Ryan Companies / Musical Instrument Museum

Musical history in record time┬áThe worldÔÇÖs first truly global museum of musical instruments is scheduled to open in April 2010. Keith Regan learns how the Ryan Companies handle an aggressive construction schedule to meet that target while also creating a world-class institution.  The idea of opening a Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), and even the timeframe for doing so, came before the founder, former Target CEO Bob Ulrich, had found a location or finalized design for the attraction.  Ulrich and the MIM team are in the process of raising an estimated $150 million to build and operate the museum, which promises to be the only one of its kind to house a representative collection of historical and contemporary musical instruments from every country in the world. The MIM will also be a cutting-edge audio-video experience, says director Bill DeWalt, with visitors interacting with specially produced and archival footage of rare and exotic instruments being played. ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre trying to open a museum in record time, especially when you consider that weÔÇÖre not just building the museum itself but assembling a team and building a collection,ÔÇØ DeWalt says. ÔÇ£We thought about a phased opening but decided to set a single opening date and work toward it.ÔÇØ Enabling that target date to be hit has been the responsibility of Ryan Companies, the general contractor on the job. Senior project manager Joe Schmid says the project has been fast-tracked on a design-assist basis, with drawing packages released as the designs are finalized. The foundation and building envelopes, for instance, were released for construction, with other sub-components still being designed, with RSP Architects working closely with a team of experts to consider elements such as acoustics, climate control and other technical details, some of which are still being finalized as the museumÔÇÖs collection continues to come together. ÔÇ£The design itself turned out to be lot more intricate than anticipated, and some of the package release dates have been pushed a bit, so that just compresses things into the last year or 16 months of the construction schedule,ÔÇØ says Schmid. ÔÇ£It just causes us to be very quick to react and makes it necessary that we communicate regularly with the design team to anticipate what might be coming.ÔÇØRyan Companies has experience with meeting target dates, having done hundreds of millions of dollarsÔÇÖ worth of work for Target Corp., which sets opening dates for stores each year and expects contractors to have the stores open on those dates. On the museum project, many subcontractors were interviewed and selected at the beginning of the project, even before specific bid packages were available, so that design consultants on the project could leverage their local expertise in areas such as the building envelope, climate control and mechanical and electrical systems. Keeping the climate inside the museum stable is a major focus of the design and construction teams. According to DeWalt, the museum set aside conventional wisdom about humidity and other environmental controls, feeling it needed to have a realistic match for the Arizona weather, which can be blazing hot but bone dry. In the end, the museum was designed to hold a steady temperature of 74 degrees with 45 percent relative humidity in the summer and 72 degrees and 40 percent relative humidity in winter. Many museums have much higher humidity levels. ÔÇ£Imagine walking into the space if we kept it at 50 to 60 percent humidity. YouÔÇÖd feel like you were walking into a swamp,ÔÇØ DeWalt notes. Special spaces where traveling exhibits will be housed will be capable of meeting the higher humidity levels that might be required by lending museums. The most important consideration for the protection of the collections is consistency, DeWalt adds. To ensure that the steam-boiler humidification systems can maintain humidity and temperature levels while remaining highly efficient, the design includes a vapor barrier that wraps around the entire structure, from beneath the slab to the roof membrane. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs like the entire building is wrapped in a balloon,ÔÇØ says Schmid. ÔÇ£A lot of focus is being paid to how that vapor barrier is applied and making sure there are no punctures and that any drill holes are sealed properly.ÔÇØOther features that both assist with heat control and give the project significant sustainable design elements include a rain screen fa├ºade with an 8-inch insulated space between the interior structure and the exterior finish that is designed to dissipate heat during the hot desert days. Other green elements include extensive recycling of construction debrisÔÇöas much as 65 percent will be diverted from landfillsÔÇöthe inclusion of fly ash in the 11,000 yards of poured concrete on the job, and a graywater system that reuses cooling-tower wash water to irrigate plants on the property. The roof will also hold more than 25,000 square feet of solar panels. The design of the building made for some unique construction details. For instance, the exhibit portion of the museum is a two-story cast-in-place concrete frame, designed to minimize vibrations from nearby highways and make the space as acoustically pleasing as possible. A portion of the exhibit spaces also include a double-interlock pre-action fire protection system that requires multiple alarm events to take place before water is released. The 299-seat theater, which includes movable walls to adjust acoustics, will become a top venue for musical performances, DeWalt predicts. In fact, the museum expects to become an international destination quickly, says DeWalt, with thousands already using the Phoenix area as a jumping-off point for visiting the Grand Canyon and other parts of the Southwest. ÔÇ£People can come from all over the world and see instruments from their native countries, as well as learn about those from other parts of the world,ÔÇØ he says, adding that the museum will use cutting-edge audio-video technology to enable visitors to experience each exhibit, with wireless systems activating portable headsets as a visitor approaches a display. The Phoenix construction market is, like many across the country, suffering a slowdown, which has helped Ryan receive more bids from potential subcontractors. However, because of the nature of the work, only the top trades can participate. ÔÇ£ItÔÇÖs literally museum-quality work,ÔÇØ says Schmid. ÔÇô Editorial research by Alan Iodice┬á