Last month, Forrester and its partners at Prince George’s Community College broke ground on the $26 million Lanham Hall project. Located on the campus’ northeast quadrant, the existing 1970’s era building will be renovated and expanded by nearly 19,000 square feet. The completed 92,500 square foot facility will add capacity, consolidate services, and eliminate programmatic space issues for the college’s workforce development and continuing education programs. The additional square footage will also grow the print shop, support the Middle College High School Partnership, and add a needed lecture hall.

A first time client, Prince George’s Community College awarded Forrester this contract based on a strong technical proposal that overcame several of the renovation’s complex challenges. “Our great builders developed an approach that uses 3D modeling to fully integrate the completely new conical roof treatment with the existing cubic elements below,” says Forrester Project Executive Don Free. Because of this, Forrester will have the building water tight in early 2017. Forrester differentiated itself through a teaming approach founded on open communication to satisfy all of the sometimes disparate project requirements.

Community college construction will include demolition and reuse of most of the main structure within the existing building as well as installation of curtain wall and aluminum cladding on the exterior. New steel frame additions will be built to the west, north, northeast, and east of the original structure. Landscaping and site improvements will also be made to incorporate the updated building into the open courtyard and plaza at the campus’ core. Onsite operations began last month and will be completed in mid-December 2017. The completed Lanham Hall project is expected to achieve LEED Silver certification. Check other new college buildings in Maryland that Forrester built.

Forrester has also initiated a multi-faceted plan to engage with the campus community, including hiring student interns interested in construction careers, participating in career fairs to help with job placement, and contributing articles about campus events via a quarterly newsletter. The project team will also conduct a series of onsite “Hard Hat Tours” open to all students and faculty throughout the course of the project.

Forrester will team with several other firms to deliver the project including project lead architect Murphy & Dittenhafer Architects; mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineer James Posey Associates, Inc.; structural engineer Restl Designers; civil engineer Triad Engineering; landscape architect Mahan-Rykial Associates; and low voltage systems designers Convergent Technologies and Flux Studio.

Click here to read the first edition of the Prince George’s Community College Construction Update. The publication was compiled in partnership with the college and another firm working on campus at another site to keep students, faculty and staff informed of progress.