HMC Architects has acquired Beverly Prior Architects, which will become HMC+Beverly Prior Architects and will continue to serve clients from its current San Francisco office. The merger enhances both companies’ geographic reach, while strengthening positions in multiple market segments, according to HMC’s President and CEO Randy Peterson. HMC has California offices in Ontario, Irvine, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego and San Jose. HMC Architects’ prominence in K–12 and community college markets will enhance Beverly Prior Architects’ education markets in addition to offering additional expertise in healthcare, interior architecture and specialty education consulting services, Peterson adds. He says that Beverly Prior
The team of Pinner Construction Co. and gkkworks will head a $28-million design-build contract on the Dorsey High School redevelopment project for the Los Angeles Unified School District. The LEED silver project, the district�s first-ever design-build effort, will be completed by June 2014. Major components of the multi-phase Dorsey High School project include construction of 17 interim classroom buildings, demolition of eight existing classroom buildings and a girls’ gymnasium, construction of a two-story, 28,000-sq-ft classroom building and 22,000-sq-ft gymnasium and the extensive modernization of an existing 19,000-sq-ft gymnasium. Some of the benefits for the project owner using design-build delivery include
Crews from Caltrans and American Bridge/Fluor Enterprises joint venture last week placed a steel segment atop the four independent legs of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge’s self-anchored suspension span (SAS) tower. Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney says the new section, known as the “grillage,” will evenly distribute the weight of the 480-ton cable saddle that will hold the SAS’s nearly mile-long single cable as it passes over the tower. The section is nicknamed the “grillage” due to the position of internal steel plates which create the appearance of a grill grate, Ney says. The tower section arrived in the Bay Area
The U.S. Department of Energy�s conditional loan guarantees for two more California solar projects in the past week is expected to generate more than 1,300 construction jobs and help the state meet its newly approved renewable energy goal of 33% by 2020, according to Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Photo: Solar Trust of America The Blythe project will be the first concentrating solar power (CSP) parabolic trough plant to use an air-cooled condenser unit, which will decrease water use by nearly 90% compared with a water-cooled CSP facility. Chu announced the offers of $2.1 billion and $1.2 billion for the Blythe
Two projects have been given the go-ahead at The Railyards in downtown Sacramento. Photo: nc3d.com Construction at the 240-acre redevelopment site has been on hold since the previous developer, Thomas Enterprises, Newnan, Ga., defaulted on a $187 million loan, which forced the property into foreclosure late last year. The new developer, I.A. Sacramento Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Oak Brook, Ill.-based Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc., Thomas Enterprises’ original lender, is currently renegotiating contracts with the city for future projects. Last week, Granite Construction Inc. was awarded a $41-million rail relocation project by the city, booking the project into
Healthcare continues to be a major factor in California�s construction industry, scoring five out of the top 25 Top Starts in ENR California this year. Spurred by regulations pertaining to Senate Bill 1953, requiring seismic upgrades or replacements of hospitals and medical centers, healthcare owners are scrambling to meet the first deadlines that come into play in 2013. Ray Zunino, vice president with Hunt Construction Group, Scottsdale, Ariz., which is rebuilding Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City (no. 16 on the Top Starts list), says that because of the senate bill, Hunt and other general contractors are not getting anywhere near
Article toolbar Thanks in part to a controversial fast-track approval process, a major solar thermal power project is now under way in San Bernardino County. Photo Courtesy Of Brightsource Energy Assembly Required BrightSource employees assemble heliostats during construction of a solar energy development center. The Ivanpah Electric Generating System, developed, owned and operated by BrightSource Energy Co., Oakland, and NGR Energy, Princeton, N.J., could deliver 370 MW per year of solar thermal power from the floor of the Mojave Desert as soon as 2013. Alternative-energy advocates praise the project as an example for accelerating regulatory approval for other solar power
Article toolbar Take a heath-care company whose construction projects are so massive that they often lift entire local economies. Add generous amounts of innovation and philanthropic spirit as well as an enviable record of worker safety and innovation. That’s a recipe for success, and it’s why ENR California has chosen Kaiser Permanente as its Owner of the Year for 2011. Rendering Courtesy Of Recurrent Energy Super Solar Santa Clara Project: Santa Clara Medical Center Kaiser Permanente contracted Recurrent Energy to design and build a 1-MW elevated solar installation atop two existing parking garages. The Owner of the Year selection is
Article toolbar This Year's Top Starts ranking clearly illustrates two points: California took full advantage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and other federal funds to launch many projects, and large health-care projects, which accounted for six of last year’s top 10 projects, continue to make a mark, thanks to the state’s upcoming deadline for seismic upgrades to hospitals and medical facilities. Additionally, while construction markets continue to be tough, this year’s top 25 starts total more than $8 billion in construction value, compared with $7.5 billion for 2009’s top 39. Image Courtesy Of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
On The Scene April 11, 2011 Frank Gehry’s Guests from the architecture, design and real estate world gathered on March 19 at the 76th floor penthouse of Frank Gehry�s New York by Gehry building to celebrate the architect�s 82nd birthday and the formal opening of the 870-ft, stainless steel-clad lower Manhattan tower. The event�s host, Bruce Ratner, chairman and CEO of Forest City Ratner Cos., presented Gehry with a 40-inch silver birthday cake shaped like a tower designed by the architect as guests sang “Happy Birthday.” Pictured from left: Berta Gehry, U2 frontman Bono, Frank Gehry and Bono�s wife, Ali
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