VDC Done Right: Streamlining Prefab and Coordination on the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Renewal Project
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the oldest and most respected national construction firms in the United States. As a leading builder, McCarthy delivers high-quality projects across sectors including healthcare, education, infrastructure, and renewable energy.
Project Overview
BJC HealthCare’s Barnes-Jewish Hospital Renewal Project is a multi-year, multi-phase transformation to renew the organization’s academic medical center campus in St. Louis, Missouri, on the Washington University Medical Campus.
In 2021, BJC selected McCarthy Building Companies to lead the design-build construction of the campus centerpiece, a new 17-story, 280 bed patient care replacement tower. The tower includes seven floors of private inpatient rooms, two intensive care unit floors and public space. BJC also selected McCarthy to reimagine the south plaza entry and main arrival area of the hospital. McCarthy is working hand-in-hand with CannonDesign (architect) and Thornton Tomasetti (structural engineer).
Immediately after completing the schematic design of the tower, McCarthy began using Revizto to support design development, coordination and clash detection with MEP trade partners. The entire project team and stakeholders have continued to use the collaboration platform through ongoing construction on the jobsite, supporting issue resolution, tracking progress and installation verification.
McCarthy’s Collaborative Field-First Design-Build Approach
In recent years, McCarthy has made a committed effort to move towards an integrated virtual builder culture.
Alex Belkofer, Senior Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) Director at McCarthy, explained, “Recognizing the value of today’s digital solutions, we began re-evaluating our model-based coordination methods. In order to achieve our vision, we needed a tool that could work for the entire project team, not just VDC builders. We knew that to grow a culture of virtual builders, we have to put ourselves into the shoes of those actual builders, whether project engineer, construction manager, design integrator, field operations manager, superintendent, project manager, etc.”
In 2018, McCarthy established the Project Lifecycle Technology Evaluation Committee, a group composed of VDC members, emerging technology, innovation, field operations, preconstruction, design integration and many other stakeholders in the organization to evaluate available solutions including Revizto. Then through a series of pilot projects across McCarthy’s five regions, team members evaluated the three primary areas of the process: model hosting and exchange; model-based coordination; and documentation and issue tracking. It was a thoughtful, intentional, methodical, field-first approach.
Belkofer added, “Like a lot of things at McCarthy, we start with the field because it’s the hardest place to gain full adoption. But we knew that if our field team was successful, everyone could be successful. After the five pilot programs, we realized that we had the solution right in front of us, which was Revizto.”
“What was really wild about Revizto,” he continued, “was the overwhelming adoption immediately after investment. Our goal was to stand up three or four projects in each of the five regions in the first six months. We had over 100 projects.”
According to Belkofer, Revizto has allowed project teams to focus more on creating a virtual building environment, not just for the VDC practitioner, but for everyone. “Now we don’t have to spend so much time wrangling data, organizing clashes, sending out meeting minutes with screenshots like we’ve done for many years. It’s a more holistic approach and creating the culture of virtual building,” he said.
In 2021, McCarthy brought Revizto to the BJC tower project.
Holistic Perspectives Streamline Design and Preconstruction
Kara Lewandowski, VDC Manager with McCarthy, and Jake Luna, Project Manager with McCarthy, relied extensively on Revizto in the design coordination and preconstruction phases.
Revizto was a critical piece of the early design conversations. “We worked through design with Revizto, cataloging any design or constructability issues, and owner recommendations,” said Lewandowski. “Through Revizto, we were able to get into the logistics and quality challenges early. We were able to find issues that we would have found eventually, but very early in the process. Revizto opened up so much more creativity.”
She noted that the entire team, including designers and trade partners, were using Revizto to map out different options and go through it with the owner.
“I’ve been doing this for 39 years and this is my first job using Revizto. The [Revizto] model is easy to navigate and user friendly,” said Tom Buehrle, General Foreman with Deluca Plumbing. “With Revizto, I can switch floors at any given time. Not only do I have the 2D/3D model at my fingertips with easy navigation, but I can also work offline. I can’t even measure the time it’s saved.”
For Lewandowski, it’s about having a visual model and not pencil sketches, that has helped everyone come to the best solution for the overall campus and not just the building.
For instance, she highlighted the use of Revizto to find pathways for fire protection and electrical risers, which aren’t included in the design documents. In this case, she used Clash Automation to identify hot spots within the floor plate, look for pinch points in corridors, perform final hanger checks and insulation runs.
The visual coordination capabilities were particularly valuable when evaluating the structural connections to a neighboring building that was constructed in the 1970s. In this case, the floor-to-floor height is not as generous as today’s buildings. With that limiting floor-to-floor height, the McCarthy team realized that the ductwork and shaft would lower the ceiling height to 7-feet, which is undesirable in a modern structure. Using Revizto, the owner was able to see alternatives.
On this project, I spent the first year primarily in the preconstruction group in a design assist role, working closely with our trade partners. We used Revizto to capture comments, concerns and design changes throughout the process. It’s one of the most powerful tools that I have to visualize and coordinate work in the field.
Enabling Communication with the BJC Field Team
Revizto has been an integral part of McCarthy’s entire workflow, from design through construction on the BJC tower project.
Belkofer explained, “To do design-build project delivery right, there must be high trust and high collaboration. We must create an environment for people to do their best work. We had already forged our partnership with Revizto prior to this project, but it was new to the BJC stakeholders. We knew we would need to show them how the technology could benefit this specific design-build team.”
