Oracle Plans Construction Innovation Lab In Deerfield

DEERFIELD, IL — Oracle wants to build a "construction and engineering innovation lab" in the former Textura facility in the 1400 block of Lake Cook Road. Representatives of the California-based tech giant told the Deerfield Plan Commission the facility is aimed at demonstrating ways new construction management technologies – including drones, augmented reality, autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence – can be used in the job sites of the future.

At a Sept. 17 meeting, commissioners indicated they were supportive of the preliminary plans presented by Oracle Project Manager Tracy Riggan. Riggan said the project has already entered its first phase, which includes a temporary mock construction site to the south of the existing building. He said 95 visitors have already come to the site to showcase new products, and Oracle has also partnered with Caterpillar.

Oracle said the lab would be first-ever such facility in the U.S. and the third anywhere in the world, according to a staff memo to the commission. The company will need an amendment to the site's planned development zoning to renovate the property into an 18,715-square-foot facility.

The company plans to cover the upper level of the structure with translucent panels that would create a "soft luminance" at night and allow in natural light during the day, according to the memo from village planners. It would also have solar panels mounted on the roof and other energy saving elements, although it would not seek LEED certification as a "green" building. There would be no permanent jobs based at the facility, and demonstrations of up to two hours would be scheduled up to four days a week and no more than twice a day.

The former occupant of the site, construction contracts and payment management cloud services company Textura, was purchased by Oracle for $663 million in 2016.

Mike Sicilia, senior vice president and general manager of Oracle Construction and Engineering, said it would allow organizations to "experience firsthand how new technologies can help drive better project outcomes in critical areas such as safety, productivity and quality," in an August announcement of the planned lab.

Riggan told village staff he was excited to show that Deerfield was a location for innovation and leadership, according to minutes from the meeting. If approved, Riggan said the updated facility could be be operational by the fourth quarter of 2019, the Deerfield Review reported.