PROJECT TEAM + STATS:

Project Location: Portland, Oregon
Project Cost: $7 million
Start Date: April 2009
Completion Date: December 2009
Owner/Developer:
Portland Community College
Architect: Sera Architects
Engineering Firms: GeoDesign,
InSite Group, KPFF Consulting Engineers,
General Contractor: Fortis Construction

With less than nine months in the project schedule, a project team led by Portland’s Fortis Construction Inc. rehabilitated an historic building into a new home for Portland Community College that consolidated its administrative functions and several of its programs in the heart of downtown.

The four-story Willamette Block building, built in 1882, required a full-scale structural seismic upgrade. Originally constructed with unreinforced masonry concrete, its wood columns, floors and joists were vulnerable to potential earthquakes.

“Seismic upgrades of this scope require a lot of temporary construction to allow for installation of permanent bracing and supports,” said Fortis superintendent Andy Franklin.

New high-performance, mechanical, lighting and fire/life safety systems were installed as part of the project. In addition, the project team removed harmful materials from inside the building, and added a new canopy, signage and fresh paint to the exterior.

The interior space is organized around a central atrium and a new, architecturally exposed, structural-steel staircase, which allows interdepartmental communication. Open office and public spaces are oriented at the exterior wall to maximize daylight access, while enclosed spaces borrow light through full-height relights at their doors.

A new conference room is the crown jewel of the building. It anchors the corner of the structure and gives the community college a visible presence downtown.

Marcus Klein, project manager with Fortis Construction, said the building’s location in the busy urban core offered limited accessibility, and it was a challenge to bring in materials, equipment and other deliveries necessary to the project.

Before the project even began, Fortis partnered with KPFF Consulting Engineers and Sera Architects to explore the building. The team opened up walls and ceilings to confirm as-built conditions and aid in design completion.

Fortis crews discovered some surprises during demolition. They could see that the original building was joined with another building or addition to the north at some point in its history. And a wood girder removed from an exterior wall had “1883” and the carpenter’s name carved into it.

With sustainability as a key goal, the rehabilitation effort incorporated 95 percent of the existing building. The renovations are expected to reduce water use by 40 percent and cut energy use by 25 percent. About 80 percent of construction waste was recycled or reused; 10 percent of building materials were local; and 50 percent of the wood products in the building are FSC certified. In addition, sealing the existing windows is expected to result in a 90 percent reduction in air infiltration, further enhancing the building’s energy efficiency.

Gary Sutton, PCC project manager, said the project’s success was due to massive coordination among the team members.

“We had a very constricted schedule and a very constricted budget and we met both of them,” he said. “It was a good project and we had a great team.”

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PROJECT TEAM + STATS:

Project Location: Portland, Oregon

Project Cost: $37 million

Start Date: March 2008

Completion Date: June 2009

Owner/Developer: Mercy Corps International

Architect: THA Architecture

Engineers: ABHT Structural Engineers, David Evans and Associates, Glumac

General Contractor: Walsh Construction Company

It’s perhaps an understatement to say that Mercy Corps’ new headquarters opened last summer with much fanfare. Bhavna Kumar, project manager for Portland’s Walsh Construction Co., recalls giving more tours during its construction than any other project she’s done. And since its completion, the building has garnered its share of national attention.

But, according to Paul Dudley Hart, Mercy Corps’ senior vice president, the international aid organization’s Global Action Center truly lived up to its name after an earthquake devastated Haiti in January.

“We now have a facility that makes our response more organized because people flow in and out of work spaces according to need and our volunteers are better coordinated to help out,” he said.

“But more than anything else, the ground floor is our connecting tissue with the community,” Dudley Hart added. “We had a vigil downstairs after Haiti, and it was less about fundraising and more about a place for people to come express their sympathy and sadness about what had happened.”

Mercy Corps’ goal in moving downtown was to consolidate its staff and operations into one building, and to create a headquarters that reflects the work it does and the populations it serves.

“Pretty much every day, the success of those who designed and built this building is manifested,” Dudley Hart said. “One of the things we told (architect) Tom Hacker is, ‘We want people to come together.’ So he built that into this wonderful central staircase we have as well as a couple of other places where people gather.

“That’s pretty remarkable to tell an architect what you want to achieve and he comes up with a feature that is a behavioral catalyst,” Hart added.

Originally constructed in 1892 as a fresh produce warehouse called the Packard Scott building, the structure required seismic upgrades. Mercy Corps added a new 40,000-square-foot steel and concrete structure to create an 80,000-square-foot home for its offices, action center, the Lemelson Foundation and a small retail space.

Kumar said blending the new structure with the historic building was among the most difficult aspects of the project. “The biggest thing was making sure the walls were shored properly while tying in the new building,” she said.

