Suffolk to Manage Lawrence & Memorial Hospital Cancer Center Project Using Integrated Project Delivery

Leading construction management firm overseeing one of first healthcare projects in the country to utilize innovative IPD process

BOSTON, MA, January 17, 2012 – Suffolk Construction was recently awarded Lawrence & Memorial Hospital’s Cancer Center project in Waterford, Connecticut. The $34.5 million Cancer Center will feature new construction of a 47,000 square-foot comprehensive facility that will include extensive radiation and medical oncology programs, along with state-of-the-art treatment technologies. The project is notable because it will be one of the first healthcare construction projects in the country to utilize the innovative Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) method.

For the Cancer Center project, the IPD method will consist of a contractual arrangement between Lawrence & Memorial Hospital, Suffolk Construction, and the architecture firm, TRO Jung|Brannen. The contract will require that all risk and reward on the project be shared with all project stakeholders, including mechanical/plumbing/controls, electrical, and sitework contractors. The origin of IPD is aligned with Suffolk’s proactive, collaborative approach to managing construction projects.

Suffolk will also leverage lean design and construction techniques and Building Information Modeling (BIM) to minimize issues during construction, enhance team-wide collaboration, and add significant overall value on the project. In conjunction with Lawrence & Memorial Hospital, the project team will utilize the Production Preparation Process (3P) lean design approach and pull planning tools to allow for more decision making and knowledge sharing early in the planning process. Pull planning will enable the team to improve the flow of the project schedule, increase efficiency, and reduce waste.

Construction of the Cancer Center—which signifies Suffolk’s first project with Lawrence & Memorial Hospital—will begin in spring 2012. The grand opening is scheduled for September 2013. The Cancer Center project is part of Lawrence & Memorial Hospital’s master facility plan and will feature a sustainable design strategy to achieve LEED Silver certification.

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Suffolk Completes Construction on First-of-its-kind Operating Suite

5,700 square-foot operating suite to be test bed for next generation of imaged-guided operating techniques

BOSTON, MA, January 11, 2012 – Suffolk Construction recently completed the multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art Advanced Multimodality Image Guided Operating (AMIGO) suite at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). A highly integrated, 5,700 square-foot suite featuring three sterile procedure rooms, AMIGO represents the leading edge in surgical care, where image-guided surgical procedures will be introduced, tested, and perfected for the benefit of patients around the world.

The AMIGO suite will serve as the clinical arm and research test bed of the National Center for Image Guided Therapy (NCIGT) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Designed with new intraoperative technology, the suite features a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) room, an operating room with Angiography, and a Positron Emission Tomography (PET)/Computed Tomography (CT) room.

Suffolk worked closely with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, architect Payette, and IMRIS, a global leader in image guided therapy solutions, to create a space that features a first-of-its-kind ceiling-mounted MRI that runs on rails between the MRI room and the operating room. This design allows the equipment, rather than the patient, to move between rooms, resulting in reduced trauma for the patient as well as increased patient safety.

The suite also provides the intraoperative use of advanced imaging techniques that help make procedures more precise and enables surgeons to more fully assess the initial results before closing the incision and completing the procedure. It is the first time that such a large variety of imaging technologies are situated together in one space in an operating suite.

Suffolk’s significant experience in health care facility construction enabled the team to successfully address a series of building challenges throughout the project. New design plans, including moving the MRI equipment from a floor-mounted to a ceiling-mounted set up, were implemented after extensive mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) coordination was completed. Building Information Modeling (BIM) was used to allow for a more streamlined installation of the new configuration. The suite, located two floors below grade and under live operating rooms, featured a low 13-foot ceiling that required a substantial support system for the 33,000 pounds of ceiling mounted equipment and provided limited space to install the MEP systems. In addition, Suffolk implemented an innovative vibration dampening system to minimize disruptions to MRI imaging.

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Suffolk Construction Breaks Ground on Millennium Place III Residential Tower

$220 million, 256-unit development to occupy full city block in Boston’s Downtown Crossing

BOSTON, MA, November 29, 2011 – Suffolk Construction recently celebrated the groundbreaking of Millennium Place III, a 15-story, 390,000 square-foot luxury residential tower in Boston’s Downtown Crossing neighborhood. The $220 million project includes $135 million of hard construction costs and is comprised of 256 units with one, two, and three-bedroom apartments, 9,700 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, and 125 below-grade parking spaces.

When completed in fall 2013, the new building will replace an underutilized parking lot and occupy a full city block that spans Washington Street, Avenue de Lafayette, Harrison Avenue Extension, and Hayward Place. Construction of the residential tower is expected to add 450 construction jobs, and will significantly contribute to the revitalization of the Downtown Crossing area.

The developer is Millennium Partners, and Handel Architects of New York is the architect. The project will be designed and built to achieve LEED Silver certification.

The residential tower will be the third and final phase of Millennium Partners’ mixed-use campus in Downtown Boston. The first two phases of Millennium’s development consists of the Ritz Carlton Hotel and Towers.

Suffolk is also managing construction for The Kensington project, a 27-story, 381-unit residential tower located nearby on Washington Street. The construction management firm recently completed construction on the restoration and rebuilding of the neighboring Boston Opera House and Suffolk University’s Modern Theatre.

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Suffolk Construction Named a 2011 Top Place to Work by The Boston Globe

Successful construction management firm recognized for commitment to employee development, corporate social responsibility, and innovative technologies

BOSTON, MA, November 7, 2011 – Suffolk Construction has been named one of the “Top Places to Work” in Massachusetts in an annual employee-based survey project by The Boston Globe. Suffolk was recognized as one of the most progressive companies in the state based on employee opinions about direction, execution, managers, career, conditions, and pay and benefits.

