Also known as "design-construct" or "single responsibility," Design-Build is a system of contracting in which one entity performs both architecture/engineering and construction under a single contract. The roles of designer and constructor become integrated as collaborators, often speeding up the construction process and making it more cost-effective and efficient, McKinney says. The Design-Build Institute’s designation program recognizes professionals who demonstrate a tested level of knowledge, as well as substantial hands-on experience in design-build project delivery.

McKinney first experienced the benefits of a similar system in 1996 when he undertook designing the $1.7-million renovation of Abingdon’s Barter Theatre in Southwest Virginia.

"It involved gutting out the interior theater and extending the balcony into the attic, and it had to be done during the off-season between January 1 and April 15," he said.

With so little time, work had to start immediately. There was no time for separate bidding on a construction firm, no time for redesign to accommodate construction demands and material availability. McKinney, who had his own Abingdon practice, began working with Bristol-based BurWil Construction at the start of the project and, through collaboration and construction sequencing, completed renovations within the 14-week construction period.

"We enjoyed working together," McKinney says. "That relationship, so similar to design-build, was one of the factors that led to my joining BurWil’s management team in 1998."

About 50 percent of BurWil’s projects are design-build projects and the other half are the traditional design-bid-build variety in which design and construction are contracted separately. Because design and construction are overlapped in design-build, and because bidding and redesign times are reduced, construction time is shortened. With design-build, procurement and construction work can begin before the construction documents are fully completed.

BurWil has been active in constructing and renovating medical facilities for Wellmont Health Systems at Bristol Regional Medical Center and Holston Valley Medical Center and other regional hospitals, as well as retail structures, churches, theaters, and schools in Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. A&A has been called in as the civil engineering consultant for some of these jobs. McKinney and BurWil have won many awards in the Tri-Cities, including AGC Project of the Year and Contractor of the Year.

McKinney, a Richlands, Va. native and 1976 Virginia Tech alumnus, has worked for architectural firms in Brentwood, Tenn., Bowling Green, Ky., and Abingdon before starting his own firm in 1989. He has a profound effect upon the region, designing a $7-million building project for Southwest Virginia Community College, as well as major renovations for the William King Arts Center and Barter Theatre.