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County staff recommend local firm for Human Services renovation; design contract to be considered at regular meeting
Summary
Burke County staff recommended Holland and Hammock as the preferred architectural and engineering firm to design an adaptive-reuse renovation of the county's public health and social services building. The board received details on phasing, bidding approach and schedule; no contract award was made at the pre-agenda meeting.
Burke County commissioners heard a staff recommendation on June 2 that Holland and Hammock be selected as the county's preferred firm to design a renovation and adaptive reuse of the public health and social services building.
County staff said the project would repurpose the existing building to house roughly 250 employees across departments including social services and public health, and that initial planning would emphasize phasing, staging and minimizing service interruption. Brian Maggard, who led the presentation, said the county posted a request for qualifications, received five submissions and advanced two firms to interviews before recommending Holland and Hammock.
Staff told the board the building is currently about 62,000'64,000 square feet, that the county anticipates phasing to meet future demand, and that adaptive reuse would avoid some site work costs associated with new construction. Maggard said some interior demolition will be required to create an efficient layout; mechanical systems such as portions of the HVAC, plumbing and electrical may be reused where feasible.
The county described the renovation as complex because about 250 staff work in the building and public-facing services must continue. To manage that, staff proposed rotating groups of employees to the Foothills Higher Education Center while specific zones are renovated, and estimated a planning phase of six to eight months with project completion possible in late 2027 if the board moves forward on schedule.
On procurement approach, staff recommended single-prime bidding (low hard bid) rather than a design-build model. They said single-prime bidding and an integrated construction-administration team would reduce layers of subcontracting and potential cost markups; the review team noted some respondent firms proposed to subcontract construction administration, which staff said could slow delivery and increase cost.
Maggard said the county would seek a contract award at the regular June meeting pending county-attorney review and successful economic negotiations. No formal award or vote occurred at the pre-agenda session.
The board asked about security and services for vulnerable clients during the renovation; staff said child-protection and security protocols would be addressed in detailed planning and that the renovated facility would improve on current conditions.
What happens next: staff will present a draft design contract to the board at the next meeting for consideration. If the board approves the contract, staff plans to begin detailed design and construction administration work and return with cost estimates and a construction schedule for approval.
