Building relationships through personal service lays a foundation of confidence that encourages customers to come back.
Barr & Barr is one of the Northeast’s elite construction companies, regularly recognized by Engineering News Record as one of the nation’s top 400. The company has done $1.5 billion in preconstruction work alone over the last three years and averages $300 million in revenues annually. A specialist since the 1950s in healthcare, academic, research, and historic restoration projects, Barr & Barr is also known for its team approach and ingenuity in problem solving.
The story began in the American West in 1906, where Joseph R. Barr, an ambitious 20-year-old engineer from Rochester, New York, was surveying land for the railroads, honing his eye for detail and developing a talent for working big.
By 1912, Joseph Barr was back in New York, in charge of track work for the New York Central railroad. Over the next 15 years he mastered the complexities of large projects, adopting the simple philosophy of looking out for owners’ interests like a true partner. Striking out on his own he founded Barr & Barr in 1927 (then Barr and Lane) and owners soon discovered that he was not only a consummate builder, but also a trusted adviser and a man of principle. Barr & Barr quickly established itself as a choice builder in a crowded field.
In 1932, Joseph Barr was invited to meet Nelson Rockefeller Sr., who was interviewing builders for the massive Rockefeller Center project then under way. Rockefeller saw in the self-made engineer a winning mix of quiet confidence and professional boldness—enough boldness to take on the largest privately financed construction project in the world. Barr & Barr was hired to build the Time & Life building and several other Rockefeller Center buildings, thereby establishing itself as a firm that met the highest of expectations.
The third generation of the Barr family now leads the company, which still rests on the one-time railroad surveyor’s cornerstone of integrity. That means an absolute commitment to hands-on project involvement by top executives and a core philosophy of personal service to all owners and architects. Joseph Barr embraced this integrity for his firm because, like everything else he built, he built it to last.
Barr & Barr’s commitment to high quality work is based on the experience and training of its people. Projects run on a team approach rather than a department approach, meaning that the same executives and supervisors are on a job from the very beginning to its final completion. The project executive is involved in all aspects of the project from estimating all the way through closeout, ensuring continuity for the owner. Project owners often request the same team they had previously for new projects.
Satisfied customers have a habit of coming back, and that was the case with the New York Hospital Queens “West Wing” project, which opened in June 2010. Barr & Barr believes that building relationships is as important as building quality projects, and with a track record of over 85 percent repeat clients, the company specializes in both. “We started several years ago as program managers and developed projects for the existing hospital,” said CEO John Decina. “We were working to develop programs two years before we won the project for the construction of the new hospital.”
The pre-construction phase of the project was absolutely critical and not only utilized 3D modeling but involved a myriad of people, assenior vice presidentThomas LePage explained. “Talks involved upward of 30 people from different authorities in the city; for a job of this size, planning took over a year. Throughout the project we’ve been mindful of the concerns of our neighbors, as the hospital is located in a residential area. The new hospital is built on the site of a parking facility located on an adjacent piece of property, so our first task was to build a new parking site before we could demolish the existing one.
“We also had to factor in noise and vibration levels,” LePage continues, “dust control, public safety—as well as that of our workers—plus traffic disruption, as the site is located on the main street running through the Flushing area of the city. Additionally, the existing electrical service ran through the site of the main building, so we had to carefully work around it to ensure the hospital was not disrupted in any way.”
The challenges were further heightened by the design of the new hospital, which is linked to the old one by a series of bridges and ramps. Of course, it was business as usual for the existing building, which meant that Barr & Barr had to minimize disruption.
“Our expertise in New York helped on this job immensely, and having been involved in the business for over 80 years has given us the knowledge of how to ‘talk’ healthcare language and complete a job at the right price for the client,” said Decina.
“Working in New York is unique due to the constraints,” added LePage, “but it’s normal to us. For example, we were able to utilize storage areas in the five boroughs for many of the materials and then deliver them to the site exactly when they were needed. Our experience ensures the job runs smoothly with minimal disruption, and in healthcare, we’re aware of all the potential pitfalls of working next to an active site.”
So pleased was the community with the finished building that the Queens Chamber of Commerce gave Barr & Barr its 2010 Building Award for the West Wing project, one of a number of accolades the company continues to receive, including an American Institute of Architects 2010 Honor Award for the Yale University Kahn Art Gallery and a 2010 National Preservation Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for the Hanover Theatre.
