Wornall Plaza

This was a design build project that consisted of restoration of the exterior brick masonry; balcony concrete repair and replacement; replacement of the original balcony handrails with a new custom fabricated handrail system with an integrated gutter system; as well as a decorative traffic membrane to the top side of the balconies. We erected a complicated swing stage scaffold system providing access to the work areas for the project, from which all work was performed. Additionally, we coordinated the operation of the swing stages between the project engineer and three contractors which required careful coordination.

Project Challenges

Swing stage scaffolding was determined to be the most cost-effective approach to access the work areas, however, this approach limited the amount of workers that could be in a production mode at a given time so the duration of the project lasted two years which is a long time for the resident owners to have contractors making noise on the outside of their residence. Remarkably, our team along with the subcontractor employees established and maintained a positive working relationship with the owner residents.

There were many moving parts to the project which required quick decision making by the construction team throughout the project while trying to please all the resident owners. Additionally, part of the contract was a fixed amount; part of it was performed on a unit price basis; and part of it was performed on a cost-plus basis which required meticulous tracking, record keeping, and reporting to keep ownership informed of real-time costs versus the project budget.

Outcome

Throughout the challenges of the project, we established and maintained a very positive and productive working relationship with the construction team. The project was very challenging but also very satisfying to work so well with the construction team to overcome the constant challenges. This is a project we are very proud of.

Construction Team:

Owner: Wornall Plaza Cooperative Apartments
Engineer: Thos. Rewerts & Co., LLC
Subcontractors: Standard Sheet Metal & Blast it Clean