Compounding and Filling Line Building Expansion

Overview

GBA was tasked with designing and constructing a multi-level building to facilitate manufacturing and filling for a critical vaccine amid a global supply chain crisis for the world’s largest pharmaceutical company. This project, which was designed and completed within one year, aimed to address the urgent need for increased production capacity and modernization of the facility. The new building expansion consisted of three levels: a basement for utility generation equipment, first-floor production including aseptic fill-finish, a compounding suite, tank wash, prep rooms and a second-floor mechanical area with a new substation.

Project Phases

GBA broke out the design and construction schedule into phased deliverable packages, a fairly common practice for fast-paced projects. The benefit of this is that you can start construction activities and procurement while working on other project deliverables. For example, as the site work is being completed, the team can work on the design details of the interior spaces.

For this project, there were five phases included within the packages.

Phase One was the Civil/Site phase. This included earthwork around the facility and underground utilities.

Phase Two focused on the Core and Shell of the building, which included the building envelope, the steel structure and the roof.

Phase Three led to Long Lead Equipment and Shutdown. This phase encompassed anything from air handling units to high-speed roll-up doors. During this phase, there was an upcoming scheduled shutdown in the standing facility, so the team took advantage of that time to go in and prep all the tie-ins to the building’s utilities. This allowed the team to maintain the existing operations without shutting down the site to complete the tie-ins.

Phases Four and Five were the fit-out of the interior spaces.

Phase Four was the first phase of the fit-out including the Compounding Suite, multiple support rooms and shell space.

Phase Five was the Vial Filling Line, which included equipment installation.

Challenges

Similar to many projects, the team faced obstacles due to the urgent nature of the task and the ongoing global supply chain and labor shortage crises. Meeting the strict timelines while adhering to regulatory standards and ensuring the highest quality product was paramount.