The LEED platinum building incorporates a host of environmentally friendly features, including a green roof and solar panels. The unique combination of technologies is an experiment in whether the cooling properties of the green roof will make the solar panels more efficient.

Dudley Hart said he hopes the building gives back to the community as much as the community has given to Mercy Corps.

“This was a great way to save an historic building, make it functional and do it through right-minded work,” he said. “Thanks to Portland’s support, we’ve done this for a fraction of what it would have cost otherwise. That savings flows to the beneficiaries we work for, so we feel deeply grateful to PDC, the city and the people of Portland for giving us this extraordinary opportunity and making it affordable.”

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PROJECT TEAM + STATS:

Project Location: Ashland, Oregon

Project Cost: $11 million

Start Date: July 2008

Completion Date: September 2009

Owner/Developer: Ashland School District No. 5

Architect: DLR Group

Engineer: ZCS Engineering

General Contractor: Adroit Construction Company

With less than a year to get the work done, Ashland’s Adroit Construction Company led the restoration of a 1910 schoolhouse and built a 45,000-square-foot addition to create a modern elementary school.

Previous additions conflicted with the architecture of the rough sawn wood-framed schoolhouse. The project team stripped away everything but the 7,000-square-foot entryway, which was retained to give the building character and honor its 100-year-old history.

As the team began its work, it discovered significant structural deficiencies. Rather than a simple facelift, the restoration became a major retrofit that had to be done from the inside so the exterior envelope wouldn’t be damaged.

“We had a lot more work to do and no more schedule, so the timeframe was the biggest challenge,” said Bob Mayers, Adroit Construction’s chief executive officer.

The restoration included new foundations, load-bearing and sheer walls, and a new roof diaphragm. The 45,000-square-foot addition, which was built simultaneously, houses a gym, cafeteria, and administration and classroom spaces.

“The decision to keep part of the old school is really a nice transition between the old and the new, and this is one of our nicest projects architecturally,” Mayers said.

The post TopProjects: Bellview Elementary School submitted by Adroit Construction Company appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

PROJECT TEAM + STATS:

Project Location: Portland, Oregon

Project Cost: $17 million

Start Date: January 2008

Completion Date: June 2009

Owner/Developer: University of Portland

Architect: Soderstrom Architects

Engineers: Interface Engineering,

KPFF Consulting Engineers, WH Pacific

General Contractor:Turner Construction Company

Shiley Hall’s renovation and addition project not only improved the learning environment for engineering students at the University of Portland; it became a learning lab for the students as well.

“We led a lot of tours during construction so students could see firsthand some of the concepts they were learning about,” said Joy Clark, project manager for Portland-based Turner Construction Company. “It was a great opportunity for the students and really exciting to be part of that process.”

The project involved a 44,000-square-foot renovation to the 68-year-old building, including brick restoration, seismic upgrades and full exterior window replacement. A new two-story, Vollum Study Room provides a gathering spot for students.

Clark said the biggest challenge was to complete demolition and construction on an occupied campus without disrupting students, faculty or staff. Turner obtained a class schedule so its work wouldn’t interfere with final exams and other student activities.

Designed for LEED gold certification, the building features a green roof, bioswale, energy-efficient lighting, sage glass in portions of the glass wall, a water-driven heating and cooling system in parts of the wall and floor, and water-efficient fixtures.

The Shiley Hall project received a Grand Award for Building Technology Systems from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Oregon.

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PROJECT TEAM + STATS:

Project Location: Salem, Oregon

Project Cost: $164 million

Start Date: July 2006

Completion Date: January 2009

Owner/Developer: Salem Hospital

Architect: HKS

Engineers: Coughlin Porter Lundeen, Smith Seckman Reid

General Contractor: Turner Construction Company

It’s been just over a year since Salem Hospital’s new patient tower opened, and the anniversary served as validation that the decisions made during the project were the right ones, said Cindy Wagner, director of facilities and environment for Salem Health.

“It was a challenge to bring together best practices and daily demand,” she said. “There are best practices for ways a hospital should be built but there are people who want to keep things the same, so managing change is always a challenge.”

Portland-based Turner Construction Company led the project team that built the steel-framed, seven-story tower and underground parking garage. At 450,000 square feet, the tower houses 120 patient beds, imaging, emergency trauma care, conference facilities, a chapel, 12 operating rooms, 48 intensive care rooms, five cath labs and a rapid response lab.

The project, which also included four pedestrian bridges that connect the tower to other BUILDINGS, was designed and built to achieve certification through Green Guide for Healthcare guidelines.

“I would say unequivocally that I was honored to be part a project that was great not only for our patients but for the community as a whole,” Wagner said. “This project resulted in a great health care environment and it was very rewarding to be part of that creation.”

