Article toolbar Thanks to a wave of California acquisitions plus internal growth, Stantec, headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, has achieved a position as one of the state’s major design firms, working in a range of markets. Photo courtesy of Stantec LEED Silver Working with Anshen + Allen, which it has since acquired, Stantec saw the completion of the LEED-certified Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco. Related Links: Designers See Encouraging Signals in the Road Ahead Top Design Firms Main List Top Design Firms List by Market Sector Editors of ENR regional publications have chosen Stantec as the Top Design Firm of

Article toolbar Engineering and architectural firms took some hits last year, as ENR California’s Top Design Firms ranking indicates, but a big-picture look at the data provides some reason for optimism. Rendering courtesy of Smithgroup Downtown SF Medical Center SmithGroup, No. 14 on this year�s Top Design Firms list, designed the California Pacific Medical Center campus at Cathedral Hill. Related Links: Top Designer of the Year Top Design Firms Main List Top Design Firms List by Market Sector California revenue for major design firms declined just 1.2% in 2010 to $3.23 billion, compared with $3.27 billion in 2009. Lists for

Article toolbar Thanks in part to a controversial fast-track approval process, a major solar thermal power project is now under way in San Bernardino County. Photo Courtesy Of Brightsource Energy Assembly Required BrightSource employees assemble heliostats during construction of a solar energy development center. The Ivanpah Electric Generating System, developed, owned and operated by BrightSource Energy Co., Oakland, and NGR Energy, Princeton, N.J., could deliver 370 MW per year of solar thermal power from the floor of the Mojave Desert as soon as 2013. Alternative-energy advocates praise the project as an example for accelerating regulatory approval for other solar power

Article toolbar Take a heath-care company whose construction projects are so massive that they often lift entire local economies. Add generous amounts of innovation and philanthropic spirit as well as an enviable record of worker safety and innovation. That’s a recipe for success, and it’s why ENR California has chosen Kaiser Permanente as its Owner of the Year for 2011. Rendering Courtesy Of Recurrent Energy Super Solar Santa Clara Project: Santa Clara Medical Center Kaiser Permanente contracted Recurrent Energy to design and build a 1-MW elevated solar installation atop two existing parking garages. The Owner of the Year selection is

Article toolbar This Year's Top Starts ranking clearly illustrates two points: California took full advantage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and other federal funds to launch many projects, and large health-care projects, which accounted for six of last year’s top 10 projects, continue to make a mark, thanks to the state’s upcoming deadline for seismic upgrades to hospitals and medical facilities. Additionally, while construction markets continue to be tough, this year’s top 25 starts total more than $8 billion in construction value, compared with $7.5 billion for 2009’s top 39. Image Courtesy Of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Article toolbar Gonzalez Goodale Architects and Morillo Construction recently put the finishing touches on the 31,400-sq-ft Department of Water and Power building in Pasadena. The $10-million civic project, which houses operations, maintenance crews and supervisors along with a city Emergency Operations Center, garnered a Merit Award for design from the Pasadena Foothill chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Situated within Pasadena Water and Power�s corporate yard on 245 West Mountain Street, the new building reprises the volume and vertical rhythms of the historical 1930s brick and concrete warehouse across from it while maintaining a distinct contemporary architectural identity, the

Article toolbar Delicate operations are the rule, not the exception, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. However, one of the procedures carried out recently didn’t involve any skillful surgeons or celebrity patients. The S. Mark Taper Foundation Imaging Center Renovation, which is replacing the unit’s magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine and its 18,000-lb magnet, required a delicate transplant of heavy equipment to ensure that the patient could live on and serve the community for years to come. The machine “is in the center of the hospital, directly adjacent to the emergency department, with X-ray rooms on both sides and

The Savannah District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded contracts totaling $35.5 million for projects at Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Included is a $28-million contract awarded to W.G. Yates and Sons of Biloxi, Miss., to build the Battle Command Training Center at Fort Bragg. The 145,585-sq-ft facility will provide soldiers with virtual battle command training. The building will include photovoltaic solar collectors mounted on the roof that can produce 25 kilowatts of electrical power. The project is scheduled for completion in May 2012. Also, USACE

Submitted by Flatiron At the foot of the rugged Santa Cruz Mountains stands the 50-year-old Lenihan Dam — a 1,000-ft-long earthen barrier holding water stored at the Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos. Surrounded by pristine wilderness, the trail system around this reservoir is one of the most scenic in Northern California. The 2.5-mi-long reservoir is the second-largest reservoir under the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s authority, with a capacity of 19,044 acre-ft and a surface area of 412 acres. Over the past few decades, the dam’s old outlet structure, a 50-in. steel pipe, had begun to buckle and corrode. Despite

Submitted by Nacht & Lewis The $4.7-million Plumas-Sierra courthouse is the first multi-jurisdictional courthouse in California, strategically located to serve Portola, Loyalton and the Highway 395 corridor. The single-story building in Portola accommodates one jury courtroom, chambers, jury deliberation, clerks’ area and a self-help center. The design team was faced with the challenge of preparing construction documents in 30% less time in order to meet the deadline required to award the project and allow the contractor to mobilize and pour the foundation prior to the first snow storm of the year. The documents were finished in August, the project bid