Award of Merit - Higher Education/Research Located on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, The National Center for Supercomputing Applications Petascale Computing Facility is a state-of-the-art building designed to provide a secure and efficient operating environment for the Petascale system, supporting cyber-infrastructure and associated technical and research personnel. Photo: Matt Mcfarland div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The PCF will become home to the world’s fastest supercomputer, known as Blue Waters, which will operate at 10 petaFLOPs (one thousand trillion floating point operations per second). The machine will have the computing power of the current top 500 supercomputers in

Award of Merit - Green Building The Nature Conservancy of Indiana wanted a headquarters with a carbon footprint so small the building would be among the first in Indiana to win LEED Platinum certification. Photo Courtesy: The Nature Conservancy div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Its vision inspired both Wilhelm Construction and Axis Architects to complete the new headquarters to meet the requirements for LEED Platinum status. The Nature Conservancy’s new headquarters building, The Efroymson Conservation Center, is a 22,500-sq-ft, three-story office building. The exterior design elements include limestone, reclaimed brick, cement board siding rain screen system, operable windows and

Award of Merit - K-12 Education Turner Construction Co. was selected as construction manager for the new 225,000 sq ft School for the Creative and Performing Arts. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" In addition to housing some of the most technologically advanced theater and recording spaces in the region, the new facility features various dance, art, choir and piano studios and offers students a one-of-a-kind learning environment designed specifically for the arts. The School for the Creative and Performing Arts is currently the only public-private K-12 performing arts school in the country and was constructed as part of the

Award of Merit - Cultural This new 25,800-sq-ft, LEED-registered branch library in north central Davenport makes sustainability a priority. Photo: Trent Foltz Photography div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Among the green technologies implemented are cool daylighting, water management and geo-exchange, or geothermal heating and cooling. The facility features elements that create a “destination point,” including two community rooms and a Friends of the Library bookstore with café. The library has been sited in a 14-acre park designed to include bike and walking trails and an outdoor event area. Varied soil conditions, water table and topography dictated a coordinated approach

Award of Merit - Renovation/Restoration This project required the comprehensive retrofit of an existing nursing and rehabilitation facility, including a 77,000-sq-ft, one-story brick exterior with extensive landscaping, courtyards and patios. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Careful phasing and specific planning on every level needed to be pre-determined and perfectly executed in order for all entities to come together to achieve a successful outcome. With all involved parties on the same page it allowed for a more seamless execution from the beginning of the process to completion. The first step was to educate the elderly residents and to essentially include

Award of Merit - Health Care This 158,000-sq-ft, three-story facility houses primary care and specialty doctors in an innovative partnership. Photo: Image Studios div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The freestanding ambulatory facility brings a health system, employed and independent physicians and ancillary services together as equity partners with shared services and consultation across specialties. The center is expected to have 4,100 patient registrations per week and house more than 300 employees. The overall culture on the project was one of teamwork and dedication to producing a finished product of maximum value for the owner. Each of the key team

Project of the Year - Civil/Public Works (Tie) The Exelon City Solar project required the construction of a 32,800-solar panel,10-megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant in the Historic West Pullman District on 40 acres of land owned by Chicago. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" A small operation and maintenance building was constructed to support the solar plant’s operations. In July, the team of Exelon Generation, SunPower, Turner Construction Co. with joint venture partner Riteway Huggins, dedicated the plant, which is now the nation’s largest urban solar power plant. Exelon Generation owns and operates the new power plant and markets the

Project of the Year - Cultural Construction & Architectural Design The word “collaboration” best describes the teamwork and the ability to collectively overcome challenges throughout the design and construction phases of Fortaleza Hall. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Using multiple proactive management tools, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) systems and Lean Construction methods, the team was able to identify, resolve and successfully implement the construction of Fortaleza Hall. From the conception of the project, both the project teams understood the end goal Fortaleza Hall was meant to capture. Pushing the limits of typical construction practices, there was a constant check

Award of Merit - Cultural The design of this new 10,000-sq-ft LEED Gold-certified branch library integrates cool daylighting; geothermal heating and cooling; and on-site stormwater management. Photo: Daniel Kabara div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" This eye to efficiency is carried through the planning to allow the library to operate the branch with a minimum number of staff. “Floating” librarians, express check, digital reference and automated sorting are integrated into the atmosphere of this new model for library service. In the conceptual design phase of the project, the construction manager developed a very detailed cost projection based on the documents

Project of the Year - Small Project Children’s Bureau selected the team of Shiel Sexton as construction manager and Schmidt Associates as architect/engineer for its new $7.3 million state-of-the-art Gene Glick Family Support Center. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The 43,000-sq-ft building provides a warm atmosphere for the children and families of the community that it serves. The new center offers a variety of daycare, overnight stays and positive youth development programs for kids. The building features approximately 100 rooms, a multipurpose gym with a short basketball court and telescoping bleachers, a full kitchen with walk-in coolers, cafeteria, nursery