TER 6: FOCUS AND FLOW: EMBR ACING LE AN CONSTRUCTION

the installation of chilled beams provides one example.

that the project was about more than glass and steel

“We identified it would cost about $150,000 for an

or even budgets and schedules. The Core Team wanted

additional loop of water that is usually part of this type

them to know that they saw their jobs as extensions of

of HVAC system,” Ed Trotter recalls. “After discussions

what Knight Cancer Institute scientists would be doing

with the MEP team, we explored getting rid of the

inside the KCRB. After all, it is easy for an employee

beams and going back to a fan coil unit. It turns out

to develop a sense of buy-in on a project like KCRB

there was a minor energy use penalty, but so negligible

because of its broader mission. By nature we all want

it wasn’t worth incurring future maintenance costs. Our

to be a part of something bigger than us, like helping

engineers came back and said, ‘It doesn’t make sense.

to end cancer.

Let’s get rid of it.’”

This approach is supported by research into

Another example came early in the project, during

organizational psychology. As a 2013 New York Times

the pouring of the concrete slabs. Unable to pour the

article by Susan Dominus explained, “Traditionally the

entire slab at one time, which would increase the likeli-

thinking has been that employers should appeal to

hood of cracking, a plan was developed for breaking up

workers’ more obvious forms of self-interest: finan-

the pour into installments, waiting for each segment of

cial incentives, yes, but also work that is inherently

concrete to solidify before beginning on the adjacent

interesting or offers the possibility for career advance-

pour. “After the suggestion of the structural team led

ment.” But research by Adam Grant at the University of

by Catena Engineers, we wound up with a better plan

Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business has found

by alternating the pours across the building, thereby

that “the greatest untapped source of motivation…is a

reducing the time between pours,” Trotter explains.

sense of service to others; focusing on the contribution

“That takes time for the engineer to go back and evalu-

of our work to other people’s lives has the potential to

ate pieces and parts and redo the drawings. But it was

make us more productive than thinking about helping

a win-win.”

ourselves.” In one study, for example, Grant found workers at the call center for a scholarship fundraising

TRAINING LEAN

effort spent 142 percent more time on the phone and

This simple idea was particularly powerful and crucially

brought in 171 percent more revenue after meeting the

important in how it empowered and inspired trades-

recipients of those scholarships in person.

people on the KCRB. That process began with a series

Even so, the KCRB team had to do more than in-

of orientations and onboarding sessions. Whenever

spire. They had the practical task of helping hundreds

a new team member came onto the project, be it at

of workers understand and embrace lean construction

the outset or mid-stream, he or she went through an

practices. “What helped being a joint venture is we

onboarding that drove home a simple message: “It’s

weren’t locked into Andersen or McCarthy policy,”

different here.”

explains Darren Toy, McCarthy/Andersen’s field safety

As new members were brought into the fold, the

and training coordinator. “We had the creativity to

onboarding process started not with practical details

determine our own destiny. But it took a lot of plan-

so much as an impassioned reminder to employees

ning.” Several team members went through Lean

75

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

Construction Institute training in San Diego and then,

system development charges to be sure they were

through their local Associated General Contractors

accurate.

chapter, convinced the LCI to begin holding training

emphasis was placed on rewarding successful idea

what we thought we were going to implement on this

generation and innovations. “We found things like pre-

job and figured out what that framework would look

ferred parking spots to give away,” Toy explains. “We

like on a day-to-day basis,” Toy explains. “Then we

created a trophy, the Little Phil, and a presentation.

set out to build the training based on that framework.

Usually they got a t-shirt or a hat, and some small re-

It’s changed over time.” At the end of each meeting,

ward. But they got that in front of the entire group. We

Toy’s team solicited from attendees what are known

documented whatever value they brought to the team.

as plus deltas, a summary analysis that determines

It could be an innovation that improved safety, one

what worked well (pluses) and what could have been

that improved quality, that improved efficiency, or that

improved (deltas). “We figured out what was working

saved money. Sometimes we rewarded the idea even

and what wasn’t until we got it right,” Toy explains.

if it didn’t do any of those things tangibly. We didn’t

Ideas were the currency driving the culture. A tone 76

As the project progressed into construction, added

sessions locally. “We distilled that training down to

of empowerment was reinforced through continuous lunch-and-learn sessions, or simple crew lunches for

weigh how much value the idea was going to have. We rewarded them for coming forward and sharing.”

While staying on time and on budget were impor-

more unfiltered discussions. That was driven home by

tant, Functional Team leaders were encouraged not to

job foremen, who challenged workers to be respon-

put undue pressure on workers to do things fast. For

sible for improvement. It was done in regimented ways

the sake of safety or morale, the team encouraged em-

every day, such as a “Daily Huddle” session amongst

ployees to ask for help. They drove home the message

teams and what were known as Gemba Walks (a lean

that a mistake was more than forgivable: that reporting

construction term) in which Functional Team leaders

a mistake was not going to lead to blame and castiga-

and foremen walked the field, reinforcing expectations

tion. As Edmonson writes in Teaming to Innovate,

and also providing positive feedback.

“any failure resulting from honest effort or thoughtful

During the design phase, Functional Teams were rewarded for working well together to solve problems.

One distinction created was the “Value Hall of Fame”

experimentation is grist for the innovation mill and thus should instead be considered praiseworthy.”

One example of this idea put into practice came

award, which began almost jokingly but became cov-

with rebar. When creating rough estimates of how

eted by team members. Bringing value to the project

much rebar would be used in reinforced concrete

became competitive. One might get a Value Hall of

slabs, a trade partner included a note in the drawings

Fame award for modifying a small detail and saving

suggesting that the general contractor may determine

cost in a prescribed installation method, for example,

additional rebar would be necessary for shoring up

or for working with the City of Portland to scrutinize

post-tensioning cables. By the next phase, the note was accidentally lost, and no additional rebar was

CHAP TER 6: FOCUS AND FLOW: EMBR ACING LE AN CONSTRUCTION

requested. As a result, the cost estimates became

this crew later on another job, and they were wishing

inaccurate by not capturing the accompanying cost

they were back on the KCRB, because they had the

increases. The Core Team was able to foster a rec-

support of management. It’s amazing how much that

onciliation whereby root causes and lessons learned

means to a worker: that they didn’t have to be afraid to

could be identified, and solutions coordinated and

raise their hand and say, ‘Something’s not right here.’

implemented, all in a non-accusatory environment. The

I think we just kept doing that over and over with crew

parties involved in the error were willing to take re-

after crew. It created a pretty high level of trust that

sponsibility, but when assured that resolving the issue

we were all on the same page: office and field. They

was not about assigning fault, it freed up all parties

learned that if they said, ‘We can’t do it in two days; it’s

involved to have a freer conversation about solutions.

going to take three,’ we would look for ways to do it in

It also reinforced the importance of the long-term

three instead of forcing them to take shortcuts. I got

relationship.

a lot of feedback from people in the field saying that’s

Sometimes teams were surprised that they were

not often the case. Budgets shrink and schedules get

allowed to fail and given a second or third chance. Toy

compressed, but not often does the management work

recalls such a process with a subcontractor. “When

with the people in the field to figure those things out.

they had an issue we had to step in and stop them.

The field workers can’t do that by themselves. They

Instead of getting angry, we brought them down and

don’t have the leverage to do so. In construction we

had them work out the process with all of us in the

tend to work in silos: the electrician will have three

office, and together we decided on the best way to

days to get the work done, and the plumber will need

move forward in the field,” he explains. “A few weeks

four days. One’s work may be negatively impacting the

later they found themselves in another issue where

others, but they just worry about their slice. IPD and

we had to step in. They thought they were going to

lean construction turns that on its head. If one’s work

be let go. They weren’t. They came to the office again and we figured out what needed to be changed. They could make changes on their end, but we could also not paint them into that corner in terms of scheduling where they felt they had to do it that way.

“This crew went through five incident reviews, but every time their process became a bit better,” Toy continues. “By the time they left, I was taking pictures of their operations and showing it to other crews around town and showing what it could look like when you had it dialed in. When they realized they had management support, they could raise their hand and ask for support and they would get it. I ran into

“Any failure resulting from honest effort or thoughtful experimentation is grist for the innovation mill and thus should instead be considered praiseworthy.”

77

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

is negatively impacting the other, we get together and

more accurately, the second electrical contractor—

figure out how to overcome that obstacle.”

Cherry City Electric.

If the leadership and many of the team members

78

“We weren’t the first choice. We got second place

were inexperienced with IPD and lean, the team

in the interview process,” recalls Ed Thompson,

overcame it by remaining vigilant and embracing

preconstruction manager for Cherry City. Two months

change. Lean philosophy encourages employees to

later, after the team’s first choice had turned out not to

strive, which often leads to younger team members

be a good fit, “the Core Team asked if we’d be inter-

being given new responsibilities. “When you empower

ested in joining the project,” Thompson recalls. “They

young staff, it gives them experience that they wouldn’t

told us the most important thing was that we’d be fully

otherwise get and you’re lifting them to a higher level,”

open to change and improvement. They said, ‘You have

he says. “Inevitably there will be instances of things

a voice in everybody’s scope of work and in how we’re

not getting done that you might have assumed would—

going to operate. You’re going to be heard and we just

a learning curve. If you have the right person who is

expect you to listen to everybody else. We’re going to

willing to go the extra mile, though, and willing to

push you to be vulnerable but also to challenge us, to

work a little bit late if they don’t have the right answer

be accountable.’”

and needs to chase something down or do a little bit

The effect was not just fulfilling a need on the KCRB

more research, it works beautifully. It just needs to be

project, but a ripple felt throughout the company. “Going

someone who’s striving.”

through that process totally changed not only my personal development and my team’s, but our company’s

TRANSFORMING THE INDUSTRY

culture. We learned how to engage, to challenge ideas

A tenet of lean thinking is not just to make one’s own

that maybe focused on costs rather than value. It wasn’t

company a smarter, nimbler and more waste-free orga-

about cost anymore. It was about bringing value.”

nization, but to seek that in other businesses partners.

“I just fell in love with it,” Thompson recalls. “I got

That better mousetrap any aspiring company seeks to

re-energized in my love of construction. I was 26 years

build is made up of wood strips and metal arms and

in the business at that point, and I was starting to

springs that, in today’s world, are produced by differ-

get tired of the battles and the mistrust on every job.

ent entities. The more well orchestrated these entities

I asked how I could learn more. They were really into

are, the more efficient they all become.

that. They gave us lots of training sessions, and they

One of the successes of the KCRB is that the

made it a factor in this job that we become better as

lean thinking professed amongst the team has been

people.” Before long, Thompson and other members of

contagious in numerous cases. There may be no better

Cherry City were attending Lean Construction Insti-

example than the team’s electrical contractor—or,

tute congresses. Next year, Thompson will even be a presenter.

