It takes a village: Anchorage Museum project celebrates united construction front.

• Author: Storm, Gene
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: BUILDING ALASKA

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The shimmering glass facade enveloping the expansion of the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center is the most visible expression of a project to enlarge and renovate the venerable 40-year-old institution that celebrates art, history and culture. However, it is what is happening out of sight that moves the complex project years in the making, to meet construction schedules and achieve budget discipline en route to completion and a grand opening in the spring of 2010.

Sound business decisions and inclusive communications are keys to melding a global array of participants and products into a cohesive project. Those practices started early in the project and continue behind the scenes of the busy construction work site in downtown Anchorage.

The origins of the effort began with a generous gift of $50 million in 1999 by the late Elmer Rasmuson to the Anchorage Museum Foundation and the establishment of the Museum Building Committee (MBC) for oversight of the design and construction of the project. The final price tag for the combined expansion and renovation is in excess of $100 million with additional funding covered by state and federal grants and private donations.

Brian Davies, a retired oil company executive, is one of 18 MBC members. He describes the committee as "a dedicated group of volunteers who have put in thousands of hours over the last 10 years." They meet monthly as a group to review progress, schedule and budget while separate MBC subcommittees focus on design issues, contracts and construction.

In 2003, the committee selected RISE Alaska as project advisor and Kumin Associates Inc. (KAI) as the local architect of record. With the new collaborators on board, the MBC in 2004 selected the internationally renowned London-based David Chipperfield Associates as the design architect.

The committee decided early on to select a prime contractor for the project.

"We wanted to include the construction contractor during the design phase so that constructability would be integrated as part of the design," Davies said.

To that end, the committee sought contractor qualification proposals and received six responses. The MBC selected Alcan General Inc. (AGI) in May 2005.

TEAM IN PLACE

With the essential team members in place, the collaborative process began. Daphne Brown, an architect and one of the three principals at KAI, is the lead as the project manager overseeing and coordinating a design team of 18 different...