LAN replaced failing air handlers in two critical buildings at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Austin office, including a six-story administrative office building and campus cafeteria. Both tasks required design solutions that minimized construction impact to the buildings’ operations and allowed the buildings to remain operational and accessible.

In order to ensure the administrative office building remained operational for eight hours a day, five days a week, LAN developed an innovative solution that allowed air handlers to be lifted in sections outside the building and then inserted into each mechanical room through an exterior opening that was eventually used for an outside air louver. This solution completely eliminated the need to transport equipment through the operational space, preventing any disruption to ongoing work by TxDOT. LAN developed the design using Revit to demonstrate how the design utilized the limited space available and maintained the necessary clearances.

LAN also replaced an aged air handler unit located in a nearly inaccessible mechanical room between a rest room roof and the building roof at the cafeteria serving the Camp Hubbard. The design solution included an exterior air handler on a structural platform above the building roof with a new exterior ladder for unit maintenance. This allowed the existing unit to remain operational until the new unit was installed, and provided ongoing accessibility for periodic inspection and maintenance. The design also isolated construction dust and debris from construction from the cafeteria.