Comcast at One Ballpark Center
Atlanta
Best Project
Owner: Braves Construction Co. L.L.C.
Lead Design Firm: Wakefield Beasely & Associates
General Contractor: Brasfield & Gorrie LLC
Civil Engineer: Kimley-Horn
Structural Engineer: Uzun+Case
MEP Engineer: McKenney’s Inc.
Electrical Contractor: Henderson Electric Co.
Despite numerous design and scope changes during construction, Brasfield & Gorrie delivered Comcast’s 440,00-sq-ft central division headquarters on time and under budget. Located adjacent to SunTrust Park, the new home of the Atlanta Braves, One Ballpark Center is a nine-floor Class A office building with 255,270 sq ft of office space and a two-level, 185,000-sq-ft partially below-grade parking garage.
The building’s first floor includes 20,000 sq ft of restaurant and hospitality space facing SunTrust Plaza. Contractors turned the space over to the project owner, the Braves Construction Co., on an accelerated schedule for tenant build-out so that businesses could open in time for the inaugural Braves baseball season at the new ballpark.
One Ballpark Center was completed as a partial MEP design-build project between Brasfield & Gorrie, McKenney’s, Henderson Electric and Advantage Fire. The project team faced substantial changes to the interior as the tenant’s needs were not fully realized at the start of construction.
A nine-story stairwell was added to the project just weeks before second-floor framing was in place. Brasfield & Gorrie leveraged its self-perform and virtual design and construction capabilities to accommodate the stairwell. The team modified formwork and framing plans, reinforcing steel configurations and post-tension cable layouts in the field within days of receiving updated design documents.
Nearly eight months after construction started and one month after the structure was topped out, an elevator was extended two additional levels to service future elevated kitchen areas in the tower. Coordination efforts resulted in the successful extension of the elevator nearly six weeks early.
Due to its proximity to the then-ongoing SunTrust Park construction, the site offered minimal laydown room and contractor parking. The project team carefully scheduled deliveries to the half hour to minimize the need for storage and secured nearby parking spaces for subcontractors that implemented ride-share programs.
“Brasfield and Gorrie easily navigated the challenges associated with this project,” says Dan Biber, senior director of construction services with Pope & Land Real Estate, a partner in the development. “Their ability to respond quickly to design changes and an accelerated schedule has resulted in a trusted camaraderie and a successful project completed on time and under budget.”
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