Washington Winners

Best Public Project

Seattle Central Library
Owner: Seattle Public Library
Submitted by: by Hoffman Construction Co., Seattle
Architect: OM U.S. A. and LMN Architects, Seattle
Structural, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer: ARUP, Los Angeles, Calif.
Structural/Civil Engineer: Magnusson Klemencic Associates
Major subcontractors: McKinstry, Cochran Electric, The Erection Co., W.A. Botting Co.,; Long Painting, Seattle, and R.H. Rhine Co.

Completed in the spring of 2004, the Seattle Central Library has quickly become the most recognized structure in the downtown core.

The 412,000-sq.-ft. 11-story building is divided into five distinct platforms offset from each other and designed to resemble a stack of books. Each platform offers a different service. An all-encompassing curtain wall visually pulls together the entire building. The library has received outstanding public support and been reviewed in numerous architecture publications.

Construction of a building with offset levels that cantilever out at varying degrees and angles was more difficult than the typical office building. To support the offset platforms and prevent the building from toppling over, a nontraditional support was needed. Opposing sliced steel box columns set at critical angles and areas throughout the building serve as support for the structure.

To offset the platforms during construction, Hoffman devised a temporary system that would hold the structure in place until the building's structural steel system was complete. Three hundred tons of steel, later recycled, was used to construct the temporary support system.

Hoffman took a proactive approach to addressing potential setbacks when installing the curtain-wall system. The glass system came from Germany, with fasteners and connection points already installed. Tolerances were tight, allowing little wiggle room.
Using a special surveying system that scanned the surface of the library's steel grid,
crews were able to pinpoint the precise location of each connection point.

Moving thousands of books into the new library greatly concerned the owner. To make sure construction kept pace with the planned move, Hoffman regularly attended moving meetings to keep abreast of the owner's concerns.

Best Public Project
Honorable Mention

Sea-Tac Airport Concourse A
Owner: Port of Seattle
Submitted by: Clark Construction Group, Calif.
Architect: NBBJ
Engineer: Wood Harbinger/CDI
Major subcontractors: Valley Electric Co.; University Mechanical Contractors; Seimens, Pacific Construction Systems; G&T Conveyor, Conco Cement Co.

At the time of the terrorist attacks, over 20 percent of the construction was completed. New design elements, adding $50 million to the construction cost, had to be added because of security concerns. In an effort to minimize the impacts on the project schedule, the Port of Seattle, designers, Clark and the baggage handler G&T Conveyor developed a collaborative plan to fast track the process.

Best Mechanical Project

Sea-Tac Airport Concourse A
Owner: Port of Seattle
Submitted by: University Mechanical Contractors, Seattle
Architect: NBBJ, Seattle
Engineer: Wood Harbinger/CDI, Seattle
Major subcontractors: Valley Electric Co., Everett, Wash., electrical; University Mechanical Contractors, Seattle; mechanical; Seimens, Bellevue, Wash., building controls; Pacific Construction Systems, Tacoma, Wash., drywall; G&T Conveyor, Seatac, Wash., baggage handling system; Conco Cement Co., Kent, concrete.

The 870,000-sq.-ft. South Terminal Expansion Project provides Sea-Tac Terminal with new ticketing areas, 14 passenger gates, an expanded baggage claim area and five levels of office space. University Mechanical performed complete mechanical for the project except for fire protection and DDC controls.

One of the obvious challenges of Sea-Tac was the Sept. 11 attacks, which occurred in the middle of the construction schedule. New security measures were enforced, and immediate system changes were required for areas such as baggage handling. UMC's goal was to be as flexible and proactive as possible to keep the project on schedule and to assist with design modifications.

The judges were particularly impressed with the difficulty of the shutdowns necessary to accommodate utility tie-ins. Because of the enormous size and amount of pipe, complex welds and the refill time required for up to 100,000 gallons, the shutdowns were a tremendous challenge.

