DPR Construction recently celebrated the completion of BeiGene’s flagship U.S. Biologics Manufacturing and Clinical R&D facility on the Princeton West Innovation Campus in Hopewell, NJ.

Globally dedicated to oncology medicine, the innovation hub expands BeiGene’s existing capabilities developing affordable medicines to improve cancer treatment outcomes.

DPR’s scope over the course of the 27-month, 400,000-sq.-ft. project included the demolition and renovation of the central utility building as well as the construction of the ground-up office and lab, warehouse, spine, drug substance (DS) and drug processing (DP) buildings.

Many notable milestones were achieved throughout this project:

• DPR’s first life sciences campus project for its New Jersey office.
• More than 1.3 million worker-hours over the course of the project.
• At its peak, the site had over 450 trade workers per day.
• Completion a month ahead of schedule, the result of strategic overtime throughout the duration of the project. Over the final few months, work ramped up even further with the implementation of two shifts 7-days a week.

DPR’s self-perform work (SPW) group was essential to achieving the early completion through their work on the DS and DP metal panel installation. It required the commitment of all local SPW carpenters as well as an additional 30 carpenters from the Mid-Atlantic region.

SPW’s scope also included the temporary protection, installation of the doors, frames and hardware, fire sealing penetration, miscellaneous framing, wall protection as well as exterior framing and sheathing. By utilizing SPW, the team successfully accelerated the exterior skin contract by an additional two months, keeping the building warm throughout the winter months.

“We are extremely proud of the team for this momentous accomplishment," said Amir Nekoumand, DPR's New Jersey business unit leader. "The number of obstacles they overcame to deliver a remarkable campus is not only impressive but is a testament to the passion DPR has to build really great things.”