McCarthy Building Companies Expands Southern California Division Office

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.   — The Southern California Division of McCarthy Building Companies recently completed a significant renovation of its 53,000-square-foot office building in Newport Beach, Calif.   At the heart of the office improvements are a new training facility and Building Information Modeling lab.

In addition to providing more technological space and training facilities aimed at arming employees with the knowledge they need to build challenging projects, the renovation also accommodates the firm’s regional growth.

“400 people work in McCarthy’s Southern California Division, and revenue has grown steadily over the past three years,” said Randy Highland, McCarthy president, California Region. “With this success, we have outgrown our existing space. This past year, we were able to obtain the last remaining 6,000 square feet on the second level, and McCarthy now occupies the entire building. We took advantage of the second floor renovation to expand our third floor space as well, creating several new offices and work stations for added operations and estimating needs.”

The building is one of two campus style office buildings within the complex. Both buildings have parking on the first level and office space on the second and third levels.

The renovation has allowed McCarthy to relocate its main third floor reception lobby to the second floor where most visitors enter the building. “Our new main entry will create a centralized lobby to showcase our brand and provide a better flow to our various departments and business units,” said Jim Madrid, vice president, business development and project executive for the renovation.

The offices for corporate west, human resources, accounting and the parking structure group reside on the second floor. The healthcare, education and commercial groups, as well as pre-construction, business development/marketing and divisional leadership are located on the third floor.

While the need to provide additional space for McCarthy’s growth was important, the highlight of the office renovation is McCarthy’s new training facility and BIM lab.

“McCarthy’s new office space truly reflects the firm’s spirit of collaboration, education and technology,” said Chris Lentz, associate at LPA, Inc., the architect and interior designer for the renovation. “The project features flexible team spaces such as the BIM room that supports McCarthy’s design-build partnerships and the new training space that demonstrates the firm’s commitment to delivering successful environments for their clients.”

Located on the second floor, the technologically advanced training facility can accommodate classes ranging from 10 to 100 people. Adjacent to the training facility is a new BIM lab that houses state-of-the-art technology and equipment in an environment which enables open-room collaboration for alternative project delivery methods such as IPD and Design-Build or design-assist projects.

“Learning is a core value at McCarthy, and it is clear that we need to invest in our most important asset, which is our people,” says Highland. “Our new training facility will allow us to enhance our existing training program by providing more cost effective and efficient space for our instructor-led workshops, which were formerly held at off-site locations.”

McCarthy’s instructor-led training workshops are a part of the McCarthy Build U training program which focuses on individual training needs through comprehensive methods. In addition to classes, McCarthy offers self-paced online training, hands-on experience simulations and on-the-job training.

“McCarthy has a robust training program for the personal and professional development of its employee partners,” said McCarthy Southern California Division Training Coordinator Arlene Riley. Riley says that the new training facility will be used by virtually all of McCarthy’s Southern California staff to help develop construction, business and management skills. Curriculum is structured by job type and also includes corporate training for management and leadership, personal development, quality, technology and safety among others. In addition, peer group committees work together to plan curriculum for the respective rules, ensuring that every relevant job skill is taught during the training sessions.

“Our goal is to have well-rounded partners that are highly skilled in leadership, communication, technical ability and teamwork. Our new training room will be an important catalyst to achieving these goals,” explained Riley.
The new room houses state-of-the-art equipment with advanced lighting controls, microphones, whiteboards, ceiling-mounted projectors, large projection screens and a built-in sound system. An adjacent kitchen was also built to assist in catering these events.

When the room is not being used for training, it will serve as additional space for larger client and project team meetings. Strategically located next to McCarthy’s new BIM lab, the training room will be easily accessible for project team members including owners, architects and subcontractors who will collaborate with McCarthy employees during preconstruction and throughout their projects.

Dedicated toward the use of BIM, the new computer lab can accommodate up to 20 people and houses two large high-resolution flat screen video monitors and computers loaded with BIM software.

“McCarthy Building Companies and other leading architecture, engineering and construction firms are using BIM platforms on nearly all of their construction projects, especially those that are the most complex,” says Jim Mynott, McCarthy’s vice president, design management. “Our new BIM lab will give our integrated project teams a dedicated space with the appropriate equipment to aid in the use of this building technology that saves time, money, enhances collaboration and creates better overall project outcomes than traditional building methods.”

The third floor renovation features the addition of a “flex room” which can comfortably accommodate meetings with space for up to 30 people. The flex room has white boards, audio/visual equipment, large movable tables for small or large meetings or other gatherings. Six new work stations and four new offices were also added, increasing staff capacity by 20 percent.

The main conference room has new lighting and audio/visual and teleconferencing equipment to provide a better working environment for smaller meetings.   Each conference or meeting room has a tablet computer mounted at its entrance to schedule and display meeting information. Additional improvements include a reconfiguration of the third floor lobby to create a more open space for quarterly staff gatherings.

“The remodel of McCarthy’s Newport Beach office is a worthwhile investment in our people and business,” says Highland. “We look forward to achieving great results for our clients in this new collaborative work space.”