ForBuild — integrated interior solutions firm dancker’s construction services division that provides specialized interior modular construction solutions for clients in the health care, education and corporate environments — is expanding into the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia market.
To date, ForBuild’s operations have been focused exclusively on serving the New Jersey and New York City markets.
“ForBuild’s rapid growth over the past five years, during which it became a $20 million business unit within dancker, prompted the decision to expand into the DMV,” Somerville-based dancker’s CEO, Steven Lang, said. “Our goal is to continue to grow ForBuild as a profitable and differentiated solution that we provide to our clients.”
The continued growth of dancker construction partner DIRTT — a U.S.- and Canada-based manufacturer — also led to strategic changes, which opened the door for ForBuild’s expansion into the DMV.
According to dancker President Kevin Klier, “dancker became a DIRTT construction partner to offer a manufactured construction option that is faster, cleaner and more sustainable than conventional construction.”
dancker initially partnered with DIRTT in 2014. After becoming the exclusive DIRTT construction partner in New Jersey in 2017 and then formally creating the ForBuild brand to focus on delivering prefabricated modular construction solutions, dancker expanded its reach into New York in 2019.
“We’re thrilled to see another DIRTT construction partner continue strategically growing their presence, demonstrating their expertise in the design and construction industry. We know it’s no small feat to expand in this industry and this growth is a clear reflection of ForBuild’s passion for bringing DIRTT construction solutions to a broader customer base,” said Jacob Sinclair, DIRTT director of channel success.
While ForBuild got its start with dancker’s recognition that clients needed greater flexibility in their spaces, “We became a leader in health care design due to our ability to support construction managers such as Lend Lease and CBRE Health with complex projects for multiple health systems in New York and New Jersey, including Mount Sinai, NYU Langone, Valley Hospital and New York Presbyterian,” said Rita Lemley, vice president, modular interior construction at ForBuild.
Lemley noted that modular construction solutions offer numerous advantages to today’s building owners and construction managers as supply chain challenges, construction costs and labor shortages continue to affect the construction industry.
ForBuild is better able to meet the needs of clients and construction managers by introducing a fully integrated solution that can be manufactured (or prefabricated) in a factory, transported to the site and then assembled on location. And, because this technology-driven approach allows a project to run simultaneously on-site and in-factory, it can be substantially faster than conventional construction.
In addition to its headquarters in Somerville, dancker already operates several Experience Centers and logistical facilities in the DMV market, including offices in Baltimore and Beltsville, Capitol Heights and Gaithersburg, Maryland. It also acquired an integrated technology contractor, Columbia, Maryland-based Design Build Engineering, earlier this year.
