DPR Team’s ‘Can Do’ Approach to Client’s Shifting Schedule Needs Helps KPMG Satisfy Its Customer Commitment

KPMG Consulting in Denver had a huge contract riding on the move to its new Rocky Mountain Broadband Solution Center by early this year. The client and its representative, developer CarrAmerica, turned to DPR to make it happen.

Approximately a month into construction, KPMG Consulting discovered that it needed to push the original “go live” date for the project up by two weeks in order to accommodate a billion-dollar contract with a major client. On top of that, the space to be built out more than doubled, from an original floor plan of 15,000 sq. ft. to a final count of almost 36,000 sq. ft.

No ordinary office space, the ultra high-end build-out will be used to showcase KPMG Consulting’s broadband Internet solutions for large, Fortune 500 customers. The luxury quarters feature everything from the specially crafted anigre wood doors and conference tables to cutting edge audio and video systems. Designed by RMW, San Francisco, the project also included such unique architectural finishes as MDF panels in feature presentation areas that were custom fit and then sent out to receive an automotive paint job in white, black or silver; snap-in graded metal ceilings; touch panel black-out shades and projection screens; and accents of brushed chrome, aluminum and stainless steel throughout.

The job was kicked off with a High Performance Team Meeting “rocks in the road” session, with key employees from every subcontractor discussing concerns up front and brainstorming how to overcome them. The architect and owner’s representative were on hand to provide an overview of how the space would be used and what their expectations were. “This was a ‘big picture’ meeting that helped everyone see what they were working towards,” DPR Project Engineer Trent Woodworth said. “We got a lot of positive comments back from subs on that, and it helped DPR see where we needed to focus our attention most closely.”

When the owner informed DPR that it needed to shave two weeks off the schedule, the project team called an all-day meeting with “every foreman and project manager” from each of the subs on the job to find a way to accomplish the new schedule request. That meeting took place just two months before the owner needed the Temporary Certificate of Occupancy. In addition to committing to keep the project rolling seven days a week, the team identified areas where time savings could be made and pulled together to make it happen.