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Toll
Brothers, Inc.: Mission Impossible?
Project Objective: Toll Brothers, Inc. was bursting at the seams. From parking issues to inefficient furniture to - believe it or not - some people even using closets as office space - the company had expanded way beyond the maximum capacity of their headquarters. The main goal was to consolidate five locations into one headquarters building, while meeting their aesthetic and functional requirements inside a unusually accelerated timeframe of 6 - 7 months. For budgetary reasons, it was imperative the space be completed within their fiscal year.
Meyer Design, Inc. devised a streamlined process and execution plan to keep the project flowing efficiently within the lightning-fast timeframe. The overall concept was to develop an organized "Assembly Line", or Phased, production schedule, where Meyer would design 2 wings per floor each week over a period of 6 - 8 weeks. Rather than completing the design process for the entire building before starting construction, this strategy was arranged so that design and construction worked in tandem. As each new wing of the building was being designed, other wings were undergoing construction. Each week, Meyer completed the design process for 2 wings on 1 floor. The building consisted of 4 wings on 3 floors, a total of 12 wings. This involved space planning implemented by Project Designers Lisa Hahn and Kim Schott, which led directly into construction documentation, executed by Project Architects Matt Albitz and Bob Warwick. Construction started shortly after completing the documentation phase of both wings. Wings were being constructed as Meyer was designing new wings on other floors. In the interest
of saving time and budget dollars, Cindy Carney, Furniture Solutions
Manager, suggested purchasing sets of pre-owned workstations for
Toll's new space. Their existing furniture inventory was so miss-matched
and outdated it would have been too difficult and time intensive to
locate / purchase matching furniture to meet their required move-in
date. Relocating
and rebuilding the existing inventory in the new space would have been
equally as difficult due to lack of swing space to accommodate employees
as their furniture would have been removed from the previous space. Cindy Carney, Furniture Solutions Manager, coordinated with the space plans and furniture dealer on a daily basis because the space plan was constantly changing to accommodate Toll's need for specialized spaces for their separate departments of engineering, construction, accounting and several others. To accommodate the aggressive 3-month construction schedule, the contractor, Norwood, completed construction in rotating shifts to keep the project on schedule. Having Norwood fill the role as both the contractor and construction manager significantly conserved time / communication. Norwood, the Furniture dealer (Premier Office Solutions), George Wilson, Brian Parent & Greg LeGreca from Toll were also on-site as necessary to ensure the construction schedule was on target. Weekly on-site construction meetings were held to closely monitor the progress of the project and make any required adjustments. The synergy between the project team members combined with an organized production schedule was the solution to this client's challenge. What started as a seemingly impossible task of consolidating 5 different locations on budget within 6 - 7 months, is now Toll Brothers' new 200,000 SF Headquarters in Horsham, PA.
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Project
Team: George T. Wilson, AIA NCARB; Brian Parent, IIDA NCIDQ; Cindy
Carney, Lisa Hahn, Kim Schott, Bob Warwick and Matt Albitz 
Principal
of Meyer Architects, Inc. George Wilson, AIA NCARB, and Senior
Designer Brian Parent, IIDA NCIDQ collaborated on defining the company's
key objectives with Greg LeGreca, Assistant VP of Development for
Toll Brothers. Aesthetically, Toll requested their new headquarters
present an image of a timeless corporate environment, while also remaining
true to their brand identity. For functionality, Toll needed a building
with enough square footage to accommodate current staff (residing in
5 locations) and meet their growth projections for the next 5 - 7 years.
They selected what many people know as the old Prudential Building in
Horsham, PA to be the site of their new corporate headquarters.
