In December 2000 Greenville University invited RK to submit a proposal to design & build their new residence hall which they needed ready for 80 students by the 2001 fall semester. Several contractors had already tried unsuccessfully to meet their needs which included a budget of exactly $1,000,000 and not a penny more. GU had come up with an L-shaped layout intended for another site on campus; however based on their programming, the site, and their ‘L’ design we saw that the budget could not be reached.
With our partners at Rangwala Architects we came up with the idea for a more linear design as seen in the photo, which would work on another site they had mentioned as a back up. We priced out our alternative design on the second site and determined we could profitably build it while meeting all their criteria. So, when we finished presenting our over-budget proposal for the first site everyone looked glum. Bu after a moment we said “However” and pulled out a model of our alternative design, which met their budget.
The next day we were awarded the project. Construction started in early spring 2001 and students moved in on time for the fall term. Consequently RK served as construction manager to build the West Oak Avenue Hall in 2007 while also completing a total gut renovation of Janssen Hall next door (the fast track renovation took eleven weeks including a complete MEPS systems re-design by RK and its subs). RK handled a total of four projects for Greenville University including renovation of their IT department in Hogue Hall.
