Team Overcame Major Schedule, Sequencing Challenges to Deliver Elegant New Gallery to a Satisfied Client

With its modern classical architectural lines, seamless connection to an existing gallery building and flawless attention to detail both inside and out, the newest addition to the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA, opened to widespread acclaim on May 27. The project is hailed as the newest showcase for the Huntington’s impressive European art collection and, ultimately, for its growing American art collection.

Behind the elegant finished product, the effort that went into creating and building the 16,000-sq.-ft. Lois and Robert F. Erburu Gallery was equally impressive on the part of the project team. DPR broke ground on the project in September of 2003 and completed it on schedule the following October. The team contended with a host of issues that affected the schedule from the outset, beginning with unforeseen underground utilities when the job had to get underway without complete civil drawings. Crews encountered several existing utilities, including a 16,000-volt Edison loop, medium-pressure natural gas line, telephone trunk line, four-inch irrigation line—all within the building footprint. To stay on track, DPR performed “design-assist” duties, including surveying of existing underground utilities, determining the location of storm drain connection points and coordinating with the electric company on the routing of final electrical requirements, even though those services were not originally contracted.

Heavy rains and resulting soil instability also required the team to re-sequence structural steel erection and the slab pour, adding several days to the schedule that ultimately had to be recouped. To make up the lost time, DPR tightened up and re-sequenced the exterior stud activities. Since DPR self performed this work, the schedule quickly realized the lost days. Close coordination was required when planning for and installing the steel frame windows. Because the windows were mounted between the structural I-beam elements, there was only a 3/8-inch clearance on the top and bottom of each window frame and a 1/4-inch clearance side to side.

Another key challenge was installation of the six large skylights that stream natural light to the gallery below. Crews completed the basic steel framing for those skylights at ground level and then lifted them into place 18 to 22 feet above, according to Project Manager Michele Blomquist. That approach enabled tighter dimensional control and safer working conditions. Fall protection within the light wells was a major focus. Tapers rigged up a platform that allowed for 100 percent fall protection without tying off, which was critical since the work spaces were tight at 24 inches by 24 inches wide by six feet tall. DPR ultimately completed the project with no lost-time injuries.

“The weekly team meetings with Huntington, Fisher and DPR folks gave us a forum to openly address and correct issues as they arose during the building process,” said Laurie Sowd, operations director for the Huntington. “The result was the shortest punch list I’ve ever had at the end of the project.”

The new gallery directly ties into the existing Virginia Steele Scott Gallery of American Art, a seamless linkage achieved by the design’s incorporation of a glass loggia, which sweeps along the front of the addition and helps guide the eye from the lobby of the new building to the existing Scott Gallery. That integration of the two buildings during the heavy construction phase brought additional challenges, requiring crews to strictly maintain the environment of the existing building, including humidity and temperature controls. In addition, DPR faced major schedule issues relating to installation of the white oak wood flooring. To allow for proper climatization of the flooring materials, the HVAC system had to be installed and fully operational two months prior to overall completion of the project.

While all of those challenges put the project team to the test, the ability to work through and overcome them made for a highly satisfied client in the end. “This was my first experience with a Zero Defects program, and I found it to be a big contributor to the success of the project,” commented Sowd. “We’re very pleased with the smooth turn over and the minimal number of issues demanding follow-up.”