CHAP TER 6: FOCUS AND FLOW: EMBR ACING LE AN CONSTRUCTION

PLAYING TO THEIR STRENGTHS

the truth is that no matter what one’s training may be

The team also saw substantial value in understand-

or what a résumé may list, everyone is better at their

ing that each person brought a blend of strengths to

jobs when they feel valued and listened to and are able

the effort. As such, every team member was asked

to work within their areas of strength. That can’t come

to take the Clifton StrengthsFinder test from Gallup,

without a continual dialogue. In the end, that’s what

which uses a half-hour-long, 177-question online

IPD and lean construction are both about: empowering

survey to identify different talents and strengths, which

people and getting buy-in. When the work is more than

are in turn divided into four categories: executing,

just a job, that’s when the best work is done.

influencing, relationship building and strategic thinking. One employee might be more of what’s called an

CONTINUAL ENGAGEMENT

“Achiever,” for instance, while another might rate more

At the same time, the team also saw value in using

highly as an “Arranger.” One person may exemplify

in-house media to keep everyone abreast of how the

a “Relator” and another may show signs of being an

building project was progressing over time. A weekly

“Includer” or “Empathizer.” Some team members

bulletin written by Mike Buckiewicz and Tiffani Howard

showed particularly strong skills at adapting or being

offered progress reports while celebrating milestones

disciplined, and others at intellection or focus.

reached and chronicling challenges overcome. The

While people’s StrengthsFinder results were just

bulletin also gave users and stakeholders at OHSU and

one of many tools (both formal and informal) to help

the Knight Cancer Institute insight into the construc-

team members come to know each other and work

tion process, explained how their new building would

together, the awareness of strengths could at times

help redefine scientific research, and made connec-

be particularly useful. “I had ‘Connectedness’ and

tions between the lean construction process and the

‘Arranger’ listed as two of my strengths in the test,”

team-science approach.

Canup recalls. In addition to Canup’s experience, it so

Every few months, time was also taken to re-

happened that her strengths indicated by the testing

engage and thank workers with a barbecue to sustain

were lacking in the Core Team. “They felt initially they

morale. Scientists were occasionally asked to speak

didn’t have the right mix of necessary strengths and

at these events, and took the opportunity to remind

needed different people to round out the group, ” Can-

the team that their efforts were part of ending cancer.

up explains. “Tiffani [Howard] and Steve Stadum really

Howard, as client liaison, brought comments and reac-

tried to think about personal and group dynamics.”

tions from Knight Cancer Institute and OHSU leaders

In the past, concern for people’s emotions and

praising the team for their contribution. “All of these

relationships may have seemed insignificant compared

efforts worked to reinforce team health, and are efforts

to the cold hard business facts of debits and credits.

that can’t be ignored,” she explains.

Why worry about feelings and how people get along when there’s a fierce competition going on every day?

But skepticism always meets progressive ideas, and

79

CHAP TER 7

COMING TOGETHER AT THE COLO

In 1951, I Love Lucy stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz made a movie called The Long, Long Trailer, in which a newlywed couple purchases an extra-large travel trailer so they can be together when Arnaz’s character, a civil engineer, travels to building sites around the country. A comic series of disasters ensues that tests the couple’s marriage, all involving the massive trailer in transit: stuck in the mud on a country road, backing into and destroying a relative’s carport. But in spite of those trials, or perhaps because of them, their love is re-affirmed.

81

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

One might have nicknamed the KCRB colocation space

the group into separate teams oriented around major

The Wide, Wide Trailer rather than simply “the CoLo.”

parts of the building construction—electrical, exterior,

It’s made up of 11 standard 14’x60’ trailers stitched

mechanical—in a way that became the forerunner of

together. But unlike Lucy and Desi, the KCRB team

the KCRB’s Functional Teams. Team members were

didn’t try to move its trailer once in place. After all, it

challenged to hit a certain budget and work collectively

feels more like a home than most jobsite trailers, with

to achieve that. “Before long, it became clear that

elements of linoleum, imitation wood paneling and

emails being circulated between colleagues on this

fluorescent light.

project were substantially less than what they would

The establishment of an extra-large colocation trailer where contractors, owner’s representatives, architects

typically be,” Jeff Slinger recalls. “We could just talk to each other instead.”

and key subcontractors could interact was a vitally

82

important step in establishing a lean culture of commu-

AN OPEN OFFICE

nication and collaboration. There were costs associated

The CoLo was established within the context of a

with fitting out such a space with computers, furniture,

broader trend in the American workplace: the open-

software and other equipment. And it took time to learn

plan office. Disappearing are big, high-walled cubicles

to get along in new quarters. Taking this step into a

and closed-door offices. Individual workstations have

shared colocation asked all parties involved to think of

shrunk and the bosses have largely been asked to go

the greater good—the culture being created—and to

from first class to coach, so to speak. But with the

remember that the CoLo is an economic net-positive

space saved there is more room for gathering spaces,

for the KCRB because of how it enables and engenders

both small and large: places for meetings or even

innovation. The average cost associated with a Request

private phone conversations, and kitchens with enough

For Information is about $700, and a change order aver-

seating to become mini cafés. “In these open-office

ages about $2,000. It doesn’t take many avoided RFIs

configurations, it often takes some time to adjust,” Eric

and change orders for the trailer to pay for itself.

Wilson says. “Everyone has a little less privacy. But the

As important as the CoLo trailer adjacent to the

workspaces are conducive to teamwork and camara-

KCRB jobsite became, the process of colocation

derie and they’re decidedly less hierarchical, so that

actually began before the trailer was even erected.

made it right for us.”

The team, including the owner, McCarthy/Andersen

The first time McCarthy/Andersen and SRG Part-

and SRG Partnership, began on the second floor of

nership discussed the layout, they considered some

SRG’s former offices in the American Bank Building

private offices. But the owner was firm: they wanted

downtown: about three desks. As more people and

none. That’s when the team started working with a

companies joined the team and more spaces were

supplier that could custom-fabricate the trailer. Not

needed, a move to a larger space on the ninth floor of

only did it need to be big, but it needed to be condu-

the building was made.

cive to the task at hand. The architects valued having a

When the team moved into the CoLo itself, importance was placed on layout. The Core Team broke

lot of natural light, for example, as studies have shown that it positively impacts wakefulness and productiv-

CHAP TER 7: COMING TOGETHER AT THE COLO

ity. As a result, there is more natural light than you’d

ous team members, that meant speaking quietly while

find in most any jobsite trailer. Skylights pull sunlight

in the desk area, while for others with greater sensitiv-

from above, while the sliding doors of shared “huddle

ity, it meant wearing noise-canceling headphones. Like

rooms” lining the perimeter of the building are made

a family sharing a home, the team found ways to get

of glass so natural light can extend past the huddle

along and let collaboration flourish.

rooms to illuminate the interior. The designers were

One benefit of the large CoLo trailer was the most

also adamant that there be carpet, perhaps a counter-

elementary. Quite simply, there is value in face-to-face

intuitive choice given the dirt that people can track in

contact that can’t be completely replicated in phone

from a construction site, but worth the extra cleaning

calls, texts and emails. Working alongside someone,

because it reduces ambient noise. With some employ-

one knows more about how the job fits into the

ees initially experiencing difficulty in such an open and

context of coworkers’ lives. Getting frustrated over

sometimes potentially loud environment, the benefit in

an unreturned call is the result of not understanding

noise reduction was worth the carpet investment.

why the call wasn’t returned. Being there in person

It was also important to provide small creature

to learn firsthand that the person responsible for the

comforts that jobsite trailers don’t always have. Rest-

unreturned call is attending to a family emergency,

rooms were equipped with showers, for example, to

on the other hand, provides not just an answer but a

accommodate people cycling to work or going running

sense of perspective, as well as an opportunity to take

on their lunch hours. The team built a sizable kitchen

responsibility by finding another way to get something

conducive to sharing food, but they also favored a

done. Architects and contractors have different training

liberal policy with regard to buying people lunch who

and levels of education and different ways of looking

work through the noon hour.

at a project, if not the world. Especially consider-

Still, it took adjustment for both sides. “Architects

ing the animosity and finger pointing that can often

are all about the quality of space, and the environment

occur between the different stakeholders, that trust

of most architecture firms is beautiful and filled with

and relationship building became a foundation of the

natural light. This was more down and dirty,” says

project’s success.

Stefanie Becker. “It’s way better than a normal trailer,

As valuable as the CoLo has been for encouraging

but it’s not that same sense of place architects are

disparate disciplines to work together, the team also

used to.”

recognized that full-time location in the trailer wasn’t

The CoLo’s open-office environment still took some

necessary for everyone all the time. Some found that

getting used to for some team members, who found

there were better resources and access to expertise

it hard to concentrate in such a big open space. The

at their home offices and relocated back there part of

team developed individual color-coded signs that

the time. In many cases, the team found that in-person

team members could place at their desks to indicate

collaboration was necessary at only certain stages. In

availability or a “do not disturb” scenario when con-

the beginning, for example, civil engineering work is

centration was needed. And they asked everyone to be

particularly intensive, so it was important to have many

courteous and to adapt. For some of the more boister-

of those team members present at the CoLo. In time,

83

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

the work moved more toward structural engineering

an owner-champion, and it takes more than just a few

and the façade, which brought those experts to the

people who are bought into the process. That commit-

forefront. It was not a matter of commanding individual

ment was unique here. Everyone talks about this kind

team members or firms to be at the CoLo a certain

of process happening, but it’s much more difficult to

amount of time, or creating a one-size-fits-all scenario.

execute. And it takes a lot of buy-in from day one. You

The CoLo was also a place for learning. Some of

can’t cherry-pick collaborative principles or coloca-

that came through ongoing trainings, lunch-and-learn

tion or pull planning and automatically have the good

sessions and lean construction orientations. Some of

energy that happened on this project.”

that came more informally, be it the KCRB’s book club

84

or even the information posted on the walls. Perhaps

HACKING THE COLO

most of all, the learning came from each other, about

How the CoLo was configured also remained fluid. The

each other’s professions. Because of the KCRB experi-

team saw demonstrable value in tweaking the seating

ence, architects know more about how different trades

chart through the course of the project depending

function at different stages and scopes of the project.

on the stage of the project or how the teams were

General contractors know more about design iteration.

working. At the moment of transition from design into

The owner likely knows more about everything from

construction administration, for example, the team

concrete to curtain walls. And all have learned some-

held an event called “Hack the CoLo” that “questioned

thing about team science and the multi-disciplinary

everything,” Howard recalls. The particular focus

approach that is the best chance to end cancer.

was the process for decision-making and personnel

“What I’m learning as I talk to other people in the

amongst Functional Teams and a corresponding new

industry is successfully creating this kind of culture

seating arrangement. But it wasn’t an order handed

with colocation is very difficult,” Becker says. “It takes

down from the Core Team. It was a conversation.

“That was a giant re-aligning, and it was pivotal,” says Core Team member Rich Brecke. “We as a group realized from going through that exercise that we were structured to focus on design, but we needed to be set up at that point to focus on the needs of the field. Asking the team how they wanted to structure themselves was the approach we took, and it ended up being successful.”

Hack the CoLo also reinforced the value of getting buy-in, and in a three-year job like the KCRB, reinforcement and reaffirmation are always good ideas. “We realized we could say, ‘We’ll solve this problem for you.’ But that’s not really a lean method, and it’s not

CHAP TER 7: COMING TOGETHER AT THE COLO

effective change management,” Brecke continues.

line of their choice, be it a motto or a note about their

“You don’t want to have to go out and sell people on an

connection to the cancer cause. It’s a kind of Brady

idea that wasn’t necessarily theirs. We came up with a

Bunch grid that, like that old sitcom, emphasizes a group

list of categories and questions. Who makes decisions?

of disparate people coming together to form a family.

