Landry/French wins AGC Award for Abbott Westbrook expansion

Westbrook, ME Landry/French Construction received Overall Project of the Year in the 2021 Build Maine Awards Competition for Abbott Laboratory’s facility. Sponsored by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Maine, the award was presented at AGC’s annual event at the Portland Sheraton at Sable Oaks on May 12^th. This marks the fourth Build Maine Award for Landry/French Construction.

Landry/French received the top award for the lightening-speed renovation of a 145,000 s/f Olympia Sports Distribution Center into manufacturing space so that Abbott could ramp up its production of COVID-19 test kits. In a record 60 days, Landry/French renovated 50,000 s/f, with nearly 30,000 additional s/f completed 30 days later. The unprecedented urgency of the project required co-locating team members on site, including the architects and engineers. The team likened the process to “building the plane as we were flying it.” Designers were literally marking wall locations on the floors, rather than waiting to complete drawings. In order to keep the project progressing forward, the Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA) authorized the transport of oversized loads of trusses over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, making this the first time in MTA history that oversized loads were permitted.

The pandemic necessitated strict health and safety protocols during construction which included over 200 subcontractors on the busiest days. Safety measures included daily risk assessments, temperature checks, masks, social distancing, increased outside air ventilation, and negative air pressure machines.

The project received the award based on the five categories: contribution to community, innovation in construction techniques or materials, meeting the challenges of a difficult job, environmental sensitivity, and responsiveness to client needs/satisfaction.

Despite the fast-track nature of the project during a pandemic, the project was delivered as promised and with 306,000 work hours with zero lost time accidents. The project was designed by SMRT.

This is Landry/French’s fourth AGC Build Maine Award.