The Deaconess Center was completed within just 7.5 months using the design-build delivery method with the added advantage of an interactive programming and design process provided by minority-owned KAI Design & Build. Photo: Tom Paule Photography
The facility’s design incorporates many elements that appeal to children, such as bright colors, eye-catching graphics and furniture, and garden spaces. Photo: Tom Paule Photography
Interactive programming and design process helps KAI meet tight deadline. Fast-track facility
of Christ member, served as the project manager and minority-owned Kwame Building Group was the construction manager. To keep the project on schedule, KAI selected tilt-up concrete con- struction for the building’s exterior façade to assure the fastest possible building erection, as well as used vibrated stone piers to drastically reduce the owner’s site remediation cost and schedule impact. The completed Deaconess Center provides meeting rooms, a chapel, and a large conference space for as many as 125 people, as well as ad- ministrative offices for the Deaconess Foundation, Vision for Children at Risk, and Neighborhood Houses — a United Church of Christ min- istry that supports low-income children and families of the inner core of St. Louis City. The facility’s design incorporates many elements that appeal to children, such as bright colors, eye-catching graphics and furniture, and garden spaces. The Deaconess Center is expected to host more than 6,000 citizens a year in more than 250 meetings focused on children’s issues. Meeting rooms will be available at no charge to initiatives focused on improv- ing public policy for children. Forty to 50 people are expected to work at The Center, with many relocating from various Deaconess Founda- tion offices throughout the St. Louis area. “Through our funding, advocacy, and this facility, we want to culti- vate a movement for child well-being in St. Louis,” said Deaconess President and Chief Executive Rev. Starsky Wilson in a press release. “Movements need activated individuals, creative ideas, and institu- tional expressions. This will be a place where they all come together for kids.”
KAI Design & Build completed construction of St. Louis’ new $8.5 million Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being — a 21,272-square- foot facility providing meeting and office space for child advocates, civic leaders, and community organizers dedicated to enhancing the well-being of at-risk children. In March, KAI Design & Build received a 2018 Building St. Louis Award for the project. The awards program, sponsored by the St. Louis Business Journal, recognizes commercial real estate projects that have created a positive community impact in the areas of investment, jobs created, or potential benefit to a surrounding area. Located in the Grand Center Arts District of St. Louis City, the facility was completed within just 7.5 months in December 2017. Since time was of the essence on the project — the Deaconess Foundation’s lease at its previous office space was set to expire on Dec. 31, 2017 — the organization chose to implement the project using the design-build de- livery method with the added advantage of an interactive programming and design process provided by minority-owned KAI Design & Build. The Deaconess Center is the Foundation’s first new construction in almost two decades. The design and construction of the building re- flected Deaconess’ religious legacy as well as its commitment to social causes by exceeding the city’s minority participation goals. The proj- ect achieved 36 percent Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) and 3 percent Women Business Enterprises (WBE) participation. Elizabeth Noonan, an economic development professional and United Church
Information provided by KAI Design & Build (www.kai-db.com), a national, 100+ person design and build firm headquartered in St. Louis.
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august 2018
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