What should our reporting structure be? And where do

“The CliftonStrengths test and the People Wall were both

we sit? We split people up into eight different groups

fabulous,” says Stefanie Becker. “Doing this work builds

and tried to make them representative of designers,

team in a subtle way because it helps you know people

owners, engineers and architects as much as possible.

beyond just their names. And big teams struggle with

They came up with answers over a half-day, and each

that. It’s hard to even remember somebody’s name. If

group presented their solution. Then the group as a

you can’t get past that, it makes it even more difficult to

whole voted on each aspect.” And once again, the pro-

approach someone to get the work done.”

cess was visual, voting with circular stickers. “For each

A “How We Behave” graphic was also displayed in

question posed, we took the answers to questions that

several portions of the CoLo trailer: a triangle with the

the team felt would be the best, and we pinned them

word "Trust" in the middle, surrounded on three sides

to the wall. It’s all still pinned out there now,” Brecke

by the words Integrity, Vulnerability, and Improvement

says, pointing across the CoLo trailer.

(as shown on page 66). “It’s the behaviors we have

“And the re-engagement of the team psychologi-

established and demanded,” Howard says. “It’s a real

cally after that, it just skyrocketed,” Howard adds.

reason for the success of this project.”

ON THE WALL

the rewarding and awarding of team members for

Visuals pinned to the wall were an unmistakable part

innovations, or the leadership at landmark moments

of the CoLo’s ambiance. If a jobsite trailer of yesteryear

of budget savings. The largest conference room walls

could sometimes feel as uninviting as the day-old

were filled with descriptions of the Guiding Principles

Maxwell House coffee likely to be consumed there (as

and notes from past exercises. Collectively the walls

opposed to the CoLo’s gourmet brew—after all, it’s

told a story of the CoLo not simply as a place where

Portland), this trailer felt full of life in part because

disparate companies and building team members have

so many stories, pictures, diagrams and other visuals

congregated, but as a hive of activity where people

were festooned to nearly every inch of drywall.

passionately work toward building the best-possible

On another wall was a series of photos chronicling

Near the kitchen, for example, there was what was

KCRB and, by extension, toward ending cancer.

called the People Wall: a patchwork quilt of standard 8.5 x 11-inch paper, each representing one team member

PUTTING IN THE TIME

with two photos (a portrait and a shot of their choice,

One of the most important emphasis points in creating

denoting a favorite pastime or portraying something

a healthy and collaborative CoLo culture was simply

about them), a diagram of their StrengthsFinder results,

putting in the time—not just work time, however, but

a description of their role on the project, and finally a

time to socialize and get to know each other. That

85

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

started with how team members behaved and col-

self-generated endeavor, not suggested or instigated by

laborated inside the CoLo and in the field, but it was

leadership, speaks to the fact that once team building

enhanced with activities, be it through Big Room

begins, ideally it becomes contagious.

activities such as communal team lunches or more

Investments in team building and committing to

formalized lunch-and-learn educational sessions. It

colocation also help overcome moments of division.

also meant having barbecues and baseball games. If

On November 9, 2016, for example, the unity of the

the activities were extracurricular, they still positively

team faced one of its toughest moments. Half the

affected how people worked together.

team members in the CoLo were distraught over the

“When people start shooting the breeze, you start

86

previous night’s presidential election while nearly half

feeling like we’re a bigger team,” says SRG Partner-

were feeling happy and trying to stifle any sense of

ship senior associate Phil Lopez. “Construction and

smugness. The aftermath of the election could have

architecture, they can be different cultures. There can

driven teammates further apart in a way that might have

be conflict if you’re not open-minded. I think those

jeopardized the IPD and lean-oriented team they were

social activities, the barbecues and such, gave us

building. But sometimes in those difficult moments

opportunities to learn from each other. It helps you

people show what they’re made of, and that common

trust everyone. Not just say you trust, but truly trust: be

ground was still possible. And in this case, that common

vulnerable and go to everyone for their expertise.”

ground became chili. The day after the election, the

Often the time workers spent getting to know each

team held a chili cook-off and conducted a vote of its

other in the CoLo created its own momentum. Take

own to decide which was best. It was a moment to drop

the team’s involvement in the popular Hood to Coast

hard hats and switch off computers, to re-affirm that

relay, in which teams of eight to ten relay runners take

people were there for a cause greater than themselves:

turns running the cumulative 199-mile distance from

building a game-changing cancer research laboratory.

Mt. Hood’s Timberline Lodge to Seaside in five-mile

Teammates came from across the political spectrum,

increments. Running Hood to Coast as a KCRB team

but they worked hard to remain a family.

during an early phase of the project brought team

If there’s any regret about the CoLo, it’s only that

members from diverse companies together to compete

it wasn’t taken further. Putting 11 trailers together is

toward a common goal. Spending all this time together

already a lot, but the KCRB jobsite still had a number

in a van allowed teammates to get to know each other

of other trailers for other subcontractors. To some of

outside of work, building teamwork and camaraderie.

these partners, the CoLo was only a place for a meet-

Hood to Coast asks runner-teammates to push through

ing. “I think we should have included more subcontrac-

the fatigue and doubt toward a common goal, for the

tors and field- and foreman-level folks in the CoLo,”

good of the team and the fun of competing together.

says Rich Brecke. “That has to do with the function

It’s classic team building: getting to know each other

of us not being closer to the jobsite. In the future I’d

outside of an email or phone call or weekly meeting.

say make sure your colocation trailer is adjacent to

The fact that the Hood to Coast team was a completely

the building. It’s super important. What’s happened is

CHAP TER 7: COMING TOGETHER AT THE COLO

we have a lot of admin people who disconnect from

been learning from this team about how high function-

the field, just by virtue of not being right next to the

ing teams work. CEDAR has the opportunity to build

building. And the field foremen weren’t included in the

something new, so we’re interested in flat hierarchy,

CoLo itself except for an occasional trip in here for a

pull planning, and team building. A lot of the specifics

meeting. I would take it further and bring more people

of what they’ve done in those areas we want to repli-

into the fold.”

cate in our team science. It’s also kind of interesting

Even so, the CoLo became a clubhouse for the team as it was coming together and rising to this challenge.

because I looked at some of these groups in the CoLo, and they were so motivated to do this. They saw that direct line between improvements in their lives and in

BETTER TEAMS, BETTER SCIENCE, BETTER BUILDINGS

the product. It was a bit of a culture change for some,

Whether it’s Integrated Project Development, lean con-

ence, but what surprises me is that science is harder

struction, the CoLo itself or even the team science that will be enabled in the KCRB, they are all overlapping circles that do largely the same thing. Organizations where people work in silos and don’t communicate well and exhibit top-down leadership may offer the sanctity of a high cubicle wall or the ego-stroke of an order that can’t be questioned, but increasingly these behaviors and places aren’t part of the industry or the economy’s best practices, and they don’t lead to innovation.

The KCRB building team was inspired by the mission and vision of Dr. Brian Druker and the Knight Cancer Institute, taking a cue from their team-centric approach. Teammates were also humbled to know that some of their lean, integrated teams became an inspiration to members of the Knight Cancer Institute.

“When I first got to know this team and started hanging out here at the CoLo, I was immensely impressed by what they were doing with IPD and lean and their overall behavior was directly applicable to any kind of team tackling a big project. It didn’t seem customized to the building industry,” says Paul Howard, Ph.D., who supervises facilities and operations for the Knight Cancer Institute’s CEDAR Center. “The Knight has basically

but the plusses are obvious. The same is true in scito change than the building industry. They’re pretty siloed and resistant to change. The motivations for researchers are many. To get them to chase a common goal is difficult because they have to worry about a lot of obligations. But hopefully our bottom line is cancer early detection making a difference in people’s lives.”

Howard believes that the flat hierarchy he saw in the KCRB process is literally woven into the architecture. “I’ve seen a lot of buildings go up,” he explains.

“With labs there is often commonality: every lab row is a dead end that kills circulation. This building blows that out of the water. And this building has a hell of a lot more common space and circulation than any other building we have. Having worked in a lot of labs, I’m really excited. For scientists, those interactions in the hall are very important. Especially for our group, where we’re truly one team.”

The KCRB’s design and construction process didn’t completely reinvent the wheel, but it was a powerful combination of culture building and process innovation that is leading to what by many accounts may be the premier cancer research laboratory facility in the world.

87

CHAP TER 8

TOURING THE COMPLETED KNIGHT CANCER RESEARCH BUILDING

The completed Knight Cancer Research Building is at once an incredibly sophisticated work of 21st-century cancer laboratory architecture and, at least in theory, a relatively simple design idea: favoring openness, transparency and flexibility as a means of encouraging team science.

Photography by Brad Feinknopf

89

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

90

Breakout Room

Breakout Room Multi-Purpose Room

OUTDOOR COURTYARD

Multi-Purpose Room

Lounge

NUE

East Lobby

Women’s

Men’s

MOODY AVE

Deposition/ Etching

Lithography

Lockers/ Showers

Mee

ting

Research Forum

Room

Service Core

Lab Storage

Retail Loading Dock

MEADE STREET

Level 1

Level 1

Lab Head Offices

Lab Head Offices

Lab Head Offices

Lab Head Offices

Work Lounge

Experimentalist Write-Up

Lab Support

Lab

Meeting Room

Work Lounge

Experimentalist Write-Up

Lab Support

Lab

Meeting Room

Experimentalist Write-Up

Lab Support

Lab

Experimentalist Write-Up

Lab Support

Lab Support

Level 2 (similar Level 5)

Level 5 (Similar Level 2)

Lab Head Offices

Lab Head Offices

Conf Room

OPEN

Conf Room

Central Kitchen Work Lounge

Experimentalist Write-Up

Lab Support

Lab

Meeting Room

Lab Support

Computationalist Suite Experimentalist Write-Up

Lab

Shared Cores

Lab Support

Level 3 (similar Level 4)

Level 4 (Similar Level 3)

Intellectual Lounge

Knight Administration Meeting Room

Mechanical Terrace

Meeting Room

Level 6

Level 6 Knight Administration

Mechanical

Level 7

Level 7

91

CHAP TER 8: TOURING THE COMPLETED KNIGHT CANCER RESE ARCH BUILDING

It is replete with leading-edge technology and equip-

in glass. A portion of the ground floor will be occupied

ment representing best practices in a range of scien-

by ground-floor retail meant to help activate the

tific disciplines, and yet the real story may be all the

neighborhood and provide amenities for employees

other spaces just beyond the labs and workstations:

working in the building. The scale of the glass base in

the generously-sized open stairways between lab

tandem with the double-height concrete columns and

floors, with room to stop and talk without creating a

blue metal-clad portals creates a civic gesture that

logjam; the shared kitchen between the computation-

helps communicate a sense of arrival.

alist and experimentalist areas; the roof deck gathering space with its panoramic views; and the auditorium,

THE KNIGHT CONFERENCE CENTER

which will host formal lectures and accommodate

This lower portion of the building also includes the

all-staff gatherings. “It’s all about bringing people

Knight Conference Center, a 250-seat auditorium that

together,” says SRG Partnership principal Tim Evans.

can be expanded to approximately 300 seats by open-

The 320,000 square-foot Knight Cancer Research

ing the long sliding doors of adjacent meeting spaces.