Another example was installing the piping. This part of the project took more than 16,000 hours, even with careful preplanning, fabrication and coordination. UMC installed over 32 mi. of pipe, 975 pieces of equipment, 29 large air-handling units and 480 plumbing fixtures.

Best Electrical Project

Seattle Biomedical Research Institute
Submitted by: Sparling, Seattle

Seattle Biomedical Research Institute is the Northwest's premier research lab for research on infectious diseases. Located at South Lake Union, near the downtown core, the 112,000-sq.-ft. building opened in March.

Sparling's design was key in solving critical problems that could affect the lab experiments and health of safety of workers. The first goal of the design was to eliminate outages, surges and sags in the electrical system. One extended power outage could cost millions of dollars in lost research. An emergency generator in the labs provides back up for fume hoods, refrigerators, and some incubators.

The project was on a fast-track design with the tenant improvement design coinciding with construction of the building's core and shell. Weekly evaluation of schedules and ongoing communication with multiple users helped lead to two floors of lab space.

Because Seattle Biomed intends to capture LEED status, exterior lighting was a major concern. According to the requirements, no lighting can go beyond the property line, but the building backs up to an unlit alley - dangerous for security reasons.

Sparling developed a lighting system that illuminates the right-of-way but not the adjacent properties. Sparling reduced energy use by 30 percent overall.

Best Engineering Project

Sacred Heart Hospital, Spokane
Submitted by Coffman Engineers, Spokane

Health-care facilities represent a special engineering niche, due to unique technological, administrative, end user and regulatory needs.

Coffman Engineers designed a 235,000-sq.-ft. addition coupled with an 88,500-sq.-ft. remodel for Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane. Interesting features of the project include: Three of the seven stories of the addition are partially built over a city arterial road; one of the new building stories is built atop the existing hospital; and the site is primarily rock substrate, which required blasting to excavate for the basement level.

The building is cast-in-place concrete with concrete shear walls in order to minimize building vibrations. The software RAM Steel was used to design the composite-beam floor systems for the floors over the city street, with special attention to the vibration characteristics of the surgery floors.

The contract cost for this project was $100 million, and the contractor was able to finish two months ahead of schedule and under budget by $2 million. The energy savings on the project netted the owner $168,000 in savings this year.

Best Architecture

Tashiro Kaplan Lofts
Owner: Artspace Projects
Submitted by: Stickney Murphy Romine Architects
General Contractor: Marpac Construction
Electrical Engineer: Atkinson & Associates; Structural Engineer, Coughlin Porter Lundeen, sider & Beyers Associates, mechanical
Major Subcontractors: Puget Sound Masonry; Snyder Roofing; D. W. Close

The Tashiro Kaplan Artist Lofts is a mixed-use project providing arts-related commercial space and 50 permanent affordable, live/work residential spaces. Located in Seattle's Pioneer Square Historic Preservation District, the project occupies all of an oddly shaped city block.

Construction work on the building was complex. The buildings occupied 100 percent of the site, leaving no space for staging.

Hazardous material abatement included asbestos insulation, tile and roofing and multiple layers of lead paint on the exterior terra cotta.

The design addition had to meet the requirements of the Pioneer Square Preservation Board. This was accomplished by expanding the columnar rhythm of the existing Kaplan building and maintaining the juxtaposition of glass to wall on the exterior.

The structural upgrade to the building included large steel brace frames to absorb the lateral loads that may occur during an earthquake. Usually these would be placed on the building exterior, but preservation guidelines prohibited this.

Instead, the bracing had to be placed on the building interior, one bay to the interior of the window wall. The frames were left exposed in the unit interiors and were designed to add an industrial aesthetic to the lofts located on the third floor.

The original wood storefronts underwent extensive restoration and/or replication, maintaining the large areas of glass needed for galleries and arts-related businesses. Three floors of wood-frame construction were placed on a new 10-in., two-way concrete transfer slab located on the old concrete roof structure.

Best Private Project

Alcyone Apartments
Submitted by: Rushforth Construction
Owner: Alcyone
Archtiect: GGLO
Structural Engineer: Magnusson Klemencic Assoicates
Major Subcontractors, Donald B Murphy Contractors, Roy Freeman Roofing Co., One Way Plumbing; Air Systems Inc.

