Oregon Winners

Best Public project

Oregon State Police Laboratory
Submitted by: DLR Group
General Contractor: Hoffman
Owner: Oregon State Police

The Oregon State Police Forensic Laboratory and Medical Examiner's need for an upgraded, cost-effective facility to house all departments is met in a newly remodeled two-story 59,000-sq.-ft. building.

Under tight budget constraints, DLR worked with the owner to change the building interior into an advanced high-tech laboratory.

The existing shell of the building was not impacted, with the exception of adding in four windows and replacing the mechanical units on the roof. Several security features were added to the site including a video monitoring system.

The facility upgrades and new spaces included extensive central and dispersed evidence storage, autopsy and morgue receiving areas, medical examiner's facility and the forensic lab function separation.

The most notable and admirable aspect of the remodel is the transformation of the former metal fabrication factory into a state-of-the-art lab and medical facility.

Best Public/Private Project

Salem Conference Center
Owner: City of Salem
Submitted by: Rushforth Construction
Architect: LMN
Major consultants, subcontractors:
Structural KPFF, Mechanical Engineering, Interface Engineering, Cherry City Electric

The Salem Conference Center consists of three stories of structural steel and concrete construction with integrated large timbers for Northwest styling. It has an elaborate operable curtain-wall system that allows for expansive natural light and cross ventilation and incorporates green building and LEED certification.

The building has been a public/private venture requiring three main general contracts to complete. The job required roughly 70 percent more subcontracts to be used with two sets of prevailing wage conditions.

During mass excavation, Rushforth encountered three underground storage tanks that required immediate remediation.

Best Public/Private Project
Honorable mention

The Tower & Garage at Station Place
Owner: Portland Development Commission
Submitted by: Andersen Construction, Inc.
Architect: Robert S. Leeb Architects & Planners

Standing at the gateway to the Pearl District on the west end of the Broadway Bridge are the Tower and Garage at Station Place.

A white steel fin projecting into the Portland skyline identifies each building. The 14-story tower will be home to 176 units of senior apartments that will also feature resident parking, office and retail space.

From the onset, both were envisioned as 100-year buildings. The project team's goal was to design and construct the most economical buildings to meet this requirement while maintaining the distinctive appearance of the Pearl District. Most of the efforts of the team were directed to sustainable practices.

The project is constructed on a reclaimed brownfield site. A system to encapsulate and vent any contaminants had to be designed and approved by numerous public agencies before construction could begin.

Elizabeth Lofts

One of the greatest concerns for architects, contractors and building developers is maintaining a waterproof building envelope. Other concerns include management of interior building moisture, selection of building materials that are mold resistant, and design and details of the building envelope that are redundant and minimize negative building pressure.

The Elizabeth includes a rainscreen wall with a brick veneer that provides redundant building integrity systems, high-quality window specification and detailing, and introduction of fresh air into the building

Honorable Mention

Providence St. Vincent North Parking Structure
Owner: Providence Health System
Submitted by: Andersen Construction

The existing four-floor parking structure was modified into an eight-story structure. The new addition was made of structural steel instead of concrete, allowing the current structure to support the added weight without major upgrades.

The new structure consists of structural steel castellated beams and concrete slabs on a metal deck. The new parking garage adds 825 parking spaces for hospital employees and patients.

Throughout the project, the lower three floors of the existing structure remained open for employee parking. With occupants in the building during construction, it was necessary to maintain Seismic 3 requirements at all times.

Existing shear walls needed to be removed, but existing reinforcing steel elements had to remain intact in order to tie into the new structural system. Each new steel column and brace frame that connected the new structure to the fourth-floor deck had to have a custom-designed base plate and anchor locations in order to fit around the existing post-tensioned cable locations and the reinforcing steel elements.

A temporary fire sprinkler system was constructed to constantly wet down foliage and trees to the north and east of the building, as part of the fire prevention plan.

