Education · New ConstructionIn progress · 2026

University Research & Engineering Quad

Three buildings around one green, and research grants that only start once the labs are ready.

LocationAustin, TX

ClientConfidential

LocationAustin, TX

SectorEducation

Value$520M

Size600,000 sq ft

DeliveryCM at Risk

Duration40 months

StatusTarget 2026

Why it mattered

Campuses run on dates that do not move: the first day of school, the start of term, the opening game. We plan backward from those days and tell boards early, and plainly, whether they will hold.

The challenge

A flagship university is building an engineering and research quad: three buildings around a central green, housing vivarium, cleanroom and high-bay lab space.

Several research grants are tied to lab availability dates. A slip on any of the three buildings carries consequences well beyond construction cost, including funding the university cannot easily replace.

Our role

Program Controls Integrated Master Scheduling (IMS)Forecasting Executive Reporting

Schedule at a glance

The whole program, on one line.

Start to finish, as the schedule tells it. For work still in progress, the bar moves with today's data date.

StartMar 2023

Duration40 months

Target finishJul 2026

Progress—

Fix the finishRetire the unknowns earlyReport in plain languagePlan move-in as work

How we held the date

Our approach, phase by phase.

The same disciplined sequence we bring to every engagement, shaped around what this project needed most.

PHASE 01PHASE 02PHASE 03PHASE 04

PHASE 01Fix the finish

The academic calendar set as the immovable completion, with every milestone worked backward from it.

PHASE 02Retire the unknowns early

Ground conditions, permits and long-lead items confronted in the first sixty days, while there is still time to react.

PHASE 03Report in plain language

Monthly updates and one-page summaries written for boards, faculty and donors, not just for builders.

PHASE 04Plan move-in as work

Furniture, technology, labs and faculty move-in scheduled as a critical sequence of their own.

What changed

The difference we made

Measured the only way that matters: whether the date and the budget held.

Result 01Grants as milestones

Each lab readiness date is linked to the funding it supports, so leadership sees financial exposure next to float.

Result 02Three buildings, one view

Every building's schedule rolls into a single program schedule that university leadership reviews monthly.

Result 03Contingency set by evidence

Monte Carlo analysis determines how much schedule and cost contingency the program holds, and where it sits.

Services engaged

What we brought to it

2.02.02Program Controls

Program-level controls that bind multiple projects, contractors and funding sources into a single picture sponsors can steer by.

2.01.03Integrated Master Scheduling (IMS)

Integrated Master Schedules that bind design, procurement, construction and commissioning into one traceable program view, from board summary to field activity.

2.02.08Forecasting

Risk-informed schedule and cost forecasts, expressed as P50 and P80 ranges, that give executives an honest view of the finish date and final cost.

2.02.09Executive Reporting

Concise, candid, decision-grade reporting for boards, executives, lenders and public stakeholders.

Keep exploring