The Dept. of General Services Central Plant in Sacramento provides chilled water for cooling, steam for heating and control air to 23 state-owned buildings in the Capitol area.
Award of Merit Green Building Photo courtesy of Flad Architects The project completes the Robert Mondavi Institute. The $17-million Teaching and Research Winery and the August A. Busch III Brewing and Food Science Laboratory complete the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science campus at the University of California, Davis. The building is also an extended learning environment, educating students in sustainable production processes. Key sustainability objectives include reduction of water and energy use and reclaimed waste output. It is the first research building in California to achieve net-zero water use and the first process science building to achieve
Award of Merit Higher Education/Research Photo courtesy of DPR Construction The building features a serpentine-like design. Nestled in the hillside of UCSF's Parnassus Campus, the $123-million, 660-ft-long Regeneration Medicine Building features a serpentine-like design with four split-level floors and terraced living roofs, sitting on a structural framework 40 to 70 ft off the ground.One of the main challenges was inserting a high-profile medical science and stem cell research building into a densely packed urban university campus in a seismic Zone 4, which significantly increased the complexity for the team. Furthermore, the project is situated at the base of Mount Sutro,
Award of Merit Higher Education/Research Photo courtesy of C.W. Driver C.W. Driver served as general contractor on the project. CSU Northridge's new $125-million Valley Performing Arts Center is a five-story, U-shaped building wrapping around a central courtyard. The center, recently certified LEED Gold, features a 1,700-seat, technically and acoustically superior performance hall; a 180-seat experimental theater; dressing rooms and green room; costume, scene, props and paint shops; lighting, scenery, acting, sound and multimedia labs; radio station; and a 230-seat recital/lecture room. A dramatic glass lobby wall opens the building's interior to the campus and Nordhoff Avenue. This orientation creates courtyard
Award of Merit Cultural Photo courtesy of Fort Vancouver Regional Library District Howard S. Wright served as general contractor on the project. The new $38-million Vancouver Community Library is an 83,000-sq-ft concrete structure with a multistory glass atrium, roof gardens, back-up diesel generator and uninterruptible power supply system, a rooftop mechanical room and extensive under-floor plenums. According to the general contractor, Howard S. Wright, Portland, Ore., the construction team faced challenges within the design at every turn for this technologically advanced and sustainable structure with specialty finishes and raised flooring. Structural concrete is revealed throughout the building in walls and
Award of Merit Government/Public Building Photo courtesy of Barnhart Balfour Beatty The project is located in China Lake. General contractor Barnhart Balfour Beatty provided design-build services for Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest to construct the $63.8-million William B. McLean Laboratory, located at Naval Air Weapons Station in China Lake. The 178,000-sq-ft, two-story weapons and armament technology center provides technical and management support for 650 personnel engaged in engineering, logistics and armament modeling/simulations work.Building features include engineering labs, management offices and conference facilities.Key PlayersOwner: Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, San DiegoGeneral Contractor: Barnhart Balfour Beatty, San DiegoConstruction Management: Naval Air Weapons
When a gift from the Stephen Bechtel Fund allowed a partial facilities overhaul at the Public Policy Institute of California, the challenge was to fit a large conference center into a relatively small infill space and configure it around a grid of imposing structural columns and a jungle of existing mechanical infrastructure.
Best Renovation/Restoration Project Photo courtesy of Stronghold Engineering The historic central courthouse was built in 1926. Photo courtesy of Stronghold Engineering Work included seismic upgrading, interior remodel and historic renovation. This $26.6-million multi-phased renovation project called for the seismic retrofit, partial interior remodel and historic renovation of more than 194,000 sq ft of the existing county courthouse in San Bernardino.The construction took place in two fully occupied and operational buildings with more than 500 staff members and daily occupancy exceeding 3,000 people.The historic central courthouse, a 102,535-sq-ft building with four floors, was constructed in 1926. It includes a central plant
Award of Merit Health Care Photo courtesy of Mortenson Construction The new tower is located at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett. The 12-story, 680,000-sq-ft Marshall and Katherine Cymbaluk Medical Tower dramatically alters the Providence Regional Medical Center campus and is the largest expansion project in Providence's more than 150-year history. It includes 368 patient rooms for acute, critical and surgical care; a parking structure; central plant; site, street and utility improvements; and an updated campus master plan.With virtual design and construction and BIM innovations, this $500-million project was completed five months ahead of schedule.Key PlayersOwner: Providence Regional Medical Center,
Achieving construction and design excellence in difficult economic times is no easy task. It requires equal measures of experience, imagination and unwavering commitment, according to this year's judges for ENR California's Best Projects competition.
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