RiverFall Credit Union’s new HQ, a momentum design-build project
SEATTLE, WA (August 18, 2016) — RiverFall Credit Union ($121M) opened its new headquarters in Tuscaloosa, Alabama this spring. The new 12,215 sq. ft. headquarters was a design-build project.
The design, based on a collaborative planning session with the Momentum and RiverFall teams, fully integrates RiverFall’s new brand identity. The building is open and welcoming, embracing the culture of southern hospitality with a sitting area in the headquarters branch that offers bottled water and coffee for visitors. One of the most popular features is the community room, which is a meeting space accessible to local organizations and small businesses for meetings and training events when not in use by RiverFall.
“You have one of the best meeting sites in town,” says Jim Page, president of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama.
The operations area includes a number of open workspaces, executive offices and a board room, a kitchen, and a contact center. The design accounts for 15 years of growth and expansion of each department.
“We have everything we need to go well into the future,” said Greg Sassaman, CEO of RiverFall.
The design-build method, which features a collaborative relationship between the designers and builder from the beginning, added significant value to the project.
“The RiverFall team was truly a pleasure to work with, as from the beginning, they offered a clear vision to us of who they were, where they wanted to go and how they wanted to get there. We were fortunate to be able to develop a strategic facilities plan for their team,” said Bob Saunders, EVP and Partner at Momentum.
RiverFall was able to select a target cost, and Momentum’s project team worked with subcontractors to get accurate estimates during the design phase and maximize the value of the design. In a typical project, the design is completed before bidding and establishing relationships with subcontractors, which makes redesigns more frequent, time intensive, and costly.
Momentum partnered with Weber Marketing to help create and deploy RiverFall’s new brand identity. Formerly Tuscaloosa Teachers Credit Union, the new name was a critical part of RiverFall’s expanded charter.
“It’s always great to see the culmination of a client’s hard work and dedication to a project like this when it includes a new name and brand combined with the new experiences members will enjoy in their branches with the collaboration and insight of the work done by Momentum,” Randy Schultz, Vice President of Marketing at Weber Marketing, reflected on the Credit Union’s success.
About Momentum
Momentum is a strategic design-build partner that takes a people-centric approach to helping credit unions and community banks thrive. The way we see it, a building cannot be successful unless it’s truly meeting the needs of the people who will use it. We start by fully understanding your business goals so we can design and build for your employees, your customers. We use powerful predictive data to zero in on how to best serve the people who live and work in your neighborhoods, and we help uncover the right technologies to connect your employees with colleagues and customers. We collaborate with you every step of the way using a unique integrated process and open communication style, so all stakeholders can move forward with confidence. We deliver brand-inspired buildings that strengthen connections and reflect their communities, where people love to work and visit. At Momentum, we believe a design-build partnership delivers better relationships, and it delivers better buildings