Building is located on the southern half of a block

The outside of the conference center’s perimeter walls,

bound by SW Moody, SW Meade, a future promenade

facing the glass, is equipped with video screens that

and the future SW Arthur. Its front door faces Moody

can act as an ever-changing series of messages or

Avenue, the primary South Waterfront arterial, which

signage to the outside. The Knight Conference Center

includes both MAX light rail and Portland Streetcar

itself is a wide-open space equipped with massive

lines. With Tilikum Crossing and other bridges, the river

state-of-the-art video screens where scientists and

and the I-5 freeway all converging here as well, the site

other members of the Knight Cancer Institute can

feels like a crossroads.

present to each other, teach, or share their work with

As part of the master plan, a second Knight Cancer Institute building will ultimately be constructed on

the community.

The open volume of the column-free conference

the northern half of the block, likely five to ten years

space was made possible by an innovative structural

after the completion of the KCRB. Since it will be built

engineering solution known as a hanging column. “The

against the north wall of this building, the KCRB was

common solution is to add a transfer girder in the floor

laid out in plan to allow for a future atrium space or

above and post up from that,” explains Jason Thomp-

exterior courtyard at the center of the two buildings.

son, a principal at Catena Engineers, who provided

To the east of the building, there will be an entire block

structural engineering. But the girder would have been

designated as campus open space as well as the

too large, some 60 feet long. “The ceilings are high

continuation of the South Waterfront Greenway along

so there’s not a lot of real estate. It would have poked

the river.

below the ceiling. I remember sitting with SRG and

Atop two levels of underground parking, the build-

engineers from PAE [in a peer-review role] thinking,

ing’s ground floor (which becomes double-height on

‘What other options do we have here?’ But at the same

the west side due to a sloping site) is clad completely

time, we were thinking about our lateral system and

93

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

From the large theater space for conferences to the building’s skin, labs and the video wall that tells the story of the Knight Cancer Institute, every detail of the project was carefully considered to support that project vision.

94

CHAP TER 8: TOURING THE COMPLETED KNIGHT CANCER RESE ARCH BUILDING

being resilient in the event of a large earthquake. There

isolated. It’s possible from an ordinary office worksta-

was a need for a shear wall or brace frame along the

tion or lab bench to look in three different directions to

same column line as the transfer girder up at level

the outside, and a fourth by taking a few steps into the

6. As we explored that, we said, ‘Why don’t we make

primary corridor. “Even though the natural light itself is

that a shear wall that will double as a transfer girder?’

important, so too is the psychological reaction to see-

Then we could suspend a column from that. In lieu of

ing out,” Evans says. “Pretty much all the workspaces

a transfer girder at level 2, we have it from level 6 to 7

at the KCRB, be it labs or offices, you always have a

and we suspend from there.”

view out: a connection to the outside.”

The laboratory spaces are each paired with small

IN THE LAB

administrative areas in what the architects refer to as

Above the lobby and conference center, the next four

neighborhoods, with a glass wall separating the two

floors are really the essence of the building: a series

halves. “This is an organizational lab space concept

of both wet labs and computational laboratory spaces.

we’ve worked with before. We call it the ‘Transparency

The labs occupy the southern half of each floor, with

Scheme,’ an organizational model that positions bands

offices in the middle and a primary corridor, a common

of open and closed space penetrating the building

walkway along the northern edge. As such, the north

and creating connectivity,” Evans explains. “Being

and south facades look different from each other.

separated only by a glass wall, the office knows who’s

Much of the horizontal and vertical circulation occurs on the north side of the building. These circulation paths interconnect and culminate at a shared kitchen,

in the lab and vice versa. They’re not squirreled away in some back corridor.”

On the south side of the building facing Meade

which itself is fronted by a double-height glass wall,

Street is one of the KCRB’s most distinctive architec-

bathing the space in light and encouraging researchers

tural features: a series of angled sawtooth-shaped

to linger, thereby fostering a sense of community and

forms extending outward from the façade. These

allowing for chance encounters and the free exchange

triangular shapes minimize glare and unwanted heat

of ideas. This network of circulation successfully

gain in the lab bays by blocking the side of the saw-

achieves one of the six Design Principles, Primary Cor-

tooth shape facing south (views from which would

ridor. In addition to the auditorium on the first floor and

have been blocked by the adjacent RLSB anyway), yet

the social space on the sixth floor, the central kitchen

frame picturesque views of Mt. Hood through the east-

on the fourth floor contributes to a network of social

facing sawtooth portion with floor-to-ceiling glass.

hubs that satisfies another of the Design Principles,

It’s a functional design move that nevertheless gives

Social Amenities. In making the building shorter and

the building’s southern façade a compelling sense of

wider, the team knew that one of the primary chal-

texture and kinetics.

lenges, especially on the lab floors, was going to be

The sawtooth-shaped south façade was also part

daylight and views. But the extensive use of glass

of a concerted effort to introduce more light into a

makes sure that being in the lab never means being

secondary back corridor between the laboratories. The

95

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

96

A variety of spaces were designed to support the different activities and interactions desired by the Knight.

CHAP TER 8: TOURING THE COMPLETED KNIGHT CANCER RESE ARCH BUILDING

triangular ripples of the façade slightly extend over the

important. To see outside and look in various direc-

sidewalk. “The code said we could extend a certain

tions, somehow the space feels both more intimate

amount of the upper façade beyond the property line,”

and more fluid.”

Evans explains. “The design cuts through so part of the

Throughout the space, there are also patterns and

sawtooth is behind the property line and part of it is

materials that catch the eye, like the succession of

projecting out. We wanted to maximize the amount we

hexagon-shaped acoustic ceiling panels over the office

could project out to take advantage of the chance to

workstations in varying heights, a line of chevron-

frame views out to the east instead of looking straight

shaped sound baffles hanging over the hallways

south at the RLSB across the street.” Even so, the

almost like a minimalist art installation, and a series of

designers had to achieve the right balance: letting in

entry areas at the corners with doors and walls clad in

enough natural daylight to illuminate the space while

floor-to-ceiling ash wood.

also minimizing glare to ensure that direct sunlight never lands on a work surface in the lab spaces.

The top two levels of the building are set back from the four floors of labs beneath. Knight Cancer Institute

Studies have shown that natural light and views

administrative offices take both floors to the west, with

measurably improve human performance. With that in

offices looking over traffic-clogged Interstate 5 toward

mind, the KCRB’s transparency allows its wide floors to

the leafy Corbett-Terwilliger-Lair Hill neighborhood and

feel smaller. “It’s a big floor plate, but it doesn’t really

up to OHSU on Marquam Hill, the hanging Portland

feel that big,” Evans says. “Other buildings this size

Aerial Tram cables almost like an umbilical cord. The

feel bigger because you’re not connected to the out-

river-facing east portion of this penthouse-like space

side. This building feels more modestly scaled because

is devoted to a common area called the Terrace Room,

you don’t have these enormous labs or this feeling of

where colleagues can gather to share ideas or unwind,

being shuttered in.”

with an extended roof terrace offering panoramic views of the Willamette River, Tilikum Crossing and Mt. Hood

CATCHING THE EYE As much as the KCRB’s emphasis on transparency and

in the distance.

It’s as if a scientist could proceed through the

openness was about connecting the occupants to each

course of the day moving vertically: begin on the

other, thereby encouraging team science, the archi-

ground floor with a large team meeting or keynote

tects also saw value in transparency between the work

lecture in the Knight Conference Center, move upstairs

going on inside the building and the world just beyond.

into the lab for research, and then finish the day at

“Watching the building going up, what was most excit-

a social event with colleagues. All the while, there is

ing to me was its proximity to the outside world,” SRG

interaction both planned and unplanned, and sharing

co-founder Jon Schleuning explains. “It’s a dynamic

of ideas with teammates and colleagues. It fulfills

site between the river, the freeway, the downtown and

another Operating Principle—Intellectual & Social

Marquam Hill. You’re moving from an urban edge over

Hub—while celebrating Knight staff coming together in

to the river edge, to something natural. The whole idea

one facility for the first time.

is you’re in the middle of something exciting. Place is

97

98

CHAP TER 8: TOURING THE COMPLETED KNIGHT CANCER RESE ARCH BUILDING

A PERFECT FIT

exercises and facilitations. They understand why the

With construction newly complete, the KCRB design and

building is designed the way it is and how it can meet

construction team has been pleased to learn that the

their needs. The scientists are looking forward to mov-

building’s tenants—veteran scientists with very sophisti-

ing into the building that they helped to design.”

cated and specific needs—are happy with the result.

“We have been asked to change so little in the build-

The Knight Cancer Research Building opened September 7, 2018. This state-of-the-art research

ing at the end of the project,” says Tiffani Howard. “We

facility was completed on time and on budget, but the

are finding that there is a place in the building for all of

real measure of its success is still to come. Research-

our equipment, which has very special needs designed

ers, computationalists and staff are now collaborating,

into it. There is so much flexibility and functionality

challenging each other and innovating together in the

designed into the facility; that was one of our Guiding

name of ending cancer. Will conversations in the cor-

Principles. On other jobs, it would be common to tear

ridors spark an idea that proves transformational? Will

out a wall or at least to add another electrical plug or a

a chance encounter in the café between researchers

water line. On this job that has not happened. We have

with different backgrounds or from different disciplines

basically had two or three requests for changes. One

enable them to see their quest in a new light? Will this

has been just to add more carbon dioxide and vacuum

new environment for research catalyze breakthroughs

capabilities in rooms that already had a pipe running

that will provide cancer patients with the hope for

through them for those purposes. The other was to add

longer lives or even elimination of the disease alto-

water in a fume hood in a room that had water nearby.

gether? The energy, the talent and the desire are all

On most jobs you’d be talking exponentially more

there, gathered together with a mission. The world is

changes. On this project there were two.”

watching, including the design and construction team

“It’s incredible,” Howard continues. “Even our con-

that delivered the project. There is much to be learned

tractors and architects tell us, ‘This is unheard of.’” Not

from observing how the building shapes the behaviors

only is that a validation of the building team’s process,

of its inhabitants and enhances the research that’s tak-

but it also makes the end users feel validated. “We’re

ing place inside.

hearing things now like, ‘Wow, you guys really listened,’” she adds. “When we started the process with our scientists and other end users, the conversations were about how they believed we weren’t listening.

And they were skeptical of our outreach at first. They said, ‘It isn’t worth our time to talk about this with you because you’re going to do what you do and not listen and we’ll just change it later. It was based on past experience. But now they’re really seeing the benefit of their time working with us in all those mockup

99

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

100

Fostering Collaboration The building offers an open, daylit work environment and ample gathering spaces.

Building Camaraderie A central kitchen on the fourth floor allows researchers and scientists to spontaneously engage with one another.

CHAP TER 8: TOURING THE COMPLETED KNIGHT CANCER RESE ARCH BUILDING

101

Thoughtful Connections Design elements like communicating stairs, an active north corridor and creative nooks break from the typical siloed laboratory building.

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

Maximizing the Site Every side of the building offers sweeping views and a connection to the surrounding city.

102

CHAP TER 8: TOURING THE COMPLETED KNIGHT CANCER RESE ARCH BUILDING

A light-filled conference room at the southwest corner looks out at Marquam Hill.

103

A Diversity of Work Areas Spaces for spontaneous interactions and work are reinforced with inspiring views and warm ash wood details.

