The new 44-story Spring condominium tower is Austin’s first “point tower,” a design concept that lends itself to far-reaching views and offers a tremendous amount of space efficiency. Photo: Park Street Photography Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards Its slender design allows for glass-walled living rooms and bedrooms in each unit that overlooks the city. The concrete-frame building has HVAC ducts embedded inside 7.5-in.thick post-tension concrete slabs. There are no interior columns. The 249-unit tower also includes a seven-story garage with two underground and five above-ground levels of parking and approximately 10,000 sq ft of ground-level commercial/retail space wrapping the
At 115,000 sq ft, the Tellepsen Family Downtown YMCA is the flagship facility of the YMCA of Greater Houston. Photo: Thomas Mcconnell Photography Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards Four generations of the Tellepsen family have served on YMCA boards. The project is seeking LEED silver and may receive LEED gold. Innovations incorporated into the facility include an in-slab electrical system for strength/cardio equipment to prevent cords from being seen and becoming a trip/safety hazard. It also includes metal mesh ceilings to increase airflow and reduce humidity, polished concrete floors in public corridors and a glass wall at the main
Intense teamwork was necessary right from the beginning of the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas’ Hamon Tower project. The tower would be built right in the middle of campus over a main traffic throughway. Its location was needed as a connection for six existing structures. Photo: Ed Lacasse Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards Austin Commercial and HKS had to coordinate with the hospital facilities group, hospital staff and its users as well. The seven-story, 460,000-sq-ft tower reaches two levels below ground. The GC/CM had to work with many team members to coordinate logistical obstacles. Several structures associated with
Built on a 30,000-sq-ft site with zero laydown area, The Austonian project team had to lease an adjacent 5,000-sq-ft staging area during construction and orchestrate material deliveries with precision.
Despite a number of high-risk activities involved in construction of the 1.6 million-sq-ft hospital tower, the Hensel Phelps team was able to successfully achieve completion two days early. Photo: Richard Muniz Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards With more than five million patient visits annually and one of the highest densities of clinical facilities of any location, the Texas Medical Center in Houston is the largest medical district in the world. It contains 42 medicine-related institutions, 13 hospitals and two medical schools. The project began with the implosion of Methodist’s Diagnostic Clinical Center to make way for the 26-story tower.
The Chrysalis Building at Houston’s Monarch School is a three-story, 24,700-sq-ft educational facility that includes classrooms, observation rooms, diagnosis areas and community spaces for students with mental and social differences. The project represents the first phase of the multibuilding Monarch campus. Photo: Skyworks Photography Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards The project’s LEED-gold designation meant the project team faced unique design requirements such as inverted roofs, specialized materials and air-quality controls. The jobsite had been hit by Hurricane Ike, which delayed construction and damaged installed items. Mission Constructors, the general contractor, helped push the project from LEED silver to gold
With the completion of its Thermal Energy Storage Facility project, the University of Texas has one of the most cost-effective and economical central heating and power district energy plants in the world. Photo: Roy Mata Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards The project involved construction and complete installation of a 4-million-gallon steel thermal-energy storage tank. The project included sitework, drilled piers, structural slab, steel-tank construction, insulation systems, protective guardrailing, tappings for piping and controls, and associated filling and testing. The work is part of the university’s energy-efficiency initiative. Working around existing utilities proved to be a challenge for the project
Barney Davis and Nueces Bay are two sites about 20 mi apart on the Gulf Coast. Photo:Lanman Aerial Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards When Topaz commissioned Zachry, the general contractor, to re-power these plants on brownfield sites, Zachry faced challenges ranging from aged existing infrastructure, and the need for demolition, to nearby waterlines and a lack of laydown space. Nueces Bay held five existing gas-fired plants built in the 1940s. The plants were on reclaimed dirt from the bay in the 1920s. The site is located adjacent to the ship canal and required massive structure modifications. Reclaimed earth typically
Originally anticipated to receive LEED-silver certification, the 69,988-sq-ft French Family Center addition to Ursuline Academy’s existing campus surpassed expected goals and was awarded LEED gold. Photo: John W. Davis, DVD Design Group Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards The project diverted 76.92% of its waste from landfills, reduced the use of potable water for irrigation by 59.5% and reduced the potable water use in the building by 47.5%. More than 45% of the materials used on the project were harvested or manufactured within 500 mi and 44.36% contained recycled content. The building had an overall energy reduction of 32.7%. A
After a tornado demolished the Valley Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth, the congregation learned that insurance money would not replace the structure, or provide additional space for the church’s growing numbers. Photo: The Beck Group Related Links: Best of 2010 Awards The GC/CM, The Beck Group, provided design and construction services at no cost and, aided by community and industry members, delivered a new place of worship big enough to accommodate the entire congregation at the historical location it had called home for the past 100 years. The new structure has 3,500 sq ft of space, more than double
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