B+A Greater Boston

Fish [Chairman and CEO of Suffolk Construction] and Robin Brown [developer of the Mandarin project and former general manager of the Four Seasons], you quickly learn that expectations in this market are very high. In fact, I learned to demand higher expectations from our team for the work moreso than my homeowners." Kevin learned the lessons well, as his firm has been back nine times to work again at the Mandarin Oriental. A project in the Boston suburbs showcases The Lagasse Group's unique skills. Architect Morehouse MacDonald & Associates in Lexington, MA, asked The Lagasse Group to submit a bid for the job, and after being one of three contractors considered, The Lagasse Group was awarded the job. "Our client was entrepreneurial and understood what we were trying to do. He gave us a shot and was not disappointed in quality, price or schedule," notes Kevin. The project entailed working with an existing 30-year-old, 14,000-square-foot resi- dence. While not a complete teardown, the project did include gutting the existing home and installing completely new MEP systems. The building structure needed to be altered as the layout changed, incorporating nearly 20 tons of new structural steel. More than 1,400 square feet were added to the footprint, and an existing indoor swimming pool was completely renovated and updated. Energy efficiency was important to the new owner, so the project included new windows and sky- lights, a new roof, new building insulation and a new geothermal system that relies on 12 wells that were drilled to an average depth of 200 feet. Kevin credits his firm's preplanning with keeping the schedule on track. "After the project design was far enough along, we got crews into the property to completely remove all the existing drywall and insulation," he says. "We were able to uncover and expose all of the existing build- ing structure, which allowed us to address the existing conditions early on, before the main project began. With the unknowns out of the way, we were better able to get aggressive subcontractor pricing and keep the construc- tion on schedule." John MacDonald, of Morehouse MacDonald & Associates, also designed a second suburban project The Lagasse Group recently constructed. While Kevin suspects his firm was not the low bidder, he believes he knows what led the client and architect to choose The Lagasse Group. BOSTON.BUILDERARCHITECT.COM Builder+Architect GREATER BOSTON | 13 PHOTOS © ERIC ROTH PHOTOGRAPHY

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