Category Winners: Construction Excellence
Exxel Pacific Inc.
Category: Private Building Under $10 Million
Project: Art Stable Seattle WA
Owner/developer: Point 32
Lead Engineer: DCI Engineers
Lead Architect: Olson Kundig Architects
A novel geothermal heating and cooling system was a hallmark of this project. Art Stable is an urban infill project in the rapidly developing South Lake Union neighborhood. Built on the site of a former horse stable the seven-story mixed-use building carries its working history into the future with highly adaptable live/work units. The project team pioneered the integration of a geothermal building heating and cooling system and augercast structural pile foundation array. This technology has been tested in Europe but is the first of its kind in North America. Additional sustainable features include energy-efficient in-floor radiant heating and cooling supported by the geothermal system; natural ventilation and day lighting; electric car charging stations for every parking stall; the ability to accommodate future use of solar/photovoltaic technology; and the flexibility of space that anticipates changes in use over the buildings lifetime even the possibility of non-residential use. Despite a very tight site in an urban environment adjacent to heavily trafficked streets Exxel Pacific recorded no loss time accidents.
BNBuilders Inc.
Category: Private Building $10-25 Million (Tie)
Project: Institute for Systems Biology Seattle WA
Owner/developer: Institute for Systems Biology
Lead Engineers: Rushing (MEP) Coughlin Porter Lundeen (Structural)
Lead Architect: Perkins + Will
BNBuilders successfully accommodated an existing tenant with exacting needs when the Institute for Systems Biology relocated its corporate headquarters to the South Lake Union area. The project consisted of renovating levels 1 3 and 4 of the building and featured multiple wet and dry laboratories a vivarium new office space and common areas. BNBuilders work was completed in and around an active facility and it avoided disruption to the existing occupant. This tenant is another biotech facility that performs contract gene sequencing and collects enormous amounts of data. Its operation is very sensitive to noise and vibration and its mechanical and electrical systems had to be operational at all times. The Project Team successfully designed around this tenant and developed work plans to complete construction without impacting the tenant’s operations and data storage center.
Exxel Pacific Inc.
Category: Private Building $10-25 Million (Tie)
Project: LINK Apartments Seattle WA
Owner/developer: Harbor Properties Inc.
Lead Engineer: Tim Mealy Coughlin Porter Lundeen
Lead Architect: Tom Frye Baylis Architects
A sooner-than-expected revenue flow for the client was one happy outcome from Exxel Pacifics early completion of the LINK Apartments a mixed use building with 200 apartments in West Seattle. The building exterior includes multiple reliefs and is finished with a variety of vibrant metals Hardi and concrete. The building includes 153000 SF of heated space 55000 SF of underground parking and 18000 SF of retail. Challenges included a property line to property line building the need to minimize the impact associated with construction activities to the surrounding neighborhood the demolition of multiple buildings with hazardous materials and contaminated site soils conditions. Nevertheless Exxel Pacific delivered the project two months ahead of schedule. By the contract completion date the residential apartments were 50% leased and 100% of the retail space was open for business.
Sellen Construction Co. Inc.
Category: Private Building Over $25 Million
Project: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Phase I Seattle WA
Owner/developer: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Lead Engineers: Arup KPFF Consulting Engineers McKinstry Cochran Inc. GeoEngineers
Lead Architect: NBBJ. Landscape Design by Gustafson Guthrie & Nichol
Sellen helped the Gate Foundation achieve LEED Platinum certification for Phase I of the Foundations remarkable campus that includes two six-story office buildings totaling 900000 square feet. Intense collaboration among all design team members ensured that the clients vision—qualitative functional aesthetic and sustainable—was understood from the very beginning while the field team executed the highly-complicated design without loss of time or impacts to schedule. Notable sustainable features include more than half an acre of green roofs use of local and recycled building materials 25% lower energy consumption than code requirements and ample open space with extensive use of natural lighting. Sellen worked hand-in-hand with Seattle City Light and the City of Seattle to relocate utilities without neighborhood disruption while excavating over 700000 tons of contaminated soils. Because of the distinctive final design a procurement strategy was developed to attract international subcontractors and suppliers for unique features such as curtainwall; copper stone and glass exterior elements; and other high performance materials.
