The reconstruction of a 3,700-foot segment of pedestrian path of Cottontail Trail in Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks improved its longevity. Over a three month duration, Otak played a critical role in evaluating the existing trail and building a team to successfully complete improvements that make the park more sustainable and ADA accessible.
Trail Improvements Add Durability and Accessibility
Cottontail Trail was realigned steep sections to meet ADA grade requirements and ditches for improved drainage. The design also replaced an existing turnpike section to eliminate its need for constant repairs which included an armored ford consisting of a concrete tread section with 24-inch culvert pipes. Colored concrete with exposed aggregate finish was selected to provide a durable, low-maintenance surface that blends well with the rustic rural character of the area. Otak was responsible for ensuring that the work was done right and on schedule despite numerous changes, acting as the eyes and ears for the owner throughout the construction process.
In addressing the gap in diverse and accessible education opportunities for youth faced by many rural areas, the Nestucca Valley High School Career Technical Education (CTE) Center was developed as part of a school bond program for the communities of Coastal Oregon. With a full complement of owner’s representative services, Otak led all aspects of project management from design to construction management in delivering this catalyst for real-world skill development to benefit the entire county of Tillamook, OR, for years to come.
Managing Development of a Flexible and Adaptable Education Facility to Benefit a County’s Communities
With forward-thinking goals around flexibility and adaptability, the design prioritized an expandable and flexible approach to be able to adapt quickly to industry-driven changes in the CTE program. Set behind the existing high school building for easy student and instructor access, a pre-engineered metal building (PEMB) was erected with a smaller “building within a building” constructed with a wood-framed second story inside the metal shell. Much more than a standard metal building, the facility features a custom wood-framed interior and an exterior with metal panels running horizontally rather than the standard vertical orientation while matching the adjacent high school’s colors. Overcoming a challenging site site with steep slopes, the hillside design also includes a private reservoir, filled by an artesian well, as a sustaining water supply system. By providing practical, hands-on learning experience for a variety of professional pathways while promoting an equitable and entrepreneurial culture, the Nestucca CTE Center aims to provide long-lasting benefits for its surrounding communities.
Centered around a new multi-use path and reconstructed parking space, the City of Lafayette sought to make multi-modal improvements along South Boulder Road from Malory Street to 120th Street and on 120th Street from Eastwind Drive to Coal Creek. The Otak construction management & inspection team would keep the project to specifications and on-schedule.
Efficient Construction of Multi-Modal Improvements
Working with the Boulder County Transportation Department and the Colorado Department of Transportation, South Boulder Road would be widened with two thru-lanes; a center turn lanes; and bike lanes. The 10-foot wide concrete multi-use path runs along Merlin Drive from South Boulder Road up to the Alicia Sanchez Elementary School, and along Front Range Drive from South Boulder Road to the Lafayette Park-n-Ride. The path is accompanied by at 6-foot wide sidewalk as well as the reconstruction of the Lamont parking lot that expands parking space while also adding additional green space. A new signalized intersection at South Boulder Road and 120th Street aimed to improve traffic with turn lanes on the north, south and west legs and a dual left-turn lane for traffic traveling eastbound on South Boulder Road and turning left onto 120th Street. An existing ditch alongside 120th Street would be piped and a new storm sewer installed.
With approximately 96,000 feet of 36-inch diameter and 14,000 feet of 32-inch diameter raw water transmission pipeline, Southern Water Supply construction also required appurtenances running from Carter Lake in Larimer County south to Boulder Reservoir in Boulder.
Managing Water Pipeline Construction Across a Variety of Environments
Otak’s construction management team oversaw the roadway reconstruction and reclamation efforts for this project, which involved the installation of a 20-mile raw water pipeline that extends from Carter Lake to Boulder Reservoir. The alignment crosses open space, agricultural lands, roadway, streams, wetlands, and ditches. Some areas are environmentally sensitive and have very specific revegetation requirements. In particular, the stream crossings and wetland reclamation must be carefully monitored for compliance with 404 Permit requirements and floodplain regulations.
