Ronald McDonald House Charities® (RMHC) is a global non-profit organization. It provides temporary lodging, transportation, meals, and social services to families who must travel to receive pediatric medical care. The first Ronald McDonald House was established in 1974 in Philadelphia. Thanks to the generosity of dedicated donors, the Ronald McDonald House Charities® of the Philadelphia Region (PRMH) has grown from a single idea to now include two Ronald McDonald Houses, three Ronald McDonald Family Rooms, a Ronald McDonald Camp, and a Ronald McDonald Care Mobile for the local area. To increase the number of families it serves, PRMH decided it was time to expand and renovate.
Watchdog was engaged to manage the multi-phased expansion project and provide critical oversight of budget and schedule. The goal of the expansion was to increase the guest room count and improve the layout efficiency to give families a sitting area and sleeping space in each suite.
The Watchdog team was able to maximize the project’s scope while remaining within PRMH’s tight budget. Based on the cost models, the first design concept exceeded budget expectations. However, the team was able to reduce the cost by leading intense value engineering sessions. These meetings included PRMH executive team members, the architects, engineers, and contractors.
The team conducted meetings to examine the drawings and determine alternate building methods to decrease cost and bring the project closer to PRMH’s budget. Extensive savings ideas were evaluated, including establishing a maximum building height with enough floors to meet the program goals but low enough to avoid using expensive construction cranes.
The project funding was comprised of several sources, including a major Capital Campaign, New Market Tax Credits, RACP grants, sustainability and local program grants. The project also benefited from non-traditional sourcing methods like in-kind donations and discounted or donated materials. The mix of funding sources and timing of the PRMH fundraising required the design and construction teams to be flexible. The teams had to be accommodating about incorporating essential project features and open to designing possible alternates. Watchdog adapted by planning the construction work in phases to correspond with fundraising as well as the grant milestones and awards.
Watchdog monitored the crews preparing the site, including the demolition of three buildings and the relocation of the central utilities. Because of the tight urban setting, the team managed the coordination of shared easements with neighboring buildings during the construction of the eight-story, out of the ground guest tower. Since PRMH continued to operate as an occupied facility during construction, the crew working hours were modified to consider the guest population.
The resulting facility nearly tripled the RMHC of the Philadelphia Region’s capacity adding more than 100 new guest rooms. The renovation also added a commercial kitchen to replace the three smaller kitchens, a large dining area connected to the patio, and social spaces for movies, art, and fitness.
As additional funds were raised during the construction process, alternate scope items could be included in the project. For example, the design included full build-out of guest rooms in the tower’s three upper floors and a roof system covered with vegetation to reduce stormwater run-off. The lack of available funds initially caused the construction of this work to be postponed. However, the features were incorporated into the original project due to the cost management performed by the Watchdog team, the contractor community’s financial support, and the subcontractor teams’ efforts.