Subcontractor

PROJECT

Great-West Life

Owner

Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company

General Contractor

Adolfson & Peterson Construction Inc.

Architect

Kenney Architects

Electrical Engineer

Gordon, Gumeson & Associates

Electrical Subcontractor

Ludvik Electric Co.

Ludvik Electric Co.

Great-West Life, with its "let’s go get it" attitude mixed with their "look after the people" tradition, was founded in Winnipeg in 1891 and has grown to become an international corporation. The Great-West Life Towers, which houses Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary, located in Englewood, Colorado, were built in the early 80’s. As chance would have it, Ludvik Electric Co., who opened their doors also in 1980, landed one of their first jobs, the "at the time" state-of-the-art office towers.

Due to the nature of Great-West Life business and the need to be a leader in computer technology, a decade later the buildings were out-dated and no longer efficient or user friendly. Thus, allowing Ludvik Electric the opportunity to undertake the project of refurbishing two 10-story office towers, with 276,293 square feet each, within a 12-month period while being fully occupied. Both buildings had to remain completely operational, with minimal disturbance during renovation. During this time, Ludvik was the electrical subcontractor of choice for the construction and full tenant build-out of the third equally sized tower. Tower III is a fully automated structure with generator, back-up generator, latest in lighting technology, sound system and an elaborate conference center. The state-of-the-art conference center included audiovisual, tele-conferencing and a fully operational catering facility.

Ludvik implemented plans that involved the extreme complexity of coordination, along with complicated schedule requirements, that were required in relocating the employees from the existing facility to the new facilities on a temporary basis (in some cases multiple times)

while maintaining critical deadlines to achieve final development of each departmental space. The necessity of maximum flexibility for the installation on constantly changing internal partitions between departments was a mandatory requirement.

In order to perform this task, Ludvik was required to install totally new electrical systems so that during off-hours, the old furniture and equipment could be disconnected and removed from the floor while positioning the new furniture system at locations which were fed via the new infrastructure. Upon completion, the outdated branch circuit systems were removed. Ludvik also provided the critical power distribution, along with changing out the Public Service Co. feeders.

Most of this work had to be performed during a night shift. Ludvik, though challenged, was able to retain two shifts with an average crew size of 20 electricians seven days a week. The company was attentive to the amount of hours that an employee was working, with special attention given to see that each employee was given time off, in order not to experience "burn-out". Supervisors were alternated, so that they would only work one weekend a month. Even though there were a large amount of hours put in weekly, morale and spirits of employees remained at a high. Other crafts had a high turnover of employees, while Ludvik did not loose one employee. Matter of fact, all the employees who worked the retrofit still work for Ludvik.

During this endeavor, no electrical power could be shut down and many activities had to be performed while energized. In addition to the normal furniture power, Ludvik installed a standby power riser system fed via the existing building generator system. There were standby power circuits distributed to designated workstations on each floor. To save having to increase existing generator size, a standby power system was designed so that the power consumed was generated power reserved for the fire pump load. An automatic transfer switch was utilized and interfaced with the fire pump controller in case the fire pump should be activated.

Prefabrication of material assemblies and standardization of installation techniques allowed for decreased layout and setup time, while simultaneously increasing productivity and

quality control. Forming specialized labor teams to perform specific sub-tasks allowed for maximization of effort in spite of a limited labor resource. Ludvik increased the available equipment (i.e. lifts, benders and materials handling equipment) which diverted valuable time to productive labor while allowing for less move-in, setup and relocation time. Availability and access to materials could have posed a major obstacle in meeting the schedule requirements. By involving the Vendor/Supplier community in a spirit of cooperation, Ludvik was able to maximize positive results in expediting manufacture and delivery of both commodity and special materials.

Beyond the electrical requirements, Ludvik Electric Co. proved to be an indispensable part of the construction team. Safety awareness was reaffirmed on an ongoing basis with a very positive result of no recordable injuries of workers or bystanders. Due to our unique, ongoing working relationship with the General Contractor and the other Subcontractors on site, Ludvik was able to avoid conflicts sometimes associated with a "fast track" project of this magnitude. Through daily communication of conditions and issues, Ludvik was able to avoid being surprised because of unforeseen situations.

Moving and upgrading, while still allowing Great-West Life to operate on a normal basis, could prove to be a trauma. Ludvik’s flair for innovation in dealing with the situation at hand has once again left the Owner in awe, as the critical mission was achieved. Great-West Life’s philosophy that was consummated during one of Ludvik’s first projects in 1980 was again followed – "lets go get it" while we "look after the people".