When it comes to project delivery, few methods are as cutting-edge as the design-build delivery, but what does it mean, and how do we differentiate it from a traditional delivery?
What is the Design-Build Delivery Method?
According to the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA), the design-build process is different from a traditional project delivery for a few reasons:
Rather than managing multiple contracts, the Owner manages only one contract with a single point of responsibility.
The single point of reference allows the designer and contractor work together from the beginning as a “Design Build Entity,” providing unified project recommendations to fit the Owner’s schedule and budget.
Any changes are addressed by the entire team rather than in siloes of the project, leading to collaborative problem-solving and innovation.
It all comes down to single-source contracting, but what’s important here is the culture of collaboration inherent in design-build. Teams truly work as a team without an adversarial relationship between subdivisions, and that means everything for successful, innovative delivery.
The Portland Building team at the DBIA Awards 2022
The DBIA has a storied history of sharing the wonders of design-build with the greater industry. Formed in 1993, it started as a handful of engineers, architects, and builders who sought to make project delivery both easier and scalable. The organization is now the authority on the design-build process, comprised of not just professionals but academics, students, and leaders from all over the country.
What’s more, they host one of the biggest industry events in the country commemorating use of the method every year.
What is the Design-Build Conference & Expo?
The Design-Build Conference & Expo happens in various locations and hosts a slew of industry professionals who come to network and learn from one another.
Projects from all over the U.S. are nominated for their historic delivery methods, and experts from across the AEC industry judge and award firms based on a variety of criteria provided by the DBIA.
“The Portland Building is by far, one of the defining projects of my career and one of the best teams I’ve worked with in my life.”
Miro Radoynovski – Portland Building Project Manager
Otak attended the annual event in Las Vegas in November 2022, where we were up for multiple awards for our owner’s representative work on The Portland Building in our home city of Portland, OR.
What Did the Portland Building Win?
At the 2022 Design-Build Conference & Expo, the Portland Building was nominated for three DBIA awards in the category of rehabilitation, renovation and restoration. The project ultimately swept all three.
Best in Process – Rehabilitation / Renovation / Restoration
National Award of Excellence – Rehabilitation / Renovation / Restoration
National Award of Merit – Rehabilitation / Renovation / Restoration
The awards reinforced the success felt across the project team, including the city of Portland. For the DBIA, success is defined in a variety of ways and the details of the Portland Building were clearly aligned with those criteria.
Delivering an Award-Winning Project: What the DBIA Looks For
Winning projects are all evaluated on the same criteria, based on DBIA’s Design Build Done Right framework.
Projects are considered if they achieve the best value while meeting design and construction quality, cost and schedule goals. They must also demonstrate advanced and innovative application of total integrated project delivery, including design-build best practices to achieve exceptional outcomes.
Credit: DLR Group
But what is the Design Build Done Right framework?
The overview of it is that it’s a universally applicable set of best practices and principles that can aid in the delivery of any design-build project. The DBIA provides a set of guidelines, and more importantly real-world techniques, that facilitate successful projects from procuring services to execution, exemplified by the following aspects of delivery:
Schedule and cost performance
Effective processes
Interdisciplinary teamwork
Problem solving
Excellence in design
Use of technology
Diversity, equity, and inclusion
Based on these elements of successful design-build, Otak is proud to say we won multiple awards the evening of the conference, which we’ll get into next.
Building a Winning Case in The Portland Building
The Portland Building project is a 15-story high-rise occupied by City of Portland bureaus. As an internationally renowned architectural example of post-Modernism designed by Michael Graves, the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and houses a number of government departments all working in tandem to make Portland run smoothly.
Exterior view of the Portland Building (Photo Credit: James Ewing, JBSA)
The project addressed the building envelope issues by covering the concrete façade with a unitized curtain wall and terracotta rain screen tiles that eliminated leaking while preserving its historic status and appearance. The restored façade also greatly improved the poor natural lighting which, combined with a full interior remodel, drastically transformed the building’s working environment. Otak also organized the temporary relocation of all the city’s 1,400+ staff to ensure that the city maintained normal operations throughout the project.
