Courthouse Square Wins Project Award

Salem - Courthouse Square, the new transit mall located here, has been awarded the 2002 BAC Craft Award for Best Region 9 Brick Project.

The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) began the BAC Craft Awards program in 1986 to recognize local unions, union craftworkers, union contractors and design professionals for excellence in masonry and brick paving construction. The 2002 Craft Awards were presented at the BAC Executive Council meeting on October 28, 2002, in Biloxi, Miss.

Courthouse Square was selected among submissions from a region incorporating 11 western states and four Canadian provinces. Award winners for the project include Arbuckle Costic Architects, Inc. (design architect), Davidson's Masonry Inc. (mason contractor), Schonert & Associates (brick paving contractor) and the members of the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local #1.

Conceived through a joint venture between the Salem Area Transit District and Marion County, Courthouse Square serves as both a transit and retail/office center. Brick was chosen as a primary exterior cladding and paving material not only for its strength and durability but also to impart a sense of quality to the project. Its use as both a veneer and paving material helps integrate Courthouse Square into the downtown area of Salem.

BBT Selected For Bend La Pine School Work

Bend - BBT Architects, based here, was recently selected by the Bend La Pine School District to design a new elementary school as well as design additions and renovations to Kingston Elementary School.

The design for the new school - which will be located at the end of Daggett Lane - will create a new neighborhood prototypical elementary school that can be reused by the school district on smaller sites in existing urban areas. The school will be approximately 42,000 sq. ft. serving 300 Kindergarten through fifth grade students. The venue will feature 12 classrooms with gathering areas/activity rooms, a music room, multi-purpose gym/cafeteria, serving kitchen, media center, special education area and administrative/staff areas.

The new school is tentatively scheduled to open in the fall of 2004.

Additions and renovations to Kingston Elementary will include a new 6,000-sq.-ft. gymnasium, a 9,000-sq.-ft. six-classroom wing and a 1,000-sq.-ft. main office with conference room. The school's multi-purpose room will be converted into a new library with a conference room and computer lab. Windows will be replaced throughout the school and the parking lot redesigned to accommodate increased parking needs and an internal bus loop/drop off area.

Honda Facility Honored With Gold LEED Rating

Gresham - A warehouse, training center and office facility here was recently honored with a Gold Leadership in Environmental Energy Design (LEED) rating recently by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Owned by American Honda Motor Co (Torrance, Calif.) and opened in October 2001, Honda's 212,888-sq.-ft. northwest regional facility demonstrates environmental friendly building practices and energy efficient design while supporting normal business activities.

The project's architect is Group Mackenzie and the developer and general contractor is Opus Northwest, both of Portland, Ore.

The LEED Green Building Rating System is a feature-oriented rating system in which credits are earned for satisfying specified green building criteria. Certified Silver, Gold and Platinum levels of green building certification are awarded based on total credits earned.

Gold is the second highest rating given by the U.S. Green Building Council; bestowed to only three other facilities in the country.

The Honda facility utilizes environmentally friendly products in virtually every aspect of the building's design, construction and operation, from its lighting, heating, flooring, bathroom tiles and wall finishes to exterior landscaping. Specifically, it features:

• a rainwater collection system that gathers accumulated rainwater on the roof and funnels it into a 90,000-gql. storage tank for on-site use. This "gray water" irrigates the facility's landscaping and provides water for toilets.
  

• hallway flooring that is made from recycled automobile tires and office flooring made from 100 percent recycled and recyclable carpet fiber and backing, and
  

• conference room wall coverings made from recycled telephone books and conference room tables made from compressed sunflower seeds.

Tigard - Commercial Contractor Gray Purcell Inc., has started construction on The Hawthorne, a 36,211-sq.-ft. mixed-use development at S.E. 34th and Hawthorne Boulevard in Portland, Ore.

Architectural firm Vallaster and Corl of and TM Rippey Consulting Engineers of Tigard are providing design and engineering services.

The ground floor offers 17,500 sq. ft. of commercial space, most of which has already been leased. Three spaces, totaling 6,800 sq. ft., remain available. The upper floors offer 16 two-bedroom, two-bath residential units with glass and brick exterior.

Construction is expected to be complete in September 2003.