Veenstra & Kimm, CB&A brought together under one roof

While engineering firms Veenstra & Kimm and CB&A had been together as one company since 2008, they were staffed in several different offices in West Des Moines. This spring, the firms finally share a roof as they moved into a new space in West Des Moines with the help of Story Construction and Story’s design team.

By the time V & K had approached the Story team in the spring of 2024, it had identified a new office space in West Des Moines and had begun to develop office and work station configurations to house both firms. Knowing they needed to occupy a new space by February 2025, the firm hired Story Construction to get a serious start on the build-out.

“Having Story’s integrated team of architects and construction professionals allowed us some flexibility on the project,” said Jeff Fadden, division director of CB&A. “Schedule was obviously a big factor on this project so we were able to take care of some of the major elements and decisions of the design so we could get started on construction before making some of the less consequential decisions down the road.”

“We had a general idea of what we wanted, and Story’s team understood our intention and provided additional options and concepts we hadn’t thought of,” said Randy Johnson, division director and vice president at V & K. “Andrew and Dalton were quick and responsive with adjustments and suggestions and it helped us push forward with a solution we were really happy with.”

The project ultimately included demolition of the existing 35,000 sq. ft. of office space and the creation of 90 individual offices, five open office areas totaling 18 work stations, nine flex rooms, five meeting/collaboration rooms, a field office room, three kitchenettes, seven new restrooms, an exercise gym and several support rooms.

The Story team phased the flow of demolition and construction by delineating work in five work zones, allowing for a sequence of work through the building rather than waiting for each phase to finish completely before beginning the next.

“I was impressed with Story’s Construction Production 2.0 system and its routine meetings,” said Fadden. “At the beginning of the project we developed a phase pull schedule on the right side of the board, and that’s pretty much where we ended up now that we’re moved in”

“Jeremiah did a great job, staying on task and sticking to the schedule,” added Johnson. “He’s knowledgeable and knows how to communicate with the owner really well.”

Story Construction crews self-performed demolition, concrete patching and sidewalks, wood blocking, casework, countertops, restroom accessories, specialties, and doors and hardware.