However, what’s really interesting (and unique) about the project is its cutting-edge delivery method, one that takes DBIA guidelines and brings them to the next level—progressive design-build.
Progressive Design-Build Delivery of the City of Portland’s Vision
The City of Portland initiated a $195 million project to reconstruct the building, making it the city’s largest capital project.
Such an innovative method of delivery was needed to address several of the City’s objectives with construction:
Fix the enclosure performance problems—no more leaks and better daylighting
Preserve the historic integrity of the exterior—get through landmark approval process
Upgrade the seismic performance of the building to an appropriate standard
Replace building mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems
Remedy urban design deficiencies at the base
Improve the workplace and public engagement areas
Meet requirements for LEED Gold
What Does Progressive Design-Build Mean?
Essentially, a progressive design-build delivery method is a form of early contractor involvement that can help reduce risk and increase collaboration among all stakeholders. It’s the way a construction project design is developed by the owner and design-builders using a step-by-step process.
The DBIA again states that progressive design-build allows the design and construction team to collaborate during the earliest stages of project development. This enables the greatest amount of engagement between the three key players in a construction contract: the owner, the designer, and the contractor. Ultimately, Otak advocated that this unique method was best for meeting the needs of the project in terms of complexity and scheduling needs.
Best Value for Dollar Spent: Collaborative Team Environment, Optimal Efficiency
The Progressive Design-Build model allowed for the right voices to be in the room to make the best decisions at the right time. From the outset, Otak successfully met the greatest challenge of the method—getting all team members to buy in to a lean design process and trust it would deliver an innovative project. The team also utilized the “SmartStart” partnering process, where we discussed and committed to an equitable allocation of risk and project progress which was key to establishing a collaborative environment.
Schedule, scope, and design intent were optimized, as the entire team was at the table making informed decisions each step of the way.
Planning sessions and project milestone dates were incorporated into scheduling from the very beginning to inspire active participation between stakeholders for effective schedule management.
Technology Utilization
Quality assurance and control was also highly collaborative, and we deployed high-tech tools like VR, Clash Detection, and Laser Scanning for building information modeling (BIM) work to improve access to facilities and streamline operations of the building post-construction.
A huge part of this effort was not only relocating all city employees into temporary office spaces, but also bringing them back when construction was completed, and the building envelope was brought up to code. Thanks to the progressive design-build method these goals were accomplished through early planning and team effort to get the job done.
Design Solutions to Historic Reconstruction Challenges
With every project comes challenges. This can be particularly true for buildings of historic relevance, for which the Portland Building is a perfect example.
The City’s vision was such that the building needed to be drastically updated while maintaining it’s iconic design elements, while enhancing the working environment. The existing concrete exterior, external glazing, the famous Portlandia sculpture, and getting the space approved as a city landmark were all hurdles that made progressive design-build the choice of the greater team.
View of “Portlandia,” the copper sculpture at the Portland Building (Photo Credit: James Ewing, JBSA)
Considerations were also made to maintain the internationally recognized post-Modern architecture style, and the stakes were high. The building has historic significance of “exceptional importance” on the National Register of Historic Places, which means extra care had to be taken in order to both preserve and renovate the space. The building also needed to be upgraded from a sustainability perspective, a viewpoint that has become an Otak calling card.
Sustainable and Efficient Systems
In terms of being sustainable, the Portland Building was truly brought into the modern era. The project made improvements to light fixtures allowing for greater daylighting, reducing energy costs and carbon footprints in the process.
The envelope of the building also needed to be revitalized in order to fix leaking issues in a famously rainy city. Low emitting materials were also used to compensate for the existing concrete of the structure, which we did by improving existing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, among others.
The project also pursued a LEED Gold Building certification, and the team’s efforts led to the project exceeding it’s goals in achieving both WELL and LEED Platinum certification.
Public Involvement and Inclusive Project Goals
Not only did the project need to be sustainable, but it also needed to be equitable to address the needs of the city and align with its values. The vision was to both inspire and influence the public, leading to a two-fold goal— serving the public well and becoming an employer of choice to bolster talent acquisition into the space. To align with those goals, our team led visioning sessions on both the public and employee experience, ultimately transforming the building’s poorly lit, substandard interior into a truly exceptional interior experience for all.