CHAP TER 9

VOICES OF THE KNIGHT CANCER RESEARCH BUILDING

We’ve talked throughout this book about the value of teams: team science and teamwork between the disparate design and building professions working together to build the Knight Cancer Research Building. We’ve talked about how empowering employees—by trusting them, by sincerely and regularly seeking out their feedback and ideas—not only makes them happier, but pays for itself through the innovations and gained efficiencies they contribute. We’ve described the wall of employee photos and their corresponding facts that greets visitors as they enter the CoLo. In that same spirit, here we seek to give voice to a cross-section of team members and tell the story of the KCRB process from their perspectives.

107

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

PAUL AMORT Assistant MEP Manager McCarthy/Andersen Most projects that I have been on there are powers that be and they more or less control any changes related to the process or the design.

This approach feels more like collective decision-making: empowering individuals who typically wouldn’t have the authority to make design- and construction-related decisions. I’d tell myself, “Don’t be afraid to run with an idea, and trust your training, trust your instincts and understand that if it doesn’t work out, you won’t be punished for it.”

108

Prefabrication of our server racks is one example. It’s not revolutionary that we would fabricate these units off-site in a controlled environment, but it was uncommon to get all of our subs to build all the components in an integrated system. Normally people will prefabricate only their specific component. In this case, Cherry City Electric, JH Kelly, and Siemens all worked together off-site.

If there’s an ongoing challenge, I think it’s getting the field trained and incorporated into the design intent. That would empower them to make decisions on the fly for the benefit of the project. That’s not an argument against IPD, but rather that we should take it further.

JULIET ANDERSON Project Accountant McCarthy/Andersen I’ve never worked so closely with an owner before. That’s been a lot

different: the closeness you have not only with the owners but the subcontractors. Sometimes it can feel very compartmentalized on a project and people don’t want to share things. They’re not as open.

On this project there’s nothing hidden and no “let’s not mention this.” It’s just very upfront and honest. Especially numbers-wise, I think it works better when people know where we stand. The owner and the joint venture are really open. I also feel like it helps the subs to be more comfortable. It’s been a really positive experience.

BRIAN ANTHONY Superintendent McCarthy/Andersen I learned early in my career to work with the trades and try to be humble because everyone survives together, just like when I was in the Marine Corps. Lean and IPD teach you that it’s about people and relationships. I was involved in the interviews of all three steel subcontractors and their fabricators.

For some reason, they were really close, and the team was having a hard time deciding. The guys with the lowest bid just didn’t feel right.

If you looked at value, they were the furthest from it. We ended up choosing a less experienced partner, and they’ve had their challenges, but they’ve been great to work with. And I think they’ve learned a lot. This was a big job for them, but they said, "We’re here to work together." And they have. Like I said, everyone survives together.

BRAD BARCROFT Interiors Senior Project Manager McCarthy/Andersen Everything we do is really about supporting the team, and making the people on the team feel valued.

And when they feel valued, you get buy-in and establish trust. Once people are committed to the goal, they will work twice as hard to get there. In so many other jobs, the subcontractors and the general contractors are about themselves and making money. On this job we were all focused on the good of the team, and the good of each individual company was secondary. That was the difference that allowed us to win. When a challenge comes up, the question becomes, “How do we get there the most efficiently? Is it easier for me to do it, or for the electrician to do it?" It’s not whether it’s part of my scope or your scope. Whoever can do it the quickest, the easiest, the best: that’s who does it.

We have done a lot of things on this job to promote the good of the team. You’ve got to genuinely care about the people you’re working with. Someone might say about coworkers, “I don’t have to like them.” But you do. And that comes with face-to-face contact. It gives you that sense of context. Life is happening to people. You’ve got to care about their well-being.

When you trust each other, that’s when the innovations start to happen. There’s a level of vulnerability when somebody puts his or her idea out there. But because of the relationship and the environment,

CHAP TER 9: VOICES OF THE KCRB

you create a place where it’s safe to suggest ideas and to complete someone else’s. A lot of times the best idea comes from the interaction between a designer and a contractor. That’s why we’ve got 104 innovations on this project.

KYLE BECKER McCarthy/Andersen Project Manager/ Core Team Member I think starting early was key: the excitement of learning something new and implementing it.

As we got from the design into construction, it was challenging to maintain the focus on our culture. The tendency is to come back to what we know, what’s been proven to work in the past.

One challenge we faced was to take something we do in the CoLo—just kind of stopping and evaluating ourselves collectively—into the field. You want to be able to say, “Things are going sideways. What can we do? Let’s just stop and talk about it.” But you have hundreds of people in the field. That’s a lot of dollars in labor to put on hold.

It always seemed to be worth it, but it takes added emphasis to implement that culture in the field.

BILL BOWEN Oregon Health & Science University Manager, Major Capital Projects We wanted to be very forwardlooking in basing the KCRB’s delivery method around modeling

better behaviors: getting people to do very simple things, and building trust by changing behaviors.

This was something that had been in my DNA my entire professional life. I always felt like there was a better way to do things: building highly collaborative teams, putting all the experts in the room early on, consultants and subconsultants, and leveraging that expertise early in the design phase.

It just seemed to make sense.

We’ve certainly had issues. But the typical sorts of hurdles have not become these significant events of distraction, because there was a cohesive team that solved the problem and kept moving on. The advice I would give is the same we got when we started this and reached out to a number of owners. They said, “As an owner you have to be in all the way.” You’ve got to do your due diligence with eyes wide open and be willing to fully commit and to sell something that’s not all about the bottom line.

LAURIE CANUP SRG Partnership Senior Associate/ Core Team Member I came from a lot of construction administration where you’re in the trenches protecting the owner from the contractor, because the contractor makes mistakes and tries to rip the owner off. But I have learned so much on this project about how hard it is for the contractors to build a building and build it well, and how hard it is for them to pull it all together by the end of a job. It’s

really opened my eyes to the whole picture and how important it is to try to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes when we’re at the table and talking. It’s the whole reason I like IPD: because it forces me to try to grow myself. If we stay static and don’t grow, what’s the point? Communication is where it’s at: trying to understand each other. If we can do that and demonstrate empathy, it’s where bridges start to get built.

Some of our best successes have been when we’ve brought people to the table to find the middle ground and get each to see the other’s side. People really start to innovate. IPD could almost be called LSP, for “Let’s Solve Problems.”

EVAN CORY McCarthy/Andersen Vice President of Preconstruction Services Working on the KCRB was an opportunity to get involved in an IPD job. I’d heard a lot of negativity in terms of it never working.

Hindsight being 2020, a lot of the negativity had to do with people not understanding what was being delivered. The impression that a lot of our team members and partners had, and even in the industry, was that a tri-party agreement between an architect, owner and contractor never works. The focus was more on contract than behavior. You start getting attorneys involved in a lot of this stuff, where there’s a problem and there’s not a good way to determine who caused the problem or who is responsible. It can cause big fights.

109

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

110

There’s been a ton of growth from the day I started. Maybe the design team wanted to work on design on its own and the estimating team wanted to work on estimating. We tried to break down those silos and get everybody to collaborate in a big room. There was a lot of resistance. Not everybody saw value. Nine months later when we got onsite in the CoLo, there was a lot of resistance there too. But if you look at how the Core Team and its structure developed, they grew as a team and were able to lead by example. It wasn’t all wine and roses. It was very difficult throughout the process. But they built something high performing.

Taking that into construction and having the operations teams, whether they’re subcontractors or the McCarthy/Andersen team building the project, operating in a similar way—that’s hugely powerful.

DAN DAVIS SRG Partnership Designer In theory it seems simple: get everyone working together in the CoLo for better communication. But there’s a ton of efficiency in the way that we operate in the home office because things are laid out for us: a bag of tricks for different tasks.

When you take the architects out of their element, you isolate them from a lot of their resources. In my case that was magnified because I was just starting out with the firm and am also relatively new to the profession. That was challenging to only use the resources we had on hand. But there was

benefit that came from it too. We had to be self-sufficient and find ways to solve problems differently than we were used to, and learned to work together with the contractors and trade partners.

In time we were able to establish a better balance, where we would spend a couple of days a week back at the home office. But I’m also glad I was sort of thrown into the fire in the CoLo. It got me talking with contractors and trade partners in ways that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Not only has IPD produced a quality building, but it has also allowed me to really expand my own knowledge and experience in the industry. It just makes sense.

MIKE GIBSON McCarthy/Andersen Superintendent On a typical job I would be in the field probably 70 percent of the time and maybe 30 percent in the trailer. It almost feels like the opposite here. I think it has to do with having as many meetings as we do. That was a challenge for me, especially at first. I had to learn to trust that the subs working for us would be installing and doing their jobs correctly. Usually you’re checking everything they’re installing, because there’s always something that comes up where we have to find a work-around. But it’s actually happened less on this project than others I’ve worked on, even though I’m in the office more, which has been great.

BRAD HANSON Fred Shearer & Sons Superintendent A lot of my team members had never been in the roles that they played on the KCRB. Hector Solis is a 50-year-old Hispanic sheetrocker who has worked for me for 15 years. A year and a half ago, as this building was coming out of the ground, I told him it was time for him to be a foreman. He didn’t want to do it. He said no one would listen to him and his English wasn’t good enough. I convinced him that I had his back and I really wanted him to make that step. He said no, but a week later he came back and said he’d do it. He is the foreman in charge of all the sheetrockers. And he’s doing a great job. That gives me a lot of pride and satisfaction.

And it comes back to the culture that we built on this job. We need to be on time and on budget, but it’s also about people. We’re building our next leaders on this job. I’m extremely proud of that.

MATT JOHNSON KPFF Consulting Engineers Associate Working in an IPD setting, it’s kind of like the yin and the yang. At first the construction team is there for asking questions, but they have a lesser role and designers are taking the energy in the room. Then as it gets into construction, the contractors are busy and designers are behind them feeding that effort.

We’re all pulling the cart, but some start out strong early and others have to wait until it’s their turn

CHAP TER 9: VOICES OF THE KCRB

and they pull. Ideally you get the best effort out of each skillset.

I’ve often said just because I draw it on paper doesn’t make it so.

Someone has to construct this thing, and someone with 10 or 20 years of construction experience has expertise that I don’t have.

Designers design and builders build. But it’s always worth asking: can we do this a better way?

CHRIS KLINE SRG Partnership Designer Given that I worked in construction for a while before architecture, I have a strong appreciation for what contractors do. At the KCRB CoLo trailer, a huge success was being able to work directly with trade partners. I think we saw the value in what each other was doing. The difficulty is it’s still new to a lot of people. The first time I don’t think you’re going to get everything right, so you have to be willing to change and evolve.

MIKE LOGAN McDonald Excavating Project Manager Not everyone in construction takes to IPD right away because it’s a big culture shift. But recently I was told that they hired our company because of the way we were willing to play as part of a team. In the traditional construction model, there’s a lot of division, and even if people appear to be working together, it can still be about

"me." I think there’s less of it here because everyone’s pushing it. I feel like this project was made for my personality: I love to help get people together to succeed. I found out the hard way I wasn’t the one with all the good ideas. When I really learned other people’s ideas had value, but that I could help them tweak that idea to make it a little better, it’s very humbling, and it takes you to a place of being willing to sacrifice your own pride.

JAY LONG Benson Industries General Foreman You come into the CoLo and it’s like having an encyclopedia. You have a vault of information from the people here. And you can go to anybody and get the info that you need. Everybody’s here. They’re not back at the office. It shows you’re more in tune with the project. You can say, "I need you to come look at this.

