DPR/Trammell Crow bring private sector expertise to restore and expand new Building for Commonwealth of Virginia in first application of Virginia’s PPEA 2002

Private sector innovation combined with the public sector’s need for greater efficiency in financing and delivering public projects recently culminated in the completion of the newly renovated, restored and expanded State of Virginia Oliver W. Hill, Sr. Building in Richmond, VA.

The innovative project, built by DPR for private developer Trammell Crow Company, represents a number of firsts. It is the first application of a new business model for delivering projects under the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Public Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002 (PPEA). Virginia is one of a few states embarking on this new public/private partnering approach. The results in this model transformed a historic property that had become an unused eyesore into an efficient, attractive office building that stands as a proud complement to the Governor’s mansion just next door.

Built in 1896, the former Finance Building also was the first building ever built by the Commonwealth specifically for use as a state office building—occupied throughout history by such tenants as the Virginia State Library, Supreme Court of Virginia and the Museum of Natural History. It will now house the office of the Lieutenant Governor and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

The PPEA provides an alternative to the conventional procurement process for the construction and renovation of needed facility infrastructure projects, offering the promise of time and cost savings on public projects more in line with private sector construction. “Taxpayers are the winners here,” said James T. Roberts, Director of the Department of General Services. One of the advantages to PPEA is less administrative burden placed on the public sector. The state had actually pursued plans using the conventional procurement approach back in the mid-‘90s, but well into design had to abandon the plan when faced with overwhelming budget issues.

In early 2003, another development team submitted an unsolicited proposal to design, build and restore the Finance Building, which opened the door for other teams to submit plans for the same scope of work. The Trammell Crow/DPR team was selected for its plan that included both restoration and expansion of the Finance Building and renovation of the nearby Washington Building. The plan advanced the goal of reducing state-leased space and consolidating employees.

After a detailed planning and design phase, DPR broke ground on the project in June 2004. The original project architect from the ‘90s, Ballou Justice Upton Architects, was the prime architect on the renovation/addition. Other major players included Baskervill, interiors architect; Engineers Plus, mechanical/ electrical engineer; and Stroud Pence, structural engineer.

The project is broken into two major phases. Phase 1A, the Finance Building, involved approximately 70,000 sq. ft. of restoration and renovation to the existing five-story facility and construction of a 50,000-sq.-ft. addition. The renovation and restoration work included re-pointing of brick, repairing cornices and preserving original elements such as the main lobby grand staircase, handmade mosaic tiles and wood windows.

Complex site logistics, including extremely limited access, combined with various structural issues associated with working within a 100-plus-year-old building presented major challenges, according to DPR’s Mike Broughton. Chief among them was installing a new elevator within an area of the existing Finance building that had never had one before. The 30-foot-deep excavation for this new elevator shaft involved the removal of 800 cubic yards of dirt by way of a “termite” excavator and conveyor belt system, while maintaining support of the existing structure through a combination of underpinning and soil-nailing systems.

Significant attention, including historic preservation oversight, also was paid to the selection of the new addition’s exterior skin components to complement the existing Finance building’s brick and terra cotta façade. The final design of the new addition included an ornately detailed precast concrete panel system that deliberately created a contrast between the new and existing, while maintaining the integrity of design prevalent to structures dating back to the late 1800s. To accompany the new addition’s precast panels, modern aluminum windows with historic panning trims were incorporated to replicate the original wood windows preserved in the existing building and the adjacent Governor’s mansion.

Following design, equal consideration was required to address the logistical constraints of the site. The limited site access, with virtually no material laydown or crane set-up areas available on three sides of the new addition, and the restricted use of a tower crane due to security reasons related to the Governor’s mansion, left DPR with few options for erecting the structural steel and precast panels. Ultimately, a 350-ton mobile tower crane was used for the steel and precast panels, some of which weighed in excess of 15 tons and spanned 140 feet from the centerpoint of the crane. Rephasing of the original erection plan and a seven-day work week facilitated completion of the 17-month project in October.

Phase 1B, slated to start in December, entails renovation of the state-owned 12-story Washington Building, also located on Capitol Square. The project includes complete window replacement, HVAC/ electrical systems and new interiors. The team faces a critical completion date of December 2006 to be ready for the deluge of visitors the state capitol expects in 2007 as it celebrates the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in this country at Jamestown, VA.

While the project has had its share of challenges, the state and Trammell Crow, with whom DPR has directly contracted, have proved to be excellent customers. “This case demonstrated there is a bright future for the public and private sectors to get together and utilize our combined skill sets to really deliver something extraordinary,” Broughton commented. The Trammell Crow/DPR team has recently been selected for another project on the other side of Capitol Square, also utilizing the PPEA method.