Social and community impacts were also top of mind. A targeted community outreach effort was implemented to ensure DMWESB firms were aware of upcoming opportunities. This effort included informational meetings, open houses, trade show events, one-on-one meetings, and sourcing a local non-profit to provide consultation to DMWESB firms bidding on the project. Additionally, the project promoted design and construction career opportunities by hosting eight separate tours for high school and college students. Otak is proud to say that in the process we exceeded MWDBE goals.
The End Result
By utilizing a progressive design-build framework, inspiring both the team and the community, and delivering on early promises thanks to early planning, the result of our efforts yielded a multi-award-winning project.
Otak would like to extend a formal thank you to the DBIA for bestowing us with these accolades, which we take to heart. We’re proud we had the opportunity to play an outsized role in the successful delivery of the project, and our mission to transform the built environment while keeping the community in mind remains one of our cornerstones.
You can find out more about the complete list of DBIA award winners, and we look forward to the opportunity of highlighting our projects in the future
Otak takes pride in highlighting new members of our team who remind us of our core values. Meet Adreanna Broussard, project controls analyst with TWG, and the subject of today’s staff spotlight.
Craving Disruption
Adreanna Broussard knew from an early point in her career she wanted to play an active role in the built environment. A voracious learner, she had early dreams of getting into architectural engineering, however the University of Texas at San Antonio, her alma mater, did not offer that degree. Faced with uncertainty about her next steps, she leaned on her family for guidance.
“I craved the disruption that civil [engineering] provides. It’s a comfortability with being uncomfortable that has made me a better professional and better able tackle challenges within a constantly changing industry.”
Adreanna Broussard
With her father an electrical engineer and her mother a nurse, the values of hard work and determination saw her take an interest in civil engineering. Adreanna identified the value of the field as part of the same world, where she could make an impact on how communities are built and experienced. She was drawn to the dynamic factors of the profession. In her words, “I craved the disruption that civil [engineering] provides. It’s a comfortability with being uncomfortable that has made me a better professional and better able tackle challenges within a constantly changing industry.”
What is a Professional Engineer (PE)?
A PE, or Professional Engineer certification, signifies that one is recognized by the state as an owner of their work and an expert in the field. Adreanna says a PE opens the doors of the engineering world, enabling those who earn it to work independently, as a consultant, or as an integral member of different firms helping guide projects along. Upon gaining the certification, she will be able to officially sign and stamp official documents as the PIC, and further elevate her aspirations of becoming a luminary in the industry.
Applied Learning
Adreanna credits her hands-on work in civil engineering after completing her degree for making her the well-rounded professional she is today. With an understanding of how projects work on the ground level, she’s able to make quick decisions and see the big picture. As a current project controls analyst, she’s responsible for scheduling, monitoring cost, and managing a wide scope of factors that come with reporting on a project’s lifecycle. However, like a true Otakian, she seeks to continuously improve and grow her skillset. She’s currently doing this by studying for her PE exam, with plans to take the test in November.
Practicing Preparation
When asked about her approach to preparing for the exam, Adreanna emphasizes while studying is important, it goes deeper than textbooks, and she draws on her experience from the totality of her career. She’s seen firsthand and worked with the people who bring design plans to life, and her early opportunities allowed her to wear many different hats, gaining experience with every aspect of the design-build process from paperwork to planning.
Like her, the test is practical. A believer in the power of education and like a true engineer, she loves to learn and take things apart, understanding the science and the art behind building a structure. There’s also an ethical component to the exam, which aligns deeply with her belief in equitable placemaking and community building. Unafraid to bury herself in a practice test or book, Adreanna’s tenacity gives her confidence and motivation to keep studying, to keep working, and keep being the best she can be.
