How Prefabrication and VDC Propelled Delivery of Clemson's AMIC Project

Building a major laboratory complex in the heart of an active college campus is no easy task. Clemson University’s new Advanced Materials Innovation Complex (AMIC) brought added complexity, bordered by student dormitories and classrooms, and steps from an 85,000-seat football stadium. To safely deliver the 150,000-sq.-ft. research facility under these constraints, the project team relied on two key strategies: off-site prefabrication and intensive virtual design and construction (VDC) coordination. These approaches helped the team navigate the tight site and improve safety and quality while finishing the project ahead of schedule and under budget.

With thousands of students moving through the area each day, the AMIC job required careful planning and communication to avoid impacts on campus life. The team approached the build as “guests on campus,” working closely with university stakeholders to manage pedestrian routes, coordinate deliveries and adjust the timing of disruptive activities. For example, they waited to set the project’s tower crane until after Clemson’s final home football game, avoiding the added risk of game-day crowds.

Early in preconstruction, the team identified an opportunity to prefabricate the building’s exterior wall panels, a decision that significantly altered the schedule. 

"What we try to do on every project is explore prefabrication as early as possible," said Justin Tetor, a DPR project executive. "As soon as we start building a construction strategy, we ask, 'What can we prefab? What should we prefab?'"

For AMIC, the repetitive facade design made the exterior walls an ideal candidate for prefabrication. The team built dozens of cold-formed wall panels off-site, each with metal framing, sheathing and weather barriers already integrated, then shipped them to campus and lifted them into place.

The results were dramatic.

By accelerating the enclosure by roughly five months, interior trades could start work much earlier and sensitive lab materials were protected from weather far sooner than on a typical build.

Prefabrication was also a boon to safety and quality. 

"Controlled environments enable our workforce to work even more efficiently and safely," said Allison Anderson, a DPR project manager.

By shifting critical exterior work to a sheltered shop, the team eliminated much of the need for workers to stand on lifts or scaffolds. Instead, crews attached the panelized facade from inside the structure, greatly reducing fall hazards and weather delays. Prefabrication did not significantly increase cost, and it delivered value through schedule certainty and reduced risk.

While wall panels were being erected, the team was also engaged in an intensive building information modeling (BIM) coordination effort. With 172 laboratory fume hoods and extremely dense mechanical systems, the building required precise alignment across trades.

“This project had a fair amount of challenges with the amount of fume hoods,” said Alex Hassell, a project architect with HOK. “There was a heavy weight of mechanical load on the building.”

The team began coordinating the structural and MEP systems in 3D models early in the design phase, ensuring that every sleeve and hanger was accounted for in the cast-in-place concrete structure.

“In a concrete building with six-foot-deep beams, you’re not going to core drill through that later if something was missed,” Anderson said.

This level of upfront coordination extended beyond BIM modeling. DPR, GPLA, the steel fabricator and key trade partners established an integrated workflow linking delegated design, steel detailing and construction from early design through installation. GPLA supported this effort by providing delegated design, steel detailing and secondary steel detailing services, helping coordinate complex rooftop platforms, mechanical screening systems, elevator support structures, stairs, rails and other secondary steel elements.

Thanks to this upfront modeling and detailing coordination, when MEP crews arrived to install ducts, piping and cable trays, they found pre-planned openings and supports exactly where needed, and even some assemblies already built based on the model.

The payoff was virtually no rework in the field. 

“It’s frustrating to have to tell a crew to move a duct because it clashes with a sewer line,” Pittman said. “BIM prevents that.” 

Hassell also noted the importance of collaborative delivery between the design and GC partners

The team even chose to hold its original schedule when a concrete subcontractor offered to accelerate structural work by a month, understanding that racing ahead could undermine the careful coordination and create risk.

As a result of these integrated strategies, Pittman says Clemson’s AMIC project earned its certificate of occupancy 18 days ahead of the contractual date and ultimately finished under budget. Just as important, it was delivered without a lost time incident and no disruptions to campus life.

Looking back, Tetor said the project’s success has created a model for future projects.

“It was a huge win to prefab those panels and do that level of coordination,” he said. “Now we know what to do and what not to do, and we can absolutely do wall panels again on the next job.”