The members of the building team charged with landing what appears to be a winged flying saucer at Florida Polytechnic University's new campus would have had enough on their plate if they were all huddled in the same place, scratching their heads over design architect Santiago Calatrava's futuristic forms. But they weren't. The designers, builders, fabricators and other material and product suppliers were scattered around the globe. Photo courtesy Skanska USA Building Intense collaboration among contractors and designers building the Santiago Calatrava-designed Florida Polytechnic University project resulted in a signature architectural marvel.
The geographic divide made an already difficult job even more so. For the 162,000-sq-ft Innovation, Science and Technology Building, "every corner we turned, there was something that required close attention," says Joey Ottman, project manager for architect-of-record Alfonso Architects.