Campus Life

HHD Building project honored by Construction Owners Association of America

The new Health and Human Development Building on Penn State's University Park campus. Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State was honored by the Construction Owners Association of America (COAA) with the 2015 Gold Project Leadership Award for the completion of the Health and Human Development Building. The project was the second building of a two-phase expansion of the College of Health and Human Development that was completed this past summer.

“The award is a tribute to the team of craftsmen that built the Health and Human Development Building,” said Rachel Prinkey, project manager with the Office of Physical Plant. “Penn State realized higher quality and value because of the collaboration on this project. Creating that environment on construction projects is not easy. Partners like Massaro Construction Management Services, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Leonard S. Fiore, The Farfield Company and Scott’s Landscaping made it possible. Other contractors on the team included Cost Masonry, Westmoreland Electric, Nittany Building Specialties, Silvertip, Kinsley Construction, Earthmovers Unlimited, M. Cohen and Sons, Michael D. King Services and Preferred Fire Protection.”

The project, part of an effort to unite several of the college’s research centers into new facilities in close proximity to the main academic departments and programs, was a state-funded, multiple-prime contract with 17 primes. While use of a full Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) agreement was eliminated, the University still utilized many of the IPD principles in its management. This allowed for the creation of an open dialog between all participants from day one, building a sense of mutual respect and trust between the design team, physical plant staff, end users and constructors that led to a building that left all involved with a sense of pride and ownership.

As part of the University’s commitment to Building Information Modeling (BIM), this project leveraged the use of technology in its design and construction. The design team was tasked with delivering a fully coordinated BIM model on bid day along with traditional plans and specs. The process, while new to all parties, resulted in a BIM model that reduced construction coordination by 50 percent and nearly zero field clashes in the 95,000-square-foot new construction portion of the building.

“To win the Gold Project Leadership Award, owners must not only achieve budget and schedule goals, but also demonstrate exceptional leadership and project management skills,” said Dean McCormick, committee chair for the COAA Awards. “The Health and Human Development Building project showcased how the entire team went above and beyond achieving cost, schedule and quality goals to raise the industry’s bar even higher.”

The 2015 Project Leadership Awards were presented during an awards luncheon on Nov. 5. The Project Leadership Award Program promotes leadership, professionalism and management excellence of owners involved in the design and construction process. The committee sought projects with exceptional visioning, integrity, team building, communication, fairness, problem resolution, decision-making, plan implementation and collaboration. 

Last Updated June 18, 2021