How Boldt Uses OpenSpace to Keep
Healthcare Projects on Schedule
OpenSpace Facilitated Collaboration Among Trade Partners in aComplex Remodel for a New Outpatient Clinic

Goal: Improve Coordination on Complex
Healthcare Projects

Strategy: Use OpenSpace to Increase
Transparency Across Stakeholder Groups

The

generalBoldt piloted OpenSpace on a project for Advocate

contractor founded in 1889, has been building hospitals,

Aurora Health, where they were tasked with remodelingclinics, wellness centers and other healthcare facilities

a 10,000-square-foot grocery store to create anfor more than 50 years. Like any construction company

outpatient clinic in Naperville, Ill. The space had to beworking in this sector, they’ve had to contend with its

completely gutted and built back new—with undergroundunique challenges, such as strict protocols that need totrenching put in and supplemental steel added to the roof

be followed to ensure patient safety and the difficulty offor a new air handler unit.

Boldt

Company,aWisconsin-based

installing expensive equipment in tight spaces.
“The biggest challenge of remodeling is that a building’sBoldt

wantedtoexplore

ifmorerobust

photo

documentation would make certain workflows andtrue condition is unclear until you start tearing things
down,” said Dean Campbell, a Superintendent at Boldt.

processes more efficient. Field teams typically took manualphotos and uploaded them to PlanGrid, but context onwhen and where they were taken was often limited. Boldt
had tried a different provider for photo documentation,
but it was time-consuming to use.

OpenSpace helps keep theschedule and the flow of thejob going.”
Dean Campbell
Superintendent, Boldt

Since360

photoscapturedbyOpenSpaceareautomatically mapped to project plans, it’s easy for any

20%

stakeholder to find the most recent captures for anyarea. This was especially useful for Campbell when on thephone with Karl Lust, the project’s architect, to discuss

FEWER SCHEDULING DELAYSHUNDREDS OF HOURS SAVEDON COORDINATION

design issues, such as when the team discovered that adoor opened into furniture panels.

100X“It’s a fantastic tool to relay information and get
information back by ensuring that we’re looking at theMORE COMPLETE
DOCUMENTATION

same thing,” he said. “It helps keep the schedule and theflow of the job going.”
OpenSpace was equally useful for communicating withtrades. For example, Campbell was recently on the phonewith Steve Koehler from the framing contractor todiscuss the bathrooms in modular exam rooms they hadbuilt. They couldn’t recall if the sinks and toilets were
mounted on carriers; by pulling up OpenSpace capturesfrom the period when the rough framing was put in, they
confirmed the fixtures both were.

Results: Fewer Scheduling Delays and Time
Savings
Based on the strong results so far, Boldt plans toimplement OpenSpace on multiple upcoming projects.
The technology has had impact in the following areas:•Fewer scheduling delays: Campbell notes thatOpenSpace is extremely effective for keeping work

It feels like our hands are tiedon projects that we don’t have
OpenSpace on because we’reso used to it.”on schedule and ensuring that simple RFIs don’t
cause delays. “We had visual confirmation of issues,and Karl (the architect) could log in to OpenSpace tosee them,” he said. “I’d get a directive from him on
how to proceed so we could keep rocking and rolling

Aaron Frederick
Senior Project Manager, Martin Petersen Co.

while the paperwork caught up.”•More effective resource allocation: By facilitating“In our world, a picture can be worth a thousand words,

progress tracking, it’s easier for trade contractors tosince some things are very difficult to explain,” said

determine when to add manpower. Aaron Frederick,Koehler, a Project Manager with The Rockwell Group. “Fora Senior Project Manager with Martin Petersen

example, I was able to virtually drop in on the NapervilleCo. (which handled mechanical and plumbing) usedproject and see where drywall had been removed when

OpenSpace to watch the progress of undergroundwe hadn’t expected it to be. It helps me to stay ahead ofplumbing and ductwork to determine if he needed tothe curve instead of getting a call from my foreman andbring in more workers to stay on schedule. “It’s gotten

having to tell him I had no clue this was happening.”

to the point where it feels like our hands are tied on•projects that we don’t have OpenSpace on because

invariably spends hundreds of hours coordinating

we’re so used to it,” he said. Conversely, PMs can drop

drawings for every project only to need to makein on particular areas and determine that they’re notchanges in the field. He found OpenSpace to be a

yet ready for trades to begin work.

valuable coordination tool. “If there were changes
we had to make for pricing, I could get together with

Enhanced remote collaboration and reduced travel

my foreman and look at each area instead of justtime: OpenSpace helps Project Managers keep

guesstimating,” he said.

close tabs on multiple job sites when they can’tbe physically present every day (which has been

Boldt and its trade partners answer questions quickly.

I have 10 different projects, and there’s no way I canFor instance, Frederick was wondering about whether

get to every site once a week,” said Scot Lauwasser,

there were maintenance latches in the rooftop unit

a Project Manager and BIM/VDC Manager at Boldt.

one day. Instead of having to send someone up to“I can use OpenSpace to stay on top of things.”

investigate, he found the answer by navigating to theFrederick also noted that OpenSpace was useful forright OpenSpace capture in a minute and a half.

that arose after installation, since they couldn’t beon-site.

•Savings on rework: There were cases whereOpenSpace helped Boldt avoid rework. For example,
one prefab structure had the wrong backing,Better planning for future projects: Architect Karl

which the team discovered prior to installation andLust noted that he and his construction partners

switched out after reviewing OpenSpace captures,

tend to rely on photos from past projects to makeaccording to Field Foreman, Dave Mabon with Boldt.

decisions on current ones. “Having OpenSpace for
the Naperville project could be a helpful reference
to understand progress through the stages ofconstruction and apply that to future projects withsimilar features or rooms, such as point-of-care
testing with similar equipment, where power outlets
have to be located very precisely.”•Time savings in the field: OpenSpace also helped

exacerbated by COVID-19). “There are times when

his engineers and BIM team when working on issues••

More accuracy in the field: Rich Bergslien, a ProjectManager at Huen Electric, noted that his company