The $25-million, two-story, 45,000-sq-ft Science and Student Life Center project at Sacred Heart High School is targeting and expected to achieve LEED for Schools platinum certification. The campus is situated on a private high school campus and includes a 700-seat assembly area, 300-seat cafeteria, kitchen and science classrooms. Related Links: Best of California 2009 The scope of the work presented an unusual situation where project engineers were assigned specific subcontractors to work with on procurement and installation when the trades had to work together. For example, in the assembly area, the advanced production equipment had to interface with the electrical,
The Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollenbeck Station is proof that you can still go green and deliver a satisfying civic structure. Related Links: Best of California 2009 The project encompasses two structures – an 8,200-sq-ft senior center and an 8,000-sq-ft community center – and a parking garage. The $15-million project includes several amenities for both adults and children, including a library room, art studio, computer lab, game room and dance and fitness studios. The project team – Swinerton Builders and LPA, Inc. – also included a number of sustainable features that they believe would earn the project LEED silver level
The remnants of a former marine theme park have been transformed into a deluxe megaresort for adults. Related Links: Best of California 2009 Once the home of Marineland, the Terranea Resort and Spa project is a 582- room luxury hotel and conference center. A 50,000-sq-ft spa and residential units were also built on the 102-acre site. Building the resort on bluff s near the Pacific Ocean was challenge. The city’s building permit stipulated that any material moved during grading would have to remain on the project site. To mitigate the impact, the project team crushed 65,000 tons of material and
The Marine Mammal Center is a 24-hour animal rescue and rehabilitation facility located on four acres of Fort Cronkhite in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The project’s design was inspired by environmental responsibility and the adaptive re-use of a decommissioned NIKE Air Missile launch site. Related Links: Best of California 2009 When the center was founded in 1975, it was merely a collection of bathtubs, children’s wading pools and chicken wire that acted as makeshift pens for stranded seals. Today, the facility boasts a modernized water treatment system that nearly quadruples the center’s water-holding and treatment capacity (from 47,000
One of the tallest residential building in the U.S. west of Chicago, the $350-million Millennium Tower consists of a 60-story tower, a 12-story mid-rise portion with apartments, an amenity level, retail space and a public glass atrium that links the two structures together. In total the project includes 419 condominium units, 21,500 sq ft of amenity space, 8,000 sq ft of retail space and a five-level underground parking garage for 340 cars. Related Links: Best of California 2009 At 645 ft, the tower is the fourth-tallest structure on the San Francisco skyline. The tower’s immense height posed many challenges and
This new 4,600-sq-ft, $2-million restaurant occupies two historic waterfront pier buildings in San Francisco, straddling what was once a railroad passage that the architect modified to create a full-service, 112-seat restaurant and a separate, counter-service cafe. Related Links: Best of California 2009 The Plant is one of the only restaurants in the country equipped with a rooftop solar PV system for on-site, electrical energy production. Natural, recycled and simple materials were chosen that would have a long lifespan and not affect indoor air quality. The maximum amount of natural light was maintained and increased with a maximum amount of glass
The Mary Avenue Bicycle Footbridge project included the construction of a 325-ft main span pedestrian and bicycle bridge over 10 lanes of Interstate 280. Including the two 89-ft back spans, the entire bridge length is 503 ft long. The project provides a bicycle and pedestrian connection between Cupertino and Sunnyvale, two cities that were previously divided by the highway, and includes the bridge, gateway paths, extensive landscaping, and public art. Related Links: Best of California 2009 Teamwork and group perseverance in solving technical problems was significant when the project hit a financial, architectural, and schedule snag that almost caused the
McCarthy Building Cos., a national construction firm with 76 ongoing projects in the Golden State, has been named California Construction’s 2009 Contractor of the Year. Related Links: Best of California 2009 The award program judged contractors operating within California based on their records of excellence in three general categories: Business Leadership, Investment in People and Community/Industry Involvement/Leadership. In a year marked by national economic upheaval, McCarthy’s California divisions excelled in all three categories. Headquartered in St. Louis, Mo., McCarthy was founded as a family-owned company in 1864 and has grown to employing more than 2,100 people nationwide. Today, the 100
Taking more than five years to build, the LAC+USC Medical Replacement Facility took the teamwork of three general contractors to ensure that the massive project was completed successfully. Related Links: Best of California 2009 The facility is a 600-bed, 1.5 million-sq-ft hospital campus in Los Angeles. The facility includes an outpatient clinic building, eight-story inpatient tower, five-story diagnostic and treatment building and a central energy plant. The project involved three general contractors, McCarthy Building Cos., Clark Construction and Hunt Construction Group, which had to collaborate in order to manage the project which had as many as 1,200 workers on site
The 335,650-sq-ft, $80-million NADEV Printing Facility was completed in May after 15 months of construction to house printing of the Bay Area’s primary daily newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle. This first-of-its-kind facility in the U.S. consists of a 97,275-sq-ft press hall and a 238,375-sq-ft mail room, as well as office space, high bay storage and mechanical equipment rooms. Related Links: Best of California 2009 An aggressive development schedule and a LEED silver certification goal left little room for setbacks, according to the project team. The press hall portion of the project was completed six months after breaking ground, which was