Childress and Cunningham has been instrumental in the success of multiple municipal projects, serving in many capacities such as Architect, Master Planner, and Owner’s Representative. Our experienced team has worked in all stages of public sector development from Conceptual Design and Master Planning through Construction Phase Services.
South Lebanon Municipal Building – Village of South Lebanon, Ohio
The growing Village of South Lebanon tapped Childress and Cunningham to convert a former elementary school into their new municipal offices. With a history of both successful public sector projects and adaptive reuse, our office was a strong choice for the client’s needs. The building offers the Village room to grow with many administrative functions conveniently located in one facility. Included are departments for Utilities, Tax, Administrative, and the Court. A public Meeting Room, Fiscal Office, and Mayor’s Office with connecting Conference Room and staff Break Room also fit into the program.
Many aspects of the building required upgrades for code compliance, or to bring it up to modern office standards for this new public use. Handicapped accessibility, amenities, and technical improvements were part of the transformation. Improved energy efficiency was realized through modernized climate control and lighting systems, plus upgraded insulation for the building envelope.
To top off the renovations, a dramatic entry plaza was designed. This outdoor space creates a formal sense of civic “place” echoing the importance of the functions within while providing public gathering space and an accessible entry. The eye-catching circular raised terrace leads to a main entrance celebrated with a colonnade and signage, enhancing wayfinding. The composition is wrapped with a curved planter and sweeping brick walls encircling a new sloped walkway.
Edgewood City Building – Edgewood, Kentucky
During the construction of this new 35,000 square foot facility, the city of Edgewood enlisted Childress and Cunningham as the Owner’s Representative. The list of city services coordinated under one roof includes municipal offices, council chambers, police department, and fire department with a four-bay apparatus area.
Our team’s experience in construction management made Childress and Cunningham a great fit to represent the Owner’s interests during the construction phase. We served the Owner by attending regular on-site construction progress meetings including the contractor, sub-contractors and project architect. During C&C’s initial review of the project documents, Childress and Cunningham noted a series of ADA-related design issues that were forwarded to the project architect for re-consideration and correction before shop drawing reviews were completed, allowing the respective issues to be resolved without additional change order construction costs.
A late request from the police department to provide areas to be protected by bullet-resistance glazing was mitigated by C&C research to find a lower cost alternative that could be added into frames and glazing systems already specified by the Architect of Record, keeping the project moving and minimizing the cost of the changes. When design documents were submitted for the design-build site retaining walls, our C&C field experience with these types of walls provided valuable insight for review of and revisions to the design by the design-build contractor. This provided a consensus of confidence among the parties that the long-term stability of the wall could be enhanced using Childress and Cunningham’s recommendations.
Our office also reviewed contractor-driven proposals to reduce cost, determining whether any of the Owner’s interests would be compromised, and whether the Owner was receiving a reasonable share of the cost savings for accepted alternates. As an example, when conflicts arose between trades about some above-ceiling areas where it appeared the number of items and space required for each would make installation time-consuming or impossible, C&C quickly devised and proposed a strategy that required only the most minor revisions in order to install the systems without conflict to one another. This proved to be a win-win for all the parties involved, keeping the project moving on schedule and without a cost increase.
Municipal Building Conceptual and Master Planning
Childress and Cunningham has played a role in the master planning process of municipal projects to help localities determine the most efficient way to achieve their goals. Our team’s experience with handling difficult sites and building code challenges that come with adaptive reuse has helped to steer community projects around these special constraints. Our integrated construction management approach means we are accustomed to building what we design, allowing us insight on how to keep costs under control during construction. This expertise can lead to optimized design solutions that exhibit good stewardship of public money.
Let Childress and Cunningham help you create a new or re-imagined hub for your community!
