“They’re exactly what we would’ve built onsite to the specifications that the architect provides, with the same fixtures,” Platon says. “They’re just being built in an environment that’s conducive to having zero punch list.”
Evans estimates that a supervisor and four workers can achieve a rate of installation—including lifting into the building and rough placement—of about 35 units per day, and achieve a rate of about 15 per day for final set.
Manufacturing the bathrooms offsite has its complexities, he adds. On this FAU project, for example, there are five different types of bathrooms, with “left-hand” and “right-hand” versions of each. In addition to different bathroom types, there are also different finishes.
“You’ve got to be extra sure you’re putting the right unit into the right area,” Evans says. To do that, KHS&S and Eggrock created a system of marking each unit’s exact location, and doing so in such a way that the crew flying the units into place can tell from a distance which unit they’re handling.
“It requires a lot of organization and collaboration with Eggrock, but it has worked out well,” Evans says.
Evans estimates this method should reduce installation time by at least a month, compared to traditional construction.
Future Potential
Platon thinks the time has come for a lean-like process such as this, which he says has been utilized in other countries for many years.
“The industry really needs it,” he says.
Or, as Suder added, in a press statement: “We believe innovative processes that merge technology and craftsmanship are the future of construction.”
KHS&S and Eggrock are focusing on the health care, hospitality, student housing and multifamily markets.
Platon expects the firm’s new bathroom business to provide some opportunity for its traditional services by introducing KHS&S to new geographic markets and prospective clients.
“These bathrooms are going to bring us opportunities that we weren’t aware of before,” he says.
