# # #
Atlantic Constructors, Inc. is a full service industrial and commercial contractor headquartered in Richmond, VA (Chesterfield County) with Virginia offices in Hampton Roads, Roanoke, Sterling, and our newest office, located in Wilmington, North Carolina. Our highly skilled team of more than 1,150 employees serves customers across the country. For more information, visit: www.acibuilds.com.
The past year was a very good one for ACI, with continued growth both in personnel and capabilities throughout Virginia and North Carolina. While we completed a number of very successful large-scale projects and were awarded several others, there is one project in particular that is not only near to our hearts, but crucial to ACI’s growth and ability to take on projects anywhere in the world: the completion of our 170,000 sq ft sister facility, dubbed “HQ-2.” With this new building, we have effectively quintupled our fabrication ability and cemented ourselves as a provider of reach and scale in the world of modular construction.
ACI is clearly a company focusing on the future, but even the most forward-thinking organizations need to pause periodically to look back. Below, we invite you to do just that.
170,000 MORE Square Footage
ACI was the tenant upfit general contractor and self-performed Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire Protection, and Fire Alarm on the new ACI HQ2- Office and Distribution Center consisting of warehouse space, first floor offices, and second floor mezzanine. The new office space houses the Service and Special Project Groups while the warehouse area consists of the new tool room, shipping and receiving, and the newly formed Atlantic Modular division.
With this build, ACI doubles-down on their long-term commitment to be on the leading edge of modular construction with approximately half of the new building dedicated to modular construction. This equates to about 250,000 square feet solely for modular fabrication and assembly, which gives ACI the capacity to produce five times as much modular construction – all under one roof.
In addition to more modular construction, the new space allows for ACI’s Service Division to increase their efficiency and continue to offer the unparalleled service for which they are known.
– 2 RTUs
– 3 ARUs
– ESFR Sprinkler heads to allow for further expansion of warehouse operations
– Full Uponor plumbing system
New Construction of Dual Use Medical Facility
Mary Washington Harrison Crossing is an ACR-accredited facility staffed by qualified, caring imaging teams and physicians dedicated to the comfort of patients and in-house Board-Certified, Fellowship-Trained Radiologists. ACI was awarded the mechanical and plumbing scope of work through preconstruction efforts working the W.M. Jordan. Virtual Design Construction was utilized early due to an accelerated schedule and coordinating workable above-ceiling space with dense utility systems. Ductwork and piping were fabricated for just-in-time delivery due to the limited lay-down area on site.
– 2 RTUs
– Two packaged RTUs
– One energy recovery unit
– 40 VAVs
– Six split systems
– 250 GRDs
– Installation of owner provided chiller
– 40,000 lbs of sheet metal
– 80 plumbing fixtures
175,440 s.q ft. Expansion of Existing Hospital
ACI was tasked to upfit the Fire protection in the existing MOB building and install new systems for the vertical expansion of the existing hospital. This portion of the hospital had two existing levels, with levels 3 & 4 consisting of new construction along with two new mechanical penthouses on level 5. The new vertical expansion was supplied by a new wet pipe standpipe system. There was also extensive renovation work done in the hospital existing MOB, which included almost the entire floors of levels 1 and 4 MOB, as well as some 3rd floor MOB work. The hospital remained operational throughout the renovation process.
A Decade-long Relationship Continues
ACI was engaged in the first of four data center projects in Boydton, VA, over a decade ago, resulting in project success and relationships that have grown our project resume to be one of the leading mission-critical contractors in Virginia today. ACI completed over $30M in mission-critical construction services in 2023 alone, which creates a combined total of $76M for this series of projects.
– Completion of one 250,000 Data Center Facility while starting another 250,000 SF data center facility
– 160 Air Handling units per facility
– 160 Supply Louvers, damper assemblies (ACI Prefabricated)
– 160 Return Lovers, damper assemblies (ACI Prefabricated)
– 2 Air Handling units, and associated HVAC equipment dedicated to admin office spaces
Loudon and Fair Oaks Hospitals
ACI Sterling continues to build momentum and forge strong relationships, as illustrated by continued partnerships with Inova Health Systems. Most recently, ACI was selected to assist with the two following major projects at two of Inova’s facilities— Fair Oaks and Loudon Hospitals.
Inova Fair Oaks Hospital
AHU 4 Replacement
Inova Fair Oaks Hospital needed to replace a failing AHU (AHU 4) that had been in service since 1985. This unit served critical spaces, including Operating Rooms #5 through #8, and supplemented the adjacent Sterile Core. ACI’s scope of work was to install the new AHU4 unit alongside the older, failing AHU-4, which would remain in operation during the install, start-up, and commissioning of the new unit. The project required modifications to the piping, duct work, roofing and storm drainage systems associated with the existing AHU 4 and new AHU 4. Modifications to the Existing Electrical Feeds, BAS Controls, and Fire Alarm Systems were also required.
– New AHU 4 designed for 16,000 CFMs w/ Steam Pre-Heat, Humidification, Chilled Water Cooling and 2nd Stage Cooling via DX Coil and Separate Condensing Unit.
– New 8’ x 53’ Roof Curb Install to support the new AHU 4.
– 1,800 Sq Ft of TPO roofing system replacement.
Inova Loudon Hospital
Hospital Steam Bypass
The INOVA Loudoun Hospital Campus had a Steam Boiler Plant serving the original hospital and a newer Steam Boiler Plant serving the New Tower. They wanted the ability to have either Steam Boiler Plant serve both buildings from either plant in the event of repairs needed.
ACI’s role was to interconnect both building’s steam and condensate systems via bypass piping, isolation valves, flash arrestors, and an additional condensate return pump skid. This called for the provision and installation of piping supports between both buildings along the existing roofing systems and attachments to structural steel below the roofing system with water proofing patches at each location.
– 1,000 feet of 6’’ Steam, 4’’ Condensate and 2.5’’ Pumped Condensate Piping.
– 120 Gallon SS condensate receiver skid with duplex pumps rated for 45 GPM discharge at 50 psi.
– Coordination and execution of steam outages and cross connection between two 24/7 hospital campus buildings averaging 300 occupied beds per day/night.