Identity and Aspiration
While looking to elevate herself within the industry, she is also mindful of the space she inhabits within it. It’s no secret the AEC industry, especially in positions of leadership, lacks a diversity and depth of perspective from female leaders as well as leaders of color. She acknowledges this reality, yet views it as an opportunity to rise to the occasion. For this, she relies on experience she’s gained outside of work as a Division I NCAA basketball referee. A similarly male-dominated world, she is well-versed in making her voice heard, her decisions final, and her respect earned not just from her identity, but her experience as a professional. Being a referee taught her how to be accountable, how to carry herself with a professional demeanor, and how to navigate complex and high-stakes situations. She says she draws on this experience almost every day. Adreanna wants to be that leader that breaks the ceiling, and knows what she brings to the table.
Adreanna’s Role Within Otak
To say Broussard’s experience is valuable would be an understatement. She knows her value, and was seeking an employer who understood it too. Dave Hawkins, principal at TWG, knew this and brought Adreanna on without hesitation. When asked about her experience since coming under the Otak umbrella, she emphasizes her appreciation for our community of people, our culture, and our network to which she now has access. Otak is proud to have someone like Broussard among our ranks, and her value, especially from us, will only grow as she grows.
When asked what she would tell potential engineers looking to advance their careers, her advice is to be patient, go at your own pace, and be aware that not all journeys are linear. Every experience is unique, and Broussard emphasizes that her journey, while different, only makes her a stronger professional and a better person.
We’re excited to see her career grow at Otak. Well done Adreanna!
Otak continues to grow the depth and breadth of our capabilities. With the acquisition of Tarr Whitman Group (TWG), an advanced project controls firm, it enables us to unveil a new practice area to better serve our clients and aid them in making informed, data-driven decisions at all stages of a project’s lifecycle.
What is project controls, and what is advanced project controls?
Project controls is scope, schedule, and budget. It is the core of project and contract management for projects. But how does this help our clients?
According to TWG President Walter Tarr, project controls comes down to data management and communication. Our new team members specialize in reporting on projects and programs. They help define the success metrics and reporting systems for project managers, clients, and other stakeholders in a digestible fashion, allowing for quick decisions that are rooted in data science and relevant forecasts on things like cost impacts, notices, timelines, and risks involved in a project. Advanced project controls means our new team can provide the software, systems, resources, and processes for large projects and programs.
See a Need, Fill a Need
Tarr saw the need for this service early on in his career. He noticed while working at a construction management firm that larger organizations weren’t getting the most out of their data, or were often making decisions that were reactive, rather than proactive when it comes to project and contract management. Thanks to existing relationships with owners and decision-makers at other firms and the niche market in which it existed, TWG was born as a one-stop for project controls services with both him and Dave Hawkins at the helm.
An Art and a Science
Tarr emphasizes that while project controls is highly technical, there’s an art to it as well. Professionals in this sphere need to be jacks-of-all-trades, having a deep understanding of factors like scheduling, software, cost, construction management, design, and risk management around a project. Greater still, one must be able to communicate this information so PM’s and PIC’s can make decisions at a glance. It’s a trade that involves both macro-level understanding and micro-level attention to detail. To Tarr, TWG is more along the lines of being business managers, helping stakeholders understand where their project as a business sits, and addressing both known and unknown issues—a concept that’s rare in the industry today.
The Differentiator
projectcontrols.online home page
To tackle the herculean task of making sense of multi-million (and sometimes billion) dollar programs, Tarr created Projectcontrols.online, as simple web app born out of a dissatisfaction with existing project reporting system tools and their pricing structures. Most of these tools try to solve the same problem of how to roll up and monitor projects in an easy way, and Projectcontrols.online does just that in a way that doesn’t require endless input from the user. What’s more, the app allows for easy communication of results which is suited for PM’s concerned with the day-to-day. By utilizing project controls, those same PM’s can look ahead and begin to make projections anywhere from one month to one year ahead of time. Firms immediately saw the value in Tarr’s work, and TWG got brought onto high-profile projects as a result.
