Greenville County's new administration building serves as the gateway to a 40-acre downtown redevelopment in Greenville, S.C. The six-story, 250,000-sq-ft office building consists of two interconnected buildings housing county administration, courts and council chambers as well as support services and retail options for visitors.

Dubbed “Project Window” during planning and design, the building envelope is almost entirely curtain wall and has multiple exterior terraces to make the building a focal point of the development. The use of natural light aims to convey a sense of transparency and that the county is open for business and to create a draw for public visitors. The abundance of daylight also indicates that the building is a healthy workplace for approximately 500 county employees.

The project kicked off in 2020 and faced multiple delays due to supply chain issues. When roofing material faced an extensive delay, the team came up with a temporary roofing solution that kept the building dry so interior work could continue.

Photo courtesy Marissa Bischoff

Throughout construction, the team utilized PlanGrid to generate completion lists per floor. The team ensured with its trade partners that completion list items were completed before moving on to the next floors. Superintendents also performed frequent inspections before work was put in place or covered. For example, on concrete scopes of work, all trades involved in the concrete pours were required to inspect their rough-ins and sign off on the pour card before the concrete pour date. DPR superintendents would then review the scheduled pour area and have a final quality control sign-off before the concrete was released. This sign-off process was also used for in-wall rough-in verification before sheetrock walls were double-sided.

DPR and its trade partners exceeded schedule expectations by utilizing short- and long-term planning software in conjunction with coordination meetings. Touchplan software was utilized for short-term interval planning in daily morning coordination meetings with all team members. The P6 construction schedule was updated every two weeks and used to guide the day-to-day planning of two-week look-aheads. While following the P6 schedule, craft field leadership was required to submit commitments on the Touchplan two-week look-ahead flow chart before weekly trade coordination meetings. The team reviewed the daily activities for the next two weeks, locked them in and reviewed the previous two weeks for accuracy.

Photo courtesy Marissa Bischoff

Completed on schedule in March 2023, the new facility houses most of the county’s public-facing departments including the assessor’s office, public works and four courtrooms for the county’s magistrate and probate courts. Many of the public spaces include informational kiosks where residents can sign in and access necessary forms to reduce wait times.

The project also features a large public area with a fountain, landscaping and the relocation of the Veterans Memorial wall. The building opens to the landscape, creating a unique atrium space between the two office blocks that will be flooded with daylight. The atrium was designed to create a sense of transparency between the citizens and their local government. The plaza also features cafés and restaurants, serving both office workers and visitors.