Hatchways Leans on the Agility of Design-Build to Hit a Challenging Investor Timeline

Hatchways partnered with design-builder ARCO/Murray to overcome budget challenges, engineer value and meet a June 2019 opening date for its flagship coworking space in Dallas, Texas.

After completing a full set of design drawings, Hatchways – a high-performance coworking space – initiated a competitive bid process to select a general contractor for their flagship location in Dallas, Texas. The challenge? Initial bids from contractors came back 20% over budget. Hatchways had already executed the real estate lease and made a no-later-than June 2019 opening commitment to investors. Revising the design to minimize project costs would likely not allow Hatchways to maintain their schedule.

ARCO/Murray entered discussions with the Hatchways team to determine if the design-build process could be a valuable solution. Within days, the ARCO/Murray team produced a list of design modifications that could put Hatchways on a path to meeting the original budget. A procurement plan was also provided that would allow design revisions to take place in parallel with construction to open as planned. ARCO/Murray outlined exactly at what day Hatchways would need to make each decision to keep the schedule on track.

In the traditional plan and spec construction process, general contractors typically do not start construction until a new design drawing set is completed. Otherwise, there could be a myriad of change orders and RFIs to contend with and less cost control. Design-build proved to be an agile solution for Hatchways, allowing for intentional overlap between budgeting, permitting, design and construction.

“We were giving new costs to Hatchways without having any design drawings, which not a lot of traditional general contractors are comfortable doing,” stated Lauren Ladowski, Vice President at ARCO/Murray National Dallas. She continued, “We executed the process, working in lockstep with the architect to understand the design intent and offer cost alternatives that met Hatchways’ vision.”

ARCO was able to start construction on the 22,000 SF, two-story coworking space while still in the procurement process. The buildout included an event gallery, community room, Class A lobby entry, forward-thinking café and open structured workspace. A new unique curtainwall system was installed, steel columns and beams were relocated and a new custom glass storefront with a bifold door system was added. Interior renovations included a new kitchen HVAC system, decorative LED light fixtures, custom millwork and a grand staircase.

Hatchways kept its promise to investors and opened to the public in June 2019.

Ladowski concluded: “I think the coolest thing is over the course of this project we developed such a great partnership with Hatchways. We listened, understood their business and brought their vision to life.”

To experience a better way to build, contact us: [email protected].