Situation:
New offices were necessitated when Barnes & Thornburg, the largest law firm in Indiana acquired Lee, Mann, Smith, McWilliams, Sweeney and Ohlson, an intellectual property firm. Both firms already had Chicago offices, but neither had sufficient space to accommodate the other.

Challenge:
By the time the firm decided on new space at the new UBS Tower, it had less than three months to move out of its old offices. This left Krusinski Construction Company with 11 weeks to turn 65,000 square feet of raw space on two floors into a richly appointed traditional law firm – including a custom, interior staircase.

Solution:
Before the bids went out, Krusinski developed a preliminary construction schedule that called for 10-hour days, seven days a week and specified exactly when each trade would be on the job and for how long.

Subcontractors had to commit to the schedule along with a price as part of their bids.

Long-lead items, such as millwork, lighting fixtures, carpeting, marble and some HVAC equipment, were ordered as soon as the final budget was approved.

Weekly progress meetings between Krusinski, Solomon Cordwell Buenz & Associates (architect), CB Richard Ellis (David Tropp, broker), engineers, and client assured that information was shared, changes were approved and schedules were met.

Results:
With workers on the job until 11 pm the night before, the law firm moved in as planned. The new offices, featuring a rich palette of dark wood and white marble, were named “Interior Build Out” of the year by Midwest Construction News.