A New Research & Development Center for a Growing, Global Company
Kubota Manufacturing of America’s (KMA) partnered with Carroll Daniel to build a new Research & Development Center in Gainesville, Georgia – a first for the company in North America. The new 133,000 SF research and development center has space for offices, a shop for testing the equipment, testing tracks, and five smaller buildings around the site. Following this project, Carroll Daniel was also selected to renovate KMA’s Training Facility in Gainesville, Georgia, where KMA’s U.S. manufacturing headquarters is located.
Planners, Builders, Partners ™
As a repeat partner, the Carroll Daniel team remained focused on building opportunities not only for Kubota but also the community. At the campus groundbreaking in September of 2020, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Kubota executives, Carroll Daniel President & CEO Brian Daniel, and design-build team members were on hand to offer a positive start to the project, demonstrating pride in the team effort ahead.
Minimizing Changes in Budget and Schedule
At the beginning of design work for the research & development center project, KMA made a large structural change to the lobby and front façade of the campus’ office building. This presented difficulties with additional foundation work and steel procurement. Because of the collaborative nature of the delivery method, designer and builder were already integrated, enabling a quick turnaround of the design. This was critical to schedule and budget, coming just in time to avoid a post-Thanksgiving price hike in 2020.
Safety First
Safety collaboration between KMA and the team began early through a clear and concise safety article in the design-build contract. With a scope of work ranging from a multi-building campus to a test track and trails on the large site, the delivery approach influenced safety through a consensus to rightfully place most responsibility on the design-build team. To that end, our burgeoning in-house safety team created a site-specific safety plan for the design-build project at its earliest stages to ensure that everyone who stepped foot onto the property went home safely each day.
Overcoming Site Challenges
The scope of work included moving two million cubic yards of dirt, 30 testing elements and miles of testing tracks and trails that had to be designed, reviewed and delivered within very tight tolerances. The Carroll Daniel project team excelled in communication and collaboration with several Kubota stakeholders on exacting the specifications for the outdoor testing elements and indoor testing rooms to accommodate Owner-provided testing equipment. Despite challenges presented during the project, the Carroll Daniel team maintained a positive collaborative approach with Kubota to deliver the exceptional R&D center within the contracted budget amount and earlier than scheduled.
Commitment to Excellence
Carroll Daniel Construction was awarded a first place Build Georgia Award and a America First Place Project/Team Award from the Design-Build Institute – Southeast Region for Kubota’s innovative Research & Development Center. The new, award-winning facility expands the Kubota footprint in Georgia by developing approximately 280 acres near its current manufacturing facilities in Gainesville-Hall County. The center opened with 70 engineering and technical employees and will grow to nearly 200 employees over the next five years – providing steady employment to residents in and around the Gainesville community.
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