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By most measures, the recent renovation of the Oregon Department of State Lands office in Salem is pretty ordinary.

Lots of offices are opened up to maximize efficiency, consolidate space and allow in more natural light, etc.聽Lots of projects come in a little under budget, and a few weeks early. Lots of teams win awards for projects like this. (In this case, it was one of 36 projects given a 2016 award by the Design-Build Institute of America.)

But Oregon state officials say this $800,000 project represents a move toward full acceptance of an alternative delivery method said to be a step forward in efficiency and design. With so many big public projects on the horizon in Oregon, it could lead to greater opportunity for A/E/C firms.

One contract to rule them all

Essentially, 鈥溾�� means there’s one contract between an owner, contractor and architect. And often under design-build, the owner has only a partial picture of what the finished project will look like. It’s distinct from the classic low-bid procurement method 鈥� or design-bid-build 鈥� where an owner makes separate agreements with project team members based on their responses to completed designs. Design-build is said to afford greater collaboration to the project team, which can lead to greater efficiency and savings 鈥� though also potentially greater risk for an owner.

Proponents of design-build trace its roots to the pyramids. Basically, for all of human history up until the Industrial Revolution, the way to build a structure involved having the designer and builder on the same team, according to Brian Perlberg, senior counsel for construction and contracts for the Associated General Contractors of America.

For a long time in the U.S., laws required tax-funded projects to be awarded based on completed designs, meaning design-build wasn’t an option. Even the American Institute of Architects forbade design-build in its Code of Ethics.

The AGC developed an early design-build standard contract in the early 1970s amid an academic movement to examine alternatives to low-bid procurement. In the early 1990s, the federal government recognized it in the Federal Acquisition Regulation System, and soon state legislatures were making allowances for alternative delivery methods in public projects.

鈥淣ow, (procurement) really seems to have hit a tipping point where many projects use design-build,鈥� Perlberg said. 鈥淚 think there’s been a general movement away from design-bid-build, but it’s still the predominant method.鈥�

On the West Coast, design-build has聽been favored by university and community college systems in California and Washington. But Oregon has been slower to catch on. There’s nothing preventing it here 鈥� project leaders must make the case that an alternative method would be a better value 鈥� a relatively low hurdle to clear (the $195 million Portland Building reconstruction project will employ a form of design-build).

Because acquiring full DBIA certification requires three years of experience working on design-build projects, few professionals in Oregon have had the opportunity. Shirley Smith, state procurement analyst, hopes to change this. She’s championed design-build from her position in the Construction and Facilities section of the Department of Administrative Services, which manages between 20 and 30 projects per year. Smith came to DAS after 11 years with the Oregon Military Department, where design-build was more common.

鈥淚 was quite surprised when I got here and it wasn’t being done,鈥� she said.

Confidence building

The Oregon State Lands Building in Salem is a fairly standard brick administrative structure housing the Department of State Lands on the first floor and several other, smaller tenants above. The office was designed in the late 1980s and finished in 1991.

Jon McGrew, an associate principal with Hennebery Eddy Architects, can offer unique insights into the original designs, though the details are little hazy. It was literally the first project he worked on in his first job out of college, at SRG Partnership.

McGrew said it had special meaning to him when Hennebery Eddy teamed with Fortis Construction to remodel a section of the building he helped design as a kid fresh out of school. He had to zoom far in on a corner of the PDF of the original drawings to spot his initials, he said.

鈥淚 was like, holy (expletive),鈥� he said. 鈥淟ook at that.鈥�

The building hadn’t been upgraded since, and the project facing Hennebery Eddy and Fortis was simple 鈥� renovate 13,000 square feet of ground-floor office space, add finishes and upgrade electrical and mechanical systems. The request for proposals stated the new space should provide 鈥済reater opportunity for collaboration, connection and access between staff鈥� and enhance flexibility into the future.

鈥淚t was a tiny, little project,鈥� McGrew said. 鈥淭hey didn’t know exactly what they could do.鈥�

The budget was only about $1 million. Other limitations included the approximately 85 employees who needed to continue working 鈥� and not all could be relocated to other floors.

The space was split down the middle by an opaque central core that included storage rooms, offices and conference spaces. The configuration blocked natural light, and further separated employees, many of whom were penned in by 6-foot-high cubicle walls. McGrew remembers that designers of that era regarded offices as beneficial for all employees. The reality was that it kept employees isolated, McGrew said.

The space was equipped with another advancement of the day: demountable partitions that could be moved to accommodate remodels.

鈥淭he idea was it would give them flexibility,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he crazy thing was, it had been 25 years and nothing had moved. No change. No flexibility. None.鈥�

The open-plan look, now common in private business, still hadn’t been adopted by the state of Oregon. The renovation is designed to facilitate greater efficiency by providing employees 鈥渘atural light, access and connection to their colleagues, as well as the opportunity to informally gather and collaborate,鈥� according to the project narrative.

The team went to DAS with a suggestion 鈥� use furniture to solve layout issues and ensure long-term flexibility, and put the money to use elsewhere. DAS agreed. With the savings, it was able to upgrade the carpets.

Award-winning results

In a glowing letter of satisfaction for the project, Smith wrote that the work came in $33,000 under budget and three weeks ahead of schedule.

鈥淲e are completely satisfied with the outcome and excited to have had the opportunity to work with Fortis Construction,鈥� she wrote.

McGrew said that some people in his office were skeptical when they submitted such a small project for a DBIA award.

鈥淲ell, I thought we’re going to win because it’s about the process and accomplishing something for the owner,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I think the beauty of this, and I think the reason DBIA recognized us for it, is because we took this inflexible, inhumane, dark, dank space, and for less than the money they had, we were able to make smart decisions.

鈥淲e’re actually pretty proud of this award,鈥� he added.

The DSL staff has enjoyed its new space, according to department spokeswoman Julie Curtis, who works on the floor.

鈥淚t was a big change for us, and we’ve been just thrilled with the results,鈥� she said.