Editor’s Note: Every year, the Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry receives many fantastic project nominations for its Excellence in Construction Quality Award, but only one project can win in each category. This month we introduce you to one of those projects, the Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, Calif., which was a serious contender in the category where the AWCI member contractor’s contract was more than $1 million. And although this project did not win AWCI’s award, it did win two from Engineering News-Record: California Best Projects 2012 and National Best of the Best Projects 2012.
AWCI’s Excellence in Construction Quality Award honors all the AWCI members—contractors, manufacturers and suppliers/distributors—who participate on a quality project. In this project, the participating AWCI manufacturers and suppliers were 3M Construction & Home Improvement Markets Division, Ames Taping Tools, Clinch-On Cornerbead Company, CEMCO, Fry Reglet Corporation, Grabber San Diego, Graco, Inc., Hilti, Inc., Hyde Tools, Mudmaster, Inc., Nathan Kimmel Co., LLC, National Gypsum Company, On Center Software, Inc., Ray-Bar Engineering Corporation, Specified Technologies Inc., Surface Shields, Inc., TapeTech Tool Co., Thermafiber, Inc., Trim-Tex, Inc., USG, Wallboard & Supply Co., Inc., Westpac Materials and Westside Building Material.
AWCI member DPR Construction self-performed as the interior framing, hanging and taping trade contractor but also completed the job as the construction manager. With an overall construction budget of $956 million and an initial drywall contract of $48 million, PMC displays myriad unmatched features and innovations built to the highest quality standards. Designed to accommodate288 private, single-patient rooms, 12 operating rooms and a trauma center, the 11-story hospital opened Aug. 19, 2012.
DPR’s self-perform drywall team tackled the 18 miles of full-height walls in more than 750,000 square feet of building area. Challenges that DPR encountered on the job included the following:
Schedule. On this public bid project, DPR’s drywall team had only six weeks from Notice to Proceed to welding of the top-track clips to be able to stay in front of the fireproofer. That fast pace continued for the next two and a half years with the project finishing days early.
Magnitude. At their peak, DPR had more than 240 carpenters working on the drywall scope dispersed over the 11 stories, resulting in more than 625,000 man-hours. DPR passed more than 14,000 inspections by OSHPD’s designated Inspector of Record. Some of the massive quantities of work installed by DPR’s drywall crews include the following:
• 3.6 million square feet of drywall hung
• 2.2 million square feet of walls taped and finished
• More than 10,000 structural jamb studs or headers
• 26 miles of track backing
• 8,600 linear feet of soffits
• 16 engineering judgments from fireproofing manufacturers for wall firestopping
• 170,000 linear feet of Firestik
• 20 elevator shafts and 28 mechanical shafts
• More than 600 miles of metal framing material.
Design Features. Several unique features posed firestopping challenges that DPR overcame with help from its suppliers. One of the toughest issues was dealing with the 2-inch required deflection at the 28-foot tall walls under the rolling green roof.
Tracking Production. With so much work going into place so quickly, DPR used On Center software’s digital Production Control to track and forecast production throughout the building.
BIM Coordination. Using Revit and MWF, DPR modeled all of their critical studs, joist and soffits to virtually coordinate with the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection trades to minimize re-work in the field. According to the PMC website, “The structural steel truss system creates an obstruction-free floor area that will enable space to be quickly and less expensively changed in the future to create larger or smaller operating rooms as needed.”
DPR says it strives to run projects efficiently and provide the most value to through clients through deep collaboration and integrated technologies. The company employs a feedback loop during the post-analysis meeting to review project results and lessons learned, bringing that knowledge into the next project. They believe that this continuous cycle of improvement sets them apart. With a focus on our values of integrity, enjoyment, uniqueness and ever forward, DPR proudly delivers consistent, top-quality work at the best value to its clients.