Let’s walk." It’s better that way. And it also inspired us to work together.

For example, the KCRB is using not one of our Benson curtain walls but a unitized Wausau Window system.

In this case it made sense. It’s a very cut-up, challenging building.

The corners aren’t 90 degrees.

They’re 92, 93 degrees. Because of that, to unitize the wall and stack it on the first floor was a brilliant idea. It would technically be a stick wall where we have to put every vertical and horizontal on at a time. With the Wausau system, we could manufacture this in our shop, glaze it and ship it out as a unitized system. It works out

great. You stack it in, come back and anchor it and walk away. It cut the time down significantly.

JACQUELYN MARTIN McCarthy/Andersen Project Coordinator I feel like we’ve created our own little company with the joint venture. In the beginning we established that culture by establishing healthy relationships. If I had a problem, I learned quickly I was not going to be reprimanded.

Someone would sit with me and help me figure it out. Even senior people I could approach as one of the most junior people, and they would sit down and help me. They’d give me their undivided attention.

That leadership, having those right leaders in place, and then knowing how to build those relationships, inspired me to take that same approach with the people I interacted with and to take initiative.

For instance, I volunteered to help facilitate the South Waterfront Projected Apprenticeship Agreement, which says that 20 percent of the workforce per trade has to be made up of apprentices. You have to show that you made a good effort toward hiring 15 percent female and 30 percent minority workers. That was rewarding. I’ve heard from the women on this job especially that they felt there was opportunity. And I was able to spearhead the use of an app called TeamUp to select meeting spaces in the CoLo, and it wound up being a game-changer in the field for scheduling of deliveries for materi-

111

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

als. Even with all that pull planning, two subs would be expecting to use the crane to get their stuff into the building, and communication would break down. It was so rewarding to be able to have an impact like that.

But it started with that leadership at the top and the kind of culture they built that empowers us.

CRAIG MOELHMAN Cherry City Electric Superintendent I’ve worked with engineers a lot over the years but this is the first time I’ve been involved from the ground up and got to participate in the design. And they listened to our ideas.

112

For example, initially we were going to go underground with our power cables going from medium voltage transformers to the main switchboards. I had concerns about the footprint of the transformers and the switchboards staying consistent since we didn’t have approved submittals already. I was also concerned about disturbing the contaminated soils beneath our site.

Together we started looking for a better solution and came to the idea of using a bus duct, going overhead instead, meaning we wouldn’t have to go underground. There was an added cost to going to bus duct, but it wound up being fortunate because the footprints changed and the underground wouldn’t have been possible and we’d have still had to go overhead. But we stayed ahead of the problem and saved ourselves time and money.

KATRINA MYRON Knight Cancer Institute Project Coordinator I’m assisting with placing people in the building. I’ve seen them walk in there and get excited. We started taking them on tours a couple months ago. The feedback has been really good. Some of the people who have been the most challenging to please have had their voices heard and have felt like they’ve been cared about. You feel that wave of doing good work.

PAUL NIELSON TCM Senior Project Manager The KCRB has changed the way our company builds projects. We’ve had all our executives come to the jobsite, and we’ve had shop and construction managers from our affiliates all across the United States come and tour the project.

Everybody is hoping to learn from it. On the East Coast, IPD and design-build have taken off more.

In Portland there have been just a few opportunities in the last five years. Even so, the success of this process has turned heads. But if you don’t have trust from the owner, it’s just not going to work.

A great thing this project has given us besides the experience is the opportunity to try new ideas and work with the engineers from the beginning, especially with prefab.

This would have been a five-year project 25 years ago. We had to be able to build a lot of things off-site and bring it in. But you learn from

that. The prefabricated shafts on this job were our first. Now we’re doing it on other projects and taking it further: hanging the piping and ducting at the same time. Without the opportunity to try it here, it may not have worked.

JOHN NOVAK Oregon Health & Science University Senior Project Manager I’ve been an owner’s rep for the past 25 years with research universities, and there’s no doubt this is the way to do it: the collaboration, the trust, the treating people fairly, doing what’s right even if it’s not necessarily what the contract says. I think everyone understands we get a better product out of it.

BRIAN PRICE McCarthy/Andersen Project Executive Early on with the Core Team we recognized it’s not the tools and it’s not the method. It’s the people. We had to get the right people in the seat. There was a big shuffle with the Core Team that was about trying to find the right mix of people. That had nothing to do with competence or skill level. It was all about culture. Once you had the right fit of collaborative people, there was a lot of learning to do with lean tools. I always felt I was way out of my comfort zone. This is different from the way I used to do things.

I struggled early on with that pit in my stomach. But then I realized everyone was going through that.

CHAP TER 9: VOICES OF THE KCRB

I’ve seen situations where there’s a group of great people and it doesn’t come together because people are afraid to fail. We have had our fair share of obstacles on this project: budget constraints, schedule issues. And we’ve always risen to the occasion to work through those.

If you don’t have the trust and communication early on, and everyone goes to their corners, that’s when the attorneys get involved. This project was different. Once I realized we really had strong support from our clients, it was huge, and something that we as a Core Team wanted to pass on. No finger pointing. We’re all in this together.

BILLY RUSSO McCarthy/Andersen Senior Project Engineer I think the culture started with IPD and everyone being brought in early, but colocation has been the biggest advantage. That’s something I’d never experienced previously. I also think one of the most important things with this job was a really committed owner team.

I’ve been on jobs in the past where the project manager for the owner is either not there when you need them, or is checked out. I think that’s been critical for this team: the overwhelming commitment and input from owner representatives. It sets an example: if it’s that important to the client, it had better be important for the rest of us.

KEN SCRIVNER JH Kelly Senior Project Manager I’ve been in the industry 30+ years and worked all over the United States, China and Canada. I’ve moved 17 times and I’m not moving anywhere again. This is basically my fourth IPD project and I guess you could say I don’t want to move away from this either. You get a guaranteed maximum price, you do the work on time and materials, and the owner gets the savings: that’s the way every project should be done. First you have to get contractors that share all the correct cost information. You’ve got to show everything. This is the new culture. If I were an owner, I’d do all of my buildings this way.

JERAMIE SHANE Mayer/Reed Principal This was our first formalized IPD project and it’s the most successful one I’ve been on to date. I think it’s because this team was so committed to it from the get-go. They were just earnestly interested in seeing how this would work with full commitment. I think this project wants strivers. It took us a while to catch up to the concept. But I still remember people’s stories from the beginning. Once the CoLo trailer got built, it was another scale of energy.

You felt like you were going to a firm in and of itself, which allowed me to build relationships I wouldn’t normally have. And you learn about yourself. With the CliftonStrengths personality tests, I learned that my

number one trait is empathy. You start to connect that not everybody sees the same things the same way.

It’s so vital to what we do in terms of sharing information and coordinating something this complex. This is a place where cancer is going to be cured. It’s not about you or me or the now. It’s about the future.

That idealism really trickled down to the spirit we had on the project.

JEFF SLINGER McCarthy/Andersen Mechanical Engineer I feel like IPD is a journey. We’re trying to change every aspect of the way we do business, and it’s hard.

But it’s been satisfying for me, the growth I’ve seen. I think of Wayne Bergquist, our lead plumber with JH Kelly. I’m so proud of him. He’d be in a meeting with architects and engineers and it would be intimidating. He’d be silent. I kept nagging him behind the scenes: “You have to get engaged with what we’re doing here.” He finally started opening his mouth. We realized quickly he’s one of the smartest guys in the room. In IPD the degrees and titles don’t matter. Smart wins. He started realizing he could impact this project from a positive standpoint.

And I feel like next time he’ll already be out of his shell when we begin.

LARRY SNOW McCarthy/Andersen Superintendent At first this job took some getting used to. Usually you’re in a job trailer by yourself where you have

113

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

peace and quiet. I don’t do well with distractions, so I get here at 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning to do all my focused work on the computer. But I respect the fact that on this job you’re placing more trust in people. There are a lot of examples of people like me who came full circle to embrace and become advocates for this process. The challenge with IPD relies on you having the integrity and courage to make commitments.

To be successful I think it’s about getting the right people. But I would hope I don’t ever have to go back to the traditional delivery method.

NICK STEPHENS McCarthy/Andersen Project Manager 114

I was a huge naysayer at first.

But we’ve had unique challenges and everyone has been flexible. That’s been eye-opening. If that can happen here on a short schedule, it could pretty much happen anywhere. That transparency and communication is what’s different in this project. Having people on site across from you in the trailer, I can’t tell you how big of a difference that makes.

There’s still some jockeying in the field where it’s more about the end result. From a higher level we may not see that as much. I think the key with our trades is you bring them on as early in the design phase as possible. You have dedicated designers for each of the contractors. You use BIM [Building Integrated Management software] for everything.

Each contractor has his or her own

designer in the CoLo, which for us was a big help. And budget strategies: make sure everyone has one, like whether they include overtime or not, and is transparent on how many people they feel they’ll have at any time, so the schedule can be manpower-loaded, if needed.

JENNIFER TAYLOR Oregon Health & Science University Director of Design and Construction The KCRB got started before I was here, but when I went down and saw the CoLo it was one of the things that made me want to take the job. I was inspired by how it was designed, having worked on IPD projects and seeing they got it right. There was clearly pull planning and lots of lean activity. People were actually sitting together and talking. They weren’t in silos. My first impression was wow, these guys got it right.

Like any projects, there are stumbling blocks. I saw a team that wasn’t perfect and didn’t have all the answers, but because of how they were committed to working together, they were able to have the difficult conversations and figure out the right answers to things.

That’s the ultimate promise of working this way. When you do run into problems, when personalities do clash, you’ve developed the tools and abilities to solve those problems. That’s what doesn’t happen in other traditional delivery methods that aren’t transparent and trustworthy. This group works through those tough things and comes up with a good solution.

I thought “Hack the CoLo” was a particularly smart move: to recognize we were moving deeply into construction and just leaving things as-is wasn’t necessarily the best solution. They said, “Let’s keep it fresh. Let’s push ourselves. We need to reorganize who speaks to whom and where people sit.” But they approached it in a collaborative way. They had that vision to say, “What do we want the magazine cover to look like in a year?” I thought that was a really great and creative way to get that group energized throughout all of the trades.

Flexibility is really crucial, whether you’re talking about the team or the building. There’s a diagram I draw all the time that I got from a Lean Construction Institute conference: there’s a small square and there’s a larger square, and then a really big square with the others in the corner. The first two are design and construction.

The big square is the longevity of the building and the money spent on operations and human capital. If we don’t get it right in those first couple of little squares, we’re just making the rest of that a lot more expensive, not optimal. It’s so important that we get it right when we’re building it.

But you don’t get that if you don’t have the trust. And it happens on our side, too: we as the owner showed all our cards: “This is the money I have and this is how it’s bucketed.”

That’s been a game changer for our general contractors. We involve them from the beginning, and they’re not used to owners showing all their cards. They really appreciate that and they have a much better understanding of what our limitations are.

CHAP TER 9: VOICES OF THE KCRB

JENNIFER TEEPLES Oregon Health & Science University Program Director, Knight Operations

TRAVIS WALDIE General Sheet Metal Superintendent

I started on this project in 2014 when it was just an idea. I went on East Coast tours with our senior leadership staff. A lot of our ideas around collaborative, open spaces were based on the ideas and what we saw on those tours. I was there for the writing of the tri-party agreement where they outlined the approach, and I facilitated some of the success criteria around enduring relationships and client expectations.