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PROJECT TEAM + STATS:

Project Location: Portland, Oregon

Project Cost: $80.6 million

Start Date: November 2006

Completion Date: December 2009

Owner/Developer: Adventist Medical Center

Architectural Firm: PKA Architects

Engineering Firms: DuPont Engineering, James D. Graham & Associates, KPFF Consulting Engineers

General Contractor: Andersen Construction

Adventist Medical Center’s 361,500-square-foot expansion and renovation, which nearly doubled the size of its campus, included a patient tower, parking structure, physical plant addition, emergency department renovation and extensive infrastructure upgrades.

Two entire sides of the four-story, 198,000-square-foot pavilion were tied into the existing hospital floor by floor, and the hospital continued to provide service with this major expansion taking place just yards away. Infection control and noise control had to be maintained as construction took place near the radiation oncology department, emergency rooms, mechanical spaces and a medical office building.

The new pavilion contains cardiovascular services, an emergency department expansion and operating rooms for inpatient surgery. The top two floors are shelled for future medical office space.

The existing hospital’s emergency department was renovated to match the new emergency department. To ensure quality, the project team made mock-ups of operating rooms within the shelled space of the existing hospital. Doctors, nurses and medical technicians were brought through the mock-ups to share their input, and constructive changes resulted from the review.

The project team succeeded in meetings its 39-month schedule despite a worldwide shortage of steel that delayed their order by two months.

The post TopProjects: Adventist Medical Center expansion and renovation submitted by Andersen Construction appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

PROJECT TEAM + STATS:

Project location: Portland, Oregon

Project cost: $16.5 million

Start date: March 2008

Completion date: March 2009

Owner/Developer: Oregon Health and Science University

Architect: PKA Architects

Engineer: Mazzetti Nash Lipsey Burch

General contractor: Andersen Construction

A fast-track schedule for a total build out of the top two floors of the 14-story Kohler Pavilion required that Oregon Health & Science University, general contractor Andersen Construction and PKA Architects bypass the traditional public bid process.

Instead, they tapped firms they had previously worked with in order to complete tenant improvements to the 30 medical surgical oncology inpatient units and 30 bone marrow transplant units for the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute.

Creating a team composed of firms with previous experience working together allowed the entire project team to efficiently and effectively deal with the challenges inherent in conducting construction work while an intensive care unit on the 12th floor of the building remained operational. While installing plumbing on the 13th floor, for example, crews worked in rolling control carts with HEPA filters to meet strict infection control standards and minimize noise and vibrations. On the 14th floor, crews were required to seal rooms following precise specifications to meet stringent pressurization controls.

Through effective planning and innovation, the build out was successfully completed under budget and within 10 months. The project team then spent another month helping OHSU move into the new space and clearing the project punch list.

The post TopProjects: OHSU Kohler Pavilion submitted by Andersen Construction appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

PROJECT TEAM + STATS:

Project Location: Portland, Oregon

Project Cost: $14.5 million

Start Date: February 2008

Completion Date: August 2009

Owner/Developer: Ziba Design Inc.

Architects Firm: Holst Architecture

Engineers: AAI Engineering,

BEA Consulting, Reyes Engineering

General Contractor: R&H Construction

Holst Architecture’s goal in creating a new home for Portland-based Ziba Design was to provide a space that reflected Ziba’s unique attention to detail and specialized way of doing its own design work, according to Cassidy Bolger, Holst’s project manager.

To that end, the project team set out to craft an iconic “modern workshop” in Ziba’s World Headquarters. The project features 55,000 square feet of office space in the upper two stories and 15,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor.

Situated on a former brownfield site that once housed a train yard and a police horse barn, the building is certified LEED gold by the U.S. Green Building Council. More than 90 percent of construction waste was recycled and much of the building materials were made of recycled content. Among other green elements, the exterior wood is FSC-certified Camaru and the interior wood is reclaimed Douglas fir.

“When you’re designing someone’s home it feels very personal and intimate, and this was a lot like that because (Ziba founder) Sohrab (Vossoughi) wanted a very personal space as a home for his company,” Bolger said. “That was a challenge, but also made it very exciting and very rewarding in the end.”

The post TopProjects: Ziba World Headquarters submitted by Holst Architecture appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

PROJECT TEAM + STATS:

Project Location: Portland, Oregon

Project Cost: $79.3 million

Start Date: April 2007

Completion Date: March 2009

Owner/Developer:

Trammell Crow Residential

Architect:

Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects

Engineers: GeoDesign, Harper Houf Peterson Righellis, Kramer Gehlen & Associates, MKE & Associates

General Contractor:

Walsh Construction Company

Trammell Crow Residential was ready to move full steam ahead on its South Waterfront apartment tower when the city of Portland froze tax abatements that previously had been available for such projects.

