Fairfield University / GoodyClancy
Fairfield University engaged Goody Clancy to program and design the expansion and renovation of its all-you-care-to-eat dining facility to serve its growing population of undergraduate students.
During the programming of the building, the project scope grew to include additional conference space, as well as student social spaces and improvements to the building’s circulation. The expansion of scope of course necessitated an increased project cost, but did not result in any additional construction time. The total allotted construction period was a semester (during which the building would be occupied and serving meals) plus a summer. As the campus’ only dining facility, minimizing the amount of downtime was a driving factor in determining the delivery method and enclosure method.
Skanska had been engaged during the concept phase for preconstruction services, and in collaboration with the university and the Goody Clancy, developed a plan to procure the exterior façade — both the precast panels and the
Fairfield University / GoodyClancy Barone panel detail
curtainwall — by means of a design assist process. Goody Clancy had to adjust their design thinking for precast panels and the panels’ joint pattern to encourage competitive bidding. The pattern had to allow that a bidding subcontractor could approach the façade with smaller pieces and a higher piece count, as in a “column-and-beam” approach; the design also had to allow a subcontractor to opt to construct the façade of multifloor large panels. As the winning bidder, Coreslab optimized the façade into fewer, large panels.
Goody Clancy issued the design assist bid documents at the midpoint of the design development phase. Coreslab and Goody Clancy participated in a single all-day meeting, followed by two virtual ones. The result of this process was that the first panels were ready for review in the same week that the balance of the construction documents were issued for bid. Fairfield continued to serve meals in the dining facility while the first precast panels were being installed 10 or so feet away — on the opposite side of a temporary partition.
Learn more about this project at the ABX ArchitectureBoston Expo. Register for session TH10: Best Value Precast Façades: Design Assist/integrated Design on Nov. 29 from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Owner: Fairfield University, Fairfield, Conn.
Designer: Goody Clancy, Boston.
Structural Engineer: Silman (Robert Silman Associates), New York, N.Y.
Contractor: Skanska USA Building Inc., New Haven, Conn.
Precaster: Coreslab Structures (CONN) Inc., Thomaston, Conn.