This project has been unique right out of the gate. To have all the trades and the architect a few steps away in the CoLo is really paramount to getting questions answered in a timely fashion and to keeping on schedule. Traditionally the hang-up is waiting for RFIs or design intent to get answered.

This project, we got answers the same day. That’s unheard of. And the relationship between the subs has been pretty incredible. I could walk up now to an electrician from Cherry City I’ve never met before and it’s “How can I help you?”

It’s like each of us is an internal customer of each other. And that’s true for any trade I’m working with.

I have to admit: I did have the initial learning curve with the lean and IPD jargon. But from the beginning of talking about what the CoLo should be, there was intention and purpose to make sure these spaces were conducive to building trust and creating an environment where people could speak up and have radical candor with each other.

And it shows: people want to be here.

If you look at office environments and work culture in the United States, at the macro level it’s very individualistic. You see people with their own agendas. They don’t have the trust between team members.

You start breaking those walls down and things start to happen. People are more focused on the team than on their individual selves. I’m hoping this will continue to be a trend because it just works better. It’s more fun, it makes you feel more engaged versus scared about how other people will respond, and it’s a much more selfless environment.

room for improvement. When we held a “Ladies Craft Lunch” for the trade partners, for example, they said they felt like they were being asked to come in as women only, but they hadn’t as workers in the field felt included enough in the past compared to people in the CoLo. That inclusion focus is something we can continue to keep working on with IPD and lean by extending it to the field. If we made inclusion a topic of conversation as frequently as safety, we might be getting more results.

115

BROOK WYNTERGREEN McCarthy/Andersen Project Engineer When I first heard about lean construction and IPD, I thought it was just hype. But I see here, especially being collocated, that every person has a different way of being strong at work. We get information faster. We communicate more. We trust our teams. It’s not just a phone call or a oncea-week visit. I really know more people, including the owner, which is fabulous. Knowing their needs and the necessities, you’re thinking about things from their perspective.

As a woman I really appreciate the inclusive culture that’s been created here. But there’s always

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

116

CHAP TER 00: TITLE TITLE

117

KCRB BUILDING TIMELINE

2014

2015

NOV

Team Colocates offsite: 30 architects, contractors, engineers, subcontractors and client representatives in the same space begin building the team

OHSU Selects the McCarthy/Andersen SRG Team

118

JAN

CREATING A DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT THAT FUELS TRANSFORMATIVE CANCER RESEARCH DRIVING INNOVATION MAY AND DISCOVERY

DESIGN MODIFICATION: ACCESS TO LIGHT design modification: access to light current zoning

proposed building

27°

ROOF 7 MECH 6 TERRACE / ADMIN 5 RESEARCH 4 RESEARCH 3 RESEARCH 2 RESEARCH 1 LOBBY P1 LOBBY / PARKING P2 PARKING

ARTHUR

CLSB ARTHUR

MEADE

PROPOSED BUILDING

Trade partner selection begins VIEW CORRIDOR MODIFICATION

WEST ELEVATION - PROPOSED VIEW CORRIDORS OPTION 1

First Design Review consultation with City of Portland VIEW CORRIDOR MODIFICATION

Act

JUL Building orientation determined: labs to be located on the south (provide best daylight to areas used the most)

Check Team begins the pull planning process to develop the schedule

PORTER

CURRENT ZONING

WEST ELEVATION - CURRENT VIEW CORRIDORS

Team Mission Statement established

33°

Plan Do Check Act approach adopted by the team

Plan Do

MEADE

CLSB

FEB

APR

Project kick-off

OHSU South Waterfront Open House: sharing the vision for KCRB with the neighborhood and broader community

Concept Phase— Programming and Guiding Principles Validation

Core Team established Design kick-off

Leadership + Decision Making structure finalized: Steering Committee, Associate Directors, Core Team

119

JUN Tri-party MOU signed

by SRG, McCarthy/ Andersen and OHSU

Eco-charrette: a stretch goal of LEED Platinum is identified Target Value Design begins OHSU meets the $500 million fundraising target and matching kicks in

AUG Criteria Design begins

Functional Teams are formed and populated with interdisciplinary representatives

massing & architecture: south elevation

active street & neighborhood: view down moody ave

SEPT Building Information Modeling Workshop, including modelers from all disciplines

Submission of Design Advice Review package to the City of Portland

Kick-off meeting (allocation and size) for "public" spaces and attractors

120

2016

JAN City of Portland permit received for jobsite Colocation

Big Room Team Building Session 1: the team met regularly together with the sole purpose of developing positive working relationships and a better understanding of each other's goals and expectations to feed the design process.

Core Team studies communcation and high-functioning teams

First Cost Reconciliation Envelope Team Target Value Design Workshop saves $2.3M

APR Permit Package 1 submission to City of Portland for review: foundations and shoring up to level 1

OCT

DEC

VIEW ON PR

Cardboard lab, sawtooth window and storage mockup

Detail Documents Begin

KNIGHT CANCER RESEARCH BUILDING

Neighborhood Open House

OHSU SRG McCARTHY/

121

FEB First computationalist workshop

MAR Jobsite Colocation Move-In and Celebration: trailers installed, furnished and a team of approximately 80 people move in; we celebrate with the first of many team barbeques

Implementation Documents begin for structure, foundations and MEP distribution and service cores

Lab bench mockup and test-fit, workstation mockup

MAY WEST VIEW

Envelope Functional Team visits Wausau, Wisconsin, to collaborate on envelope design with manufacturer

First Experimentalists Workshop

BUILDING DESIGN EXHIBIT C.34 OHSU SRG McCARTHY/ANDERSEN

Design approved

by City of Portand Design Commission

Interior materials/ finishes direction

JUN Groundbreaking

122

AUG Artist commissioned for sculpture in north atrium

SEP Tower crane delivery

Final foundation column placed

DEC P1 concrete pour completion Backup generator installed

Big Room Team Building Session 2: KCRB stories and lessons learned collected from the whole team, and the idea of a book is established

JUL Scope increased to include fit-out for 2 shelled floors. Total Project Budget adjusted from $160 to $190 million (schedule does not change)

Knight Town Hall event

123

OCT

NOV

Installation of underground plumbing and electrical begins

Knight Open House at OHSU

2017

Permit Package 3 submitted (Interiors fit out)

All-team bowling social event

User groups kickoff meeting

Team receives a personal note of appreciation from Dr. Druker recognizing the projects collaborative spirit

JAN "Snowmageddon" Storm: work stops for a total of 10 days, consuming the majority of 'float' in the construction schedule

Move-In Planning Begins

FEB

MAR

Level 1 concrete pour (largest of project): 3.2 million pounds of concrete

The Knight's Operations Project Team begins development of roadmap for a successful and sustainable operations plan for the building

Outdoor BBQ/Picnic lunch (entire team, including construction)

Lab Bench and Furniture mock-ups evaluated by users for for aesthetics and functionallity

Buy-out is complete, project meets Target Budget

124

MAY Additional, temporary Colocation space is added inside KCRB for trade pull planning and coordination

JUL KCRB Occupant Orientation is held to discuss move in process and tour the building

Prefab shaft installation begins Air Handling Units delivered to site

AUG The Knight holds a summer celebration and beam signing party for everyone who has worked on the project

Final concrete slab pour at level 6

Air handlers, chillers and pumps are lifted to the 6th floor

APR Innovation challenge accepted by MEP Teams: planning effort to prefabricate overhead racks with multiple trades begins, saving money and time but most importantly increasing safety

Final design presentation to users

Final Permit Approved by the City of Portland

Big Room Team Building Session 3: “Hack the CoLo”—the whole team gets together to talk about how the CoLo will function with more trade partners

125

JUN KCRB Town Hall is held to orient Knight employees to the new building

McCarthy/Andersen Joint Venture teambuilding workshop

Transfer Girder is stressed and shoring post in auditorium is removed

Steel Top Out

Final concrete column is poured; exterior envelope installation begins

Temporary freight elevator installed

SEP Transition Team holds first 'Wet Lab Test Fit ' with users to talk about how space will be utilized

126

OCT Red tower crane is removed, leaving a single crane

Transformers delivered to job site

KNIGHT EARLY DETECTION SCIENTISTS AND ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM DECIDE TO USE OFFICE DEC SPACES AS 'HUDDLE ROOMS' AND UTILIZE Punched windows pass OPEN SEATING water pressure testing Supporting the 'Guiding Principles' for KCRB; most private offices are repurposed

Sheetrock, painting and ceiling installation is well under way and moving up the building

FEB Final dry-in complete at roof

KCRB 'the book' functional team begins work

Second tower crane is removed

First laboratory equipment installed

NOV Dry-lab test fits are concluded as team collaboratively navigates growth and future recruitment

Power connection to the building is completed

2018

Trade appreciation picnic

127

JAN Conference Room Operations Plan complete Lab furniture begins installation on level 2 while drywall is beginning on level 7

MAR BBQ held to thank the project crew members

Big Room Team Building Session 4: Unconscious Bias + Close Out session on continuing to improve the process and communication

Tenant Orientation

Removal of exterior scaffolding begins

APR

MAY

Shared Equipment and Surplus list shared by all researchers

Interior finish work continues; first sidewalk concrete is poured

JUN

JUL

Interior casework and FF+E installation continues

Future occupant 'neighborhoods' meet with Logistics and Transition Team to ensure a smooth move-in

Exterior freight elevator removed

128

Punchlist begins

SEP Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

A 4k screen and video wall is installed in the large conference room which was the heart of an international conference in Fall 2018

KCRB 'Block Party' held to begin prep for move in day and continue tenant orientations

Exterior sheet metal passes inspection and installation is commended

129

AUG OHSU Employees are invited to a 'Housewarming' for the project

Open House: the entire Portland community is invited to tour the building; over 1000 people attend

Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) is issued August 17

Move in begins August 20

NOV

DEC

Move in is 90% complete; 27 labs and 90 early detection researchers are working in the building

Final Certificate of Occupancy issued December 5, 2018

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

KNIGHT CANCER RESEARCH BUILDING OPENING CEREMONY SPEECH September 7, 2018 130

Brian Druker, Ph.D. Director, Knight Cancer Institute

OPENING CEREMONY SPEECH

I want each and every one of you who worked on this

do with the patients’ lives we save. But I might have to

building to know how grateful I am, that our dreams

alter that just a little bit. This building is pretty remark-

have become a reality as we start on this new journey.

able. But everything we do in this inspiring space will

I especially want to thank the OR legislature and all the

be dedicated to finding better treatments and detect-

ten thousand donors who were inspired to take up Phil

ing cancer at its earliest, most treatable stages.

and Penny Knight’s challenge. I’m incredibly grateful

The men and women who built this building under-

for OHSU leadership, to the architecture firm SRG and

stood our mission. They kept a large board where they

construction firm McCarthy/Andersen, and all of the

wrote the names of the family members and friends

men and women who came together to design and

they lost to cancer. And while that board is gone, this

build this remarkable building.

building stands as a monument to those who we’ve

Today we celebrate the opening of a building where some of the greatest minds in science will battle a dis-

lost and a testament to the urgency of our work.

