Tolerances for the pergolas and the louvers, including fabrication, assembly and erection, was one-sixteenth of an inch. The 84 pergola frames, which rise 39 ft and bend inward, are nearly 70 ft from end to end. To help meet the tolerances, McGrath used 3D modeling.

Crane activity was high due to the concurrent installation of the louvers and the pergolas. That required careful coordination.

The project was under intense public scrutiny because the building was funded by state taxpayers. The team understood early on that precision was key to overcoming the design complexities. As a result, Skanska hired the surveying subcontractor directly and required all other subs to use a single set of common coordinates. The team took even more time than usual to coordinate the documents.

Formwork for the exposed and curved concrete was custom built. Baker Concrete Construction relied on its most experienced carpenters, brought in from across the state to build the formwork.

And the cast-in-place concrete structure, which included a ring beam, posed significant challenges because of the dearth of straight corners and surfaces. Workers used custom ladders that accommodated the rounded surfaces.

Constructing the web-like network of rakers that serve as an interior focal point of the building's front and back entrances was considerably more complicated than much of the other curved and slanted concrete work. The rakers required extra oversight from structural engineer Thornton Tomasetti and architect-of-record Alfonso Architects.

Safety issues loomed because of the complicated architecture. Skanska implemented a safety retraining program that modified its "three strikes and you're out" policy. If anyone violated safety rules, instead of simply banning them from the site, a meeting was held with a supervisor to discuss the event and craft a retraining plan that would give the worker a final chance to comply. During the job's four years, only one worker had to be permanently banned from the site.

One judge was especially impressed with the project's record of more than 745,000 work hours without a lost-time incident. "If it goes [well] like that, it means everything else about building the job went well," said the judge.

Careful management of contingencies by the team meant that Skanska was able to achieve the client's goals within the established budget. Ultimately, $1.5 million worth of tax savings through direct purchase orders allowed the client to add additional value back into the project.

In a letter to Chuck Jablon, Skanska's vice president of operations and the project's leader, Calatrava noted the project's design, schedule and cost challenges, commenting, "In my opinion, [the results] solidified your construction team as one of the preeminent builders in the nation."

Judges were also impressed by the execution of the project—on time and on budget. "I think the complexity of the execution, the erection, obviously, it came off very, very well," said one. "Whenever you can say you made Calatrava's design, that's a job well done."