The city’s decision dealt a blow to the project, stalling it for about a year. Once construction started, however, Riva on the Park began racking up several successes, including a 92 percent lease rate when it still had a year before opening, said Sam Rodriguez, a TCR development associate.

“The main attraction for us was obviously (Oregon Health & Science University). There are 12,000 jobs on the hill … and it’s a very attractive neighborhood because of the water nearby and views of the city,” he said.

Located on the streetcar line, the 22-story building houses 297 apartments and four levels of structured parking. It also features a vibrant pedestrian space with on-grade walkup flats that face a pedestrian access way and street-level retail. The brick veneer tower was designed with punched window openings at the northwest corner and a window-wall exterior opening to river views.

Built on a brownfield site, the 397,481-square-foot tower is topped by a 25,000-square-foot ecoroof. Originally designed for LEED silver certification, the project incorporated low-flow plumbing fixtures and dual-flush toilets and is pending LEED gold.

Rodriguez said Riva on the Park represents several firsts for TCR. It is the developer’s first project to incorporate an ecoroof and, if it achieves LEED gold, one of the first such certifications for a TCR property. Riva on the Park also is one of the tallest BUILDINGS TCR has developed.

The fifth floor includes an outdoor, landscaped, courtyard terrace, where the ecoroof is located. The courtyard also includes a BBQ/fireplace and a separate, stand-alone, 2,400-square-foot steel community building.

The fifth floor presented one of the biggest challenges on the project because it was a difficult floor to form and place, and required precise coordination. It is the transition deck that tops off the parking garage and separates the podium from the rest of the tower.

In addition, there are multiple elevation changes due to decks sloping to subterranean roof drains, while also having flat slabs for living areas.

Built adjacent to another high rise under construction, daily crane operations between the two contractors were coordinated successfully. In addition, coordinated deliveries prevented disruption to the streetcar during construction.

Rodriguez said that despite the down economy, the future looks bright for Riva on the Park.

“Obviously the recession hit everybody hard, but we believe it’s going to be very successful. The park will open shortly and the retail is getting stronger,” he said.

The post TopProjects: Riva on the Park submitted by Walsh Construction appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

PROJECT TEAM + STATS:

Project Location: Salem, Oregon

Project Cost: $33 million

Start Date: May 2008

Completion Date: September 2009

Owner/Developer: The Salvation Army

Architects: Barker Rinker Seacat,

CB2 Architects

Engineers: Miller Consulting Engineers,

Westech Engineering

General Contractor:

LCG Pence Construction

Jason Terry, project manager for LCG Pence Construction, has lived in Eugene, Corvallis and Portland, each of which boasts at least one major community center. When he moved to Salem about seven years ago, he realized it was the one city he had lived in that really didn’t have such an amenity.

So completion of the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center gives Terry personal satisfaction as well as serving as a professional point of pride. “Just seeing the excitement in the community and doing something that meant so much for the community really was great for me,” he said.

Situated on 10 acres, the 92,000-square-foot building houses a fitness and recreation center, classrooms, a library, a computer lab, art rooms, teen rooms with TVs and gaming systems, multiuse community rooms, an outdoor terrace for large banquets, conference rooms, a full-service kitchen, an outdoor amphitheater and a prayer garden. The center also features a 282-seat chapel that replaced the Salem Salvation Army’s previous worship space.

The aquatics portion of the community center includes a competition-size lap pool and a Northwest-themed leisure pool. The leisure pool is accented at the north end by three faux pine trees, one of which is 30 feet tall; an interactive play structure that straddles a “lazy river” section of the pool; and a 35-foot-tall plaster replica of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. Wrapped around the lighthouse is a 173-foot-long water slide that triggers a “blow hole” water feature spewing water from large ocean-like rocks.

It was the first project Terry had worked on that included a pool, and it turned out to be an invaluable learning experience.

“I was amazed at how much work that really was. The Pool Company told us from the beginning that they needed ten months from start to finish to build the pool and we had a fourteen-month schedule, so before they started we really focused on getting the two pool structures up and enclosed in the first four months,” Terry said.

“They said people don’t typically believe them and, to be honest, I didn’t believe them either. But luckily I trusted them because they were right,” he added.

Very few of the center’s rooms have the same layout, paint scheme, ceiling configuration, lighting or accessories because each was designed with a diverse array of users in mind. For example, the teen space is decorated with diamond-plate wall paneling and painted wall murals, while the sitting space near the front entry fireplace features custom kiln-fired clay art stop a mantel carved out of driftwood from the Oregon coast.

Designed for LEED silver certification, the building was funded in large part by McDonald’s founders Ray and Joan Kroc, who are supporting similar centers across the nation in communities that have the greatest need. Salem participated in a competitive process to win funding for the center, which also was made possible by contributions from the community.

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