Photo by Bill Timmerman Photography
Best Government/Public Building: Chandler City Hall

Chandler City Hall

Chandler, Ariz.  Region ENR Southwest

Project Team

Owner City of Chandler

Architect SmithGroup Inc., Phoenix

General Contractor Sundt Construction, Tempe, Ariz.

Engineers Dibble and Associates, Phoenix; Caruso, Turley and Scott, Tempe

An elegant design, highly detailed construction plan and integral community involvement were just a few of the reasons judges raved about the first city hall built for this Phoenix suburb. An LED-lit kinetic sculpture graces the front of a six-story office tower that is supported laterally by unusual cast-in-place, exposed concrete K-braces. Of all the LEED Gold-certified building's sustainable features, none is more visible than the parking garage's waterfall, which aids in cooling the mechanical system's condensate water and irrigates the xeriscaping. Using lean construction scheduling methods along with building information modeling made available on the jobsite via tablet-based mobile office devices, the project team shaved almost $4 million from the original budget.