The new Central Laboratory project of the Commonwealth in Virginia has been a test case in determination. After almost 15 years in developing, a relocation of the site, uncertainties associated with Covid-19 Pandemic and two and a half years under construction, the installation of $ 189 million is scheduled to be delivered by the end of the year. The project, located in 16 hectares in Mechanicsville, goes.
The laboratory will house a wide range of laboratory spaces, which requires the design and construction team – consisting of the Skanska USA and architect SFCS constructions – to create dozens of unique spaces with limited repetition. Advanced laboratories for the Forensic Science Department include firearms and tool -mark analysis; Impressions and latent impressions; Forensic devices and mobile devices; Requested drug analysis; Toxicology; Analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA; and trace a test exam. There will also be specialized spaces for the calibration of breath, storage of evidence, research and training.
“As you go through the building, you realize very quickly that there are no two spaces, apart from the offices,” says Dereck Alpin, the main architect and responsible for SFCS projects. “All laboratory spaces are unique. They all have different needs.”
The finished exterior includes brick, metal panel, aluminum shop window and curtain wall.
Image Courtesy Skanska Usa
Separated but integrated
An important consideration of the building program was the way to integrate, but separate, the two groups of users. The building is owned by the Department of Virginia of Forensic Sciences, while the office of the medical examiner in Chief is a lessee. “This works well because we have the same customers to a large extent,” says Dr. David Barron, Department of the Department of Forensic Sciences. “The medical examiner is also a client of mine, so it works well to have them in our facilities throughout the state, sharing this same customer base and having the efficiency of being co-located.”
“It was probably the most difficult functional agreement I worked on in my twenty years of career.”
– Alpin Dereck, Principal Architect, SFCS
Although the two entities are together under a roof, the SFC architects created a certain segregation between them, designing the building with two wings connected by a central public entrance space. Alpin says that the decision to divide laboratory spaces between the wings of the two agencies was mainly promoted by the fact that the office of the medical examiner in Chief is a more “more” entity oriented than the Department of Forensic Science.
The three -story south wing is home to the Department of Forensic Sciences and is designed with laboratories positioned directly in the room from office spaces. The third floor of the north wing is an administrative space shared for both agencies. The second floor is the training space and the main laboratories of medical examiners are at the ground level.
Throughout the design, the SFCs are dedicated to a wide variety of users for the different spaces. “It was probably the hardest functional agreement in which I worked in my twenty -year career,” says Alpin. “You have so many more stakeholders. Each one has their own needs. Each one has their own goals. You must accommodate them, but also find a way to mix them in a building.”
The Department of Forensic Science and Office of the main medical examiner is related to a lobby full of light.
Image Courtesy Skanska Usa
Structural saving
The building is a steel structure with a conventional foundry base. Being a laboratory, soil slabs were designed to mitigate soil vibration. Alpin says a steel frame system would have been the conventional choice, but the SFC worked with the owner to design a support frame system that meets their needs while “saving a significant amount of money in the structural system.” The typical laboratory bays have a length of 40 feet, with few columns, if any, to support the extensions. “We did our best to maximize the sizes of the bay,” he says. “Thus, as a result, the height of the floor on the floor is 18 feet, which is high for an office laboratory building. The second and third floor is 16 feet high, which is also quite generous. A part of it is due to the depth of the structure.”
Alpin adds that the high floor of the floor also allowed sufficient space for the significant requirements of the mechanical system of laboratories. A mechanical attic above the southern building houses a shared refrigerator plant for both wings. Each wing has its own dedicated air system, including separate systems of air manipulation for laboratory and non -work spaces.
Although established in a place in Greenfield, the project was initially an expansion of an existing installation in Richmond. After the studies determined that the expansion would not meet the needs of the State, the project was re -elaborated, demanding the team that it was looking for more funding and approval. Once the project was able to advance again in 2021, the hiring began at the height of the problems of the supply chain triggered by the Covid-19 Pandemic. The Skanska contract was completed by the end of 2022 and the project took place in January 2023.
The Department of the Forensic Science Installation includes a range of ballistics.
Image Courtesy Skanska Usa
To mitigate the concerns of the supply chain, Matt Kidwell, director of the Skanska USA project, says that the team used the group of internal strategic supply chain of the firm, which maintains vendor relationships with major manufacturers for construction systems. The group’s information was used to build the reference calendar during pre -construction. The group also provided updates during the construction of specific manufacturers who had problems so that the team could proactively address the possible impacts of the calendar with subcontractors.
The Central Laboratory team initially provided for a 90 to 100 weeks start time for their electric switch. Through his supplier monitoring efforts, Skanska was able to secure his switch in 80 weeks. Kidwell says working in such a volatile market when the Skanska contract required a guaranteed maximum price was extremely difficult. The team was especially concerned about the price of steel for laboratory homes, roof materials and metals associated with glass.
“We have worked with the owner and possible subcontractors to develop bonuses we led to the contract,” he says. “We were able to provide invoices from the manufacturer’s provider at the time of GMP to validate the cost of the day of the offer.” Kidwell adds that at the time the material was manufactured and sent to the site: “We were able to obtain the cost of the updated invoicing provider and make a costs reconciliation with this endowment. At the end of the day, we assure us that we do not put a subcontractor for a great financial transport at risk.” From a proprietary perspective, he says, “we have brought the right size bonuses and save again … ensuring that the project falls within this GMP value.”
The coordination of the configuration and function of various laboratories on different floors challenged the team due to the highly specialized nature of each forensic space and the need for a precise placement of equipment.
Image Courtesy Skanska Usa
Coordinated efforts
To help save time, Skanska adopted the Oracle Primavera Cloud system for the Pull planning project, which allowed commercial partners to prepare activities ahead and online. Kidwell claims that the original reference calendar requested that the walks be completed along with the creation of underground MEPs as steel work began.
“Due to our planning efforts for the underground work, we were able to overcome the durations, get all our subterrans and pour the slab into the degree in front of the steel ector appeared,” he adds. Kidwell estimates that these efforts saved almost three months on the calendar.
“As you walk around the building, you can see that wearing the outside to the interior was a focus during the design process.”
—Mary Ann Petry, project manager, Department of Virginia of General Services
As part of a Beta project in the United States, Skanska also adopted Arrowsight, a collected camera system used to control the site, especially during night shifts. The images collected by the Arrowsight system can be analyzed every morning and any marked security problem is sent to the team in short clips, allowing a quick review and response. The approach has helped Skanska to move from reactive security management to proactive measures, such as customizing security -based safety training to images.
“We were able to look at the trends of things that were marked that people did not hurt, but that could have hurt someone,” says Kidwell. “It’s good because it was a main indicator versus a delaying indicator.”
This summer, the project won a million working hours without a lost time incident.
With its finish nearby, the aesthetics of project design are emerging. Finished exterior combines brick, metal panel, aluminum shop window and curtain wall. The building has a flat roof, with parapets and integrated equipment screens to hide most of the roof mechanical equipment. To help create a more comfortable environment for employees, the owners pushed the design team to introduce as much natural light as possible.
In the areas where the most privacy is needed, ice cream glass is used. “While walking around the building, you can see that wearing the outside inside was a focus during the design process,” says Mary Ann Petry, special projects responsible for the Virginia Department of General Services.
