|
In the five years since its inaugural flight, JetBlue Airways has grown exponentially, and there are plans in the air for more expansion.
Flying more routes has required additional trained personnel, and when the airline outgrew its rented Miami training space, it selected property at Orlando International Airport for a $17.5 million JetBlue University campus.
"Our need grew significantly in the state of Florida," said Richard Smyth, vice president of redevelopment for JetBlue, which is headquartered in New York. "We looked at four or five locations throughout the state for the best [place] for our crew members to be trained and to live and work."
After conceptualizing about 20 percent of the design, JetBlue opted for the design-build delivery method to speed construction. Smyth and George Sauer, vice president of corporate real estate for the airline, traveled the country, evaluating simulation-training centers to determine best practices and an ideal learning environment for employees. The company had successfully used design-build in the past to construct two aircraft hangars, including the LiveTV Hangar at the Orlando airport. (See accompanying brief story on the LiveTV Hangar.)
Suitt Construction of Orlando led the design-build team. Within 14 months of receiving a notice to proceed and one year after breaking ground in 2004, the three-story, 107,000-sq.-ft. building obtained its certificate of occupancy.
JetBlue plans to add a $20 million, 300-room, extended-stay lodge to the campus. Crewmembers can live there while receiving their training or during layovers. The company plans to begin construction in 2006.
"We were comfortable with the parameters that we established for the project, and it was one-stop shopping," said Smyth, explaining that design-build helped JetBlue begin using the training center within a short time after conception.
Suitt brought the job in on time and under budget. Not even three hurricanes, which repeatedly washed out excavation work, or steel and cement shortages could delay the project.
"We were able to do the design onsite for the foundation and underground, and permit that to get started," said Randy Winger, project director for Suitt. "Then we rapidly moved into the design of the building, got that permitted and finished the job earlier.
BRPH Architects-Engineers of Melbourne, Fla., designed the structural-steel building. It was the company's ninth design-build project with Suitt, and Brian Curtin, vice president of BRPH and project manger for the JetBlue job, said the architecture was a combination of high-tech and conventional spaces.
"We have traditional materials and layouts along with concrete juxtaposed with aluminum, stainless steel and glass," he added. "It's very nice form and function."
A curved three-story glass curtain wall graces the lobby. It stands out against the precast concrete and JetBlue custom-color metal panels. The lobby leads to a three-story atrium, topped with a skylight and containing live palm trees. Upgraded wall and ceiling finishes, along with a glass and stainless-steel railing system project the corporate image.
The building includes classroom, auditorium and administrative space to accommodate 300 students and 200 staff; two airplane cabins for evacuation and flight attendant training; and a 180- by 132- by 36-ft.-high simulator hall, with six flight simulators and room to expand.
Classrooms are located on three floors at the front of the building, and the simulators, control room, hydraulic pump room and training cabins are in the high-bay hall to the rear.
The hydraulic pumps control the simulators' movement and generate heat. The simulators' electronic equipment requires cool air, necessitating a more substantial chilled-water air-conditioning system than typical for a building that size.
The classroom section sits on a traditional slab-on-grade foundation. The simulators each rest on separate 4-ft.-thick concrete pads. Hydraulic lines run from the simulators to the hydraulic pump room through trenches within the concrete.
The campus includes a heated, outdoor 40- by 50-ft. pool to train crewmembers in water rescue; locker rooms and showers; and a cafeteria. Suitt self-performed the concrete placing and finishing.
The building sits between two runways. JetBlue established strict acoustical requirements and simulated the noise levels found at the site in a sound studio to analyze the different frequencies and determine what was needed to block them out. Designers also had to prevent noise and vibration from the simulators from disturbing students in the classrooms.
BRPH used special double-glazed, insulated, laminated, sound-retarding windows and a 6- to 8-in. precast concrete skin. Double-sheet drywall interior walls contain sound-attenuation insulation. The ceiling received special insulation, and acoustical doors are used in the auditorium entries. Wall treatments serve as decoration and additional sound control.
"The entire building had to be designed to where you cannot hear the airplanes taking off outside," Winger said. "We engineered every space in the building to different requirements. For example, the break room and cafeteria downstairs is not required to be a silent place."
Suitt used Web-based programs Prolog and Autodesk Buzzsaw to facilitate communication with BRPH. Tishman Construction Corp. of New York was the owner's representative, and Rubin & Rotman of Montreal was the planning architect and engineer.
Members of the team posted meeting minutes, daily reports, progress sketches, construction documents and submittal logs to the Web sites, where other people working on the project could read them.
The project team met weekly to discuss changes in delivery schedules and to ensure proper sequencing of activities, including installation of simulators built in Brazil, Germany and Canada.
Walking paths will connect the lodge and training center, where flight attendants and pilots are learning how to fly the JetBlue way.
"We're excited," Smyth said. "It's working well. Our crewmembers are happy. It was a great project. We have a good relationship with the design-build team and would gladly use them all again."
click here for next story >>
|
print this page
e-mail this page
