Michigan Electric Transmission Company (METC)

Project Details

Client

Michigan Electric Transmission Company (METC)

Location

Grand Rapids, MI

Cost

$11,400,000

We partnered to design the Michigan Electric Transmission Company (METC) located in west Michigan. Our collaborators were located in five different states. We established a project space at Progressive AE for the entire team. Our team consisted of a security consultant, program consultant, technology consultant, architects, and engineers. Because this project was a mission critical facility, security and weather had an influence on the design approach and building location on the site. The structure had to withstand an F4 tornado and any type of security breach. Also, our client had an extremely aggressive schedule with a completion date that could not move.

The design approach was implementing the charrette process. Our diverse team would meet every two weeks for three-day segments. Each day we established design goals to be completed. We worked around a large table integrating mechanical, electrical, structural, security, and architectural aspects into our design concept. At the end of each day, our results were presented to the client for input and approval. This facility is a complicated mixture of engineering and architecture. Our tactic permitted the design to develop quickly and collaboratively. We continued this schedule through schematic design.

Our design team continued to meet bimonthly throughout the remainder of the project. This continual dialogue opportunity created an integrated design, holistically created.

Objective

Complex integration of engineering and architecture while adhering to an extremely aggressive schedule with fixed completion date.

Outcome

Designed a mission critical facility with a structure that can withstand an F4 tornado and any type of security breach.

Environments

Industrial