Barton Malow and MSU Turn “What-Ifs” into Certainty with Join

When Michigan State University set out to build the $340M Engineering and Digital Innovation Center, they faced a tall order: unite six colleges under one roof, balance ambitious program needs, and stay within budget. Barton Malow, the project’s general contractor, turned to Join as the preconstruction management platform to keep everyone aligned.

With Join as the single source of truth for cost, design, and decisions, the team collaborated in real time, explored “what-if” scenarios, and made informed trade-offs, like reallocating basement costs to higher-value spaces. The result: faster decision-making, greater stakeholder alignment, and a state-of-the-art academic hub delivered without compromising program quality.

Join has helped the design team stay within targeted budgets for work categories. This has improved the design process immensely. I find Join invaluable.

Jeff Bonk

Project Delivery Manager, MSU