The recently completed Burns & McDonnell World Headquarters at 9450 Ward Parkway has been named Project of the Year in the Mid-America Region by the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA). The 310,000 square-foot, 4-story building also received top honors in the Commercial Buildings category in the annual DBIA competition.
The project was developed by VanTrust Real Estate, LLC, on a 17.5-acre site that previously was occupied for many years by Beth Shalom synagogue. The new building sits adjacent to the preexisting Burns & McDonnell headquarters complex at 9400 Ward Parkway. The project formally began in 2013 when Burns & McDonnell reached agreement with VanTrust to serve as designer, builder and sole occupant. Demolition began in July 2014 and construction commenced in October of that year. The $75 million project was completed in March 2016, 17 months from the construction start date and nearly $5 million under the original budget. The project required 345,000 man-hours for completion and had zero safety incidents.
"On behalf of the DBIA, we congratulate Burns & McDonnell for its beautiful new headquarters building," says Oretta Smith, Executive Director of DBIA-Mid-America Region. "This amazing project proves once again that design-build is the most effective method to meet an aggressive schedule and owner expectations of cost certainty."