Georgia Tech Research Institute

In 2018 the Georgia Institute of Technology acquired multiple buildings from Lockheed Martin Corporation encompassing over 600,000 gross square feet (GSF) for its applied research division – the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). The procurement was issued for a design-build contractor to deliver the final product within a one-year timeframe using bridging documents prepared by a design professional.  

 The scope of work consisted of renovations to 115,000 GSF of the L-22 Office Building for offices, conference spaces, computing laboratories, electronics laboratories and research in assembly and manufacturing. Additionally, it called for 136,000 GSF of the L-12 High Bay Warehouse to be renovated for lab assembly and manufacturing. Several renovation areas required special construction to maintain security barriers.

AHA Consulting Engineers, Inc. (AHA), teamed with McCarthy Building Companies Inc. (McCarthy) and Flad Architects (FLAD), was selected and began work the day after the interview due to the aggressive project schedule. After review of the bridging documents and conducting an initial survey of existing conditions, AHA determined that the bridging documents were deficient, and therefore the scope of work had to be quickly clarified and resolved to allow the schedule to proceed.

Multiple design packages were issued to enable early demolition and pre-purchase of major equipment. Also, during the design process, Georgia Tech added over 150,000 GSF of additional renovation area and replacement of existing equipment originally anticipated to remain.