Education
Grand Rapids Community College Trades Center
Grand Rapids Community College · Grand Rapids, MI
- Sector
- Education
- Size
- 64,000 sq ft
- Value
- $31M
- Duration
- 18 months
- Delivery
- Construction Manager at Risk
- Architect
- TowerPinkster
A technical trades building where the students who will use it worked on it, under a formal apprenticeship agreement.
The college asked whether their own students could work on the building. The honest answer is that this is harder than it sounds: apprentices need supervision ratios, insurance and a programme that can absorb a slower pace.
Making it real rather than symbolic
We agreed placements with four subcontractors rather than running it ourselves, so the apprentices worked for the trades they might actually join. Fourteen were placed. Three were hired afterwards.
