Portland, Ore.-based Hoffman Construction is a national contractor that prides itself on using digital tools to complete its projects.
So, in mid 2015, when it was planning to renovate a 10,000-sf office space in Seattle, Hoffman challenged its interior designer, Gensler, to take a similar approach that would highlight Hoffman’s digital integration and technical delivery techniques.
With the help of a host of digital products—including SketchUp, Revit, Faro, Navisworks, Cyclone, AutoCAD and CNC—the Building Team designed the space in just four weeks and helped the client build it in seven.
“Hoffman is always looking to do the impossible in a possible amount of time. Gensler saw us as innovators showcasing our talents with this project,” says Kevin Ryan, operations manager and GM for Hoffman Construction in Seattle.
The focal point was the Think Tank, a 2,000-sf space that would serve as the office’s central hub. That space, according to Jeroen Teeuw, Senior Associate at Gensler who was Lead Designer on this design-build project, is clad in over 100 unique panels that were fabricated from shop drawings produced by digital scans. Fuller Cabinets in Eugene, Ore., supplied the panels, which were fabricated by Straight-Up Carpentry in Oregon.
Photo courtesy of Heywood Chan Photography.
Teeuw says that, before this job, Gensler had only rarely employed digital scanning for interior projects. The scans, he says, were accurate to the point where no tweaks to the design were necessary. “Hoffman had a lot of trust in us,” he says.
Demolition started on Sept. 1, 2015, and included four weeks of asbestos mitigation. Building started the first week October. Hoffman wanted to occupy the building by Christmas, “so we had to identified what absolutely needed to be done in order to satisfy the fire marshals and inspectors,” recalls Ryan. The Building Team stripped the floors, knocked down walls, and installed new T-bar ceilings.
For the renovation, the Building Team broke up the shop drawings into several packages, which Ryan says all but eliminated material waste.
Hoffman achieved its goal, even though the office wasn’t fully completed until April 2016. The space includes conference rooms and private offices, a central teaming area, pantry/lounge/kitchen, open workspace, facilities space, and a reception area.
Related Stories
BIM and Information Technology | Jan 29, 2015
Lego X by Gravity elevates the toy to a digital modeling kit
With the Lego X system, users can transfer the forms they’ve created with legos into real-time digital files.
BIM and Information Technology | Jan 28, 2015
5 crucial lessons from moving BIM/VDC workflows to the cloud
Early adopters of cloud-based model collaboration share what they learned in overcoming their toughest hurdles.
Mixed-Use | Jan 26, 2015
MVRDV designs twisty skyscraper to grace Vienna's skyline
The twist maximizes floor space and decreases the amount of shadows the building will cast on the surrounding area.
| Jan 21, 2015
Schneider Electric and Autodesk begin collaboration on building lifecycle management
Schneider Electric has announced the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding, which states that Schneider Electric and Autodesk plan to collaborate to enhance current practices for building lifecycle management based on BIM.
| Jan 8, 2015
Microsoft shutters classic clipart gallery: Reaction from a graphic designer
Microsoft shut down its tried-and-true clipart gallery, ridding the world not only of a trope of graphic design, but a nostalgic piece of digital design history, writes HDR's Dylan Coonrad.
| Jan 7, 2015
How you can help improve the way building information is shared
PDFs are the de facto format for digital construction documentation. Yet, there is no set standard for how to produce PDFs for a project, writes Skanska's Kyle Hughes.
| Dec 29, 2014
Startup Solarbox London turns phone booths into quick-charge stations [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
About 8,000 of London’s famous red telephone boxes sit unused in warehouses, orphans of the digital age. Two entrepreneurs plan to convert them into charging stations for mobile devices. Their invention was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
Hard hat equipped with smartglass technology could enhance job site management [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
Smart Helmet is equipped with an array of cameras that provides 360-degree vision through its glass visor, even in low light. It was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
New data-gathering tool for retail designers [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
Beacon technology personalizes smartphone messaging, creating a new information resource for store designers. It was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
Wearable job site management system allows contractors to handle deficiencies with subtle hand and finger gestures [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
Technology combines a smartglass visual device with a motion-sensing armband to simplify field management work. The innovation was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