The Projects
SR 520 for WSDOT – floating bridge program
To view TWG’s body of work is to become acquainted with some of the most high-profile programs in the Puget Sound region. The Sound Transit Eastlink Program, Lynnwood Link Light Rail, SR 520 for WSDOT, and the Port of Seattle are all examples of the exemplary work TWG has done as part of Otak’s broader portfolio of projects. These huge projects align with TWG’s business model—land programs with high capital allowances and high price ceilings. The combination of the work and the approach have made TWG successful.
The Team and the Future
When asked about essential members of his team that make TWG’s work possible, Tarr immediately recognized Brian Muñoz, Warren Jordan, and Tim Sattler as key players in the project controls division who allow the firm to deliver on its promises. As projects only get larger and more complex, Tarr sees the need to continue to grow his team to meet the demand for project controls in the industry as a whole. With greater access to private work via the merger with Otak, Tarr is confident that the relationship will continue to bear fruit and ultimately make both firms stronger.
Please join us in giving a long overdue welcome to the TWG team, and we’re excited to see how this practice area evolves along with our operations.
The Sheridan School District is on a mission to, “provide each student a diverse education in a safe and supportive environment; that promotes self-discipline, motivation, and excellence in learning.” With a 2017 bond program underway, updates to facilities across the district were made possible in order to better serve that mission.
Bond Pre-Planning and A Long Range Facility Plan for School District Renovations
In its efforts to meet the district’s mission and overarching goals in developing students to become self-sufficient adults, the Sheridan High School envisioned significant upgrades to its interior and exterior. Renovations also extended to the K-8 Faulconer Chapman School. The bond program would allow for the complete replacement of domestic water piping and the hydronics delivery system. Those enhancements also involved a number of other updates including vinyl asbestos tiling (VAT) abatement, complete restroom remodels, direct digital control system (DDC) for heating, and grandstand development for sports facilities. Providing owner’s representative and construction management services, Otak’s continuous involvement on the Sheridan School District bond planning would permeate through all phases of the project. From value engineering, procurement, contractor selection, and construction management to overseeing design, procurement, construction, and quality control. Along with a long range facility plan (10 year) in place for the Barbara Roberts Career Tech Center, the Sheridan School District bond program will benefit students and the community for years to come.
The YMCA has a long, storied history of impact in communities across the globe. For The Family YMCA of Marion and Polk Counties, that history would be ushered into the future from it’s new community center in Salem, Oregon.
A Efficient Facility for Community Programs
With 128 years of of service, The Family YMCA of Marion and Polk Counties had been operating out of their 92-year-old building with limited efficiency. The outdated facility cost more than $550,000 a year to maintain and lacked the accommodations necessary to fully meet the needs of the community. In order to advance it’s daily goals of strengthening a diverse array of family units and furthering other social issues, the organization expanded it’s program service model and now has a community center with the capacity to support it’s broader mission. The ability to provide youth development, healthy living and social responsibility is enhanced with the expansion of a number of facility features including a rooftop running track, heated indoor swimming pool, three-court gymnasium, and expanded community spaces. From sourcing regional materials to a natural lighting infrastructure and glazing that maximizes daylight harvesting, there are a number of elements designed (primarily with the HVAC system) to exceed code minimums with a sustainability-focused design. As owner’s representative on the project, Otak has guided the three-story, 51,000 square foot community center into development while maintaining it’s place in downtown Salem, Oregon.
Originally built in 1936 as a post office, the site for the new Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Executive Building had long been under consideration by the state of Oregon for potential redevelopment. With $45 million in legislative funding approved, acting on the facility’s potential would become possible for DAS utilizing an owner’s representative to help make those plans a reality.
Advancing Client Goals to Modernize a Historic Building
Sitting to the west of the Capitol Building, the structure was erected at a cost of $310,000 and was dedicated on October 16, 1937. It was the only marble post office west of the Mississippi River outside of Denver’s. It served as Salem’s post office until 1976, when a new building on 25th Street took its place. Two years later an addition was built onto the 63,000 square-foot space but had seen no major upgrades since. Today, the site hosts DAS as the State of Oregon Executive Building and will continue to do so in the future as a modernized facility after the renovation project gets underway.
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