Germantown Innovation Center

Project Description

The Challenge

Germantown Innovation Center is a 32,000-sf office and lab building located on Montgomery County’s Germantown Campus and offering premier office and laboratory spaces.

The two-story center contains 48 private offices, 12 wet labs – each averaging about 500-sq ft. – two conference rooms and one large multipurpose room that is designed to hold about 80-100 people.

In one of its first projects together, Mallick Mechanical Contractors worked as a trade partner with James G. Davis Construction to complete all HVAC and plumbing.

Within Mallick Mechanical’s scope of work included the installation of approximately 20 individual pods, which were roughly 20’x20’ and larger, along with its associated fume hoods and a Deionized Water system that would deliver high purity water to the laboratory spaces. Mallick Mechanical also implemented 40 water source heat pumps – with almost each office receiving their own individual heating and cooling. Two large outside units with steam humidifiers were also installed by Mallick Mechanical to feed the 32,000-sf office space.

The Strategy

With the intention to develop its recent relationship with James G. Davis Construction, the Mallick Mechanical team was extremely involved in the early stages of the planning process, establishing all schedules, materials and project layout were accurate and organized.

Since the innovation center was receiving specialty piping, Mallick Mechanical wanted to remain current in the most up-to-date installation methods. To proactively accommodate for this, Mallick leadership organized the Deionized Water piping supplier and its representatives to the Germantown job site prior to installation to modernize the certifications for all Mallick Mechanical installers.

Over the 4–6-month project timeline, Mallick Mechanical instituted the appropriate Deionized Water loop with no major setbacks due to the onsite training backed by its experienced leadership team. Mallick Mechanical also completed the installation of other associated plumbing systems and concluded the testing and commissioning with no crucial hiccups.

The Result

Because of Mallick Mechanical’s familiarity with the center and now-matured relationship with James G. Davis Construction, the Mallick Mechanical team was asked to return in 2018 to renovate a portion of the building’s lab space.

While the building was occupied, Mallick Mechanical assisted the Germantown Innovation Center in turning two smaller lab centers spaces into a larger individual one.

Mallick Mechanical accommodated ownership’s requests by updating and re-routing the Deionized Water piping in the associated labs and implementing suitable island spaces.

Mallick Mechanical was proud to not only be part of the commencement of the center but also for the opportunity to return to the facility and improve a portion of the lab space that will play a vital role in future science discoveries.