High Times

By Tony Illia

A design-build approach fast tracked a $9.77 million expansion of the High Desert State Prison near Las Vegas. It's only the second time the state of Nevada has used the innovative procurement method that pairs the contractor and architect together as a team.

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The state Department of Corrections hired KGA Architects of Las Vegas to develop bridging documents, which detail the project's technical and programmatic requirements, to 85 percent completion.

Although some design-build purists see bridging documents as a controversial and unnecessary expense that amounts to designing the same project twice, backers of the approach say it ensures a consistent level of quality and prevents a design-build team from cutting corners. It also can help guarantee that the owner's objectives are met, while expediting the permitting process.

The state issued request-for-qualifications in mid-2003. It evaluated teams on experience, financial strength and background before narrowing the list to three finalists. The winner was selected on a "best-value" basis, where price accounted for 25 percent of the total score.

Team composition, technical design, value and project controls were considered.
Clark & Sullivan Constructors' Las Vegas office was awarded the contract on Dec. 1, 2003, with Phoenix-based Arrington Watkins Architects LLC as architect. Swisher & Hall, AIA, Ltd. of Las Vegas was later hired as a consulting architect.

"We moved and rotated the building, which saved $2 million in excavation, utility and sitework costs," said Ron Vollmond, Clark & Sullivan's director of project development.

"With rising labor and material prices, this project might not have been built without the realized savings from a design-build approach."

Located in Indian Springs, 46 mi. northwest of Las Vegas, the prison site covers 21 acres and is 2 mi. around its perimeter. Repositioning the building eliminated $250,000 worth of excavation and backfill needed to create a level area as well as other associated infrastructure.

"We placed the building using the site slope, which lowered the circulation area for the loading docks and eliminated drainage systems, railings and retaining walls," said Lynn Arrington, principal of Arrington Watkins Architects. "We were able to balance the site, taking advantage of the natural topography."

The project called for a single-level, 60,000-sq.-ft. concrete tilt-up warehouse/distribution facility to house the prison's industries program. The structure uses insulated sandwich paneling, which saved an additional $40,000 in labor and materials.

Blakely, Johnson & Ghusn Inc. of Reno, was the structural engineer for the warehouse facility. Sitting on a slab-on-grade foundation, the facility is designed for maximum flexibility to enable prison operators to subdivide space into multiple bays.

The project also included a single-story, 14,620-sq.-ft. masonry-block gymnasium with a full-length basketball court, craft areas, music rooms and lockers.

American Structural Engineers of Las Vegas, was the structural engineer for the gym.

The building has closed-circuit television, alarm interfaces and central monitoring controls. Both buildings are serviced by the prison's existing central plant, which was designed to handle added expansion space.

Design-build enabled the project to finish within 10 months, and it opened in September. The same job under a traditional design-bid-method would have taken 20 to 24 months to complete, said Jennifer Worchester, Clark & Sullivan's marketing coordinator. The state Legislature recently funded another $45 million expansion for the five-year-old High Desert Prison to add more inmate cells. The undertaking, still in the early design stage, is scheduled to advertise for bids in early 2006.