Suffolk ranked twenty-second within the “Medium Employer” category, and was highly ranked by employees in the special top 10 lists in the “Manager” category. The construction management firm was honored as a company that provides career development opportunities, corporate social responsibility initiatives, and innovative technologies that help employees work smarter.

The Boston Globe’s 2011 Top Places to Work supplement featured Suffolk’s use of iPads. “And last spring, every employee at Boston-based Suffolk Construction Co. received a complimentary iPad of their own. Every hire is also issued an iPad. ‘The iPad is an important tool’ for work, said Kimberly Steimle, executive vice president of marketing, but the company encourages employees to use it at home, too. Employees carry their iPads throughout the workday, using them at staff meetings and during presentations that feature renderings of building projects in progress. The iPad helps keep the costs of printing materials down.”

“I’d like to extend my congratulations to Suffolk Construction for their inclusion in the 2011 issue of The Boston Globe’s Top Places to Work, and for so clearly demonstrating effective ways to create a positive work environment,” said Chris Mayer, publisher of The Boston Globe.

The Boston Globe engaged WorkplaceDynamics, specialists in employee engagement and retention, to survey employees at 237 participating companies, receiving completed surveys from 73,813 individuals. Each was asked to grade their organization’s performance according to 24 distinct statements, and all employers were invited to complete a 12-question survey on workplace practices.

All of the participating employers were placed into one of three size groups, based on the number of employees in Massachusetts, to account for the “small company effect” found in such surveys. Small workplaces were defined as those with 100 to 249 employees; midsize workplaces were defined as those with 250 to 999 employees; and large workplaces were those with 1,000 or more employees. All companies were then ranked within their size band.

This marks Suffolk’s third year to be featured on the prestigious list. The Boston Globe’s 2011 Top Places to Work magazine was published on Sunday, November 6. The report may be found online at www.boston.com/topworkplaces.

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BBJ Recognizes Suffolk as "Best of Decade"

The Boston Business Journal designated Suffolk one of the "Best of the Decade" in its In Depth section profiling the top ten Boston-based organizations of the past ten years. The write-up highlighted Suffolk’s strong national presence, role in “changing the face of Boston,” diversification across sectors and strong commitment to the community.

Ready to hoop it up in China: Hub students picked for cultural exchange basketball event

BOSTON, MA, December 6, 2011 - When Andy Pontes was called into his coach’s office at New Mission High School three weeks ago, he got nervous. Had he done something wrong?

The coach sat him down and told him the news. He and seven other Boston public schools students were going to China.

“I was like, ‘What? I’m going to China?’’’ Pontes, 18, recalled. “I was just so excited to be outside of the country!’’

The students leave tomorrow for a 10-day trip to Beijing, where they will compete in a boy’s basketball competition with students from China. The tournament, sponsored and paid for by the Americans Promoting Study Abroad, is meant to encourage cross-cultural exchange.

The students selected for the program hail from seven local high schools, and most have never traveled internationally.

“It’s so important that, graduating from high school, our students are educated to be able to interact with other people across the globe,’’ Superintendent Carol R. Johnson said last week at an information meeting for the students going to China. “We have to help them appreciate and value cultures across the world and develop the skills and knowledge to navigate outside the United States.’’

In recent years, Boston public schools administrators have pushed to bring more travel to students, especially for male students of color, who, according to demographics, are least likely to travel outside of the country with a student group.
For that, they turned to Bethany Wood, the coordinator of global education at the Boston public schools and one of the China trip organizers.

“All students, not just a few of our students, should have the opportunity to see the world,’’ Wood said.

Wood, a longtime traveler, has backpacked in countries such as India, Cambodia, and Vietnam during summer vacations. In 2005, she won a Fulbright grant to teach in Ghana for a year. When she returned, she began bringing students with her on her travels.

“I never thought there could be anything better than travel,’’ Wood said, “and then I did it with kids.’’

The eight boys, chosen by their headmasters in consultation with teachers and coaches, were overjoyed when they were called into administrators’ offices three weeks ago and informed of the trip.

“I just feel spoiled,’’ said Kevin Bernardez, 17, who attends Madison Park High School. “It feels like a Christmas gift.’’
And it is a gift his mother, Antonia Bernardez, said he deserves.

“He is a good student, so dedicated,’’ Bernardez said. “I’m so happy for him.’’

Kenneth Ramos Sr. knew that his son, Kenneth Ramos Jr., 17, , always wanted to go to China. Growing up, the boy was obsessed with martial arts movies - Jackie Chan films were his favorite - and begged to keep watching long after the rest of his family wanted to change the channel.

When Ramos got a call from his son’s school three weeks ago and heard that the teen had been chosen for an all-expenses-paid trip to Beijing to play in an international basketball tournament, he could not contain himself.

“I was blown away,’’ Ramos recalled. “They said, ‘Don’t tell him yet,’ but I probably told him 15 minutes after.’’

In recent weeks, the students have received lessons on what to expect during their travels, as well as basic lessons on how to greet and thank people in Mandarin.

The students will also be traveling in style. Businesses and organizations from the region donated wardrobes and gear for the young men, including: sneakers and basketball shoes from the Boston Scholar Athlete Program; duffel bags and jersey from New Balance; and warm-up jackets and basketballs from the Boston Celtics.

And most impressive: eight navy, single-breasted, notched-lapel suit jackets, to be worn during the team’s pre- and post-game press conferences.

John O’Connell, a sales associate at Brooks Brothers menswear store, escorted the jackets to their new owners and provided style tips for their appearance.

“Who does not know how to tie a tie?’’ he asked the students.

Half raised a hand. O’Connell gave a short tutorial, telling them to check YouTube if they forget whether the fat side goes over or under the skinny side.

Highlights of their intinerary include a visit to the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China, and the landmarks of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.