Article toolbar The companies on this year’s ENR Texas & Louisiana Top Design Firms listing shifted from last year, with AECOM Technology Corp. coming in first with $293.17 million in regional billings. The magazine ranks participating firms by the previous calendar or fiscal year for work performed in Texas and Louisiana. Photo courtesy of Chuck Smith, Charles Davis Smith Designing k-12 Corgan Associates, this year’s Top Design Firm, is the architect for the new Red Oak High School near Dallas. Cadence McShane Cos. completed the 40,000-sq-ft, three-story masonry and glass facility. Related Links: Top Designer of the Year Top Design
Article toolbar While the recession has brought pink slips at many design firms, Corgan Associates of Dallas says it has not laid off a single employee. While the firm has diversified by geography and market niches, it is still honing its reputation as a global leader in aviation and data center markets. Photo by Chuck Smith, Charles Davis Smith Career Oriented John A. Dubiski Career High School in Grand Prairie, Texas, boasts floor-to-ceiling windows. A palette of bronze hues and dark wood add to the school’s professional look. Related Links: Texas & Louisiana Top Design Firms Top Design Firms Main
Article toolbar Rising fuel costs and limited public school funding have heightened the interest of more than a few Texas school districts in greener, more energy-efficient schools. “They all want to save on energy costs,” says Susan Smith, vice president of Dallas-based design firm Corgan Associates. “It comes out of their operations and maintenance [budgets], so they are poised to save funds.” She adds that more school boards and constituents “want to see recycling and buildings that sustain themselves.” Photo courtesy of Corgan Associates Solar Power Charter Builders is constructing the net-zero Lady Bird Johnson Middle School. Corgan Associates designed
Article toolbar Austin's $508-million Water Treatment Plant No. 4 required engineers and contractors to creatively address a host of environmental concerns to ensure that the city could provide enough water for its growing population through the century. Photo Courtesy of MWH Constructors Pump station A pump station is being built between the lake and the new water treatment plant. “It's a backbone project for us, not just in terms of the next few years but for decades to come,” says Greg Meszaros, director of the Austin Water Utility. Participants not only have to build the plant on a hilltop, but
Article toolbar The sudden abundance of natural gas in the U.S. has owners of two new, but practically unused, liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals in Louisiana and Texas proposing expensive conversions to export the fuel—an unthinkable proposition just five years ago. Photo Courtesy Of Freeport Lng Development LP LNG transport Transfer arms will move liquefied natural gas from vessels docked at the Freeport LNG terminal. Freeport LNG and Cheniere Energy Inc., both of Houston, have announced separate plans to convert their existing LNG import terminals into export-import terminals, plans that would cost each company about $2 billion. The firms
By June 1, when the 2011 hurricane season starts, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its industry and municipal partners will have delivered the bulk of a $14.6-billion program to provide New Orleans and surrounding parishes with what they say will be the best flood protection ever.
Article toolbar A$400-million wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) project now under way at the Fayette Power Project near La Grange, Texas, will remove about 97% of sulfur dioxide emissions from the plant's two units and allow the 1,200-MW facility to meet permitting obligations. Photos courtesy of LCRA Above: Moving Into Place Contractors move a duct section made of carbon steel into position for final placement. Separate sections of this type of ductwork tie into existing chimneys. Top: Power to the people Lower Colorado River Authority and Austin Power Energy are spending $400 million to add scrubbers at the Fayette Power
Article toolbar While public projects dominate Texas and Louisiana's more than $10 billion in Top Starts for 2010, a smattering of private jobs also were able to secure enough backing to move forward. Rendering courtesy of Parkland New Parkland hospital The 862-bed facility in Dallas will replace the existing hospital and is set to be the largest public hospital in the U.S. constructed in a single phase. Projects associated with transportation, health care and the rebuilding of New Orleans infused billions into the region's construction market. Owners have embraced innovative approaches in financing, construction techniques and design to deliver needed
Article toolbar The construction manager for the $3.5-million partial rehabilitation of the 122-year-old Texas State Capitol in Austin was under a strict deadline—the job had to be completed in seven months. Despite a longer-than-expected lead paint removal process and outdoor temperatures that reached triple digits, crews managed to complete the work on time and 2% under budget. And there were no lost-time injuries. Photo Courtesy Of Flintco House DividedThe construction manager broke the repainting work into 190 grids, to align with the room’s elaborate ceiling design. The team used original chips of paint to match colors. A meticulously drawn yet
Louisiana Superdome, Phase Three�Re-Skin | New Orleans Holy Cross School Campus | New Orleans Related Links: The 2010 Best of the Best: ENR 21 Winners The Austonian | Austin Louisiana Superdome, Phase Three—Re-Skin | New Orleans Region: Texas and Louisiana Submitted by: Gibbs Construction While ensuring that waterproofing, vapor, wind loads and other Superdome repair needs were met, a metal-wall panel system with a structural sub-framing clip-attachment system was developed so a single wall panel can be removed from any location without disturbing the adjacent wall panels. The result employs an adjustable-clip system. New anodized panels match the original facade
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