Renovation of 101,000 SF Facility
ACI performed the HVAC, plumbing and electrical on 101,000 sq ft existing Goodwill facility. The renovated building will include new classrooms, wellness center and a grocery store. The grocery store was a critical part of the project as in required a special RAC unit for refrigeration. With a deadline of November 1st, ACI had the grocery store finished ahead of schedule. Project is tracking to finish on time and in budget by May 2025.
–21 RTUs
-New Switchgear
-65,000 lbs of ductwork
-All new fixtures
3rd Floor IR Renovation
The VCU Health IR Main 3 project included 43,000 square feet of renovation scope on the 3rd Floor of the Main Hospital at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center to support the needs of VCU Health System Authority.
The significant renovations to accommodate five new interventional radiology rooms, two new CT rooms, two new procedural ultrasound rooms, a new fluoroscopy room, a new twenty‐five bay prep‐recovery area, new radiology reading rooms and clinical and administrative support space. The scope of the project also includes the construction of a new 7,500 SF mezzanine between the 2nd and 3rd levels to accommodate administrative offices and support space.
– AHU replacement of an existing air handling unit currently on the 4th floor of the Main Hospital
– Temporary AHU staged and tied to existing duct to provide conditioning in the hospital while the unit was being replaced
– The project was completed in multiple phases due to coordinating scope with active healthcare services
Upfitting a Massive 270,000 SF Facility
**UPDATE**
In addition to the Lego project detailed below, ACI has been awarded select mechanical, electrical, and plumbing trades on Lego Group’s 1.7 million sq ft precision production facility just south of Richmond in Chesterfield, Virginia. Over the next few years, we’ll be hiring 1,761 people in a range of professional and production positions. The people who join our team will have a unique opportunity to grow with our organization.
ACI was awarded the Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, and Fire Protection scopes for an upfit to an existing 257,000 SF warehouse. This facility serves as a temporary training location for new hires of the permanent Lego facility soon to be constructed nearby. We were aware from the beginning that the schedule for this project was accelerated and ACI was prepared to successfully meet the challenge of that timeline.
The warehouse work included new HVAC units, an additional electrical switchboard, lighting, copious amounts of duct work and plumbing fixtures, low voltage work and sprinkler pipes.
– One 6 Ton Air Cooled Chiller
– 20 Package Roof Top Units
– A total of 291 GRDs were installed in the office space.
– ACI installed over 8,800 feet of pipe (copper and cast iron)
– 2000-amp switch board added existing 3000-amp main electrical service
– 2 Package DX Air Handling Units
– 79 plumbing fixtures installed in the building, including the emergency eyewash and wall hydrants in the warehouse space
– 30 VAVs
– 2 Air Compressors and accessories for complete system directed by Lego
– 16 forklift battery chargers were installed
Confidential Semiconductor Site in Manassas VA
At this facility, the APVC Diluted Acid Waste Piping had reached “End of Life” due to exposure to direct sunlight at torn insulation areas and heat trace voltage inconsistencies to be replaced. ACI was tasked with replacement of the PVC Diluted Acid Waste Piping and Pump Headers with TIG welded Stainless-Steel piping.
Confidential Owner and Confidential Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Client
As Prime Mechanical, ACI was trusted by the owner to drive the project schedule, other specialty trades, and ultimately, ensure the project success.
ACI’s Self-Performed Scope of Work on this $30M Sustainability and Environmental Compliance project consisted of:
Project Schedule:
Fire Protection for Office and Laboratory
ACI provided Fire Protection on this 84,000 sq ft project, a new four-story office building, as well as a High Voltage testing lab. ACI FP installed a new fire pump to supply the office building with a wet pipe standpipe system, as well as a deluge system for the testing lab to supply the water powered oscillating monitor nozzles.
Specialized Fire Protection
ACI’s Fire Protection Division wrapped up two Data Center projects this year, making a total of four over the past three years for the same customer. The total square footage of all four projects combined is a whopping 2,479,551 for contract amounts totaling $15M
The scope of work performed in these two most recent Data Center projects consisted of 27 Sprinkler Systems, 25 Pre-Action and 2 wet systems.
– Pre-Action Sprinkler systems utilize Nitrogen Generators to fill sprinkler pipe with inert gas to significantly extending the longevity of the sprinkler system.
– Over 120,000 feet, or 22.5 miles of sprinkler pipe.
– Worked with DPR to pre-fabricate a Multi-Trade Rack which housed sprinkler bulk feeds.
# # #
Atlantic Constructors, Inc. is a full service industrial and commercial contractor headquartered in Richmond, VA with satellite offices in Newport News, Roanoke, Hampton Roads, Sterling, and Wilmington, NC. Our highly skilled team of over 1100 employees serves customers across the country and around the world. For more information, visit www.acibuilds.com.
# # #
Atlantic Constructors, Inc. is a full service industrial and commercial contractor headquartered in Richmond, VA (Chesterfield County) with Virginia offices in Hampton Roads, Roanoke, Sterling, and our newest office, located in Wilmington, North Carolina. Our highly skilled team of more than 1,150 employees serves customers across the country. For more information, visit: www.acibuilds.com.
A look at where we are and where we're going
Looking over at ACI’s HQ2 facility, it’s looking a lot like a finished structure. Do we have a hard date on when it will be “open for business?”
Yep. We’re still right on track for opening that facility the first week of November. It’s getting close, and amazingly, we’ve been tracking towards that date for two years now and haven’t moved it. The construction’s progressed really well. It’s kind of amazing how well you can stick to a schedule when you’re self-performing most of it yourself, right?
Absolutely! Once it’s complete, we know a lot of the Atlantic Modular work will be going on over there, but what other activity can we expect over at HQ2?
So really, there’s three main things to think about relating to the new building. The first is that we’ve grown a lot, and we just flat out need more office space. There wasn’t room to really add office space here at HQ1 without taking away from current fabrication space; so that was one objective— create more office space. Looking at staff to move, the easiest choice was a group that doesn’t really need direct proximity to everyone else, which is our Service group. They can operate pretty much standalone, so that’s why they’re getting a brand-new office space in the new facility. That will enable them to continue their growth trajectory, and once they move out of their current space, that will allow our other services to grow into that available space that they vacate.
