Education

Owner:

Dillard University

Design:

Multiple

Size:

40 buildings

Budget:

$72,000,000

Completion:

December 2006

Dillard University Hurricane Restorations

In January of 2006 Woodward Design+Build became the contractor to rebuild the damage to Dillard University caused by Hurricane Katrina. Dillard suffered both wind damage and flood waters as high as 6 feet in some buildings. Woodward Design+Build moved executives, project managers, superintendents and administrative staff to Dillard’s campus to handle the very accelerated rebuild process. The task was to rebuild the school to the point of being able to hold classes and house students by September of 2006. Woodward Design+Build had to complete work in over 34 on-campus and 6 off-campus buildings on multiple floors, and completed over $67,000,000 of work in a 12 month period. Woodward Design+Build continued working on the project after the start of class in September 2006, but were able to complete all of the buildings necessary for Dillard University to house and begin those classes for the Fall Semester.

When Woodward Design+Build was asked to work with the university’s construction coordinators, meetings were set up to immediately begin prioritizing and coordinating subcontractors to work on specific projects. The types of rebuilds included complete renovations of dormitories, off-campus apartment complexes, townhouses owned by the university, classroom buildings, multi-purpose facilities, a student health center and smaller houses used as offices nearby the campus. Woodward worked with over 60 different subcontractors to insure that there were no bottlenecks in the work and that a competitive spirit always existed. The mold remediation contractor was selected and work performed before Woodward Design+Build mobilized on campus.

The end result was that Dillard University successfully reopened their campus in September, 2006. This not only gave students and educators permanent space to learn and work, but helped in the rebuilding process of the hard hit Gentilly area of New Orleans.