VITA Tysons Corner
Tysons Corner, Va.
Award of Merit


Owner Macerich
Lead Design Firm Shalom Baranes Associates
General Contractor Donohoe Construction Co.
Civil Engineer Patton, Harris, Rust, & Associates (PHR+A)
Structural Engineer Cardno Haynes Whaley
MEP Engineer WSP Flack + Kurtz
Geotechnical Engineer ECS Mid-Atlantic LLC
Landscape Architect Rhodeside & Harwell


One of the most high-profile projects in Tysons Corner, Va., the $96.6-million, 360-ft-tall VITA Tysons Corner Center was also one of the safest jobsites in an area booming with new construction.

The LEED Silver, 30-story apartment building with 429 units and 13,000 sq ft of retail space had a full-time safety manager on site. Daily safety efforts included training in rigging, fall protection and personal protection equipment. The project achieved zero lost-time accidents during 1.2 million worker-hours.

The safety culture on site was impressed on workers at safety preconstruction meetings, weekly onsite safety sessions and through inspections and audits performed throughout the project.

The project team also stayed safe even though the tower crane typically was active 21 hours a day and six days a week.

“Constant training, support and reinforcement from Donohoe and all subcontractors’ safety personnel was a key component to the success of the project,” the project team wrote in its submission, “and ultimately led to a zero lost-time accident project.”


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