Photo by Emil Kara, Balfour Beatty Construction

The 35,000-sq-ft facility combines all district functions under one roof.

Value engineering and careful planning helped the team deliver the $17-million East Valley Water District headquarters 71 days ahead of schedule and $400,000 under the guaranteed maximum price—all while maintaining a spotless safety record.

The architecture melds with the surrounding San Bernardino Mountains and highlights a "source-to-faucet" theme. To create a place where customers feel welcomed and conservation and stewardship are showcased, the project interweaves educational exhibits throughout exterior water features, walking trails and landscaped gardens that describe the sources of water and the means for distribution to customers.

The 35,000-sq-ft facility combines all district functions under one roof and is programmed to serve growth for 50 years. Components include customer service facilities, offices, maintenance space, a kitchen and exercise room. Designers incorporated skylights and oversized windows to provide ample daylighting and views to the surrounding 24.3-acre site, which includes a historic citrus grove.

The project team used lean construction techniques and building information modeling. Weekly pull-planning sessions provided real-time monitoring of work progress to achieve maximum resource efficiency, according to contractor Balfour Beatty Construction.

Building utilities were carefully planned to allow time for prefabricated underground piping, which reduced installation time by 85%.

Key Players

Contractor Balfour Beatty Construction

Owner East Valley Water District

Lead Design Firm Ruhnau Ruhnau Clarke & Associates

Structural Engineer KNA Consulting Engineers Inc.

Civil Engineer Parsons Brinckerhoff

MEP Engineers Johnson Consulting Engineers Inc.; B.E.B. & Associates

Landscape Architect Wilson Associates