RACINE, Wis.-When constructing a new branch in markets where winter is a factor, credit unions can save more than 10% on the project by opting for a prefabricated building shell.
Educators Credit Union here acknowledged that thinking was part of the planning process for its new $6.9-million branch that will open in Milwaukee's popular east side this September. Speaking with Credit Union Journal shortly after the building's shell was erected and just before -20-degree temperatures hit, Jim Cairns, president of BCI Group, the project's builder, said the walls went up "just in time. It took approximately six weeks to erect the shell. And in good weather, that saves us about two months over having built in a traditional manner with a steel skeleton and brick walls."
The quick construction also reduced labor and administrative costs. Additional savings resulted from not having to pay for temporary heating units and sheltering structures to allow crews to work through the tough weather. "We avoided about 90% of those winter construction costs," Cairns said.
Going with prefab walls also helped ECU erect a facility in a tight location in a very populous area. Land is hard to find in Milwaukee's east side, explained Cairns, who said the 11,000-square-foot-branch was built "lot line to lot line."
"Just the complexity of trying to pull all of the different components together to build in the traditional manner in this tight space, with scaffolding etc., would have been extremely challenging," Cairns said. "Plus we reduced the need to shut down some of the neighboring businesses. We just brought in the walls on a truck and tipped them up."
The shell was built from precast concrete with a brick facing on perimeter walls. The interior and courtyard walls, which surround a green area, are also precast concrete with a masonry facing. Floors are precast planks.
Jim Hooper, VP of facilities for the $1-billion ECU, advised credit unions considering prefabricated walls and facing a complex building structure to find a builder that pays "great attention to detail" and gets involved in the project well in advance. Hooper said that paid off with the prefab walls working well with the branch design and erecting without problems. It also helped with the CU's green initiative (see related story, page 26).
"BCI committed a year ahead of time to really work with us and the architect to see where we could match the architectural qualities with production," Hooper said. "It's a very intricate building."
