The project consisted of a 4 story structure with approximately 600 beds to be used as student housing and 25,000 sf of academic and retail space. The proposed building site contained a multitude of existing utilities including gas, water, sewer, storm drain, fiber, chilled water, and steam tunnels.
This project is a partnership between NAU and ACC. Both entities wished to keep the project moving but limit the financial commitment until the Arizona Board of Regents was able to take a vote in April of 2017. WLB understood that this meant the project was proceeding at risk and provided designs with constant attention to budget and quality. Strong upfront planning and constant, proactive communication and coordination made this project a success.
Because this project was on a fast-track with minimal amount of schedule delay possibilities and no room for error, the WLB team had to think quick on their feet to come up with solutions as they arose especially during construction. To allow communication back to the contractor quickly, the WLB team would collaborate immediately, present multiple options which in turn allowed the contractor flexibility in construction and same-day answers to questions. Constant communication and an ability to be flexible with design allowed the team to stay on the same page throughout the project and was one of the largest contributors to this project’s success and meeting the critical opening date for Honors Students.
To accommodate the very accelerated schedule WLB developed phased design packages to allow for earliest possible construction start with utility design completed first. Design and construction then occurred simultaneously; allowing for the complex system of utilities to be relocated from beneath the proposed building pad while the project design team was working to complete the building and site design packages.
