Boston and Northampton, MA – The Smith College Clark Science Center Renovation project was awarded the IFMA 2013 Award of Excellence in the Large Project Category. The award was presented at this year’s IFMA Boston Awards of Excellence Gala held on May 23rd at the Renaissance Hotel in Boston.
RDK Engineers (MEP), R.E. Dinneen Architects and Planners, Bond Brothers (Construction Manager), and CSL Consulting (Owner’s Project Rep) were on hand to receive the award which was presented to the team whose project, system, innovation, or an idea that has had a substantial, positive effect on the success of their organization.
The Smith College Clark Science Center project was a highly complex, multi-year, multi-phase, infrastructureintensive, design-build project. It began with faculty and staff that was promised a brand new, $60M science building just as endowment funding was shrinking. The team was able to convince Smith College that there were major improvements and upgrades that could transform this building and make it special even with the reduced budget of $24M that they ended up with. The renovation thoroughly transformed 163,000 SF of outdated academic space into a modern, state-of-the-art science center for Smith College’s expanding science programs.
In order to renovate the facility, the team faced a number of obstacles. The building needed to remain 60% occupied throughout the project, and phasing in terms of infrastructure, code upgrades, and deferred maintenance was essential. The team also had to creatively couple all deferred maintenance needs with capital improvement needs in order to achieve the desired results.
An organized, committed and communicative approach was the basis and key to this project being a success. There was a communication and accountability process that was implemented and committed to by the team that encouraged success for this difficult project.
Communication, which is so often taken for granted on capital construction projects, was paramount on the Clark Science Center renovation project, directly contributing to the overall success of the project. The camaraderie developed amongst the firms involved was exceptional. The watertight communication process was flawless. A true team experience that resulted in a facility where Smith faculty members have commented they are “so happy to come to work everyday”!