Procurement Development

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UCSD wanted to create a unique process to select the design-build team for its progressive design-build $220 million Triton Pavilion. Although progressive design-build procurements do not require the design-build team to design the project prior to selection, the University wanted an iconic structure that would fit in with its architecturally rich and “quirky” (their word, not mine) campus. Robynne helped the University design a procurement that allowed the evaluators to visualize how the teams’ design process worked and ultimately selected a world class team.

If you ever wondered where the internet “cloud” is located, look no further than Grant County, Washington. The PUD has some of the least expensive electricity in the country, and its rural location allows for server farms to be constructed on inexpensive land with lots of room for unattractive, largely windowless, warehouses with razor wire fencing and giant HVAC units on top. However, to meet the growing need for power from these server farms, the PUD needed to provide new substations very quickly and decrease the time frame to construct a number of substations from five years to three. The PUD was new to progressive design-build, and Robynne helped the PUD design a progressive design-build procurement and contract to successfully complete the project. In fact, Grant PUD has hired Robynne to repeat the success with the first project after examining lessons learned for its second progressive design-build project.

 Los Angeles County needed to increase the number of beds available for mental health treatment for its prison population and demolish and replace the decrepit Men’s Central Facility in downtown Los Angeles (shown above in its current state). The $1.6 billion project also includes a parking garage and the construction of a new court facility. Robynne worked closely with the County’s counsel and staff to develop the procurement and negotiate the contract to effectively manage the risks of a huge project with an extremely long schedule.  

  Western Washington University is in need of additional housing on its gorgeous Bellingham campus. The University decided to pursue progressive design-build because it needed the assistance of the design-build team to site the project from the three available sites identified by the University. The selected design-builder would examine both the constructability of the site as well as the programmatic advantages and disadvantages to arrive at the best configuration. Robynne (as Progressive Design-Build Consulting, LLC) worked with the University to develop an interactive procurement that showcased the design-build teams’ collaborative style and design prowess. She also drafted a three phase progressive design-build contract with an initial phase that established the project location before starting the usual progressive design-build phase 1. 

  Bonneville Power Administration requested Robynne's assistance in developing its progressive design-build program to support two mega projects:  The re-development of its Ross Complex (approximately $500 million) and its Secondary Capacity Model Project (approximately $750 million).  Both projects include multiple sub-projects within the overall project scope.  The selected design-builder would be required to develop multiple GMPs over several years.  Robynne (as Progressive Design-Build Consulting LLC) worked with BPA to develop its procurement documents and contracts and facilitated both selection processes.  

 The University of California San Diego wanted to pursue progressive design-build for the $220 million Triton Pavilion Project, but they didn’t have a set of progressive design-build documents. Therefore, the University of California system hired Robynne under Robynne’s Consulting business, Progressive Design-Build Consulting, LLC, to help them draft form progressive design-build documents for the procurement (the Request for Qualifications and Request for Proposals) as well as the contract (the Agreement and General Conditions). Robynne worked closely with both the UC System staff to design a procurement strategy that would work across the UC System and also collaborated with the UCSD staff to design a strategy specific for that campus and the Triton Project. 

 The State of Washington Department of Enterprise Services (DES) is responsible for managing the construction projects for the state and many of its subdivisions such as the Community Colleges. DES was interested in using progressive design-build, but it didn’t have a set of form procurement or contract documents. Therefore, DES hired Robynne as a Special Assistant Attorney General (SAAG) to help design the RFQ, RFP, Agreement and General Conditions documents that it intends to use with all of its progressive design-build projects. 

 Sound Transit, the public agency currently building the multi-billion dollar Puget Sound area light rail system, needed to re-vamp its design-build documents. Sound Transit hired Robynne to provide expert input into best practices and efficient risk allocation for their traditional design-build contract forms. 

 Robynne has developed and taught many courses for DBIA. She is one of the primary authors and instructors for the Contracts and Risk Management Class, which is one of the core courses required for the DBIA designation program. She started teaching the Contracts course when it was first developed in 2005 and worked with Michael Loulakis to revise the course in 2018. She is also one of the primary authors and one of two instructors for the Progressive Design-Build Best Practices course. In addition to these courses, she is a frequent presenter at all of the DBIA National conferences and has numerous webinars available on DBIA’s website.  

 WSDOT was embarking on an aggressive design-build program for many projects across the state and hired Robynne to develop or revise ten training modules for WSDOT to use to instruct its staff. The project required Robynne to have a deep understanding of WSDOT’s contracts, policies and procedures and to interview numerous WSDOT staff to get a better idea of how they do their work. In addition to developing the PowerPoint presentations for the training, Robynne provided detailed scripts, exercises and in class activities, and notes for instructors.

 Many owners are interested in pursuing either traditional or progressive design-build, but they don’t have sufficient background to be able to evaluate the risks associated with the delivery methods. Robynne provides in house training for everyone at the owner, including the project management staff, stakeholders, operations and maintenance personnel, and decision makers such as Commissioners or City Council members. Robynne’s extensive experience in teaching design-build has helped her design individualized training that makes the rather dry subject matter understandable. In addition, she uses humor and personal experience to help participants retain the information.