HomeAway is only the second company in Austin to achieve LEED gold for Commercial Interior Design from the U.S. Green Building Council, and is the first mixed-use project in Austin to achieve the recognition. Photo: Rosy Lea Photography Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards The office space for HomeAway, a vacation rental company, is located on the second, third and fourth floors of a mixed-use building at the corner of Fifth and Baylor streets in Austin. It encompasses approximately 51,000 sq ft of floor space. At the start of the interior construction phase, SpawMaxwell crews were working on the shell
The 30-year-old Houston office of Accenture, a global consulting, technology and outsourcing company with more than 190,000 employees worldwide, was planning to relocate and reduce its real estate while supporting a growing workforce. Photo: Structure Tone Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards Accenture’s strategy became to create a new type of office environment tailored to meet the needs of its mobile workers. The firm’s new location on the 19th floor of a Class A office building overlooking Houston occupies 22,400 sq ft. The move allowed Accenture to shed about 40,000 sq ft of space while increasing efficiency. The Houston Accenture
The Package 6 and Package 10 work for the San Antonio International Airport expansion adds an existing upper-level bridge departures from future terminals. Photo: Mark Langford Photography Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards The bridge includes a 700-ft-long cast-in-place section and a 1,200-ft-long precast beam section. Work included widening and reconstruction of the lower-level road, which serves as a passenger loading area. Underground utility improvements include data and communication line installation, earth excavation and embankment, retaining walls, concrete paving, curb and gutter installation, and placement of concrete flatwork. The general contractor, Archer Western Contractors, and specialty subcontractor Cardinal Mechanical used
Inclement weather and an occupied site complicated building Northeast Lakeview Campus for San Antonio’s Alamo Colleges. Photo: Patrick J. Morey Photography Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards The team had to deal with continuing construction without impacting an activite campus. During the latter phases, the campus would be occupied. With careful planning of staging and delivery of materials and day-to-day communication with the college, the team was able to successfully complete the project without hindering the faculty or student body. The GC/CM, Austin Commercial, was also faced with five weeks of almost continuous rainy weather during the first months of
Flexibility among the entire project team was required during construction of the two George P. and Cynthia Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics & Astronomy buildings. The two structures are interconnected and located at the northern edge of Texas A&M University in College Station. Photo: Vito Palmisano Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards The configuration of the plans negotiates the irregular shape of the confined site. One building is a six-story, 43,770-sq-ft elliptical building located at a major campus entrance. It adjoins the second structure, a five-story, 160,000-sq-ft, L-shaped building that wraps around a semicircular, 500-seat main auditorium. Significant changes were
The University of Texas at Austin Welch Hall North Plaza’s renovation involved removing an existing concrete courtyard along with all waterproofing and drainage systems above an existing chemistry library. After removal of the existing system, general contractor Flintco installed a new membrane waterproofing system, new storm drainage system, lightweight insulating concrete deck, a decorative colored concrete topping slab, concrete planters and a drop ceiling in the library. Photo: Roy Mata Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards The work involved an elaborate system to protect thousands of books in the library below, along with extensive coordination to accommodate users of the
The almost 30-year-old sanctuary at the Second Baptist Church Worship Center in Houston was severely damaged during Hurricane Ike and had to be rebuilt as quickly as possible to allow services to resume in the main sanctuary. Photo: Tellepsen Builders Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards Demolition and redesign started in January 2009, and the first service was held just eight months later. The scope of work included complete demolition of all finishes and the installation of new audiovisual systems. The job required the erection of 40,000 sq ft of scaffolding 50-ft high to install new audio/visual and ceiling finishes.
The 10-story, 485,000-sq-ft BioScience Research Collaborative building at Rice University was constructed on 2.9 acres at Main Street and University Boulevard in Houston, immediately adjacent to the Texas Medical Center complex. Photo: Scott Frances Of August Image, New York, NY Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards The building currently offers eight floors that include research labs, classrooms, a 280-seat auditorium, 100-seat seminar room, 10,000 sq ft of retail space and a 338,700-sq-ft, three-level underground parking structure. Two floors of lab shell space allow for future expansion. The base building platform was also designed to support a future second research tower,
A renovation to an existing warehouse created a new corporate headquarters for Brandt, a top mechanical, electrical and plumbing provider in Texas. The 112,300-sq-ft adaptive reuse project retained more than 80% of the existing walls, floors and roof. It also incorporated 18 eco-friendly and energy saving technologies, such as the use of cool roofing materials; natural daylight strategies; the use of water efficient, native and adaptive landscaping materials; rainwater harvesting; a solar water heating system; and the use of a thermal well system for air conditioning. Cork flooring, Forest Stewardship Council-certified wood and other rapidly renewable building materials were the
The Brigade Headquarters building contains three secure sections that require uninterrupted operation. The sophisticated equipment utilized and sensitive data generated in these sections requires a backup emergency power generator and redundant mechanical systems in order to remain fully operational in the event of a catastrophic failure. Photo: Pablo Mason Photography Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards The construction coordination issues for redundant systems are extremely costly, and installation and control of the systems is complex. The Harper Construction Co. design-build team successfully completed these secure sections within budget and schedule, and all systems are fully functional. The requirements of the
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