Waltham, MA Callahan Construction Managers (Callahan), a full-service construction management company, has completed a fast-track renovation ahead of schedule for Bentley University’s Forest Hall dormitory, a residential building that houses sophomores, juniors, and seniors in suite-style units. 

Bentley, a private university, selected Callahan to oversee the renovation of 81 bathrooms within Forest Hall due to its experience in both residential and higher education construction. As a company that understands the challenges of expediting construction schedules when a residential building is temporarily unoccupied, Callahan was able to leverage its cutting-edge pre-construction services team to design a project plan that met Bentley’s aggressive goals. 

“It was essential that the project team understood the compressed schedule and the need to turn the building over as soon as possible,” said Jon Nattinville, director – planning and construction, Bentley University. “We were pleased with the work completed by Callahan Construction, which provided critical updates to Forest Hall, a popular student residence facility.” 

The Callahan team worked in tight confines that only allowed for 1 to 2 workers to be in the impacted bathroom area at a time. This constraint, combined with a 10-week turnaround for delivery of the finished spaces, demanded that the team not deviate from completion date goals. Aggressive schedule tracking and constant progress monitoring by both field and project management staff were essential for a successful turnover ahead of the projected completion date, along with frequent communication with the Bentley facilities team.

“We understand the pressures that higher education customers are under to expedite essential projects during the summer break,” said Steve Callahan, Jr., vice president - business development, Callahan. “With a unique combination of experience across affordable housing, higher education, and interior fit-outs, we were uniquely positioned to tackle this dormitory renovation and ensure students returned to a fully-functional building with modern bathroom facilities.” 

Wessling Architects provided design services on this renovation project.