Lease Crutcher Lewis had to demolish an existing building and construct a six-story, 95,000-sq-ft student housing building in 10 months.

The fast pace meant resolving issues in hours, not days. The team's success in overcoming challenges is illustrated by the novel ceramic-tile exterior skin assembly. For the new application, there were constructability reviews, mock-ups and pre-installation meetings to assure ease of installation and design intent.

But an issue arose in the field, at the building corner. The corner pieces of tile were leaving a substantial gap between the north and west faces of the wall, which was not the design intent. To solve the problem, LCL presented a sketch of a possible solution—the addition of sheet metal corners. After a few changes to the design, the solution was approved, pricing was submitted to the owner and approved, and installation of the sheet metal corner pieces commenced, all within 36 hours. There was no schedule delay.

The LEED Gold-certified project provides 238 beds within 76 apartments. Working together, the contractor and the design team selected low-cost materials, such as vinyl windows, wood siding and ceramic tile, to keep the costs down. The University of Oregon project was completed on time and under budget.

Key Players: Skybox Apartments Eugene, Ore. 

Contractor: Lease Crutcher Lewis, Portland

Owner: Project Ecological Development, Portland

Lead Designer: ZGF Architects, Portland

Submitted by ZGF Architects

See more ENR Northwest Best Projects of 2012 here.