When the Northern Kentucky Health Department determined it needed a new building to modernize its operations and consolidate its offices, it went down a path many government agencies travel when facing a similar project—they hired an architect to develop a design, emphasizing the need for a simple, straightforward building that would embody responsible stewardship of the public dollars they would use for the project.  Their plan was to put the final proposal out to bid and hire a general contractor.

Unfortunately, the design resulted in a building with an $11 million price tag — almost double what the Health Department had expected. Frustrated, the Building Committee decided to issue an RFP for a design-build approach just to see what the results might be. After considering four comprehensive responses, the Health Department selected Paul Hemmer Company for the strength of its presentation, competitive price, and collaborative approach.

As a result of the collaboration, Hemmer and KZF Design were able to slash approximately $6 million from the project costs.