One of the biggest concerns with any field-based technology at McCarthy is the number of clicks that are required to get an answer.
Belkofer continued, “There’s a lot of talk in the industry about one connected ecosystem, but in reality nobody has the silver bullet for this connected environment. While the data is connected, too often we’re still wrangling data, it still requires 5-10-15 clicks to get somewhere. By that time, you’ve lost the guy in the field. My superintendents tell me that they need three clicks or less.”
Within a short time after rolling out Revizto on the project, the trade partners in particular began to understand why Revizto is such a good tool for design-build delivery. “Right away we started to see people have that Aha! moment. It really brings everyone into a unified digital space,” continued Belkofer.
Lewandowski agreed, adding, “One of the advantages is ease of use. Because the platform has such an easy interface, I’ve gotten a lot more buy in from people who aren’t as tech savvy. It’s a tool that can speak to different audiences, move between 2D and 3D to speak that person's language. When we can cater to what people understand, I believe it brings them on board that much faster. It elevates the conversation to get to a solution much faster.”
The single biggest benefit of Revizto in the field is being able to coordinate in advance and being able to hold people accountable to those commitments.
A Spotlight on Features, Functionality and Facilitating Collaboration
McCarthy VDC engineers and managers spotlight their favorite features and functionality within Revizto.
Sections, Stamps and Scans
Revizto is used at all coordination meetings with the MEP trades on the BJC project.
For Tom Colyer, Senior VDC Engineer at McCarthy in charge of coordination on the BJC project, the Section View and Stamps features are among his favorites, particularly when it comes to comparing scans of as-built conditions to the model.
He said, “The Section View tool is awesome. I can snap sections and move around the model very quickly, different floors and different areas really well. That’s my favorite tool.”
His next favorite is the Stamps tool, a feature used to annotate, mark-up and document specific areas of interest on a design or construction project. It improves collaboration, enhances accuracy, improves visualization, increases efficiency and facilitates track and management of tasks, change orders and other project details.
“The Stamps are amazing because I don’t have to save models anymore and I’m not uploading drawings before a meeting. I just assign a Stamp to an issue or something critical that came up in a meeting and pass it on. That’s fantastic,” said Colyer.
Colyer appreciates Revizto’s ability to work with scanned data. He continued, “We’ve done a lot of progress scanning of as-built conditions and Revizto is able to host that data. With Revizto, I don’t have to save in a different format. It is the best place for everything. I couldn’t do the meeting without Revizto. It allows me to see the issues and mark them, see clashes, stamp and send out. It’s a game changer for me.”
What I really love about it is how our trade partners rely on it. They’ve gotten so comfortable with it that they will communicate with each other through the platform, essentially resolving any in-field issues on the spot.
Versions and Issue Tracking
For VDC Manager Lewandowski, Revizto is all about ensuring as-constructed work matches design intent. She explained, “One of the features that I love but didn’t fully grasp the value of until we got into the construction phase, was Versions. The ability to go back and see where something was added or moved and then determine the best path forward all at our fingertips is pretty powerful.
She’s also a power user of the Issue Tracking feature. Lewandowski confirmed, “We have a complex enclosure design. With the Issue Tracker, we can create, review, assign and respond to a concern all in one system where it’s easily trackable and searchable. It saves a lot of time and phone calls and has been great for communication.”
She used the Issue Tracking feature the most as the team moved to the constructability phase, to overlay 2D drawings from trade partners that were not required to model. “The ability to take those into my model, section them out, and see how they interact has been very helpful to see and resolve problems.”
There’s a lot of accountability in the model and it’s easy to assign actions, check issues, and track progress. It’s so accurate that we’ve been able to prefabricate our conduit wrap and then install where it needs to go with accuracy. We wouldn’t be able to do as much prefab without Revizto.
As-Constructed Versus Design Intent Alignment
As the project construction nears completion, the value of Revizto continues, providing the owner and building maintenance team the visual assurance that as-built conditions match the design model.
Lewandowski said, “Every time we prepare to turn an area over, I use Revizto to walk the owner through the as-constructed model, including maintenance access and building functionality. They can see cut sections, furniture placement, equipment and more and get a sense of how they can maintain that facility safely and efficiently.”
Even the BJC maintenance team joins those meetings, sometimes requesting adjustments. “We use Revizto to summarize those meetings and document resolutions before final handover. The process gives the owner assurance that we’re listening to them.”
Belkofer said, “Revizto is solving problems every single day for our people. It’s a tool that bridges the gap between the office and field.
Deluca Plumbing’s Buehrle agreed, “Everyone is benefiting. The key advantage for me is having so much information in one app. Work progress, upcoming schedules, RFIs, all that information is at my fingertips. The whole umbrella of the app is very beneficial for me. I think all job sites should use Revizto on every project.”
Belkofer agreed and added, “We’re getting information fast, highly reliable and high fidelity, which enables fast decision-making and communication. A tool like Revizto meets the needs of the team, and not just in our organization, but across the entire AEC landscape. It’s a tool for the job. That’s powerful and impactful.”
Reliance is a very important word for our people. They need tools that work and that give them context, not just 2D drawings, or having a great 3D model; there has to be dialogue, communication. To have these environments that connect those dots for our field folks is enough to move the needle. It solves immediate needs and drives immediate value.
