Barton Malow takes pride in finding unique ways to unite form with function with standard practice—embracing our culture of finding unique solutions to complex problems. A key, unique solution we embrace is prefabrication. Prefabrication and modular construction are revolutionizing how facilities are built while simultaneously addressing clients’ compressed schedules and aggressive speed-to-market goals.
Construction has the inherent potential to implement prefabrication processes to gain efficiencies. Components that are especially conducive to prefabrication are those that occur repetitively in a facility. While there are varying degrees of prefabrication, the desired result is to invest in it where it adds value and positively impacts the project, including improved efficiency, schedule savings, cost savings, and enhanced quality. The primary benefits of prefabrication include:
- Maximizes quality and eliminates the need for any potential rework.
- Reduces on site clutter and waste.
- Improves labor efficiency through a smaller manufacturing workforce, which has improved safety performance when compared to onsite construction methods.
- Mitigates supply chain and labor market constraints.
- Increases quality, consistency, efficiency, and precision in the final product.
Technological advancements, software integrations, and more robust modeling (BIM) further enhance the prefabrication process. These technologies allow for precise planning and coordination, reducing errors and improving overall efficiency. Furthermore, they enable facilities to be designed and constructed with greater accuracy and speed. In addition to the previously featured benefits and attributes, customization and flexibility are essential in construction, and prefabrication offers significant advantages.
Success Stories
McLaren HealthCare | Greater Lansing Replacement Hospital
This new 220-bed hospital presented the opportunity to be one of the first construction projects in mid-Michigan to implement in-depth prefabrication. As a design-build project with a willing Owner, all the elements were in place to maximize the initiative. An important potential byproduct of this approach was also to address labor shortages. The team was confident this approach would lead the way to savings in construction costs in the future.
The team used a unique combination of prefabricated exterior wall panels, which were then utilized to support the brick relief angles throughout the building. This combination allowed the team to resequence the work and enclose the building much faster. Using the load-bearing wall panels in lieu of structural steel to support the exterior brick walls allowed the team to accelerate exterior work by installing the prefabricated wall panels before the floors were poured. This led to enclosure approximately five weeks faster than the traditional method.
The Design-Assist team looked to accelerate installation and level the workforce. The team evaluated several prefabrication options, including toilet room pods, headwalls, and multi-trade MEP racks. They completed several mock-ups to evaluate the top of wall and wall rating details, structure, assembly, testing, and transport of MEP racks, and developed the shop plan and Takt Time schedule for assembly. Prefabrication implementation goals identified a 30% reduction of on site MEP trades and a savings of $5.6M.
Confidential Industrial Project
On a recent confidential industrial project, prefabrication was utilized to construct modules on the ground rather than over 200’ in the air. Crews were able to utilize smaller RT Cranes in place of larger tracked cranes that require crane mats and larger exclusion zones. The ability to utilize elevated man lifts or scaffolding platforms rather than walking steel at elevated heights provided a better means for controlling fall protection, which reduced or eliminated congestion and hazards that come with elevated work.
These smaller RT Cranes also cost less per month and allowed other trades to begin work activities much sooner, producing better productivity for the project and ultimately reducing overall costs. Module planning also began well in advance of construction, and Barton Malow was able to identify unforeseen issues during planning phases rather than in the field. This method proved much more cost-effective to mitigate and resolve issues during planning phases than in the field when labor is impacted.
Modules were constructed, while portions of the tower were stick-built. If a traditional building approach had been taken, those same module components would have occurred much later because the preceding tower activities would have had to progress far enough ahead to allow the subsequent activities to begin.
Penn State Health | Hampden Medical Center
Our high-performing team sprinted from AE/CM selection to groundbreaking in just over seven months, with no pre-design work completed prior to selection. To meet the 26-month construction schedule in an over-stressed labor market, the team employed a Lean approach. We utilized Target Value Delivery (TVD) and Pull Planning to implement a design-to-schedule methodology.
The team utilized a variety of prefabrication efforts to maintain quality and consistency, meet the demanding schedule, and enhance safety. Controlled, repetitive fabrication of items like the unitized curtain wall, bathroom pods, and MEP racks enabled the team to better manage quality control.
- The rooftop electrical rooms, including the structure and all equipment, were fabricated offsite, with most of the pre-wire completed. The team installed each unit on separate Saturdays using a 900-ton crane.
- A tight enclosure schedule pushed the team to dry-in the building to start insulations, drywall, and finishes. Fabricating the unitized curtainwall and panelized stud walls offsite helped the team meet the dry-in milestones.
- Bathroom pods were a highly collaborative prefabrication effort. The pods were framed in the offsite fabrication shop, and plumbing, electrical, tile, grout, and sinks were installed before shipping to the jobsite. The local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) also inspected the pods before they were packaged and shipped.
- The Central Utility Plant (CUP) was built offsite in 22 separate modules with all equipment and piping already installed. Once tested, packaged, and shipped to the Hampden jobsite, the CUP was installed with approximately eight people and converted a six-month installation process to under two months.
These prefabrication efforts also served as an educational tool for local subcontractors that are often not large enough to invest in innovative prefabrication methods. The Hampden project demonstrated first-hand the benefits of prefabrication and the tools and methods required for successful implementation.
Penn State Health | Lancaster Medical Center
Our successful utilization of prefabrication and project execution on Hampden led to the award of the new replacement hospital in Lancaster, PA. Despite the engagement of a new architect, our team’s ability to apply lessons learned and build upon our previous achievements provided a more efficient and expeditious result on this project. Six months after the award, our Lancaster team broke ground, and the hospital was constructed in just 28 months. Project success was due to a tightly knit team dynamic, which included the architect writing a unique sub-program that translated Revit model material quantities to cost modeling in real-time, so the exterior design could advance ahead of schedule and allow for early procurement.
The team implemented a variety of prefabrication efforts to maintain quality and consistency, meet the demanding schedule, and enhance safety. Controlled, repetitive fabrication of items like the unitized curtainwall, bathroom pods, and MEP racks enabled the team to better manage quality control.
To construct this project in the expected timeframe, the team thoughtfully planned the amount of workforce on site and maximized prefabrication opportunities. The CUP, overhead multi-trade MEP racks, modular headwalls, modular operating room ceilings, fully furnished bathroom pods, exterior wall panels, unitized curtainwall, and precast concrete parking garage were all fabricated off-site and delivered to the project precisely when needed.
This prefabrication effort also allowed us to control the quality and safety of the work. For example, the air vapor barrier was applied to the prefabricated exterior wall panels in a shop before they were erected. This allowed the work to occur at ground level in a climate-controlled environment rather than six stories in the air while dealing with adverse weather conditions.