Integrated design guided construction of the Waukesha County Health and Human Service Building, a $36.7-million, 136,500-sq-ft facility that consolidates an array of functions, including veterans services, adolescent and family services and economic support services under a single roof.

Beginning with site selection, tight collaboration among the owner, architect, construction manager and consultants resulted in a 10% savings on project costs. Benefits extended to occupancy costs. During planning, team members consulted LEED green building guidelines to achieve the highest savings possible. The lighting scheme, for instance, surpasses industry standards by 20% at only a third of the cost the owner incurred at a previous facility.

During the planning phase, team members employed building information modeling (BIM) to simultaneously develop concepts for structure and M/E/P systems, a collaboration that allowed for early identification and resolution of conflicts and other issues. BIM also facilitated prefabrication of building components.

Team members deemed Waukesha's super-insulated envelope, clad in red brick and buff-colored terracotta rain screen, critical to achieving a high-performance building.

In addition to coordinating the work of all trades, the team hired a third party to review plans and inspect installation. Prior to erection, team members verified construction details during inspections of mock-ups.

To provide a welcoming facility that nonetheless segregated clients from staff spaces, team members developed public zones that included meeting rooms for consultations. As built, clients register at a central reception area before proceeding to public lobbies and sub-lobbies on each floor. Clustered around sub-lobbies are interview rooms, group treatment rooms, visitation rooms and classrooms that allow staff to interface with clients without compromising the security of private work spaces.

Rooms are acoustically isolated to promote privacy among counselors, social workers and clients, with walls that are fully insulated and dampened and with doors that are sealed to ensure sound doesn't travel.

In all, crews logged 171,356 labor hours on the project without incident or time lost to an accident, an accomplishment project CM Gilbane Building attributes to placing safety at the forefront of all activities from early in the design phase, when owner and builder developed a detailed plan outlining requirements to be met throughout construction.

Project team members executed several control measures to address the adjacency of new and existing facilities, including paved walkways, signage, phasing and selective weekend and overtime work, thereby promoting the safety of employees and clients throughout construction.

Gilbane's management team additionally hosted weekly safety meetings to encourage the involvement of crew members in identifying and addressing safety concerns on the site.