Des Moines Electrical Apprenticeship

The national construction industry is undergoing a major epidemic of trade labor shortages due to technical training programs inability to turn out graduates to offset the rising need and those exiting. The local training trust was struggling to provide solutions for recruiting and training enough journeymen and apprenticeship trainees and needed a designed solution to help.

In programming review, their previous program consisted of 9,000 sf, that was overloaded with too many multi-purposed rooms that did not allow for specific required training. Our program showed a need for 24,000 sf with required area for growth. The design challenge started with helping the trust find a building that fit site selection criteria, desired program and aesthetics, schedule, and budget. Utilizing our multi-disciplinary approach, we built a preferred program and plan diagram for the land and building search. Our plan diagram quickly helped to identify a “unicorn” facility that fit their criteria for a standalone campus setting of 30,000 sf with separate entrances and areas for students and the public. Our design solutions expedited the process while staying under budget and allowed the training trust to move in almost 2 years earlier than initially perceived.

The design solutions the client in helping recruit and adequately train the required numbers of students we need within the construction trades. Their story of how student-focused, curated spaces achieve more with less, while showcasing how small businesses can enhance great neighborhoods.