July 30, 2020

8 Pacific Northwest projects win national awards for design-build

Photo by Kelly Beck [enlarge]

Riverfront Park U.S. Pavilion has a circular enclosure or “ring” of about 1.5 acres.

The Design-Build Institute of America recently honored eight Pacific Northwest projects with national merit awards in several categories.

DBIA said interest in the annual contest was strong, with the number of entries among the highest in years. It said jurors found more design-build innovation on projects beyond just schedule and budget.

“From rapid response COVID-19 medical units to delivering essential infrastructure that strengthens our nation, design-build continues to play a vital role in building our communities,” said DBIA Executive Director/CEO Lisa Washington in a news release. “This year’s design-build project/team award winners are the best examples of how the power of collaboration and innovation is transforming the way we design and build.”

A total of 37 projects across the country won merit awards and will compete for a National Award of Excellence and Project of the Year. Winners will be announced Oct. 29 at DBIA’s Design-Build Conference and Expo awards ceremony.

Here are the Pacific Northwest winners:

Riverfront Park U.S. Pavilion (Spokane)

Civic/Assembly

Photo by Miles Bergsma [enlarge]

The original pavilion was built for the 1974 World’s Fair in Spokane.

The U.S. Pavilion and adjacent promenade are on Havermale Island at the center of Riverfront Park. The original U.S. Pavilion, built for the 1974 World’s Fair, consists of a 150-foot-tall angled mast supporting a 50-foot-diameter steel ring. It was transformed into a multifunctional space and extension of the park, with a lighted net structure from the ring downward to a circular, buttressed concrete wall.

Integral to the concrete wall on the west side is a 16,000-square-foot, two-story, monumental concrete building. The footprint of the resulting circular enclosure or “ring” is about 1.5 acres.

Client/owner: Spokane Parks and Recreation Department

Design-build firm: Garco Construction

Architect: NAC Architecture

Engineer: Jacobs

Specialty contractor: GuildWorks LLC

Duration: 21 months

Cost: $24.7 million

Bellevue College Student Success Center

Educational Facilities

Photo from DBIA [enlarge]

This progressive design-build project involved a collaborative approach for design and construction of the 71,000-square-foot, three-story structural steel Student Success Center. The center is home to more than 15 departments and is at the main gateway and center of campus, convenient for students and visitors to get information about the school.

Inspired by the college’s mantra of “students first,” it has three floors that mirror students’ progression through their academic journey, with entry services on the first floor, student support services on the second floor and student success services on the top floor.

Client/owner: Bellevue College

Design-build firm: Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company

Architect: Ankrom Moisan Architects

Engineer: Coughlin Porter Lundeen

Specialty contractor: Cochran Electric

Duration: 19 months

Cost: $28 million

King County Children and Family Justice Center (phase 1A)

Federal/State/County/Municipal

Photo from DBIA [enlarge]

The Children and Family Justice Center replaces an outdated Youth Services Center with a trauma-informed facility that provides modern youth and family court services, as well as a flexible and therapeutic juvenile detention center. The new facility has a 137,000-square-foot courthouse with 10 courtrooms and a 112-bed juvenile detention center, allowing for flexibility to reduce detention space in the future. There also is 10,200 square feet for youth programs and 1.55 acres of open area that includes pedestrian and bicycle pathways and a public plaza.

The design-build team was committed to increasing employment and job-training opportunities for veterans, women and people of color, with 26% of total craft hours performed by building apprentices. About 23% of those apprentices were minorities and 7% were women. The team also set up and completed a 12-month mentor-protege program for a small contractors and suppliers company.

Client/owner: King County

Design-build firm: OAC Services

General contractor: Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company

Architect: HOK

Engineer: AHBL

Specialty contractor: Greenbusch Group

Duration: 32 months

Cost: $186.22 million

UW Harborview Medical Center hybrid bi-plane operating room

Healthcare Facilities

Photo from DBIA [enlarge]

As Washington’s only Level 1 trauma center, the University of Washington Harborview Medical Center needed to create a hybrid operating room with bi-plane imaging equipment. The challenge was building the new operating room in the middle of an active operating theater in the basement of the hospital, all under an aggressive fixed budget.