Kevcon Inc.
Category: Public Building Under $10 Million
Project: VA Outpatient Specialty Care Clinic Vancouver WA
Owner/developer: Department of Veterans Affairs
Lead Engineers: KPFF Consulting Engineers Interface Engineering
Lead Architect: Peterson Kolberg & Associates
Kevcon faced an array of scheduling and logistical challenges but still delivered a superlative finished product six months ahead of schedule. When Kevcon began work on the 20000-square-foot outpatient clinic at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center the team went through extensive pre-planning to effectively manage the construction intricacies of the two-story structure. Managing an accelerated timeline during one of the rainiest winters on record proved to be a key challenge for Kevcon which embraced flexibility and adjusted plans on a daily basis to ensure that work continued regardless of the weather. Kevcon tested the capabilities of its scheduling software using it to do more than simply set the basic timeline at the beginning of the project. The software became a day-to-day resource as it was used to its maximum capacity to make scheduling changes assign new tasks and show the subcontractors what their often-changing production rates would have to be to continue to meet the timeline.
JTM Construction
Category: Public Building $10-25 Million
Project: LeMay -- Americas Car Museum Tacoma WA
Owner/developer: LeMay -- Americas Car Museum
Lead Engineers: Magnusson Klemencic Associates) PSF Mechanical Holmes Electric Smith Fire Systems Western Wood Structures Geoengineers
Lead Architect: Grant/Price Architects
Pay a visit to LeMay -- Americas Car Museum and look up for an awe-inspiring view of the wood structure above the top floor. Construction of this arching structure was one of the many challenges for the JTM team. The team took an innovative approach by building the vertical wall sections of the heavy timber structure in prefabricated jigs at ground level and then flying them into place 40’ above. This ensured quality and safety by building these components in a controlled environment. There are over 750 Glu-Lam purlins spanning between the 5’ deep curving Glu-Lam arches. Within the space and just like a snowflake not one of the purlins is the same as another. Another challenge was the project budget. JTM value-engineered several components of the building without sacrificing design integrity ultimately saving $3 million and allowing the project to break ground after 10 years of programming and fundraising.
Mowat Construction Co.
Category: Public Building Over $25 Million
Project: SeaTac/Airport Station (Sound Transit C430) SeaTac WA
Owner/developer: Sound Transit
Lead Engineer: Hatch Mott MacDonald
Lead Architect: Hewitt
The SeaTac/Airport Station story is one of dedication and innovation driven by a team of professionals committed to providing Sound Transit with a top-quality finished product. With the initial bid significantly over budget the Mowat team engaged in preconstruction services resulting in a negotiated contract to meet both budget and schedule demands. By value-engineering and redesigning architectural features hardscape items and structural steel construction costs were reduced by over $20 million. The unique process emulated a design-build delivery where a portion of the construction was allowed to proceed as design details and value engineering opportunities were developed. Client satisfaction can be summed up by this quote from Ron Lewis Deputy Director of Sound Transit: “Mowat’s senior and executive management team played a key role in problem solving and finding effective solutions to challenging project issues. They generated creative and cost-effective solutions to help the owner achieve the desired project objectives of on-time completion within budget.”
Abbott Construction Inc.
Category: Tenant Improvement/Remodel Under $5 Million
Project: Lutheran Community Services - Structural Remediation Seattle WA
Owner/developer: Lutheran Community Services
Lead Engineer: Swenson Say Faget
Lead Architect: SMR Architects
Abbotts project involved structural remediation to an existing occupied building. With a schedule of only two weeks the crew was scheduled for 16 hour days 7 days a week with a goal of three micro piles completed per day and enough time thereafter to reframe walls tape finish and paint. However the driving of the 19 micro piles proved challenging as the size of the machine which could not be taller than 12 feet made drilling through cobbles and boulders encased in glacial till difficult. By day four only four micro piles had been completed and what started out to be a two-week window turned into nine days to drill micro piles through cobble-encased glacial till erect structural steel weld steel inspect steel frame walls and reinstall all finishes inside and out. Nevertheless the project was successfully delivered on-time and Abbott was awarded the next project for Lutheran Community Services.
