During a four-floor build-out for Microsoft’s DC Federal Sales Force and Health Solutions Group, it was discovered that there was not enough power in the base building to support the required loads for the group’s new data center. This midproject crisis required the entire project team to find a solution so the space could be occupied on schedule. Photo Courtesy Hitt Contracting Inc. Related Links: Mid-Atlantic Construction�s Best of 2009 Awards HITT’s project team, along with the design team, acted quickly to find alternative solutions that could be achieved within the required time frame. A permanent power upgrade would take

The $43 million Thomas Jefferson Foundation Monticello Visitor and Smith History Center is part of a larger project that adds visitor and education outreach services on the campus of Thomas Jefferson’s historic home. Photo Courtesy of Dan Grogan Related Links: Mid-Atlantic Construction�s Best of 2009 Awards The LEED gold-certified center’s sustainable elements include a geothermal heating and cooling system; two green roofs; the extensive use of locally sourced, sustainably produced building materials; energy-efficient elements such as double glazed-windows and louvered blinds; advanced storm-water removal; water conservation measures; enhanced waste-water treatment; and recycling protocols. Key Players Owner: Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Charlottesville,

The Please Touch Museum, a popular children’s museum in Philadelphia, had outgrown its space. Instead of building a new space, the museum moved out of Center City Philadelphia to Fairmount Park and into Memorial Hall, an empty building constructed in the late 19th Century that is three times larger than the museum’s previous location. Photo Courtesy Don Pearse Photo Courtesy Don Pearse Related Links: Mid-Atlantic Construction�s Best of 2009 Awards To bring the space up to museum standards—and back to life—the joint venture of Daniel J. Keating Co./Bittenbender/McCrae renovated the 157,000-sq-ft Memorial Hall into space for a children’s museum, which

The project team building the $4 million 2009 Presidential Inaugural Review Stands kept a strong focus on sustainability, and 100% of the structural assemblies will be reused in future inaugurations. Related Links: Mid-Atlantic Construction�s Best of 2009 Awards In addition to new construction materials, all three stands incorporated materials reused from existing inventory. The fast-track project included the design and construction of three demountable structures used for the inauguration of President Barack Obama: a presidential review stand built in front of the White House, a three-story media stand at Lafayette Park and an additional review stand serving the D.C. mayor’s

The $9-million renovation of the Addison Elementary School complex in the historic Georgetown area of Washington, D.C., unearthed the historic character of the original 124-year-old school while transforming it into a contemporary facility. Photo Courtesy Kenneth M. Wyner Photography Related Links: Mid-Atlantic Construction�s Best of 2009 Awards Joint-venture partners Columbia Enterprises of Washington and Forrester Construction Co. of Rockville, Md., began the project in April 2008 and completed it in January. Scope of work included the addition of seven new classrooms, a multipurpose room, computer rooms, a health suite and other amenities. Exterior masonry was restored to match the existing

The Allegro in northwest Washington, D.C., has served as a catalyst for stabilization and enhancement of the Columbia Heights neighborhood. Photo Courtesy of Nicholas Waring Related Links: Mid-Atlantic Construction�s Best of 2009 Awards The $52 million Allegro, with 297 rental apartment units, ground-floor retail and below-grade parking, replaced an antiquated grocery store and repair facility on the site. Harkins Builders of Marriottsville, Md., began construction in February 2007 and completed it with no recordable safety incidents in March 2009. The pedestal building structure is comprised of an underground cast-in-place concrete garage and English basement, with a four-story wood frame structure

The $60 million American Pharmacists Association Headquarters Building built by Tishman Construction added a new 10-story, 335,925-sq-ft building to an existing 17,182-sq-ft historic building in a highly visible spot: the National Mall grounds. Photo Courtesy of Bryan Becker Photography Related Links: Mid-Atlantic Construction�s Best of 2009 Awards It’s one of the few non-government buildings on the National Mall, so all elements of the building were subject to stringent review by various government and historical agencies.The building, which has successfully fit in with its neighbors, features a cast-stone façade, bronze window grilles and standing-seam metal mansard roof. Key Players Owner: The

A few weeks after construction began on this educational software company’s tenant-improvement project, a full ADA core restroom upgrade was introduced to the scope, including new high-efficiency plumbing fixtures, stainless steel partitions, stone counters, tile finishes and lighting upgrades. Photo Courtesy of Adrian Wilson Related Links: Mid-Atlantic Construction�s Best of 2009 Awards The owner-initiated change meant Coakley & Williams crews had to add a second field team to the 112,000-sq-ft, high-end office space build-out. Key Players Owner: Blackboard Inc. Washington, D.C. General contractor: Coakley & Williams Construction Inc., Gaithersburg, Md. Architect: Hickok Cole Architects, Washington HVAC contractor: Potomac Mechanical Contractors

This $57-million four-story, 365,000 sq-ft project, built by Continental Building Systems of Pittsburgh, created a building that not only is the headquarters for CONSUL Energy but also forms the curved CONSOL corporate logo. Related Links: Mid-Atlantic Construction�s Best of 2009 Awards The building is orientated to use optimal natural lighting year-round, and solar shades on the building’s exterior prevent office spaces from getting too hot in the summer. The 10,000-sq-ft lobby uses natural light that pours in from skylights, and so it requires little or no electricity during the day. Continental also installed a 12-in.-deep, 8,000-sq-ft vegetated roof with grass

Children’s National Medical Center’s new $14-million, 54-bed neonatal intensive care unit features private rooms for premature infants and their families receiving services at the facility. Photo: Eric Taylor Related Links: Mid-Atlantic Construction�s Best of 2009 Awards The NICU expansion consisted of building out 36,000 sq ft of shelled space on the sixth floor of the East Tower, creating an intensive-care unit four times as large as was previously available. Private rooms allow for more control of the environment and therefore better patient outcomes. Karlsberger Architecture of Columbus, Ohio, designed the private patient rooms with superior acoustic, lighting and infection control.