NW Architects to Design Cali Spa

SEATTLE - Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (WATG) is providing full-service architectural services for Bardessono Inn and Spa, a 62-room boutique luxury lodge and spa on a 4.9-acre site in Yountville, Calif., in the heart of Napa Valley.

The inn will include a spa with eight treatment rooms and a 75-foot long rooftop infinity pool, a fine dining restaurant, and meeting space. The design will reflect a blending of the Valley's agrarian character, the high refinement associated with its wines and the indoor/outdoor character of living.

The project will use solar and geothermal energy, sophisticated energy management systems, sustainable building materials, and organic landscape management practices. "We plan to have ground source heat pumps and generate solar energy on our rooftops," said developer Phil Sherburne of Yountville Investors, LLC. "We have minimized impervious surfaces, limiting roadways and parking areas by using valet parking."

Some of the unusual elements of the inn include a lobby without a front desk. Every room has its own courtyard which will allow for absolute privacy, and some of the units have outdoor showers. The inn and spa is scheduled to open in April 2008 and will be managed by MTM Luxury Lodging. Sherburne also developed Willows Lodge in the Seattle area and Inn of the Spanish Garden in Santa Barbara.

Port Project Tests New Apshalt Recycling Technique

Seattle - Terminal 115, located just south of Seattle, is occupied by Northland Services, Incorporated - the Port of Seattle's fourth largest tenant. On average, 57,000 tons of cargo is pushed through the terminal each month. When rehabilitation became necessary, special consideration was given to the alternatives assessed before deciding on a paving and pavement foundation method. A method of pavement rehabilitation known as full-depth reclamation, or FDR, proved to be the foundation method of choice as it provided greater strength and durability than most of the other pavement alternatives.

FDR is a process in which the existing asphalt surface is pulverized in place and blended with the underlying base, subbase, and/or subgrade materials, mixed with portland cement, and compacted to provide a new stabilized base. A new surface course is then applied, which completes the FDR process, providing a new pavement structure using recycled materials from the failed pavement. For Terminal 115, FDR was found to be the most cost efficient solution - especially when working through Seattle's naturally wet environment.