Wade Perrow Construction LLC
Category: Tenant Improvement/Remodel Over $5 Million
Project: Recovery/Repair DPT Training Facility Joint Base Lewis-McChord Seattle WA
Owner/developer: US Army Corps of Engineers
Lead Architect: WJA Design Collaborative
Historical renovations by nature bring a unique set of challenges. For WPC one of the key aspects of this project was to retain the defining historic features on the interior making sure they were preserved or reconstructed to comply with Federal Historic Preservation laws. The historical interior wood work that WPC replicated and replaced was assigned as work packages to journeyman carpenter-apprentice teams. This enabled a high level of quality and efficiency as several teams simultaneously worked on various work packages and it provided apprentices with new and improved skills to become more valuable workers in their field. “The attention to detail on the historic trim was particularly noteworthy” noted the Museum curator. Said Albert Clark Quality Assurance Rep for the USACE: “I would like to thank you for your dedication and consistent work towards exceeding project expectations and excellence. I was very impressed with your highly qualified professional staff that provided outstanding on-site supervision patience poise and commitment throughout the progress of our contract.
Guy F. Atkinson Construction LLC
Category: Highway and Transportation
Project: SR-16 Westbound Nalley Valley Viaduct Tacoma WA
Owner/developer: Washington State Department of Transportation
Lead Engineer: McNary Bergeron & Associates
One of the most remarkable aspects of the project is that it included a segmental bridge — one built in segments and assembled on top of a column building outward. Atkinson proposed this method to replace WSDOT’s plan for a steel tub bridge. A segmental bridge built with concrete saved the company and state money at a time when steel costs were high and it was the first time this method was used on a WSDOT project. Crews built individual segments offsite and assembled them above the freeway overnight. Coordination between day shift and night shift added to the complexity -- so did the fact that each segment was different and required custom work. The viaduct was $14 million under budget and completed several months ahead of schedule. Crews built 10 new bridges including the segmental overpass connecting northbound I-5 to westbound SR 16. The bridges constructed from new approaches on 77 piers span more than seven acres.
Korsmo Construction Inc.
Category: Green Building
Project: University of Washington Tacoma Russell T. Joy Building
Owner/developer: University of Washington Tacoma
Lead Engineer: Glumac Engineers
Lead Architect: THA Architects
Korsmo served as GC/CM for the renovation of the historic Russell T. Joy Building the first building in Tacoma and first on any UW campus to achieve a Platinum rating in the new construction/major remodel LEED system. The 47000 square foot three-story building was originally expected to achieve LEED Gold but by incorporating additional sustainable strategies and materials and detailed LEED point tracking the project was awarded a LEED Platinum certification. One of the many factors elevating the project to LEED Platinum was the reuse of materials. Much of the existing timber was salvaged milled and finished to become some of the architectural features of the new building. Plus rainwater from the roof will be filtered through exterior planters before going back into the city storm drain reducing storm water runoff. The antique elevator motor and hoistway equipment were salvaged restored and mounted near the new elevator to replicate the original machinery configuration as an artistic feature and reference to the history of the building.
Turner Construction Co.
Category: Technology
Turner launched a company-wide initiative to apply Lean philosophy to its projects with the help of barcode readers Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and QR codes. This technology-infused Lean approach has helped Turner streamline its project processes and manage data more effectively on its construction sites. Information such as room numbers are associated with items such as MEP equipment security safety conditions finish schedules electrical schedules medical equipment product data QA/QC ongoing production and potential installation issues. An example of the application of these methodologies is Turners work at Nintendo of America. As equipment was delivered to an off-site staging area UPC barcodes tied pieces of equipment to their respective submittals. With the project staging area far from the construction site Turner used c.docs a proprietary web-based repository of project information on a tablet with the bar code system. This made it easy for job staff to efficiently verify that the project team was handling the right equipment.