Blog written by The James Senior Community Manager Dennis Ruffing
Student housing has certainly come a long way in the past few decades. How things have changed! Much of student housing has been moving closer to campuses to be within walking distance of classes. This means within just a few minutes from rolling out of bed, students can be seated in their lecture halls. Additionally, internet access is no longer considered a luxury, but is expected (not to mention plenty of bandwidth to stream live music and videos). Another trend students are seeing is that newer housing projects are getting denser and taller. Did I mention they also have incredible luxury-style amenities? Today, student residents are seeing pools on rooftops, state-of-the-art fitness centers, as well as beautiful interiors with quartz counter tops and trendy designs.
Companies like Core Spaces, a national student-housing developer, have taken purpose-built student housing to a completely different level. Specifically, Core Spaces recently completed two incredible facilities near the UW-Madison campus.
Hub Madison, completed in 2015, offers the best-in-class student housing, designed for every aspect of college life. Located on State Street, the building was the 2016 winner of both the Student Housing Business Innovator Award for Best Package & Offering of Amenities and the National Association of Home Builders’ Platinum Level Award for Best in American Living.
The second project, completed in 2017, is The James. Similar in many ways to Hub Madison, The James has similar design elements and trendy themes. Not only does The James’ interior include nostalgic furniture, fixtures, and various accessories, but also it is wrapped in a modern exterior that stands out from any other surrounding buildings.
Both of these landmark properties were constructed by Findorff. It is my pleasure to come to work every day to market two of the most beautiful buildings in the City of Madison.
Blog written by Findorff Senior Advisor Tim Prince, MHA, FACHESeek first to understand. Then assess, cooperate, communicate, question, plan, revise, inform, advance.
At Findorff, we focus on the things that matter to our projects’ success – purpose, value, quality, scope and price. To do this successfully, we continuously advance the way we work, by blending the processes of planning, constructing, and completing projects skillfully (Engineer) with our intelligence, resourcefulness, and inventiveness (Ingenuity).That’s Findorff Enginuity. It’s not really what we do, it’s how we do things.
With a vision to be the premier provider of construction services for our clients while providing opportunities for our people, Findorff is constantly probing at the edges of our industry. It’s in the way we partner with clients, developers, architects and engineers. And it’s in the way we support our field workers, our project leaders and our business professionals.
We are committed to the growth of Findorff Enginuity through advanced tools, methods, approaches, skills, and products. Examples include:
- A prefabrication shop where project components are constructed in a controlled environment, increasing safety and compressing schedules
- Unique laser-scanning capabilities that can reveal potential mechanical, electrical and plumbing issues and provide project team with site-specific intel
- Prefabrication and modular construction practices
- Building Information Modeling (BIM) that delivers a 3-D model of the physical and functional characteristics of the facility
- Semi-Automated Masonry (SAM) technologies
- BubbleDeck® for sustainable concrete deck options
That’s Findorff Enginuity. Talk to us to learn more or to share your ideas.
Blog written by Findorff’s Evan Bond, Project Engineer
Recently, Findorff utilized BubbleDeck™ Technology at our ProHealth Care – Central Utility Plant project in Waukesha, Wis. Bubbledeck™ is a voided structural slab design that uses recycled plastic spheres sandwiched between layers of reinforcing steel lattice to introduce “voids” into the two-way slab. Using BubbleDeck™ in place of traditional slab construction can reduce weight by up to 35%, thereby dramatically reducing the structural dead weight, and allowing for smaller columns and beams. Similarly, with BubbleDeck™ construction, approximately 1kg of recycled plastic used to form voids will replace 100kg of concrete, while maintaining the two-way span (biaxial) strength. This reduction in concrete provides the following benefits:
- Reduced overall cost for the owner
- Faster construction
- Lower risk
- LEED® compatibility and environmental sustainability
Another advantage of utilizing BubbleDeck™ is the positive effect on schedule and the use of prefabrication. The panels utilized at ProHealth Care were constructed offsite and included partial precast with about 2.5″ of concrete, bubbles, and steel. Once the project team was ready, these panels were delivered to the project site and flown into place with a crane where they were poured to grade. The precast concrete allowed the slab to be set on temporary shoring and eliminated the need for all formwork on the underside of the deck. The combination of precast, custom panels and the elimination of formwork vastly increased the installation process.
Findorff has utilized this technology for several years. In 2012, Findorff was the first general contractor to install BubbleDeck™ in the United States, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison LaBahn Arena. This innovation reduced overall costs, saved two days of construction and used 30% less concrete than traditional methods. Although the BubbleDeck™ system requires extensive coordination at the inception of the project, the cost and time savings benefit everyone involved.
Blog written by Findorff’s Joel Powers, Senior Virtual Construction Specialist
A new generation in the world of Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) and Building Information Modeling (BIM). Advanced technology has allowed for process improvements and efficiencies in the production of construction documents, where a drafter is able to “make the numbers work” from a dimensioning stand point. Within CAD, designers can set a dimension to the nearest inch, when in reality the dimension in a 3D model could be 4’-11 ¾” rather than the 5’-0”.What may seem like a minimal discrepancy can actually lead to significant problems in the field if interior walls are laid out per the construction documents at measurements of 5’-0” versus the model at measurements of 4’-11 ¾”. For example, compound this discrepancy over a 100-foot span. The results could be catastrophic, meaning a project’s plumbing pipes that were supposed to be within a wall cavity could very well be jutting out beyond the wall. This issue would result in unnecessary rework to fix interior walls, which in turn could impact the construction schedule and add unforeseen costs.
To avoid such mishaps, Findorff’s Virtual Construction team is a valuable asset early on in a project to confirm various dimensions from a 3D model to those in construction documents. This ultimately helps prevent issues from arising in the field. Additionally, working collaboratively with architects and engineers, as well as requesting their BIM files at the start of a project, makes it possible to coordinate items faster and more accurately, saving time and money. In other words, it is incredibly valuable to have accuracy in the numbers.