Enclave at Box Hill – Glen Arm Building Company, LLC

With amenities covering all aspects of live, work and play, Enclave at Box Hill creates a level of luxury for its tenants that complement each facet of their lives. Located in Abingdon, Maryland, The Enclave at Box Hill is a 240-unit compound comprised of nineteen separate buildings.  A project by Bavar Properties group and Bob Ward homes, the groundbreaking for Enclave at Box Hill took place in October 2014 and the first phase was completed in May 2015. In seeking construction services, Ownership turned to local general contracting firm Glen Arm Building Company LLC, located in Towson, Maryland.

Beginning as a one-man operation in 1974, Glen Arm was founded by Herbert Dripps. Since then, the company has grown from working out of Herbert’s home office in Glen Arm Maryland, to a multimillion dollar company with many long-tenured employees. “We are very fortunate to have compiled a team of very dedicated employees over the years,” says Andrew Dripps, vice president and project manager for Glen Arm. “Without our people, we would not be conducting business today in the same fashion that our customers have become accustomed to.”

Composed of four separate four-story buildings, two three story buildings, thirty-two townhouse’s, and several amenity buildings, Enclave creates a neighborhood setting, complete with a pool and clubhouse available for tenant use. There is also a walking trail surrounding the site that measures just over 1.5 miles. While the Enclave project ran smoothly overall, Glen Arm did face a few obstacles including a brutal winter in 2015 that brought above-average snowfall. “We also had some public utility infrastructure delays due to the fast-paced schedule,” recalls Dripps.

Green for the sake of being green

The team at Glen Arm is proud to say that green building practices have always been and always will be a priority. Understanding the importance of energy efficiency and sustainable design has generated a reputation for Glen Arm as one of the top general contractors in Maryland when a client is looking to go green. With LEED-accredited professionals on staff, Glen Arm is able to work with clients through the entire design process and construction.

Although Bavar Properties Group and Bob Ward Homes did not pursue any LEED certification with Enclave, Dripps says that the facility should be eligible for LEED Silver status. This has been relatively common in the construction world. With sustainability and green building such a prevalent tactic in the industry, owners often seek to develop properties and buildings that are energy efficient and reduce impact on the environment. Many however, do not concern themselves with the LEED certification process.

Dripps says that the most important scopes of work on the Enclave project were site infrastructure, mechanical engineering and plumbing, concrete and framing. Glen Arm incorporated panelized construction into the framing process, as opposed to stick building, allowing a quicker and more economical method of building framing. “This was in tune with the client’s desire for energy efficiency and sustainability,” says Dripps. “Wall panelization is a lot cleaner and much more efficient than stick building which equated to less waste, fewer dumpsters and cost savings which we passed on to the owners.”

Opening new doors

The reputation for quality that Glen Arm has achieved has generated opportunities for the company to work with numerous high-profile clients and establish lasting relationships with some of the best subcontractors and vendors within its geographical footprint. With every general contractor only as good as its weakest subcontractor on every project, Glen Arm was able to handpick a talented team that worked in such collaboration that the first phase of Enclave was completed ahead of schedule and under budget.

“In this business it’s all about teamwork,” says Dripps. “We had some subcontractors on the project that we have worked with in the past and several new subs as well.” Included in the team on Enclave were Bruce Jones Contracting, Ivester Drywall and Painting and Charles A. Klein and Sons Mechanical.

While Glen Arm is generally a commercial builder, the company was specifically asked to bid on the Enclave project. As a resulting success of the job, the company will look to further add to its portfolio projects of the luxury apartment nature. A new 71 rental townhome community in Ellicott City, Maryland is already underway. Dripps credits everyone involved in the project for their hard work and dedication throughout construction and design, especially Herb Dripps, Ed Wilson and Harold Krebs.  Many new valuable relationships were formed as a result of Enclave at Box Hill.