Best Renovation

Henry's 12th Street Tavern
Owner: Pacific Coast Restaurants
Submitted by: Walsh Construction Co.
Architect: Scott Edwards Architecture

Henry's 12th Street Tavern is a 14,500-sq.-ft. restaurant and billiard room constructed in the historic Henry Weinhards Brewhouse and Cellar buildings. Beginning with nothing but a gravel floor and badly worn exterior walls, crews installed a new structural-steel mezzanine and raised existing concrete floors in the kitchen area to match the dining space.

Renovations also included mill work, an architectural metal package and an innovative synthetic veneer that was used to lay brick back on the walls that had been covered by concrete.

Construction innovations included the use of metal shades in lieu of stick framing of numerous coffered ceilings, which saved time, staging room and $25,000.

Best Tenant Improvement

Romano's Macaroni Grill
Submitted by: S.D. Deacon
Owner: Waterloo Restaurant Ventures
Architect: Cortland Morgan, Dallas, Tx.
Mechanical/Electrical Engineer
Basharkhah Engineering, Inc., Dallas, Tx.
Major Subcontractors: Beaverton Plumbing, Comfort Flow Heating

New to Portland's downtown area, this 6,100-sq.-ft. tenant improvement transferred the old Copeland Sport Store into an inviting restaurant with curved ceiling soffits, hardwood floors, stained concrete and interior stone and brick that highlights the open kitchen area with granite countertops.

Best Heavy Highway

McKenzie and Willamette I-5 Detour Bridges
Owner: State of Washington, Salem Project Office ODOT
Submitted by: Hamilton Construction
General Contractor: Hamilton Construction Wildish Construction J/V

The drilled shafts on the water areas of both rivers were an early challenge. Due to time constraints ODOT had not done foundation drilling between the riverbanks. The available processes and extent of work required to seal the shaft work away from the river were a huge unknown. The shaft drilling into basalt and sandstone was a challenge.

Best Community Service Project

Holocaust Memorial
Submitted by Walsh Construction
Owner: American Jewish Committee
Landscape Architect Atlas Landscape Architecture

In 1994 a group of Holocaust survivors dreamed of building an Oregon Holocaust memorial. The design is centered on the dissolution of families.

A small cobblestone area with a cast-stone bench, European lamppost and cast bronze artifacts represent the Town Square. The walk toward the memorial is made of cobblestone pathway inset with granite bars leading from the square to the core of the memorial.

Two 9-ft.-tall polished-granite panels etched with a narrative history of the Holocaust and the events leading up to it merge in the Witness Wall, a 9-ft.-high, 60-ft.-long curved basalt wall punctuated with quotes from Holocaust survivors in Oregon and Washington.

A 25-ton basalt boulder anchors each end of the wall, and beneath it is a vault that holds soil from each of the six killing camps of the Holocaust.

Editor's choice

Wachovia Corp. West Coast Customer Care Center
Submitted by LCG Pence Construction
Owner: Wachovia Corp.
Architect: Stevens & Wilkinson
Structural Engineer: Needham & Associates
Civil Engineer: Westech Engineering, Inc.
Major Subcontractors: Pence/Kelly Concrete, Oregon Cascade Plumbing & Heating; Salem Heating & Sheet Metal; Cherry City Electric

The building contains 25,000 sq. ft. of open office and 27,500 sq. ft. of common-use areas to be completed by Dec. 15, an astounding feat considering that shell drawings were issued on June 7, the day of groundbreaking.

This was not only a fast-track project; it was a cloaked in a high degree of confidentiality. Available land and existing buildings that would accommodate the facility were scrutinized and a final decision not made until April 7. The property was acquired on June 4.

Meeting the fast-track schedule required four project superintendents, one for the subcontractor coordination for the concrete construction and others for the building, tilt-up phase and sitework/landscaping.

Construction moved faster than the design process. The electrical and plumbing trades had to rough in to estimated areas of design, such as such bathroom and kitchen.

The building shell was well beyond 50 percent complete when the design interior package was complete.

All crews worked six, 10-hour days. Hour-to-hour coordination inside the building was required to keep the sequence of work moving efficiently.

Steel shortages across the United States impacted every aspect of the project.

Preordering equipment and material prior to submittal was a necessity.

Because the design team was located in Atlanta, all major submittals were done in electronic form to facilitate short turnaround time. All requests for information were returned within 24 hours.

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