The next thing to consider is that we have a few things that happen in other facilities, located about 20 miles away, closer to downtown Richmond; we lease some space there just for logistics and things like that. When trucks show up to deliver things that can’t go to the job sites yet, those things currently have to sit in storage there until they can go to the job sites. Now, that can be brought here and kept next door.
Having everything take place sort of on one campus adds tremendous efficiencies. But the most significant additional service, modular construction, takes up a lot of space. That is a major growth area for us, and we expect it to grow considerably more in the very near future. So, at least a third of the building will be dedicated solely to Atlantic Modular. This will put us in the 250,000 square foot range solely for fabrication and assembly.
ACI has long had a tremendous differentiator in our massive fabrication shop, which a lot of competitors don’t have. Now that we we’re essentially doubling the square footage, is there anybody in the region that has that kind of space?
There are other contractors across the country – they’re very few– that have some significant space in the same realm of what we do, but we don’t know of any others who have the space paired with all the capabilities we possess at ACI. What we’re doing now is bringing two core competencies together, two competitive advantages, which are size and scale plus diversity of services. Once you combine the two of those, we really feel like we are offering something unique to the industry.
ACI has been doing very solid modular work throughout the region, streamlining and improving their processes for years. How is Atlantic Modular different?
We’ve been doing modular fabrication for a long while. It became a big focus about 10 years ago when we started making very large multi-trade assemblies here instead of on-site. And that’s what led to us doing our first shop expansion about six years ago, to have room for that modular in addition to our other shops. We knew that Modular was where the industry was headed. And we knew that’s where we were going, but it wasn’t until the last three years that we really realized how big this could get. And that’s when we started pursuing modular as a product line itself, and not necessarily just servicing our own projects, but as a service out to direct customers.
What would be an example— a line of business or a type of customer— that perhaps ACI couldn’t pursue but will be able to now?
The biggest advantage to modular is that it opens up our customer base geographically. Right now, it’s very difficult to pursue projects outside of a couple hours from your main office; you don’t have field crews or supervision and things like that that can extend that far.
But with modular, since 90 plus percent of the work happens right here, under our own control, we just put it on a truck and we can send it just about anywhere, including globally. And we are now starting to look at those international projects, as well as the advantages that come with being able to target some of the more cyclical work in different areas of the country. Historically we’ve been pretty much tied to the market in the Virginia and North Carolina areas. Now, if there’s a project anywhere in the U.S., we can pursue it.
Is there anything else you would want people to know about our capabilities, particularly with modular and the new facility? Are these changes bringing something to bear that may not be top of mind for customers?
Sure. Two things that seem like they differentiate us specifically within the world of modular against the others that are doing this is our capacity. We can produce a high volume of work very quickly. And a lot of clients need things very quickly, and also need them at a very high rate. We now have the capacity to complete and ship multiple orders per day to help meet the needs of those customers.
The other piece of this is that we’re extremely vertically integrated: we self-perform everything that has to do with these skids. While most other companies may be good at a single aspect, they either have to hire other companies to come in and do the other parts or they may just kind of “try to get it done” perhaps not particularly well. But for us, we absolutely have a core competency and have been doing for decades things like, steel coatings, blasted paint, mechanical piping, plumbing, HVAC, sheet metal, electrical, and fire protection. Essentially, every service it takes to put one of these modules together, we can self-perform right here. That’s how ACI is able to feed that capacity, by having complete control over the quality and quantity of those services.
With all that in place, what do the next five years look like for ACI?
Actually, this is growing so fast that it’s difficult to project where it’ll be five years from now, but we do think that within the next two years we’re going to be able to produce five times as much modular construction as we are now. Our biggest limiting factor has been space and that’s about to be solved.
So, HQ2 solves the space challenge, but what does the manpower situation look like? We often hear about the how difficult it can be to find people.
That’s a great question. Modular is significantly more efficient than traditional construction in the field; you can do significantly more modular with the same number of people that you do traditional construction. So even if we just have to slightly cut back on the amount of traditional construction we do, we can redirect that same workforce into modular and still produce significantly more. But to your question, we are even now bringing on additional people to support modular construction.
With all of this expansion and the ability to reach even international customers, it seems like ACI is on an extraordinary trajectory. Is there anything else you’d like people to know about the company?
The biggest takeaway is just that Atlantic Constructors is the greatest company on the planet and there’s absolutely no reason not to reach out to us. We’d be glad to help all our customers reach their goals of creating the buildings that support their missions.
A Novel Way to Bring Employees Together
Even small companies must grapple creating and maintaining a positive cohesive culture and the difficulty only increases as a company grows larger, more diverse, and more geographically dispersed. With the number of employees now north of 1,100, ACI is aware of the work that must be done if we are to continue to be an ownership minded, positively tenacious workforce focused on putting people first. But for Atlantic’s Commercial Construction group, the answer to building high performance teams comes from a place you might not expect: the world of Fantasy Football.
Several years ago, ACI’s Chairman, Art Hungerford tasked Director of Commercial Construction, James East, and Commercial Construction Manager, Keith Klammer to come up with a way to bring people together in smaller, more intimate groups. But how to do that when at any given time team members may have to move to support a different project in a different location?
“Pretty quickly, the idea of a something like a fantasy football team took hold; it would be more of a virtual team rather than a physical one where we work with together physically in the same space every day,” said East. “So, we created The MEPFP League (for Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire Protection), which marries the various trades in construction to the structure of a Fantasy Football League, complete with a draft where teammates are selected from across trades and across the company. Right now, we have around 30 teams, with names selected by the foreman of each team. For the most part, the team names reflect some component of a trade like, The Wire Nuts, The Arc Flashers, Cabeza De Fuegos, and The Royal Flushers.”
Scoring for the league is based on the company’s core values and points are tracked over the course of the season, with various prizes and awards given monthly. Each season begins with a Draft Day for the upcoming season, followed by a Kickoff event and culminating in a season’s end awards ceremony. During the ceremony top winners are recognized and cash prizes, tools, and other winnings are distributed as teammates and families celebrate and cheer their players.
Keith Klammer works closely with the teams on a daily basis and points out that, “The League isn’t just some flavor of the month. It wouldn’t work if that’s all it was. It’s throughout the year, with multiple events and regular updates. And now, after three years in, people are really engaging with it.”
