Speed and collaboration were the defining words of Landry/French Construction’s lightning-fast transformation of a 145,000-square-foot Olympia Sports distribution center into a COVID-19 test kit manufacturing facility for Abbott Laboratories.
In only 60 days, Landry/French renovated and retrofit 50,000 square feet of the building, with nearly 30,000 SF more completed 30 days later. The team liked to say they were “building the plane as we were flying it.” Increased test kit production – which allowed increased testing capacity – was imperative to controlling the spread of the pandemic and safely reopening not only Landry/French’s home state of Maine but the entire country. The impressive speed and unprecedented impact of this effort won Landry/French Construction the Project of the Year Award.
The unprecedented urgency of the project necessitated precise coordination, swift, and educated decision making, and co-locating multiple team members on-site, including architects, engineers, and Abbott representatives. Some evenings the designers were planning what would be built the following day, with architects even marking wall locations on the floors, rather than waiting to complete the drawings. When 80-foot trusses needed to be delivered over Memorial Day weekend, the Director of the Maine Turnpike Authority personally met the trucks at the New Hampshire border and escorted them to the site, marking the first time in Maine Turnpike Authority history that oversized loads were transported on a holiday weekend. Workers installed the trusses as soon as they arrived.
COMMUNITY IMPACT
All projects affect local employees, residents, businesses, and organizations. The impact of this unique and urgent effort spread far beyond Scarborough. Maine, New England, and the U.S. could not wait the full year or more that such a project normally would take. Near-immediate access to test kits was crucial to the ability to ramp up COVID-19 testing capacity, in an effort to mitigate the pandemic. Because Landry/French delivered its product with such speed, Abbott Laboratories received a Certificate of Occupancy for the clean production and laboratory manufacturing space in just 60 days. Phase I included 35,700 SF of clean production space and 17,000 SF of office space; the next month, the team completed an additional 16,000 SF of production space, 11,000 SF of office space, and parking for 400 cars.
Landry/French hired as many local subcontractors as possible and provided locally sourced meals for the workers, which supported restaurants and caterers suffering business losses during the shutdown. The team also collected and donated over 2,000 pounds of food to a local food bank.
PERSONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY
The raging virus necessitated strict onsite health and safety protocols throughout the project, which included over 200 subcontractors on the busiest days. Measures included daily risk assessments, temperature checks, frequent hand washing, masks, distancing, plus disinfection of tools, use of negative air machines, and increased outside air ventilation. The site’s location near wetlands, Clark Brook, and the Stroudwater River meant stormwater and erosion had to be considered and monitored. Despite the fast-track work, the team completed 306,000 work hours with zero lost-time accidents.
A DEFINING PROJECT
The project marked Landry/French’s 10th anniversary and a return to working with Abbott Laboratories, which had been the company’s first customer. The team is rightfully proud of their speed, quality, coordination, ultimate success in delivering this unprecedented achievement.
ï Mid-May: First pod construction completed
ï May/June: First-floor offices, break room, locker room, and kitchenette complete
ï Late May/Early June: Pod construction continued, striping and technical manufacturing began, trusses arrived
ï Early June: Final lamination construction completed
ï Early July: Pods 1-4, final lamination, striping completed
ï Mid July: Pod 5 construction completed
PROJECT TEAM
OWNER:
ABBOTT LABORATORIES
CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: LANDRY/FRENCH CONSTRUCTION
ï Denis Landry, President
ï Kevin French, Chief Executive Officer
ï Mason Rowell, Director of Preconstruction
ï Tim Sommers, Senior Project Manager
ï Adam Eastman, Superintendent
ï Superintendents: Brad Daniel, Dan Downey, Brian Donovan, Rob Donahue, Steve LaPointe
ï Jon Englehart, Assistant Superintendent
ï Jake Michaud, Assistant Project Manager
ï Bud Kempton, Mechanical and Plumbing Coordinator
ï Shannon Wiley, On-Site Safety Manager
- Trent Filer, Safety Director.
ARCHITECT/ENGINEER: SMRT ARCHITECTS
KEY SUBCONTRACTORS:
ï Mechanical/Plumbing Johnson and Jordan
ï Ductwork Aero HV
ï Electrical ES Boulos
ï Tel Data Connectivity Point
ï Concrete and Steel CCB
ï Carpentry/Framing Drywall North South
ï Framing and Drywall Metro Walls
ï Prefab Structures Atlantic Prefab
ï Sitework Shaw Brothers
ï Flooring Paul White Tile
ï Painting Ace Painting