Federal agencies and institutional owners face pressure to replace ageing facilities and expand accommodation capacity while managing budgets, labour availability and delivery schedules. Hensel Phelps is using industrialised construction methods to address these challenges by shifting selected building activities into controlled production environments and standardising repetitive components.
The approach combines offsite fabrication with site preparation and other construction activities carried out in parallel. Applications include prefabricated bathroom pods, panelised wall assemblies, precast structural components and preassembled building systems.
Hensel Phelps contributed to the Society of American Military Engineers' 2026 report, Industrialized Construction Opportunities for the Department of War. The report examines opportunities to apply manufacturing-based processes to military projects. It cites a 2025 study commissioned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command that found military barracks cost 68% more than comparable private-sector housing.
The report identifies early integration of project participants, repeatable designs and multiyear programme planning as potential ways to improve delivery efficiency.
Following the extensive damage caused by Hurricane Michael in 2018, Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida undertook a major rebuilding programme. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Mobile District awarded Hensel Phelps a $136 million contract for new dormitories.
The project delivered two five-storey buildings, each containing 240 rooms, for a total capacity of 480 permanent military personnel. Supporting spaces include administrative offices, communal activity areas, meeting and theatre rooms, kitchenettes, laundry facilities and storage. The buildings are designed to withstand winds of up to 165 mph.
Construction methods included identical dormitory wings, a precast structural system and offsite-assembled mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire alarm and telecommunications systems. The prefabricated assemblies helped reduce the amount of building-system installation required on site.
The dormitories opened in April 2025, with delivery reported to be approximately 25% faster than a traditional construction approach.
Hensel Phelps has also applied repeatable construction methods to large residential and hospitality developments.
At the University of California, San Diego, the Ridge Walk North Living and Learning Neighborhood includes three residence halls ranging from 10 to 18 storeys, providing more than 2,445 student beds. The development also contains an economics building, lecture halls, administrative facilities and student amenities.
A standardised floorplate and reusable prefabricated formwork helped establish a repeatable construction sequence for the towers. Completed in November 2025, the project was delivered approximately 20% faster than conventional construction, according to Hensel Phelps. The all-electric development is targeting LEED Gold certification.
In Round Rock, Texas, the $385 million Kalahari Resort includes an 11-storey hotel with 975 rooms, a 223,000-square-foot indoor water park, an 80,000-square-foot theme park and a 200,000-square-foot convention centre. Factory-finished bathroom pods were lifted into position as completed assemblies. The resort opened in November 2020, approximately 25% faster than the contractor estimated would have been possible using traditional methods.
At the University of Colorado Boulder, Hensel Phelps delivered the $164 million Limelight Boulder hotel and conference centre. The six-storey, 252-room project used prefabricated cold-formed steel wall panels above the second level. An offsite model guest room also enabled the ownership team to assess and refine the layout before full construction. The all-electric facility opened in August 2025.
Industrialised construction can change how project teams coordinate design, procurement, manufacturing and onsite installation. Standardised components and early collaboration can help reduce repetitive field work and improve schedule control, particularly on developments containing large numbers of similar rooms or building elements.
Hensel Phelps reports experience across more than 110 projects using industrialised construction and kit-of-parts methods. Applying those practices to federal facilities could provide agencies with additional delivery options while retaining the need to meet project-specific regulatory, performance and security requirements.
For owners and contractors, the central consideration is integrating designers, manufacturers, trade partners and field teams early enough to coordinate component specifications, production schedules and installation sequences. These requirements make industrialised construction a project delivery strategy that depends on planning and coordination, rather than prefabrication alone.
Source: hensel Phelps.