“Our goal at the start was to bring people together to communicate, look out for each other, share ideas, and share what they’re working on across different jobs,” Klammer continues. “We’re doing what we can to avoid being in silos. Everyone may be on a different team, but it’s all one League, moving forward.”
When asked about the difference between the League when it started and the League now, Klammer stated, “When it first started, people didn’t really understand what it was. It may have seemed like just another thing you have to do. But once people started to understand that this is one of the ways we’re trying to recognize and take care of employees, it started to take hold. People realize that everyone has their part in it. And the beauty is, we’ve tied the point system to our values and to things like safety, production, and attendance. Those are things they should be doing anyway and this is a way to reward them and maintain accountability.”
Now that more and more people are engaged with the MEPFP, does Klammer think the League is where it should be after the first three seasons? “Yeah, I think we’re there now, but we’ve got to keep growing it. Right? It’s a statement piece and people look forward to it. They’re coming out to the kickoffs and to the end of the year event. Every time we do one, we have more and more people coming because they want to be part of it. And now that we’re about to kick off the fourth season, we just need to keep growing it and keep our foot on the pedal and don’t take it off.”
Building a Culture Where Employees Have a Voice
Atlantic Constructors, Inc. is proud to announce that we are a 2024 Top Workplaces Construction Industry Top Workplace Award winner.
Top Workplaces Industry awards celebrate organizations that have built people-first workplace cultures within their sector. The award marks them us an employer of choice for those seeking employment in our industry. The Award is based on feedback from a research-backed employee engagement survey conducted by Energage, a purpose driven organization that helps build Top Workplaces.
But for ACI, this recognition isn’t where we stop; the survey marks a beginning and not an end of our efforts to make ACI an even more EXTRAORDINARY place to work. ACI has teams of leaders analyzing the responses and developing ways to address the suggestions and concerns voiced by employees in the anonymous survey. According to Evan Shriver, ACI CEO, “Listening to our employees and implementing effective solutions are the two most vital components of this effort, and we are determined to demonstrate our dedication to putting people first.”
“Earning a Top Workplaces award is a badge of honor for companies, especially because it comes authentically from their employees,” said Eric Rubino, Energage CEO. “That’s something to be proud of. In today’s market, leaders must ensure they’re allowing employees to have a voice and be heard. That’s paramount. Top Workplaces do this, and it pays dividends.”
New Orthopedic Facility
ACI was awarded the Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) scopes for the new OrthoVirginia orthopedics facility. With an impressive 77,000 square feet, this center is located at Watkins Centre in Chesterfield County, Virginia, and is poised to set new standards in orthopedic care.
The new facility has nearly 100 exams rooms, four surgical suites, MRI and X-ray equipment and two suites dedicated to pain management which will allow OrthoVirginia to serve a wider range of patients throughout Central VA.
– 3 Packaged Rooftop Unites (RTUs)
– 4 Split systems
– 93 Variable Air Volume (VAV) Units
– 6 Fan Coil Units (FCUs)
– 4 Humidifiers
-762 Grilles, Registers, and Diffusers (GRD)
-155 Plumbing fixtures
5-story Renovation and Construction
This long-anticipated Alderman Library expansion at the University of Virginia involved an upgrade of HVAC and plumbing systems, including the fit-out of an existing 5-story building and the construction of a new adjacent 5-story addition. This enhancement is set to greatly benefit the university community by providing improved facilities and more space.
ACI is proud to have contributed to this milestone project. Our scope of work included the installation of all HVAC systems— covering equipment, sheet metal, and piping—as well as the complete plumbing installation, including domestic water systems, and all necessary fixtures.
– 20% Renovation and 80% New Construction; over 214,000 SF.
– 3 Packaged Rooftop Unites (RTU)
– 6 Air Handling Units (AHU)
– 200 Variable Air Volume (VAV) Units
– 360 Fan Coil Units (FCU)
93,000 Sq Ft Renovation
ACI was awarded the Design Assist as well as the Mechanical and Plumbing scopes of the UVA football renovation. The impressive project, covering 93,000 SF, was completed in June of 2024.
The $80 million Hardie Football Operations Center on Massive Road features a locker room, strength and conditioning spaces, nutrition areas, meeting rooms, coaches’ offices, video operations, and sports medicine facilities. We are proud to play a key role in enhancing the future of UVA football!
– Mechanical and plumbing systems
– 154 plumbing Fixtures
– 200+ Tons of Capacity
– 180 Terminal Units
Confidential Industrial Manufacturing Project
Confidential Industrial Manufacturing Owner Client – Richmond Virginia Metropolitan Area
ACI’s scope of work on this capacity increase / system improvement project was Prime Mechanical which included:
Schedule:
3,000-seat indoor multi-use arena and convocation center
ACI was selected as the partner of choice for the mechanical and plumbing trade packages for the Joan Perry Brock Center at Longwood University. The 72,000-square-foot, 3,020-seat arena, and convocation center will be home to Longwood’s basketball teams and a gathering space for academic and cultural events and marks another successful project with Skanska.
– 72,000 SF of new construction
– 6 RTUs
-1 AHU
-2 Chiller
-47 VAVs
# # #
Atlantic Constructors, Inc., is a full service industrial and commercial contractor headquartered in Richmond, VA (Chesterfield County) with satellite offices in Hampton Roads, Newport News, Roanoke, and Sterling, VA, and our newest location in Wilmington, North Carolina. Our highly skilled team of over 1,150 employees serves customers across the country. For more information, visit www.acibuilds.com.
# # #
Atlantic Constructors, Inc. is a full service industrial and commercial contractor headquartered in Richmond, VA (Chesterfield County) with Virginia offices in Hampton Roads, Roanoke, Sterling, and our newest office, located in Wilmington, North Carolina. Our highly skilled team of more than 1,150 employees serves customers across the country. For more information, visit: www.acibuilds.com.
Now that we’re well into the start of the New Year, we can finally take a moment to catch our collective breath and reflect a bit on the very good year that was 2023.
ACI continued our growth trajectory that we had set about in the post-pandemic year of 2022; projects, geographic reach, and number of employees are all on the rise. Our backlog of jobs is solid, our reach has now expanded confidently into Northern Virginia and Wilmington, North Carolina, and our employee count has grown to well above 1150. Our offices in Roanoke and Hampton Roads are experiencing steady growth as they carry the ACI Mission in Western and Southeastern Virginia and at home here in Richmond, construction of our new facility (HQ2, as we refer to it these days) is moving along on schedule (feel free to take a look HERE).
