Being inside Sustainability Base, a $2- million, 50,000-sq-ft steel-frame building going up at Mountain View’s NASA Ames Research Center at Moffet Federal Airfield, may well be the closet you’ll ever come to visiting the moon. Image: William Mcdonough & Associates Swinerton Builders is nearing completion of the steel erection at NASA Ames. Construction on the two-story facility, which is designed to be the federal government’s most environmentally sustainable building, began in August. The structure will – or should – consume no more energy than it generates, use 90% less water than other standard buildings and feature smart technology that will

As many construction sectors remain stuck in the mud of hard economic times, the military industry in California is marching along with its share of new projects and renovations. “The military has definitely picked-up” says Dave Roach, senior vice president for San Diego-based Barnhart Balfour Beatty. Roach, whose company currently has 10 projects underway with the Navy, worth about $200 million, says that while Barnhart’s other work has slowed, it has focused on military work, which makes up about 50% of the firm’s current output. “That’s what is nice about being diversified,” Roach says. “While working with K-12s, universities and

An 800,000-sq-ft hospital near San Diego, the largest of many healthcare facility projects under way throughout the Golden State, is back on track after a rocky start. Related Links: VA Hospital Rises in Palo Alto Sutter Replaces East Bay Med Center Huntington Hospital Doubles Emergency Facility Work started on Palomar Pomerado Medical Center West in Escondido in December 2007, with Redwood City-based Rudolph & Sletten on board as construction manager. CO Architects of Los Angeles is architect of record for the project, with Anshen + Allen of San Francisco providing interior design and furnishing services. But months later, owner Palomar

Huntington Hospital in Pasadena is in the midst of major, multi-phased improvements, including the addition of an $80-million, four-story building with an expanded emergency room department. Related Links: Healthcare Construction 2010 VA Hospital Rises in Palo Alto Sutter Replaces East Bay Med Center Freeman White of San Diego is the project architect for the vertical expansion project, with Sun Valley’s Tower General Contractors serving as general contractor. Construction of the 80,000-sq-ft building began in November 2008 and should be finished in early 2011. According to Tower project manager Mahmoud Saheli, the task of working in an open hospital as busy

There was a time when the design of a new law school usually meant a sprawling campus of separate buildings, with iconic columns and grassy courtyards. But it is 2010, space can be limited and some owners are finding a need to build schools straight up in the middle of busy cities. While shooting for LEED gold certification, the project will take advantage of its location across the street from a large public transportation station, and employ energy-saving systems such as photovoltaic solar panels on the roof. Enter Thomas Jefferson School of Law in downtown San Diego. “I would describe

Affordable housing has managed to break new ground in San Diego at a time when other construction sectors have slowed. Photo: Ten Fifty B. San Diego-based architects Martinez + Cutri designed the 22-story affordable housing project. The common areas will be surrounded by more than 7,000 sq ft of outdoor, landscaped terrace space “We are finding that there is a lot of opportunity in affordable housing right now,” says Jeff W. Graham, vice president of redevelopment for Centre City Development Corp., a non-profit corporation created by the city of San Diego to implement downtown redevelopment projects and programs. “With the

Work began in July on the $320-million Sutter Medical Center, a 230,000-sq-ft facility replacing Castro Valley’s Eden Medical Center – yet another casualty of the state’s rigorous earthquake codes. Related Links: Healthcare Construction 2010 VA Hospital Rises in Palo Alto Huntington Hospital Doubles Emergency Facility Financed entirely without public dollars, the project is one of the first healthcare developments in California to utilize both a phased permitting process by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and an integrated project delivery team system. An IPD system differs from standard design/bid/build or design-build systems in that the major players –

In the San Francisco Bay area, the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System is planning for a $26-million, 76,000-sq-ft, 80-bed Inpatient Mental Health Center that will replace an aging facility that doesn’t stand up to current seismic code. The Design Partnership is the architect on the VA project in Palo Alto. Related Links: Healthcare Construction 2010 Sutter Replaces East Bay Med Center Huntington Hospital Doubles Emergency Facility The center will be a locked facility, with patients housed in secured quarters. “Our first challenge is to make the center a healing environment, as humane and appropriate for VA patients as

Hanging more than 200 ft over a jobsite in downtown Kansas City, Mo., James Hague doesn’t seem to notice the tiny people and equipment below his feet. The senior technician is intently fiddling with a dial gauge that measures the amount of play in a crane turntable—the giant gear that rotates the jib. “A bearing could go bad,” says Hague, suspended from a full-body harness. “And that’s something we want to know before the top falls off.” Slide Show Photo: Tudor Van Hampton Although this vertigo-inducing procedure is not required by law for a routine inspection, it is standard practice

An industrial warehouse was transformed into a modern mail delivery facility in less than a year thanks to some early planning and preparation. Related Links: Best of California 2009 The U.S. Postal Service Perris Delivery Distribution Center Build Out is a $13.4-million renovation and new construction of a 231,382-sq-ft industrial building. The project includes an office, workroom and more than 200,000-sq-ft of work area for mail distribution machinery. The project required the complete renovation and construction of all mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems, including security and data and communication systems. During the project, value engineering was used to make the