The Edward R. Roybal Learning Center took a long and difficult path to completion but once finished the Los Angeles Unified School District could call the school a success, rather than a disaster. Related Links: Best of California 2009 Construction at the school site began in the late 1990s but was shut down two separate times after seismic and environmental conditions were discovered. The project site sat dormant for three years. The school, then called the Belmont Learning Complex, was viewed as the most expensive high school never built. But in 2005, the Los Angeles Unified School District awarded new
This $10-million City Hall project culminates a six-year process that spanned visioning, programming, site selection, master planning and design. The new building combines bold, civic-scaled spaces with warm, informal materials, and facilitates the public’s easy access to the city staff that was the norm at the old facility. The two-story, glass-walled building along Manila Avenue has been submitted for LEED silver certification. Related Links: Best of California 2009 Teamwork and a project management focus combined for a successful project, according to the building team. The architect says it has long been an advocate of an integrated approach to design with
Needing to build a fire station for the city of Encinitas while an existing fire station remained in operation was one of the most significant challenges for the project team behind Encinitas Fire Station #3. Related Links: Best of California 2009 The existing fire station was outdated and did not meet the requirements for new stations. However, the old station needed to remain in service in order to provide emergency and fire help for the surrounding area. HAR Construction built the two-story, 7,256-sq-ft fire station working with city officials and architect Dominy + Associates Architects @ domusstudio. To build the
The project team behind the Fox Theatre Renovation and Addition was tasked with preserving the historical ambiance of a 1929 vaudeville theater, but also converting it into a 1,600-seat performing arts center. Related Links: Best of California 2009 The $30-million project, which took less than two years to build, also needed to retain the Spanish revival architecture and detailing both inside and out. The city of Riverside funded the construction of the theater and asked the project team to restore it to its former glory. The project is part of the city’s billion-dollar plan to invest into Riverside’s art and
This $12.6-million project features the complete renovation of 18,300 sq ft of existing medical/surgery space on the fourth floor of an existing 10-story hospital building into a new 65-bed Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit. The new unit features auxiliary functions including nurse stations, public waiting areas, offices, pharmacy, infant isolation rooms, employee break and locker rooms, restrooms, utility and storage rooms. The project was completed while maintaining all building services and systems for surgical floors below and acute care patient beds above. Related Links: Best of California 2009 The facility is now the largest neo-natal intensive care unit in a 25-mi
The $38-million Globe Mills project in Sacramento transformed a long abandoned historic industrial site into a thriving residential community with 112 affordable senior apartments, 31 contemporary lofts and neighborhood-oriented commercial spaces. The transit-oriented, green and sustainable infill project succeeds through historic adaptive reuse and new construction in a public/private partnership. Related Links: Best of California 2009 The project consists of three multi-story buildings on a one-acre site and 24 six-story historic concrete silos. Two buildings are new construction and contain senior units, while the Mill Building was adapted from the former Flour/Cereal/Cleaning Mills to accommodate the loft-style apartment units. The
This $3.4-million project reconstructed the racetrack with a new track material called Tapeta, which was required by the California Horse Racing Board. It also included installation of an extensive drainage system. Related Links: Best of California 2009 Given the tight constraint of the schedule due to the racing season, the entire new track literally had to be built in three months, and both the owner and contractor team worked to achieve that goal. Tapeta is made up of sand, recycled rubber and plastics and wax and is being used more and more in the country’s race tracks. With the new
A church campus that serves thousands of parishioners received a needed expansion after the project team finished the Harvest Church expansion project. The $13.6-milllion Harvest Church expansion consists of a two-story, 24,997-sq-ft multipurpose building and a two-story, 52,426-sq-ft children’s ministry building. Related Links: Best of California 2009 The facilities were built to accommodate a growth in parishioners at Harvest Church. The multipurpose building will be used to house school staff and includes basketball courts, volleyball courts, bleachers and a multimedia system. The building also includes a youth center for teenagers and sanctuary overflow for church services. The children’s ministry building
The Henderson Community Building demonstrates that going green does not mean a project has to be complicated. Related Links: Best of California 2009 Seeking LEED gold certification, the community building relies on thermally-insulated concrete walls for its natural and green touch. The building, meant to house the city of Palm Desert’s Chamber of Commerce and other community groups, was designed to work with the desert’s warm temperatures. All wall surfaces and a majority of the ceiling surfaces are kept as natural concrete finish which required no paint and no drywall. All floor surfaces were polished concrete, which required no additional
Judges: • C. Keith Boswell, AIA, director, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP • Wendell Clark, business development director, J.D. Diffenbaugh • Simin Naaseh, SE, president & CEO, Forell/ Elsesser Engineers Inc. • Lori Reed, director of marketing and communications, American Institute of Architects, California Council • Kirsten Ritchie, associate principal/director of sustainable design, Gensler • David Rova, director of design, HMC Architects • Greg Stedman, regional vice president, KHS&S Contractors • Gwen Stone-Garis, vice president, National Association of Women in Construction, San Gabriel Valley Chapter #110 • Peter Tuma, vice president of construction, Taisei Construction • Phil Varni, district manager,