Below, we invite you to explore a handful of achievements that made us proud in 2023, projects that were thoroughly imbued with the ACI Mission to be EXTRAORDINARY, through Innovation, Collaboration, and Diversity. We hope the year just passed was a good one for you, and we invite you to join with us in this New Year and as we work to make it a great one!
Atlantic Modular Steps Up
Realizing that ACI was uniquely well-positioned to take on very large, complex modular projects, one of our partnering firms engaged us to assist in building 61 modular units of pipe racks for one of the highest profile clients/companies in North America.
With a very challenging schedule to meet, work started on the contract (valued at just under $6M) just after Thanksgiving and was completed by the start of the last week of January, which made it just shy of an 8-week turnaround. Systems on the racks were: Electrical, Chilled Water, Natural Gas, Domestic Water, Compressed Air, Non-potable Water, and Steam.
– Fabrication & erection of 277 tons of steel.
– Installation of 11,000 feet of pipe
– Coordination of outside insulation & electrical crews to install to form a multi trade rack.
– Shipment to Tennessee
In the time-lapse video below, you can see 18 days of the process compressed into 38 seconds:
A Decade-long Relationship Continues
ACI was engaged in the first of four data center projects in Boydton, VA, over a decade ago, resulting in project success and relationships that have grown our project resume to be one of the leading mission-critical contractors in Virginia today. ACI will have completed over $30M in mission-critical construction services in 2023 alone (creating a combined total of $76M for this series of projects). Recently awarded mission-critical projects occurring during 2024 will far exceed construction services completed in 2023.
– Completion of one 250,000 Data Center Facility while starting another 250,000 SF data center facility
– 160 Air Handling units per facility
– 160 Supply Louvers, damper assemblies (ACI Prefabricated)
– 160 Return Lovers, damper assemblies (ACI Prefabricated)
– 2 Air Handling units, and associated HVAC equipment dedicated to admin office spaces
3rd Floor IR Renovation
The VCU Health IR Main 3 project included 43,000 square feet of renovation scope on the 3rd Floor of the Main Hospital at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center to support the needs of VCU Health System Authority.
The significant renovations to accommodate five new interventional radiology rooms, two new CT rooms, two new procedural ultrasound rooms, a new fluoroscopy room, a new twenty‐five bay prep‐recovery area, new radiology reading rooms and clinical and administrative support space. The scope of the project also includes the construction of a new 7,500 SF mezzanine between the 2nd and 3rd levels to accommodate administrative offices and support space.
– AHU replacement of an existing air handling unit currently on the 4th floor of the Main Hospital
– Temporary AHU staged and tied to existing duct to provide conditioning in the hospital while the unit was being replaced
– The project was completed in multiple phases due to coordinating scope with active healthcare services
Upfitting a Massive 270,000 SF Facility
ACI was awarded the Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, and Fire Protection scopes for an upfit to an existing 257,000 SF warehouse. This facility serves as a temporary training location for new hires of the permanent Lego facility soon to be constructed nearby. We were aware from the beginning that the schedule for this project was accelerated and ACI was prepared to successfully meet the challenge of that timeline.
The warehouse work included new HVAC units, an additional electrical switchboard, lighting, copious amounts of duct work and plumbing fixtures, low voltage work and sprinkler pipes.
– One 6 Ton Air Cooled Chiller
– 20 Package Roof Top Units
– A total of 291 GRDs were installed in the office space.
– ACI installed over 8,800 feet of pipe (copper and cast iron)
– 2000-amp switch board added existing 3000-amp main electrical service
– 2 Package DX Air Handling Units
– 79 plumbing fixtures installed in the building, including the emergency eyewash and wall hydrants in the warehouse space
– 30 VAVs
– 2 Air Compressors and accessories for complete system directed by Lego
– 16 forklift battery chargers were installed
Two Advanced Manufacturing Infrastructure Improvement Projects
ACI’s scope of work on this pair of manufacturing space transformation projects consisted of Utility Steel, Mechanical Ductwork, Operational Infrastructure and other utility piping improvements. The combined value of the projects was $20M.
– Utility steel fabrication and install
– Operational Infrastructure improvements converting warehouse to manufacturing
– Manufacturing equipment setting
– Sheetmetal systems ranging from standard HVAC and dust collection to built-up walkable ductwork
– Modifications to Mechanical Equipment Room – equipment changeout, piping, venting modifications
Upfit of MOB
ACI was tasked to upfit the Fire protection in the existing MOB building and install new systems for the vertical expansion of the existing hospital. The project spanned 4 floors and 332,430 square feet.
Our experienced crews were able to successfully complete the upfit of the entire 1st and 4th floors of the MOB building while the remainder of the hospital and MOB remained actively treating patients.
Mechanical and Plumbing for 124,000 SF Building
Virginia Tech’s Holden Hall currently houses the university’s Mining and Mineral Engineering Program as well as the Material Science and Engineering Program. ACI was the prime M&P contractor on this project, which consisted of installation of all new mechanical and plumbing systems, including several lab spaces in addition to custom Air Handlers located in a penthouse on the roof. ACI prefabbed all piping/plumbing racks in corridors on all floors which included domestic water, lab water, lab gases, HVAC piping, etc. Other prefab included all piping for mechanical room and all bathroom groups. Our prefab capabilities helped control the schedule and keep the project moving and on schedule.
– 3 Custom Air Handlers
– 700 Tons of cooling
– 78,000 man hours
– 210,000 pounds of ductwork
Tenant Build-Out in Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU
ACI’s Service & Special Projects Division performed the tenant build-out on this 3,800 SF in-Hospital Ronald McDonald House. The facility serves caregivers and families while their children receive care in the hospital. The build-out included dining and lounging areas, four Family Sleep Rooms, a food-service area, laundry facilities, a children’s play area, and an outdoor patio.
Specialized Fire Protection
ACI’s Fire Protection Division wrapped up two Data Center projects this year, making a total of four over the past three years for the same customer. The total square footage of all four projects combined is a whopping 2,479,551 for contract amounts totaling $15M
The scope of work performed in these two most recent Data Center projects consisted of 27 Sprinkler Systems, 25 Pre-Action and 2 wet systems.
