LIDs/GLY/Heat Rule/City Hall

Environmental Ruling May Require LID for Stormwater Runoff Olympia - An environmental ruling in the state of Washington may force land developers in the Puget Sound area to use low impact development methods such as rain gardens and green roofs, instead of the traditional detention ponds, says Jan Hasselman, an attorney with Earthjustice. The ruling will affect the largest cities in the region and King, Pierce and Snohmish Counties. A second ruling, which would affect smaller cities, is expected shortly.

Earthjustice was one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that challenged the Washington State Department of Ecology’s NSPDS permit in front of the state Environmental Hearings Board. The permit determines how local government agencies regulate storm water runoff.

Federal law requires that the permit “must reduce water pollution to the maximum extent practical, “ says Hasselman. “It’s been proven that low impact development methods do a better job than detention ponds.”

The state of Maryland and several jurisdictions in Southern California also require low impact development methods, says Hasselman.

GLY Named Best Places to Work

Bellevue - GLY Construction, Inc. was named one of Washington's Best Workplaces by the Puget Sound Business Journal. The program was launched last year by the Business Journal to identify and recognize best practices in the hiring and retention. After an extensive and rigorous process, which included more than 300 nominees and the completion of surveys by nominee-company employees across the state, workplaces in four different categories have been identified as Washington's best, based on their various employee benefit offerings, leadership culture and work/life balance philosophies. In total, 65 companies have made the grade as finalists.

Puyallup Opens City Hall Project

Puyallup - The City of Puyallup dedicated a new five-story, 52,498 sq ft city hall. Permitting, engineering, planning, utility billing and development services have moved from South Hill to downtown. They’ll join finance, human resources, the legal department, the city manager’s office, and the City Council chambers in the new building.

The Puyallup City Hall project was built as a partnership using the alternative public works process known as the General Contractor/Contract Manager (GC/CM) process. The City’s design team—Mithun, a Seattle-based architectural firm; Skanska, national recognized for its redevelopment expertise; and Egis Real Estate Services, which specializes in project management and operation of highly technical properties— was chosen after an extensive Request for Proposals (RFP) process that was launched in December of 2005.

WATG Designed Hospital Opens in Springfield

Seattle – WATG’s Seattle office was the design architect for Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend.

Set on 181 acres along Oregon’s McKenzie River, the 1 million sq ft medical center blends hospitality and health care design to create a place that promotes healing and wellness and lifts the spirits of patients, visitors and employees.

The design challenge was to create a new medical facility with a healing environment for patients and their families that would reflect the comfort of a hospitality project while supporting clinical, medical office, commercial, residential and elder care facilities. WATG developed the master plan, and created the architecture and interior design concepts. Anshen+Allen led the medical planning and was the architect of record. Both architecture firms collaborated closely throughout the entire design process. Turner Construction was the general contractor.

MulvannyG2 Designs Business Park in China

Bellevue – MulvannyG2 designed a hightech business park in Shanghai which was completed this month. Located in a 2.5 million-sq-ft ecological green area surrounded by mountains and water, the Park provides an appealing work oasis for a growing number of high-tech businesses in China.

The Shanghai Corporation Business Headquarters Park was constructed by developer Xingyue Investment Group. As one of Shanghai’s largest and most advanced office parks, it is intended to be a magnet for international and local hightech firms, similar to the Zhangjiang Semiconductor Research Park designed by MulvannyG2 last year, in Shanghai.

Zhang designed several tech campuses in both China and the U.S. Factors which make high-tech business parks successful are desirable locations, community focused urban design and an efficient transportation system.

A large ecological garden forms the focal point of the Park and highlights the Park’s emphasis on respecting the environment. Office and commercial buildings were added in the project’s second phase. The master plan calls for the connection of existing rivers and streams reminiscent of the water-locked villages, typical of Southern Yangtze region.

The office park’s eight building clusters run from north to south and radiate outwards from the central garden. The Park will provide headquarters to over 100 local and international companies.