In November Waldrop received recognition for the project’s successful delivery with a best-of-class Associ- ated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of the Carolinas Eagle Award at the asso- ciation's Excellence in Construction awards banquet in Charlotte, North Carolina. Originally constructed in 1964, the 36,000 sq. ft. student residence in- cludes living space for 157 students, along with public spaces and meeting rooms. The renovation's original scope of work included the total demolition and replacement of the mechanical systems, upgrading electrical support systems, removing and replacing exist- ing single pane windows with thermal pane systems, fire alarm modifications and replacing the building’s automa- tion system. The biggest challenge at the outset: the project had to be completed during the university’s 88-day summer break and none of the work, including the as- bestos abatement contracted sepa- rately by the university, could begin until the students had moved out. Waldrop won the project through a competition among pre-qualified con- tractors and began the unique process of leading the design-build project as the prime contractor. Waldrop executive vice-president Dennis Pruitt says, while other compa- nies may shy away from taking on this level of responsibility, Waldrop uses its wide breadth of experience and history of taking on complex projects to em- brace the challenges. “We have tremendous depth of con- struction experience and a strong engi- neering background within the company,” he said. “That, coupled with our design experience qualifies our team in analyzing projects and gives us the ability to effectively manage a proj- ect from concept to a satisfactory end result.” Pruitt says Waldrop responded to and won the existing RFP (request for proposal) but then, in looking at the de- tails, didn’t believe the design concept would best serve the university’s over- all interests relative to cost, maintain- ability, and energy conservation. “As the design-build contractor, we had the ability early on to evaluate the process and the original design con- cept,” he said. “From the start we looked at the design criteria, con- structability issues and cost impacts and were able to streamline the process and improve what had already been set by the university.” “The university had an HVAC design concept but we didn’t think it was the best application for this project,” he says. “We went through a process of helping them understand that the orig- inal design concept was not the only option available, gave them additional options to consider, and helped facili- tate their decision-making process to- ward applied systems that better served their needs.” The resulting change provided an The South Carolina Construction News — December 2013 / January 2014 – 3