This progressive design-build project reduced risk and brought best value throughout the work, bringing state-of-the-art technology to surgery services in support of lifesaving procedures to neurosurgical and cardiology patients.

Client/owner: University of Washington Harborview Medical Center

Design-build firm: Aldrich + Associates

Architect: Ankrom Moisan Architects

Engineers: Notkin; PCS Structural Solutions

Duration: 7 months

Cost: $3.35 million

UW Harborview Medical Center cart washers and sterilizers

Healthcare Facilities

Photo from DBIA [enlarge]

Replacing operating tool cleaning and sterilizing equipment was of critical importance to Harborview Medical Center. This project upgraded and replaced critical elements, specifically new cart washers and higher output sterilizers.

The entire project had to be performed while maintaining continuous use of the current equipment to maintain full functionality. As a result, the project was successful in replacing operating room tool cleaning and sterilizing equipment nearing the end of its useful life, while providing additional capacity in the same physical space.

Client/owner: University of Washington Facilities

Design-build firm: Mortenson

Architect: Ankrom Moisan Architects

Engineer: Lund Opsahl

Specialty contractor: Shinn Mechanical

Duration: 10 months

Cost: $3.18 million

John W. Walstrum Center for Advanced Manufacturing Technology (Lakewood)

Educational Facilities

Photo from DBIA [enlarge]

The John W. Walstrum Center for Advanced Manufacturing Technology is the first major design-build project for the state Board of Community and Technical Colleges. The 63,000-gross-square-foot LEED silver facility supports workforce and management skills training for high-demand occupations in Puget Sound’s aerospace, aviation and manufacturing industries. It contains labs for mechatronics, CNC, manual manufacturing, non-destructive testing and composites. It also contains active-learning classrooms, informal student study spaces and faculty offices.

The center emulates real-life industry environments that bring research and application together to promote lean principles and a continuous improvement cycle. Views into the labs and machines engage students, opening doors to career opportunities.

Client/owner: Washington Department of Enterprise Services

Design-build firm: Mortenson

Architect: Mithun (formerly Schacht Aslani Architects)

Engineer: AHBL

Specialty contractor: McKinstry

Duration: 14 months

Cost: $33.15 million

Grants Pass Water Restoration Plant (phase 2 upgrade)

Water/Wastewater

Photo from DBIA [enlarge]

This wastewater treatment rehabilitation project significantly upgraded the city’s water restoration plant. The progressive design-build team worked collaboratively with the city to implement improvements at the existing facility, while maintaining operations throughout construction.

The project touched almost every aspect of the facility, including modifications and replacements of existing control systems and basins. New control systems enhance operation and provide staff with comprehensive operational data and opportunities to optimize system performance.

Being a progressive design-build project, the team’s approach focused on minimizing cost, reducing risk, streamlining construction and improving schedule performance. Using the capabilities of all team members was critical to maintaining operation of the facility throughout construction and maximizing project value within the city’s limited budget.

Client/owner: City of Grants Pass, Oregon

Design-build firm: Jacobs

Architect and engineer: Jacobs

Specialty contractor: TEK Construction

Duration: 23 months

Cost: $25.32 million

Icy Strait Cruise Ship Berth II (Alaska)

Transportation

Photo from DBIA [enlarge]

This project was designed to handle the biggest cruise ships in the world on the shores of Hoonah, Alaska. It includes a mooring float, two reaction dolphins, four mooring dolphins, a 300-foot-long approach trestle and a 160-foot transfer bridge. In addition to pile installation, crews also installed steel dolphin caps and prefabricated timber approach trestle sections to complete the structure. As an add-on, small boat floats were installed on the shore side of the main float.

Using design-build on this project provided the owner with cost certainty through multiple conceptual designs, teaming early to develop concepts, perform preliminary engineering and establish a firm budget.

Client/owner: Huna Totem Corp.

Design-build firm: Turnagain Maine Construction

Engineer: R&M Consultants

Specialty contractor: Transpac Marinas

Duration: 5 months

Cost: $25.14 million

DBIA is a Washington, D.C.-based association representing architects, engineers, owners, contractors and manufacturers.