Wachovia Invests in Texas

Bank Buildings Branch Out With Fast Schedules, High-End Finishes

By D.Ann Slayton Shiffler

Graceful arched roofs, high-end finishes and custom touches such as specially blended terrazzo tile are what take this bank-branch expansion from pedestrian to exceptional.

Wachovia Bank plans to prove over the next three years that everything is bigger in the Lone Star State.

The new-to-Texas banking company, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is scheduled to open 150 new branch banks in the Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio markets, one of the most ambitious roll-outs of new construction of a banking company in the state. The goal is to build 50 4,000-sq.-ft. branch banks a year with approximately $1 million buildings that take 90 to 120 days to complete.

Wachovia identified four preferred construction providers, among them the special projects/interiors division of Turner Construction, which has offices in Houston and Dallas. Turner has been awarded contracts for seven banks in locations throughout the state and continues to bid on these projects at a rate of about two or three per week.

"We have gotten four of the bank contracts in Houston, two in Dallas and one in San Antonio," said David Morris, project manager for Turner's Houston division. "It's all moving fast."

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In fact, Turner has been setting records with the seven projects it has under contract, finishing the first two branches in about 90 days each, Morris said.

"The next two we are doing in about 60 days, and that is the fastest they have ever been built in the nation," he added.

At each site, the building footprint is the same, although the parking lot, interior and exterior façades may vary from location to location. Some branches have larger parking and different parking areas than others. Each bank features a four-lane drive-through and ATM lane.

According to Wachovia, each building has identical massing and interior layouts and finishes but there are façade modifications depending on factors such as the surrounding area and local building codes.

The branch banks will accommodate standard banking functions including walk-up tellers, closed offices, reception areas and break rooms. Materials include demountable partitions, interior face-brick partitions, linear metal ceilings, metal panel ceilings, marble, stone, carpet and wall coverings.

Morris described the jobs as "going from breaking ground to turning over the keys."

"We are taking them from the ground up, and on the first two we were dealing with pretty wooded lots," he added. "We start from scratch and take it to full finish-out, which is high end, including using custom terrazzo tile specially blended for Wachovia. There is some really nice mill work and vaulted ceilings."

Morris described the building as pretty simple in design but somewhat complicated in terms of construction, especially with the ambitious build schedule. With steel structures, about one third of the buildings have a face-brick façade with stone on the front. About a third of the building is brick and another third is plaster with banded strip windows that run the distance of the side wall. The other third is a 24-ft.-high aluminum curtain-wall system.

"You get every type of construction in one of these little buildings," Morris said.

With almost four of the banks completed, Morris said his crews are becoming well versed in the projects.

"The subs are getting better with each building and are able to maximize their [resources]," he said. "Initially, there was a learning curve, and as we build them we are helping the architects come up with better details."

Morris said that while different crews are associated with each project, they do overlap on occasion.

At any give time, about 25 to 30 people are working on a project, depending on the stage of construction. On some days as many as 50 people are working on a given job site.

The most distinguishing feature of the banks is a high, curved roof. The large metal-panel roof makes the building stand out, Morris said. On the inside, a linear metal ceiling finishes out the curved roof.

He added that the rooftop and ceiling panels are difficult to put up, although the crews are getting more adept as they move from branch to branch.

"We also have some floating ceilings that are suspended down in the high roof area," he said.

Variation from building to building involves color and façade materials.

"We've changed the color of the framing on the curtain wall, and in one bank, instead of brick we used stone," Morris said. "The changes are determined by >>

the architects and locations."

Material procurement has been uncomplicated, although it has been necessary to expedite the delivery of a few items, including ceiling items.

"So far we have had a lot of luck staying with the same materials," Morris added.

Because the sites are usually pretty small and the company doesn't like to stock materials on the job, crews have been using a "just-in-time" delivery effort of materials.

"We work to get the supplies to the site at the time the subs need it, which helps with safety and other factors," he said.

For the most part, such large expansions by banking companies usually involve buying an existing network of branch banks and refurbishing them to a similar standard.

"This is really an investment in Texas," said Jim Barrett, vice president and general manager of Turner Construction in Houston. "The bank buildings are atypical, with graceful arched roofs and at night they light up and glow from the inside."

Barrett added that he was impressed at the quality of the finish-out and the variety of finishes used to make the buildings look nice.

"There are a lot of different finishes and materials and compounds and the challenge of putting those together and making them match up," he added. "This makes the schedule tough."

He said Turner is working to learn from each site.

"We are learning more innovative approaches to meeting and bettering the schedule with each building," Barrett added. "Our goal is to help them get these buildings open as soon as possible so they can start producing revenue, which is their business."