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104 Implementation 5.1 Construction Typically, a restroom or amenities project will be part of a larger airport project. It may be within a new terminal or expansion, or it may be part of a renovation of a specific area of the airport, perhaps baggage claim. In these types of projects, construction is straight- forward. The work occurs within the construction limits and is simply another space that is built out. On the other hand, renovation of individual restrooms, usually as part of a comprehensive restroom upgrade program throughout the airport, is a whole different world of complexity. 5.1.1 Phasing Unless the project is a facelift with new finishes and replacement of fixtures and accessories, it is unlikely the project will be contained within the restroomâs existing walls. The customer service driver of providing larger stalls and more circulation space implies enlarging the rest- room space. Alternatively, the project may involve carving out tenant space for a new SARA. This will affect the neighboring spaces and likely require relocating fixtures and their associated plumbing. For obvious reasons, it is not possible to renovate all of an airportâs restrooms at once, so the restroom and amenities team will need to develop a phasing plan. It works best to spread out the work, so each phase includes no more than one restroom from any concourse or terminal location at a time, even if this approach is not the most efficient. The loss of even one restroom can have a significant impact on a concourse, especially if the fixture count is inadequate to begin with. Construction barriers will temporarily shrink circulation spaces, a significant impact in concourses. The airport code official should be consulted to discuss how this condition (narrowed corridors) may create egress and accessibility concerns that may require the creation of an alternative path. If fixtures are relocated, power panels added, and so forth, then utility shutdowns for plumbing, HVAC, sprinklers, and power will need to be planned for and coordinated between the contractor and airport managers. Similar impacts occur if the restroom is being moved to a better location based on the master plan developed in Chapter 2. This kind of move will typically require the relocation of another tenant or function area, which will need to be completed before demolition and construction work can occur for the new restroom. Timing can be affected by lease terms, C H A P T E R 5
Implementation 105 so implementation decisions should be made with a long view in the context of the airportâs overall master plan. 5.1.2 Delivery Methods Todayâs construction industry offers a variety of project delivery methods: ⢠Design-bid-build ⢠Design-negotiate-build ⢠Design-build ⢠Construction management ⢠Owner-build ⢠Integrated project delivery The choice of project delivery method, however, is affected by an airportâs unique legal requirements, which are based on the type of governance. In an ideal world, the general contractor is brought in at the same time as the architect to be part of the restroom and ameni- ties team. Their knowledge about construction methods and costs is invaluable and makes for a more efficient project planning and design process. However, because most airports are public entities, public bidding is required. In a bidding situation, it is recommended instead to bring in a construction manager early in the process. With a similar knowledge of the local construction industry, a construction manager can equally provide insight into construction and costs. A construction manager can also oversee the construction period, which can be especially useful for airports that are smaller or have infrequent projects. Regardless of the delivery method, it is vital that the owner, architect, and contractor (and/or construction manager) have a frank discussion up front about expectations of the project and construction process and associated limitations so the partnership is on the same page from the start. 5.1.3 Maintaining Standards To maintain the projectâs design standards, it is recommended to sole source some or all products. However, on a publicly bid project, it is standard practice to provide three manufac- turers for a given product. Sometimes this is a legal requirement within a jurisdiction or it could be a requirement of the airportâs governance. Depending on the requirement, the number of manufacturers required may vary. While the intention of creating non-exclusionary bidding is laudable, it can wreak havoc on a projectâs design and the airportâs long-term maintenance, primarily by compromising product standards. Allowing âsimilarâ floor tiles over the course of several projects, for example, will complicate managing the airportâs attic stock. Replacement tiles from a different manufacturer may not match the surrounding existing tiles in a future repair. Likewise, leaving the toilet manufacturer open to the capriciousness of the bidding climate can cause the airport to have to stock spare parts for multiple toilet models, not to mention having restroom and amenity spaces looking markedly different from each other. A successful strategy used by some airports is to allow substitutions. In this scenario, the bid specifications will list the desired manufacturer and its product. Then, instead of listing comparable manufacturers, the specification indicates that substitution requests are permitted. Standard specification language puts the onus on the bidder to demonstrate that the proposed substitution is an equivalent match to the desired product. The argument can also be made
106 Planning and Design of Airport Terminal Restrooms and Ancillary Spaces legally that the cost of sole-sourced products is a small percentage of the overall construction cost as the labor cost is not included. 5.1.4 Prefabricated Restrooms Prefabricated restrooms are a concept that evolved primarily from hospital projects where pre-assembled headwalls with all the equipment and finishes in place when shipped to the site were installed in a fraction of the normal construction time. While an entire prefabricated airport restroom might only be feasible in new construction, portions of the space can success- fully be prefabricated. Restrooms have numerous, repetitive, modular elements that could be considered for prefabrication; these include pipe chase plumbing assemblies, sink walls, and, possibly, an entire family room. Here, too, finishes would already be complete. Shortening construction time significantly minimizes the disruption caused by one or more out-of-service restrooms. 5.2 Post-Occupancy Evaluation Since airport restrooms and some amenity spaces, especially in large airports, are repeated throughout the facility, it is important to think of the spaces as living prototypes that are ever-evolving. As each instance is designed and completed, there should be a cycle of evaluation. In the construction industry, a valuable final phase of a project is a post-occupancy evaluation. This evaluation is conducted near the 1-year anniversary of the projectâs completion, the milestone when the contractorâs standard 1-year warranty period concludes. The evaluation is conducted by representatives from the airport, the architect, and the general contractor. The purpose is to verify that everything functions as planned. If not, the design might be tweaked, if not for the project being evaluated, then for the next project. If a product is failing, a replace- ment can still be made under warranty. More important, product selection can be revisited to see if there is a better alternative available at the time of the evaluation. This is also the time to update the airport design and materials standard as well as the maintenance SOPs (see Appendix G for an example). Customer service comments from the past year should also be collected, analyzed, and discussed. Ideally, the restroom and amenities team would be reconvened for this important conclusion to a project. With the wisdom of lessons learned, the team will be ready to begin the entire planning, design, and implementation process anew for the next restroom or amenities project.
