It’s been a busy year for Chalker Putnam Collins & Scott — and also an exciting one.

One of its recent projects, a children’s therapy unit at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, was featured on the cover of the August edition of Building Design and Construction Magazine.

Designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects, the building reflects a Noah’s Ark theme, with a curved wall like the hull of a ship and porthole-style windows.

Revenues at Chalker Putnam Collins & Scott have been growing by about 15 to 20 percent a year for the last three or four years, says Dan Putnam, president and CEO, and the company has added eight employees in the last year, giving it a staff of 45.

Driving the firm’s success is a wave of school construction. When the economy was on a roll, many school districts passed school construction bonds. Now, even though the economy has cooled, bond-funded projects will keep Chalker Putnam Collins & Scott busy for the next several years, says Putnam.

Current projects include new high schools in Auburn, Sumner, Tacoma and Bethel.

“These high schools are becoming what we’ve done with college facilities,” says Putnam, citing state-of-the-art science and performing arts facilities. “They are very sophisticated buildings.”

Another big source of work for the firm stemmed from last February’s earthquake. “The couple of months after the quake was a challenging couple of months helping clients evaluate and make improvements to their buildings,” says Putnam. “We still have residual work from the earthquake. We’re doing a large study for Central Washington University.”

In addition, Putnam says the firm has seen a sudden surge in assisted-living facilities and also is working on a pair of hospital expansions.

Meanwhile, Chalker Putnam Collins & Scott has completed work on the Tacoma Art Museum, is wrapping up work on the Pierce County Jail and is continuing work on the University of Washington Tacoma, where it has been involved in the development of the growing campus for the last seven or eight years.

“As far as I know, we’ve done all of the engineering for that campus,” says Putnam.

As a Tacoma native, Putnam says he takes particular pride in the firm’s contributions to the revival of downtown Tacoma. Besides working on the museum and the university, it previously worked on the restoration of Union Station and construction of the Washington State History Museum.