When fans sip their first beer at Atlanta’s new minor league ballpark on April 17, few of those on hand will appreciate the feat of design and construction that led to the opening day event.
The new $59-million facility on 12 acres in Gwinnett County, northeast of Atlanta, was designed and built in just over one year. The secret to the fast delivery was a method called design—build/assist, where the design team provided the vision, oversight and schematic phase drawings, but major subcontractors provided the detailed design. This approach allowed the team to tap the hands-on experience of key subcontractors on materials and methods, and moved the project forward without lengthy design-phase deliberations.