– Pre-Action Sprinkler systems utilize Nitrogen Generators to fill sprinkler pipe with inert gas to significantly extending the longevity of the sprinkler system.
– Over 120,000 feet, or 22.5 miles of sprinkler pipe!
– Worked with DPR to pre-fabricate a Multi-Trade Rack which housed sprinkler bulk feeds.
Research Facility
DPR chose ACI as a their M&P partner for a brand new research facility in SW Virginia. This project had a very time sensitive schedule which led to several components of the job being pre-fabricated, including 100 Phoenix valves and seven process water skids. The project is expected to finish on time, later in February.
ACI performed the M&P scope of work on this $12M research facility (location undisclosed).
Equipment included:
– 3 Air Cooled Chillers
– 8 Air Handling Units
– 3 Strobic Fans
– 100 Phoenix Valves
– 7 Process Water Skids
# # #
Atlantic Constructors, Inc. is a full service industrial and commercial contractor headquartered in Richmond, VA (Chesterfield County) with satellite offices in Newport News, Roanoke, Hampton Roads, Sterling, and Wilmington, NC. Our highly skilled team of over 1100 employees serves customers throughout the mid-Atlantic region. For more information, visit www.acibuilds.com.
# # #
Atlantic Constructors, Inc. is a full service industrial and commercial contractor headquartered in Richmond, VA (Chesterfield County) with offices in Hampton Roads, Roanoke, Sterling, VA. Our highly skilled team of over 1,000 employees serves customers throughout the mid-Atlantic region. For more information, visit: www.acibuilds.com.
...and ACI Has Been Doing It For Years
Modular construction. It seems the phrase is everywhere these days, with pundits and industry watchers everywhere touting modular as the future. And they’re right, of course, but at ACI we’ve been working on this particular wave of the future for years, perfecting our standardized approach to design, build, and deliver large-scale, complex modular components that provide the best experience and finished product for our customers.
Without a doubt, modular construction is transforming industrial construction, bringing with it unprecedented advantages that allow us to uncouple from a project’s timeline; designing, creating, and precommissioning full MEP systems in our off-site, controlled environment for later integration.
The key to our ability to accelerate timelines lies within our massive, fully automated 170,000 square-foot facility. We leverage self-performed design and fabrication all under one roof for maximum, turn-key efficiency. Our extensive capabilities range from structural steel, sheet metal, process piping, plumbing, and electrical, to virtual design, fire protection, and blast and paint. With our own experienced riggers and fleet of vehicles, we not only design and manufacture fully integrated solutions, we transport and install them as well.
Atlantic Modular’s approach offers the flexibility to quickly adapt to complex industrial applications, ensuring seamless integration of advanced systems and evolving technologies. Our modular techniques streamline processes and increase sustainability, unlocking a range of powerful advantages for our customers:
Accelerated Project Timelines: Modular construction allows for parallel workflows, where site preparation and off-site fabrication occur simultaneously. This significantly reduces construction times compared to traditional methods, enabling faster project completion and the start or resumption of operations sooner.
Cost Efficiency: With Atlantic Modular, economies of scale factor heavily. By fabricating components at our controlled environment, material waste is minimized, and costs are optimized. Additionally, these streamlined processes and shorter construction schedules contribute to overall cost savings for you.
Enhanced Quality Control: Off-site modular construction ensures a superior level of quality control. Atlantic Modular conducts rigorous QA inspections and utilizes standardized processes for consistently high-quality results.
Flexibility and Adaptability: Industrial facilities often require complex configurations and the integration of advanced systems. Atlantic Modular provides the flexibility to meet these requirements with precision and speed. Components can be customized, allowing for seamless integration of specialized equipment, machinery, and technologies, ensuring your project is tailored to your unique needs.
Reduced On-site Disruption: One of the key advantages of modular construction is the reduction in on-site disruption, as much of the construction takes place in our off-site fabrication facility, minimizing work stoppages and delays at your facility.
Increased Safety: With more work being done off-site, the danger on-site accidents is greatly decreased, both for ACI and our customers.
When you choose Atlantic Modular, you get our decades of experience and expertise and our commitment to surpass your expectations with extraordinary results. Contact us today to learn more about how our innovative modular solutions can transform your industrial project into a streamlined, cost-effective reality.
Signing Day 2023
Newly signed apprentices at ACI’s Apprenticeship Signing Day
Apprenticeship programs play a vital role in construction, serving as a cornerstone for skills development, workforce training, and career advancement. These programs offer a specialized learning experience that combines hands-on training with classroom instruction, equipping participants with the practical skills and theoretical knowledge necessary to excel in their careers.
A study conducted by the National Skills Coalition found that nearly 80% of construction firms reported difficulties in finding qualified workers. Apprenticeships not only provide targeted training that aligns with the industry’s needs and reduces skill shortages, but also offer participants a pathway to long-term career stability. The Construction Industry Institute points out that skilled craft professionals who undergo formal apprenticeship training are more likely to have extended careers, reduced turnover rates, and increased job satisfaction.
At ACI, we are committed to providing the best opportunities for our employees. To do so, we are working vigorously to increase our participation with apprenticeship programs offered by Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and the Roanoke Technical School. These programs encompass several trades — Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC, Sheet Metal and Fire Protection and require three years to complete.
Apprenticeship programs must be accessible and affordable to be successful. At ACI, anyone can sign up and first year tuition is paid by ACI and reimbursed by the employee. If the employee maintains a “C” average, graduates, and either gets their journeyman license or completes an additional year of employment, ACI will reimburse the tuition costs. In Richmond, both day and evening classes are available; Tidewater and Roanoke currently offer evening classes.
To promote these programs, ACI holds high-visibility events such as our annual Apprenticeship Signing Day, complete with fun photo-ops and prizes. We encourage our hiring managers to offer the program to employees during the hiring process as well as throughout the year. We regularly send out notices about upcoming sign-up events via our internal communications platform and we maintain interest through updates and posts about Graduation and major milestones of our participants. We encourage our apprentices to share their experiences with their peers to highlight the benefits of participation.
