Eataly | Prudential Center, Boston, MA
The Italian Dining Emporium
Project: Eataly had a finite amount of time to take advantage of rent-free space for the build-out of its new 40,000-sq.-ft. Italian marketplace in Boston’s Prudential Center. With eight months and counting to get the job done, Consigli Project Manager Jon Pinto underscores that precise coordination efforts and balancing priorities helped the team meet the tight deadlines that are crucial in restaurant projects like this one.
Challenge: Opening 40,000 sq. ft. culinary destination is not an easy task, never mind building one from the ground-up and when the ground floor hovers just three feet above the top of the Mass Pike tunnel. Those three feet were the extent of space Consigli had to work in to install massive steel beams attached to the side walls of the tunnel. They also had to and make a foundation strong enough to build vertically.
Coordination challenges increased as the project was surrounded by multiple active construction sites right next door and precise integration with existing building systems and Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing (M/E/P). Adding to the challenge was complex tiling, installation and retrofitting of specialized pear-shaped pizza ovens (see photo) from Italy and a bread oven from Spain. To sum it up, this job was literally a construction-balancing act, requiring intense planning, exceptional communication — working with contractors from Italy and Spain – and strategic thinking, all while working in a confined workspace just above the Mass Pike.
Solution: This project included managing major scheduling coordination and balancing priorities. Consigli had to transport large steel beams and every other delivery through the Mall at the Prudential Center during a three-hour window of time on weekday mornings.
Tight working quarters also required Consigli to make some MacGyver-like construction maneuvers. Pinto explains, “With our construction site bounded on all sides by the Prudential Tower, Hynes Convention Center, 888 Boylston Tower and the Mall, there was no crane access to the site, yet we had large mechanical units that couldn’t be brought through the building. With a significant amount of coordination and planning, these mechanical units were hoisted onto an adjacent building’s roof, and carried across this roof onto a scaffolding bridge to ultimately sit on the newly erected Eataly rooftop.”
In addition to the mechanicals, installation of Eataly’s signature pizza ovens was another key component to this project. These heavy-weight ovens, shaped like half of a pear, were delivered to the job site in multiple parts. Consigli’s team, assembled the specialized ovens with no issues, ensuring that these ovens could be fired up, on schedule. Consigli’s self-perform team was responsible for tiling the two ovens with Italian, gold-mosaic tile an important and signature detail of these ovens. The self-perform team also customized the counters surrounding the ovens and finished the stone-clad work on the bread oven, working alongside oven installers from Spain.
This vibrant Italian marketplace and culinary destination opened its doors in Boston with a celebratory ribbon-cutting bash that attracted 5,000 guests.
Take a look at the time lapse that captures the oven installation.
TD Garden | Boston, MA
The Show Must Go On. Renovating and Rebuilding During Flagship Performances.
Project: When TD Garden needed to find a special partner to renovate its premium club and concession area in time, to beat the clock of the Bruin’s opening night, who did they turn to? Consigli’s Special Projects Group (SPG). The job required a tailored approach with the expertise and skill that paralleled Kyrie Irving’s three-point shot and Consigli’s SPG delivered on that promise.
Challenge: Execute a 5,000-sq.-ft. renovation to the TD Garden’s boardrooms racing against time to be ready for the Bruin’s opening day and quickly approaching concert performances. The job needed to be done in four months. To top it off, this densely occupied building was in use all day and at night, the concerts utilized the specific spaces that we were performing construction in.
In addition, this building is very intricate with several different “zones” hosting all its mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems which made it challenging to isolate just the areas we were working in.
Solution: Transparent communication at every corner of the job, with the client and sub-contractors. Setting expectations was also essential to this project, especially considering the fast-tracked pace. “The group of subs we sourced were great team players and problem solvers, which was extremely beneficial when trying to pre-plan or even respond to some of our challenges,” said Special Projects Manager Nicole LaCroix.
To accommodate the utilized space the SPG team cleaned up at the end of every day for normal operation, and on performance days the team needed to build temporary enclosures so that the client could still occupy those spaces during the events for ticket holders. This required a constant line of communication with the client to ensure the SPG team could plan the work around the existing show schedule.
To Learn More About Consigli’s Special Projects Group, click here.