At Raymond, we have outstanding employees, so we decided to feature some of them on our blog. Our next Employee Spotlight features Rob Kelleher, Project Superintendent in Northern California. Rob started with Raymond 24 years ago and is currently on our Agnews High School Project in San Jose. We sat down with Rob to learn more about him, and his time on the Agnews project.
What was your first project with Raymond? My first project with Raymond was AMC Theatre in San Francisco in 1998. I started as a 5th stage apprentice on that project and then worked my way from Journeyman, Leadman, and Foreman to Project Superintendent.
What has been your favorite project at Raymond? Chase Center Towers in San Francisco. The towers were built alongside the new Golden State Warrior’s arena, with both opening in 2019. Raymond helped extensively with engineering and led a new waterproofing approach in each of the towers, which was later adopted for the construction of the arena.
Can you tell us a little about your current project, Agnews High School? Preconstruction for Agnews started in September of 2020 and construction began January, 2021. The project is a 1,600-student high school in San Jose that is part of a larger development including a new elementary and middle school. Raymond is performing framing, insulation, weather barriers, fireproofing and firestopping, access doors and panels, and drywall.
So far, the project manpower has peaked around 50. This number has stayed relatively low in part due to preparation. We geared up for this project to move quickly and as it has slowed down it put us in front of the curve, with the ability to run a lean crew.
Were there any challenges on the Agnews High School project? Being a Division of State Architect (DSA) project, I realized early on that an inspection team could make or break a project. During preconstruction I made a point to include, and build a relationship with, the Inspector of Record and entire inspection team. I feel that this opened up our lines of communication and helped us solve any issues quicker and easier.
How was prefabrication utilized at Agnews? Raymond prefabricated box headers, sills, and jambs. Box headers and built-up sills were fabricated with ears and tabs as indicated in the details and with predrilled holes for attachments during construction. Preassembly provided precise spacing of attachments, also contributing to successful inspections. To date there have been no failed DSA inspections at Agnews. Fifteen hundred+ welded jamb studs and hundreds of headers and sills have been installed.
Prefabricated framing was used in very specific areas of the project. The high school’s theater has roughly 60 wall baffles on its perimeter walls with unique angles, as well as some larger radius ceiling baffles overhead, all for sound and acoustics. Prefabricated framing has allowed these to be made precisely to project specifications, repetitively, helping with the project schedule. Raymond used milled drywall shapes to wrap the off-angles and unique shapes of the baffles as well.
What was your favorite part about being on the Agnews project? I think my favorite part about Agnews, as well as most projects, is seeing the work done during preconstruction play out onsite. This is mostly where the payoff comes from, work done months ago. It’s nice to see what worked, how well it worked, and lessons learned.
What do you like to do when you’re not at work? My free time is dedicated to my family and our farm. We have five children from 14 to 28 years… along with 80+ animals to take care of. We are working towards opening a rescue and sanctuary, Coyote Crossing Ranch- Rescue & Sanctuary. Altogether, that keeps me pretty busy!
Rob and his wife, Sonnet
Rob with his baby mini horse, Moose