Apprenticeship programs facilitate the transfer of knowledge and expertise from experienced professionals to the next generation of workers, ensuring our industry remains adaptable and innovative. We want to help our employees increase their skills and knowledge and we want to increase the number of people in the trades as older generations transition out of the work force. As we help our employees build more successful careers, we also foster a culture of continuous learning and increased skills. This benefits our workforce and adds even more value for ACI’s customers.
ACI's Employment Engagement Platform
The Power of Communication
It’s Business 101 that customer communication plays a pivotal role in the success of any company. At ACI we continually strive to keep the channels of communication with our customers wide open and accessible. If we don’t, neither of us will be successful.
But what about internal communications? We believe that all our employees represent ACI, and for that to be true, we all must be aligned and connected to our company culture and values. That’s no easy task, with more than 1,000 employees and multiple locations. Fortunately, technological innovations have provided us with an innovative method to easily interact and share information.
SPACES allows for group communication and collaboration.
Meet AccessAtlantic
One such innovation at ACI has been the implementation of WorkVivo (internally branded as AccessAtlantic), our Employee Engagement Platform. Accessible to everyone within the company, AccessAtlantic is a digital environment where employees interact, share feedback, exchange ideas, and easily find. In addition to being an important work tool, it has become a key contributor to organizational success, engaging employees to align them with ACI’s core values and amplifying our company culture.
According to ACI President Terrence Kerner, “AccessAtlantic brings all the great things that are happening across our large organization and presents them right in front of us so that we can all feel better connected to each other and our mutual accomplishments. It links our goals and values to the content which our teammates share… from jobsites to fabrication to personal interests and accomplishments. Simply put, AccessAtlantic allows us to celebrate, share, and learn in a way that would be physically impractical otherwise.”
We believe that true employee engagement is crucial to ACI’s ability to deliver on the promise of our mission, vision, and values. Here are just a few of the ways our digital engagement platform is helping us ensure that we continue to provide unmatched service and solutions:
Empowering Our Employees: A social-media-style communications platform provides an inclusive space where employees’ voices are heard and ideas are shared. This empowers individuals at every level, leading to higher job satisfaction and increased loyalty.
Enhancing Inclusion and Retention: AccessAtlantic enables employees from diverse backgrounds and departments to connect and collaborate, breaking down silos and promoting cross-functional collaboration. By leveraging our collective intelligence, we can develop innovative solutions for customers while retaining top talent.
Boosting Productivity and Efficiency: AccessAtlantic offers real-time updates, instant messaging, and notification features that eliminate communication bottlenecks and reduce the time spent on back-and-forth emails or phone calls.
AccessAtlantic is bringing these and a host of other advantages to ACI. By providing real-time information, fostering inclusivity, enabling employees’ voices to be heard, and promoting cross-functional collaboration, we are creating an environment that best reflects the values of our company. For our customers, this means enhanced customer service, more innovative solutions, and an exceptional customer experience with extraordinary results.
New Facility to Neighbor Existing HQ
What do you do when your 170,000 square foot facility helped propel your company to such a level of success that you now require even more space? Well, if you’re ACI, the answer could not be more obvious.
As you can see, the wooded lot beside our headquarters is undergoing a massive change. It’s all in preparation for a major new construction project: ACI’s second 170,000 square foot facility. Turns out, when you consistently provide extraordinary solutions for your customers, you gain more customers—who want more extraordinary solutions!
Set to come online in October of ’24, the new facility will play a huge role in ACI’s future direction. Evan Shriver, ACI’s CEO, says, “We know that Modular Fabrication is the future of construction. Not only does it increase safety, quality and efficiency of our own projects, it allows us to pursue projects all across the country, without having to move our employees. ACI is already building MEP and Fire Protection systems here to be shipped and installed onsite by other contractors, and we are getting orders for more. It’s a much safer, much more efficient model, but it requires a lot of space. And that space will also help us with our growth in other areas so we can continue to provide all our customers with extraordinary solutions.”
Highlights of the New Facility:
New Lab Construction
Scheduled for completion in 2026, ACI will be performing the mechanical, plumbing, and fire protection scope on this new 300K SF lab facility located in Mechanicsville, Virginia. ACI combined scope for this Skanska project is more than 40M.
The building will function as laboratory space, training space, and office space for two independent agencies. This project will increase efficiency by allowing regional DFS operations to be housed in a single facility while also providing space for future expansion.
ACI will be performing the mechanical, plumbing, and fire protection scope on the new 300,000 square foot lab facility.
– 2,000 tons of centrifugal chiller cooling
– Heat shift screw chiller
– Custom AHU’s
– 350 VAVs
– 4-Pipe FCUs
– Tracking air valves
– 35 VRF units
– 3 Cooling Towers
– 6 Boilers
– 620,000 tons of sheet metal
Alfred W. Harris Academic Commons
ACI was awarded the mechanical, plumbing and fire protection scope for VSUs new 172K SF Academic building.
The project is designed to be a hub of intellectual activity on the campus, boasting three stories, 40+ high tech classrooms, 110+ faculty offices and other academic resources. The new building will be state-of-the-art and include a swimming pool, gymnasium, theatre, and exhibition gallery.
– 2 Chillers
– 6 RTUs
– 223 Term Units/Tracking Boxes/FCUs
– 6 Split Systems
– 12 Fans
– 210,000 lbs of Duct Fabrication
– 7 Water Heaters
– 160 Fixtures
101, 000 Sq Ft Sports Complex
ACI is the HVAC and Plumbing Design Assist partner for the new 101,000 square feet UVA Olympic Sports Complex. The design will include new Locker Rooms, Coaches and Staff Offices, Strength and Conditioning, Sports Medicine, Sports Nutrition, Recovery Room, Sports Science, and Technology. The Complex will be centrally located in the athletics precinct and feature Performance Training, Strength and Conditioning, Tutoring, Academic Support Spaces, and Hall of Champions.
Preconstruction is underway and ACI site work begins October of 2023, with final competition targeted for June 2025.
– Mechanical and plumbing systems
– 1 RTU
– 1 DOAU
– 190 TERM UNITS/TRACKING BOXES/FCUs
– 1 HEAT EXCHANGERS
– 1 WATER TREATMENT
– 140,000 LBS OF DUCT FABRICATION
– 317 FIXTURES
– 50,000 LF of combined plumbing and piping
Aqua US Piping Upgrades
When Polykon recognized the need for process improvement they selected Atlantic Constructors’ Industrial group to perform the mechanical scopes of work associated with the new process integration.
