Stakeholders on the Newhouse Replacement Project at Washington State’s Capitol Campus in Olympia, Wash., celebrated the project’s topping off in January. The existing Newhouse Building, part of the state’s campus since 1934, is being replaced as a result of several life-safety and seismic issues. Crews painted the final steel beam white and signed their names for posterity. A small evergreen and the American flag joined the beam while it was set. The Miller Hull Partnership LLP designed the project for the Washington State Dept. of Enterprise Services. Hoffman Construction served as general contractor, Lund Opsahl LLC as structural engineer and Reid Middleton as civil engineer.

Photo by Adri Arce, DPR Construction

When DPR Construction VDC project engineer Hannah Mahfood (pictured far left) found an opportunity and space to create a garden on the University of California, San Diego Health Hillcrest Redevelopment Phase 1 jobsite, she built four 4-ft by 4-ft by 2-ft pallet garden beds with craft labor foreman Curtis Perkins (pictured near left) to create what is now called Authenticity Garden.

This onsite garden has become a place where DPR teammates and partners can connect over shared interests.

Together, the team is nurturing an assortment of vegetables, fruits and herbs, such as cherry tomatoes, Chinese eggplant, zucchini, celery, strawberries, bell peppers, mint, rosemary and more. Mahfood says she hopes the garden can inspire other jobsites.

“Learning about teammates beyond their day-to-day work creates those valuable connections that bring us all close together as one team,” she says.

The Hillcrest Redevelopment’s first phase includes the McGrath Outpatient Pavilion, a six-floor, 250,000-sq-ft advanced medical facility that will house key clinical programs to address the region’s growing demand for specialized diagnostic, treatment and surgical services, notably in cancer care. The Pavilion is scheduled to open in 2025.