The Alcyone Apartments is a 162-unit market rate apartment building, located near downtown Seattle.

It is one of the first multifamily structures of this scale to use metal-stud construction in Seattle. The construction type was chosen to further the owner's sustainability goals.

The light-gauge steel contractor failed early on in the project, and Rushforth crews had to compete the framing and coordinate deliveries out of the light-gauge steel manufacturer in Bend, Ore. Rushforth ran between two and three trips per week for deliveries.

Keeping neighbors informed of monthly construction activities was an important part of the project. During project planning, the design team and the owner met numerous times with the Cascade Neighborhood Council to mitigate impact of the building on Cascade Park and the Pea Patch.

The judges were impressed with Rushforth's ability to keep on track with the building, even after a major subcontractor was unavailable.

Best Public/Private Project

Northwest Detention Center
Owner: CSC of Tacoma
Submitted by: Lydig Construction
Architect: Hok Associates with Burgess Weaver Design Group
General Contractor: Dinosaur Valley Construction/Lydig Construction
Consultants: David Evans & Associates, Rupert Engineering
Major subcontractors: Auburn Mechanical; Berg Electric; MacDonald Miller Facility Solutions.

Located near the Port of Tacoma, the building was designed for Immigration and Naturalization and Homeland Security purposes.
The project originally had a 12-month schedule, but two months were cut because of financial problems. Unusual scheduling, including constructing the building shell before the slabs were poured help keep the project on schedule.

Best Private Project
Honorable Mention

MultiCare Medical Center addition, Tacoma
Submitted by: Skanska USA Building, Seattle
Owner: MultiCare Health System
Architect: Giffin Bolte Jurgens Architects
Structural Engineer: Putnam Collins Scott and Associates
Mechanical Engineer: Bouillon EngineeringMajor Subcontractors: Cochran Electric, Hermanson Co., Nuprecon Inc., R. W. Rhine; Stirrett Johnsen; Ralph's Concrete Pumping

Innovative construction techniques and creative scheduling processes allowed Skanska USA Building to add four stories atop a busy hospital without disrupting critical functions.

The $43 million addition to MultiCare Medical Centers L wing expands the facility space by 176,000 sq. ft. and houses a surgery department, vascular/heart surgery center, CATH labs and future build-out space.

Before work could start, Skanska had to augment the existing structural system to support the new construction. Crews executed the work from inside the building, staging equipment in the hospital's basement and drilling piers 45 ft. deep beneath the existing general services department.

Holes were cut in the existing second-floor slab and concrete was pumped through a slick line for the drilled piers, shear walls and pile caps. Performing this work from outside the building would have impacted access to the emergency department, required a costly shoring system, and required the relocation of major utilities. The addition sits on top of the fourth-floor lab that functions 24 hours per day, seven days per week, serving the entire MultiCare system. By scheduling work at night, crews completed several parts of the project without affecting the lab staff.

Skanska punched two elevator shafts through the lab floor, partitioning off construction areas, weatherproofing holes from the outside and bringing in steel in small pieces. Pipe conduit and other systems were prefabricated as much as possible to minimize excessive building activity and keep disruptions to a minimum.

The seventh-floor addition houses a state-of-the-art cardiovascular surgery center. Many of the center's systems such as lighting and temperature control are activated by voice. A significant amount of mechanical, electrical and cabling systems had to be installed in the ceiling, requiring intense coordination with the trades.

Best Renovation

King County Courthouse
Owner's Representative: The Seneca Group
Submitted by Skanska USA Building
Architect: Stickney Murphy Romine
Structural Engineer: Coughlin Porter Lundeen
Major Subcontractors: Cochran Electric, Brundage Bone Concrete Pumping; Hermanson Co., Long Painting, Snyder Roofing,

The renovation of the King County Courthouse encompasses all aspects of a challenging job, including an occupied space and a tight budget, limited area for equipment and materials and a schedule that could not be adjusted.

