Texas &amp; Louisiana On the Scene: October 2018

Texas & Louisiana On the Scene: October 2018

Houston’s construction industry celebrated the outstanding projects built by AGC Houston members at the Awards for Project Excellence on Sept. 22.

*PHOTO COURTESY OF AGC HOUSTON*

On Aug. 25, VLK Architects competed for the Golden Bucket award on Galveston’s east beach for the 2018 AIA Sandcastle Competition.

*PHOTO COURTESY OF VLK ARCHITECTS*

Houston’s construction industry celebrated the outstanding projects built by AGC Houston members at the Awards for Project Excellence on Sept. 22. Eighteen firms took home 37 gold, silver and bronze APEX awards for outstanding building projects.

AGC Houston recognized Peter Dawson, who recently retired as senior vice president of facilities services at Texas Children’s Hospital, with the 2018 AGC Houston Master Builder Award to acknowledge his long-standing support of the construction industry. Dawson championed the Construction Career Collaborative (C3), which developed a process to grow the workforce pipeline. Pictured from left are Jerry Nevlud, AGC Houston president and CEO; Dawson; and Tony Mansoorian, AGC Houston vice-chairman of the board and COO of W. S. Bellows Construction Corp.

Gilbane Building Co. won a gold award in the office building (over $20 million) category for the Phillips 66 Campus. The Silver LEED, 2 million-plus-sq-ft corporate campus houses nearly 1,800 employees and includes a 14-story and a 16-story office tower and a parking garage. Pictured from left are Kevin Virag, Scott Orr, Dylan Sims, Henry Castro, Angela Cotie, Dave Walker, Justin Rohr, Alan Coleman, Mick Doherty and Ahmed Alsaffar.

On Aug. 25, VLK Architects competed for the Golden Bucket award on Galveston’s east beach for the 2018 AIA Sandcastle Competition. VLK Architects partnered with DBR Engineering for AIA’s 32nd annual event. The Toys R Gone design was the winner of the best team signage category of the competition. The builders were supported by family, friends and employees from both offices as well as a packed spectator section.

Planning for the competition began with several design meetings to discuss ideas. The team used special software for the site design, which allowed them to understand the scale and complexities of the task.

The final design consisted of the classic Toys R Us storefront with an Amazon bulldozer plowing over the store. The iconic Geoffrey the giraffe was placed in front of the store with a tear coming down his face. The Toys R Gone lettering was carved out at the front of the site. The winning sign was a combination of donated Amazon boxes and donated toys with a graphic poster.