Project Scope
Georgetown Day School is a private, independent school founded in 1945 and the first racially integrated school in Washington, D.C. The private school began with all its students in one location but has relocated eight times over the years. However, with the new development sitting adjacent to the existing high school built in 1986, all Georgetown Day School PK-12 students will be in the exact location for the first time in 45 years.
The K-8 educational facility is approximately 190,000 sq ft. and has one parking garage underneath an athletic turf field. It also contains two underground levels with a large gymnasium, and performance and music rooms. The Northwest D.C. school also consists of four above-grade education levels with classrooms, collaborative learning spaces, office spaces, and kitchen facilities.
Mallick Mechanical installed two chillers (300 tons), one rooftop unit (2 tons), three non-condensing boilers (2,000,000 BTU), four custom air handlers (120, 100, 25, 40 tons), 24 fans (ranging from 75-12,000 cfm), 14 hydronic pumps (ranging from ¼-25 horsepower), one heat exchanger (400 GPM), 17 VFDs, 154 VAVs, a hot water expansion loop system, a chilled water and hot water chemical treatment system, and an open-loop condenser water solids separator.
Strategies
The project was accepted with the understanding that the plans were 50 percent completed and that achieving the design intent would require extensive collaboration.
Mallick Mechanical and its trade partners overcame this through consistent communication with James G. Davis Construction, Gensler, Girard Engineering, and Georgetown Day School ownership. Through productive conversations, the project team was able to understand the ownership’s expectations and navigate a way to deliver them in the most efficient, cost-effective, and safest way possible.
Mallick Mechanical also met with all second—and third-tier subcontractors before the project start date to obtain input on expected timeframes for certain tasks. Following those discussions, each team member was held accountable for that task to ensure it was executed within the appropriate time frame.
Challenges
As Mallick Mechanical was planning and preparing for mobilization, the first COVID-19 impact hit Washington, D.C., forcing our project team to adapt to ever-evolving and unfamiliar circumstances.
However, due to an accelerated schedule, Georgetown Day School could not face any stoppages. To combat COVID-19, Mallick Mechanical’s safety officer and other necessary parties implemented many strict safety measures. The team ran a pipe to additional temporary hand washing stations and created unique work action plans with crews. Foremen and leadership coordinated workforce crews to certain project areas for tasks. This strategy was implemented by Mallick Mechanical teams, allowing social distancing to take place and helping track potential COVID-19 cases should they surface.
Due to Mallick Mechanical and other project members following safety measures correctly, the K-8 school was able to remain on schedule without any major delays from the pandemic.With project specifications partially completed, Mallick Mechanical played a large part in resolving issues that materialized and required additional attention. The team discovered concerns after two air handlers were set with no service platforms. Mallick Mechanical recognized this and suggested a viable solution to Davis’s leadership. After it was approved, the team organized plans and specifications. With the help of our fabrication shop, Mallick Mechanical was quickly able to provide service platforms that would assist building management when air handlers required service.
One of the biggest challenges faced arrived when it came time to place and install the cistern control skid. With the four-story building already topped out, Mallick Mechanical had to coordinate a plan of action to place the skid in the pump irrigation room. Internal strategizing plans and discussions with Davis Construction transpired to overcome this. Mallick Mechanical—along with some assistance from Crane Services—coordinated the transportation of the skid through a hallway, with approximately 10 employees guiding the way to ensure no damage would be done to the school or any other project member’s work. Before transporting the skid, Mallick Mechanical communicated and identified installation paths with other trades to get the equipment past potential collision points. Because of these adjustments, the project faced no delays.