Skanska addressed each challenge head-on, shaving five months off the original 27-month schedule and slashing $8 million from the construction budget.

The $78 million two-year renovation of the 90-year-old courthouse called for extensive structural seismic upgrades along with fire and life safety improvements. The courthouse remained occupied and functioning.

Court proceedings continued for the duration of the project, and crews were required to stop work if courtroom officials requested silence. As a result, much of the work was completed at night. A task as simple as testing the fire alarms with city officials took as long as two weeks.

A significant overhang at the top of the building prohibited the tower crane from delivering materials within 6-ft. feet of the building. Skanska fashioned a picking boom with a trolley to shuttle 1,000 tons of steel into the building.

Once the steel was inside, it was moved without the use of a crane, even pieces as large as 6,000 lbs. Skanska shortened the project calendar by five months. Crews worked two 10-hour shifts per day, four days per week. This decision, along with extensive value engineering, saved the county $8 million. Even with more than 750,000 hours of work in a 22-month period, no serious time-loss accidents occurred.

Best Renovation
Honorable Mention

Washington State Legislative Building
Owner: State of Washington
Submitted by: Mortensen, Seattle

Fitting modern systems into a historic building was what this project was all about.

To make the building functional for the next 75 years, the entire building infrastructure needed to be replaced and new systems added (data, fire, alarm and protection, wireless). All this had to be done while maintaining the basic construction and original beauty of this National Historic Building, built in 1899. The quality of construction is unequalled. Mortensen replace wood wainscot, plaster cornices, exterior stonework and Alaskan Tokeen Marble with the same methods used in the late 19th Century. Planning and locating materials took months.

Historic elements were protected during construction with OSB board panels. The temporary walls were then donated to Habitat for Humanity for use in homes.

Early in the preconstruction phase the Nisqually Earthquake occurred, requiring immediate changes that turned a six-year project in an occupied building to a three-year project in an empty building.

All data banks, phone systems and security systems had to be operational 24 hours per day, seven days a week. This meant concurrent systems had to be constructed and tied into existing systems with little delay. Security systems were completely overhauled after Sept. 11.

More hazardous materials were encountered than anticipated. Newly discovered hazardous materials were disposed of properly with little impact to the project schedule.

Best Renovation
Honorable Mention

Patsy Clark Mansion
Submitted by: Steve Walker Construction, Spokane
Owner: Eymann, Allison, Fennessey, Hunter, Jones, P.S.
Architect: Northwest Architectural Co.
Major Subcontractors: Jim Kolva Associates, Landscape Designs by /Suzanne
Snowdon, Stevens Creek Construction, Inland Fixture Co., Rymn House Stained Glass, St. Joseph's Wood Floors,

The restoration of a 100-year-old building into an up-to-date office provided numerous challenges.

The cantilevered mezzanine was sagging due to incorrect installation. Because of the historic golf leaf, plaster and hand-carved beams, contractors removed the flooring and installed supports from above. Much of the work was hand done, rather than using prefabricated materials

Editor's Choice

House of Knowledge
Submitted by: Synergy Construction
Owner Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe
Major Subcontractors: Alpine Development, B & B Painting; Heins Concrete Construction; Robs Electric Inc., Swift Plumbing and Heating, Timberwolf Woodworks.

The House of Knowledge is a vision of the Port Gamble S'Klallam people. It is a village of learning composed of a longhouse, a career and education department and elder center, a wood-carving workshop and a new library.

The most difficult part of the project was finding a subcontractor familiar with log pole construction. Synergy interviewed 16 firms with bids between $100,000 and $750,000.

The project had a tight budget, so Synergy considered its options carefully and finally chose a subcontractor who could meet the owner's budget.

The interior of the building is completely exposed framing that requires all of the fastening systems to be invisible. The end result is a longhouse resembling early 1900s construction with modern-day engineering.

Synergy maintained a high safety rating throughout the project by holding early meetings with subcontractors to discuss their site-specific safety plans.

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