The Building 175 project involved the complete interior demolition and renovation of a two-story office and laboratory facility at the heavily occupied Washington Navy Yard in Washington DC. The completed facility includes extensive laboratories and laboratory equipment, sensitive materials storage areas, associated office and support spaces, and mechanical, telecommunications, and laboratory gas equipment rooms throughout.

The renovation was performed throughout an occupied and extremely confined space environment, with limited staging areas, and required highly detailed facility protection plans (including matching brick and masonry finish work) as well as comprehensive public and local area safety measures.

Work involved the interior (and partial exterior) demolition of an existing facility as well as significant structural renovation work, including substantial concrete foundation development, the erection of new intermediate flooring with a concrete deck, modifications to the building penthouse, and structural steel framing across the front of the facility as well as on each side of the building. Work also included the complete renovation of the existing facility’s HVAC, telecommunications, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and facility-wide fire protection (detection and suppression) systems.

The HVAC systems work specifically included the installation of high quality, laboratory-grade temperature controls (including mission-critical controls for sensitive materials storage) and multiple air handling units, the complete renovation of the facility’s ductwork and process piping systems, laboratory grade air filtration measures and exhaust/air purge system upgrades, chiller and cooling tower systems installation, and associated equipment.

The completed facility was outfitted with multiple, state-of-the-art laboratories (and associated equipment), including medical/dental examination rooms, processing laboratories, three surgical centers, an oxygen-to-recovery room, numerous nurses stations, and multiple perio, endo, x-ray, and radiology lab facilities (thirteen in total). Laboratory equipment included facility-wide medical gas systems; compressed air and vacuum systems; 27 dental chairs and associated equipment; and medical casework and instrumentation.

During the project, Grimberg recognized that the pre-existing design specifications did not contain new design requirements for bomb impact. In addition, the company detected additional sub-surface “artifacts” that needed to be documented, researched, and removed. Grimberg coordinated closely with the Navy and its architect to adjust the design plans accordingly and thereafter aggressively scheduled all work, including all subcontractor and supplier schedules, to ensure that the project remained within budget and was finished within the agreed upon schedule.

In fact, Grimberg’s proactive management team mitigated over 8 months of delay associated with differing site conditions and late design changes. And as a result, the company delivered this project to the Navy on time and within budget (according to the owner’s adjusted requirements) and with no lost time accidents. As a result of the company’s performance on this highly sensitive project, Grimberg was awarded excellent overall ratings as well as a 2007 Association of General Contractors Merit Award.

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