We completed the process improvement related process piping, utility piping, miscellaneous metals and rigging/equipment setting on this new state of the art pharmaceutical production facility on the Henrico County manufacturing campus.
– Process Piping Improvements
– Integration of new equipment into existing systems
– $500K
AHU Moisture Carry-over Project
There are eight central station air handling units serving Inova Loudoun Hospital including all the patient care areas and the OR‘s. They have been having trouble with moisture carryover where excess moisture on the coils is driven downstream in the ductwork. To date, ACI has replaced four of the eight coils, all during off hours as to keep disruptions to a minimum.
ACI provided Design Assistance to help find a good approach for replacing the coils in the existing air handing units, while minimizing impacts to the end users. We laser scanned the inside and outside of every air handler so we could custom order coils to fit the dimensions of the existing air handling units. We also created a three-dimensional BIM model of the existing conditions outside of the air handler and then created piping spools, based upon the BIM model. The spools were prefabricated, palletized and shipped to the job site along with the coils. We built a temporary landing pad on the roof and were able to crane up and pre-stage all the prefabricated assemblies and coils. This approach allowed us to essentially take a unit down during off hours, and in a six-hour window, pull out the old coil, put the new coil in, pipe it back out, replace the control valve and reinsulate.
Four of the units were completed in the spring shoulder season. Another area, served by AHU-1, is currently under construction so we are able to complete it this week. The last three will be completed in the fall shoulder season.
Research Facility
DPR chose ACI as a their M&P partner for a brand new research facility in SW Virginia. This project had a very time sensitive schedule which led to several components of the job being pre-fabricated, including 100 Phoenix valves and seven process water skids. The project is expected to finish on time in February of 2024.
ACI performed the M7P scope of work on this $12M research facility (location undisclosed).
Equipment included:
– 3 Air Cooled Chillers
– 8 Air Handling Units
– 3 Strobic Fans
– 100 Phoenix Valves
– 7 Process Water Skids
# # #
Atlantic Constructors, Inc. is a full service industrial and commercial contractor headquartered in Richmond, VA (Chesterfield County) with satellite offices in Newport News, Roanoke, and Hampton Roads, VA. Our highly skilled team of over 700 employees serves customers throughout the mid-Atlantic region. For more information, visit www.acibuilds.com.
# # #
Atlantic Constructors, Inc. is a full service industrial and commercial contractor headquartered in Richmond, VA (Chesterfield County) with offices in Hampton Roads, Roanoke, Sterling, and Wilmington, NC. Our highly skilled team of over 1,000 employees serves customers throughout the mid-Atlantic region. For more information, visit www.acibuilds.com.
Getting to TCO by Year End
ACI was initially awarded only the sheetmetal portion of this massive hospital addition (14M out of 65M total) in Q1 of 2020. However, later in that year, ACI was asked to take on the entirety of the project: plumbing, mechanical, and med gas, as well as providing all air handlers, med gas compressors, pumps, and heat exchangers, as well as VDC for all the mechanical / plumbing trades.
So why is a project we began in 2020 on our 2022 Year in Review? Because even though we were brought in late in the project cycle, we were able to execute on the largest single project in ACI history and meet the customer’s deadline of having the facility ready for occupancy by 12/31/22, all within a working hospital that saw patients Monday through Saturday, 12 hours a day.
Scroll/Click for Larger Image
Renovation and Lab Addition
ACI’s work began on Dominion Energy’s Innsbrook Technology center in Glen Allen, Virginia in October of 2021; the TCO for the building was obtained in November of 2022.
The facility is comprised of a large two-story building with office spaces and a new laboratory space. ACI’s 3.1 M scope of work consisted of plumbing and mechanical, both above and below ground.
Scroll/Click for Larger Image
Fall 2022 Turnaround
ACI coordinated work with ten subcontractors throughout the duration of AdvanSix’s Fall Turnaround. This included working with: electrical, insulation, scaffolding, asbestos abatement, cranes, hydro-cutting, pre-heat & post weld heat treating (PWHT), a rigging engineer, a rock base for crane pad, and NDE of piping welds.
Working 2-12 hour shifts for 15 straight days during the turnaround, with roughly 16 people per shift, our ability to pre-plan and follow a detailed schedule allowed ACI to complete our work scope 2 days ahead of the 17-day planned outage schedule, saving valuable time for our customer.
Scroll/Click for Larger Image
Oreo Production Comes to Richmond
ACI was the mechanical & equipment setting contractor for the Modelez Inernational 69,000 SF building expansion in Henrico County, Virginia. Dedicated to a new Oreo Production Line, the final contract value for this sweet project was 5.3 M.
Below are some of the installations and fabrications carried out by ACI.
INSTALLATIONS:
FABRICATIONS & INSTALLATIONS:
Scroll/Click for Larger Image
Phased Renovation at an Active Urban Hospital
ACI was the prime Mechanical and Plumbing Trades Contractor for this 11M phased renovation of an active hospital in downtown Richmond. In order to meet project milestones and deliverables, ACI maintained multiple shifts and alternated between day and night shifts. This approach also greatly aided in keeping disruption within the active hospital to a minimum.
The primary scope comprised the replacement of the HVAC system, including installation of a new 55,000 CFM knocked-down custom air handler on the 4th-floor mechanical room, VRF systems, isolation rooms, ventilation and general exhaust systems, plumbing, medical gas, four CLEANSUITE ceiling systems, and CRAC Unit installation for IT and electrical equipment rooms.
This project necessitated the installation of a temporary 45,000 CFM temporary air handler with duct and chilled water system to keep the third floor active during the demolition of the existing custom air handling unit.
………………………………………………………………………………
Number of Total Man-hours: 107,453
184 tons Airconditioning system
136,620 pounds of ductwork
15 fan arrays on the permanent air handler – supply and return
Scroll/Click for Larger Image
# # #
Atlantic Constructors, Inc. is a full service industrial and commercial contractor headquartered in Richmond, VA (Chesterfield County) with satellite offices in Newport News, Roanoke, and Hampton Roads, VA. Our highly skilled team of over 700 employees serves customers throughout the mid-Atlantic region. For more information, visit www.acibuilds.com.