When we went to the legislature and asked them

ease that affects all of us. But it’s more than that. The

to authorize $200 million in bonding authority, we

building is the embodiment of what we can accomplish

promised that even though we had not yet met the

when we come together for a cause that’s bigger than

challenge, that if they authorized that request, we

any one of us. I often say—actually, my wife who writes

would start planning this building, even before we met

for me says—we don’t measure our success by awards

the challenge, so we could jump-start this program.

or headlines or buildings. We measure everything we

We said that we would complete this building by July of 2018, and we’ve delivered on time and on budget.

From the first stages of conception of this project we brought together architects, our construction firm, and our team of researchers and staff to create a building that would foster collaboration, teamwork, and

“We do not simply dream of better outcomes for patients. We seize them.

And because of you, an end of cancer begins here.”

Dr. Brian Druker, at the opening of the Knight Cancer Research Building at OHSU.(OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)

131

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

innovation. And when you walk through this building,

recognized that higher calling: to build a building

you will understand: we accomplished that goal. We’ve

where we would end cancer as we know it.

already recruited some of the nation’s top cancer

I’ve gotten to meet so many incredible people. One

that by changing the way we do research, we’ll have

of the highlights has been spending more time with

a greater impact and a better outcome. Though we

Gert Boyle, our “One Tough Mother” and our largest

bring different expertise to our mission, as scientists,

individual donor. Gert is quick to point out that her gift

computationalists and clinical researchers, our core is

is no greater in spirit or worth more than the student

always focused on patients and their families.

who held bake sales. Everybody gave what they could,

When we started this journey to end cancer as we know it, it seemed daunting. But perhaps the only

132

One of the best parts of the past few years is

researchers, who came here because they believed

and so did she.

Our setting has changed, and we’ve gained new

good thing you can say about cancer is that it creates

friends and an impressive, determined team. But

unlikely allies. We saw businesses and union lead-

our focus remains the same: our patients and their

ers come together, joining forces to raise money. As

families. But now, we do not simply dream of better

you’ve heard from Governor Brown, Republicans and

outcomes for patients. We seize them. And because of

Democrats working together in the Oregon legislature

you, an end of cancer begins here.

came together for this cause. Kids held bake sales and lemonade stands. People donated from every state around this country and 14 countries around the world. In all, ten thousand people heed the call and gave to this challenge, and we’re forever grateful for their support. When we walk in the door each day, we’re greeted by Phil Knight’s quote: “Is there a higher calling than curing cancer?” And we have a tribute wall with ten thousand dots representing the ten thousand donors that made this building possible. Everyone who donated, and everyone who worked on this building,

Thank you very much.

AF TERWORD

AFTERWORD

Tiffani Howard, Ph.D. Program Director, Knight Cancer Institute KCRB Project Liaison

133

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

“It’s about people. It’s all about the people.”

myself, “What can be learned from our adventure into IPD that is valuable for all teams, in all fields?”

Virtually everyone on the Knight Cancer Research Building project team was new to the integrated process when we began. With a team possessing hundreds of collective years of experience in their fields

Why would we write a book about a construction project? If you aren’t in the building business, why would you read it? The answer is simple. This book isn’t about design or construction, it’s about people. It’s all about the people.

Four years ago, I was ready to transition from stayat-home mom and part-time research scientist to a new phase in my career. I explored the things I wanted when looking for a job. I was looking for a challenge, 134

creativity, and variety. I wanted to bring people from many disciplines together on a high-performing team in order to make a contribution of worth in a field I was passionate about. This opportunity as Project Liaison has more than exceeded my hopes. Growing with this amazing team is a gift.

While the project team is going on to the next building, I’m remaining at the Knight Cancer Institute to identify and remove roadblocks to team science, the collaboration of experts in many fields innovating together to answer the most difficult and critical questions. Integrated Project Delivery is a strikingly similar concept to team science, but with extraordinary buildings as the result. As liaison representing the scientists and administration of the Knight, I have been immersed on the design and construction team and together we have delivered a built environment uniquely suited for the future of cancer research. Now as we move into the building, I am constantly asking

to fall back on, maintaining open minds towards trying new things and listening to new voices is sometimes a struggle. Early in the project, while looking at how other institutions achieved team science, we visited Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia, where Senior Fellow, Tim Harris, spoke of his formative years at iconic Bell Labs. His words have stuck with me: “I decided I’d rather look ignorant and ask the question than be ignorant.” As a scientist venturing into the design and construction field, I received a free pass to challenge, “Why are we doing that?” out of pure ignorance and curiosity. The unacceptable answer, “Because it’s the way we’ve always done it,” became a joke that discouraged looking backwards. It turns out I wasn’t the only one with questions; asking why eventually became normal and was no longer taken as an offense. We constantly tested ourselves: “Is this working? What could we do to make it better?”

With this team, making changes to process or to team composition was not considered failure but progress; it was a project-wide mindset that led to constant improvement. We learned from each other.

But listening to younger, less experienced voices requires humility. It requires vulnerability to admit that there might be a better way or a better person for the job. Many teams are formed without much planning, choosing those with titles or political clout or years of experience. But why wouldn’t we look for the best people for the job? Why wouldn’t we examine individual strengths and reward and exploit them for the good of

AF TERWORD

the team? A great team is a diverse team, diverse in talents, views, age and experience as well as gender and ethnicity.

Lean philosophy, with its goal of providing ideal customer value through a process that has zero waste, points to talent in the form of skills and intellect as one of the eight assets too valuable to waste. The collective intellectual pool on any team must be fully tapped. Doing so requires recognizing that every voice has something valuable to contribute, and that diverse thinking leads to well-vetted solutions. But it can be intimidating to speak up, or ask a risky question. Regardless of position, one can be a leader on any team by being

Tiffani Howard and project team win People's Choice Award for 2018 Transformational Project of the Year.

one’s true self, transparent and honest about what one can and can’t do, what one does and doesn’t know.

This will open the door for others on the team to do the same. Trust develops, and performance improves. The result is radiating circles of influence from empowered team members back to their own institution or their next team. Authenticity is contagious.

Culture change does happen. It’s possible, it’s grueling, and it’s worth it. There isn’t any reason to sugarcoat the fact that it is difficult to balance changing team dynamics, focusing on people when there’s work to be done, and disregarding hierarchy for the good of the project. But the compassionate words of Benjy Howe, Director of Learning and Organizational Development at OHSU, “This is hard stuff,” have kept me going. Our team was intentional about stopping to acknowledge how hard it was, celebrating what we had accomplished, and reminding each other of the goal. We were curing cancer. The level of commitment and trust we enjoyed on this team was extraordinary.

When the going gets tough, trust wins. At the time of this writing we were just weeks away from the completion, on schedule and on budget, of this

groundbreaking building where we will end cancer as we know it. It is typically a time, I was told, fraught with contention, evidenced by finger-pointing, harsh words, threats and even litigation. I trusted my team so I believed them, but what I actually saw was a group of friends working collaboratively — yes, sweating it and having hard conversations, but remaining focused on the goal to reach the finish line together. In the home stretch of the project Mark Hermans, Project Manager for General Sheet Metal, spontaneously piped up, “Everyone on this job site seems happy to be here and honestly, no other job I’ve been on has been like this.”

It’s all about the people—real, valued and recognized—and as a result, the project excels and the individuals grow. I speak for myself and many others on this team, that going back to the old way of doing things just isn’t an option. Believing the old adage “A rising tide lifts all boats,” we have become self-proclaimed ambassadors of transparency and honesty that elicits a culture of trust because we don’t ever want to settle for any other team environment. Why would you?

135

COLL ABOR ATION FOR A CURE

CAST & CREDITS

136

To all those who gave of their time, energy, skills, talents and innovation to contribute to the pursuit of ending cancer as we know it through the rise of this remarkable building, thank you.

CAST & CREDITS

Advance Welding

Ha's Painting

Performance Contracting Inc.

Allegion - Joe Cross

Haldeman-Homme, Inc.

Poss Construction

Architextures

Insulation Contractors Inc.

Pro-Bel Enterprises Limited

ASI Structures

Interior Exterior Specialist

Proclean

B+H Advance Strategy

Iris Window Coverings

Quality Door Service, Inc.

Benson

Jacobs Consultancy

R&J Metal Fab, Inc.

BioCold Environmental, Inc.

JH Kelly LLC

Raimore Construction LLC

Boyter Brothers LLC

Johnson Controls Fire Protection LP

Ricca Design Studios

Bratton Masonry

KPFF Consulting Engineers

Roedel Tile Contracting Co., Inc.

Brightworks Sustainability

LaRusso Concrete Inc.

Safway Services LLC

Brudnage Bone

Listen Acoustics

Sedia Systems Inc.

Building Material Specialists

Luma Lighting Design

The Shalleck Collaborative

Catena Consulting Engineers

M. Thrailkill Architect, LLC.

Siemens Industry Inc.

Cherry City Electric

Mayer / Reed, Inc.

Smith & Greene Company

Cochran Inc.

McDonald Excavating Inc.

Snyder Roofing of Oregon LLC

Convergint Technologies, LLC

McNulty Flooring, LLC

Standard TV & Appliance

Culver Glass

Neudorfer Engineers, Inc.

Stonhard, Inc.

DeaMor Associates Inc.

Northwest Geotech, Inc.

Studio SC

Delta Systems Integration, Inc.

NorthWest Handling Systems Inc.

Superior Gunite

Drake's Striping and Painting Inc.

Northwest Masonry Restoration Co.

Temp Control Mechanical, Inc.

Elevator Solutions

Northwest Precast LLC

Todd A. Welch, Inc.

Extreme Excavating Inc.

Oregon Commercial Painters

Tube Art Displays, Inc.

The Faรงade Group

Otis Elevator Company

Turtle Mt. Construction

Faustrollean Fixture Company Inc.

Overhead Door Co. of Portland

Vaughn Environmental, Inc.

Floor Solutions LLC

Pacific Decorative Concrete Inc.

WFJ Janitorial Services, Inc.

Fred Shearer and Sons Inc.

Pacific Foundation

Western Rebar

General Sheet Metal

PAE Engineers

Western States Fire Protection Co.

GeoDesign

PBS Supply Co.

137

The creation of this book would not have been possible without the generous financial assistance and inkind donations from the following companies:

SRG Partnership McCarthy/Andersen Joint Venture PAE Catena Mayer Reed KPFF JH Kelly Cherry City Electric TCM Mechanical Fred Shearer & Sons

A special thanks to the team of people who donated countless hours of their time and talents to put this book together: Leslie Boll, SRG’s graphic designer, who put her heart and soul into making this book visually compelling and beautiful.

Kip Richardson, SRG, who was instrumental in driving the overall process, continually editing the book and empowering the team.

Jacquie Martin, Andersen Construction, who managed the process, kept track of everything, and did it with a smile!

Tiffani Howard, Research Scientist and client liaison for the Knight Cancer Institute whose wisdom and ideas permeate the entire book.

Stef Becker, McCarthy Construction, who took on the daunting task of keeping the book alive and the team motivated, even when everyone was overwhelmed.

Author Brian Libby, who sifted through a complex process and dozens of different voices and turned them into a coherent and memorable narrative.

We are grateful to many people for the images and photography in this book. We have provided credits where possible, but want to acknowledge these sources as well: McCarthy Building Companies, Brad Feinknopf, and those team members who took time to snap cell phone shots throughout the process.

Editor: Kip Richardson Copy-editor: CJ Chang Book Design: Leslie Boll and Alyssa Gritzmacher

First printing March 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without permission of the publisher.