The Corvallis School District is seeking bids from firms interested in performing construction manager-general contractor services for projects originating from a $199.9 million bond measure passed by voters in May.

The district has grouped bond improvements into three packages.

Package A includes Lincoln and Hoover elementary school replacements and is not included in the scope of this RFP.

Package B includes improvements at Garfield Elementary, Wilson Elementary, Mountain View Elementary, Adams Elementary, Franklin K-8, Jefferson Elementary and Muddy Creek K-5.

Package C includes improvements at Linus Pauling Middle School, Crescent Valley High School, Harding Center, Corvallis High School and Cheldelin Middle School.

The contract period is expected to begin immediately upon selection and extend through completion and close-out of the projects in 2021. The school district has selected Wenaha Group Inc., as project manager, DLR Group as the architect for packages A and B, and Pivot Architecture as the architect for package C.

Sealed bid proposals will be accepted by the district until 3 p.m. on Nov. 29.

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The Structural Engineers Association of Oregon has released the names of the winning projects in the 2017 SEAO Excellence in Structural Engineering awards competition.

The annual awards recognize outstanding structural engineering efforts that feature at least one team member associated with SEAO. This year’s nominated projects were selected by a panel of judges based on criteria that included creativity and complexity of structural design, efficient use of materials, successful fulfillment of owner/client needs, and suitability of the structure for its environment.

The Titus Will adaptive reuse project, submitted by WDY Inc., was selected as the winner in the renovation and retrofit category. The 50,000-square-foot, two-story structure underwent a full seismic upgrade because of occupancy changes. The addition of moment frames to the seismic system allowed an existing large storefront to remain open. The project owner/developer was Tourmaline Capital and Irwin Development Group. The project architect was Lundin Cole Architects, and the general contractor was Korsmo Construction.

The award for buildings over $10 million went to the Q21 mixed-use project, which was submitted by Nishkian Dean. The seven-story, 202,000-square-foot mixed-use structure featured unique columns made from two 12-sided tapered steel sections. Welded together at the center, the sections created double tapered columns that formed the number XXI. The project owner/developer was Rosan Inc. The project architect was YBA Architects, and the general contractor was Andersen Construction.

The Athey Creek Christian Fellowship project, submitted by VLMK Engineering + Design, won the award for new buildings under $10 million. The judges gave the project and its engineering team top scores for overcoming a major hurdle to successfully locate concrete panels, ranging in height from 34 feet to 37 feet, on top of 12-inch-wide, cast-in-place concrete walls. The project owner was Athey Creek Christian Fellowship. The project team included David Bissett Architect and general contractor Perlo Construction.

In the special-use structures category, the winning project was the C-Tran Fourth Plain Bus Rapid Transit Corridor and Maintenance Facility expansion and renovation. The project holds the distinction as the first bus rapid transit system in Oregon or Southwest Washington. The project owner was C-Tran. The project team included Equilibrium Engineers, which submitted the project, PIVOT Architecture and Waterleaf Architecture, and general contractors Emerick Construction, Colf Construction and Tapani.

The Portland Japanese Garden’s Cultural Crossing was selected as the jurors’ favorite. The expansion project added four buildings, a site bridge and several site retaining walls. The owner/developer was the Portland Japanese Garden. Architects for the project were Kengo Kuma & Associates and Hacker. Hoffman Construction was general contractor.

The judging panel for the awards included Eric Thomas of the Portland Bureau of Development Services; Thomas Miller of the Oregon State University School of Civil and Construction Engineering; Judith Sheine of the University of Oregon School of Architecture and Environment; and Stephanie Basalyga, editor of the Daily Journal of Commerce.

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Regional transit authority TriMet has selected FFA Architecture and Interiors to design its new Transit Police headquarters.

TriMet is relocating the central hub of its law enforcement arm to a new facility because of cost and operability issues at its current space at 210 N.W. First Ave. The TriMet board unanimously approved the contract during a meeting on Tuesday.

The new facility is planned as part of a larger Prosper Portland development at the intersection of Northeast First Avenue and Holladay Street. The Transit Police Central Precinct would be two stories and 18,000 square feet within a new building also holding offices and a parking garage.

The request for project proposals was issued in May. Three proposals were received – from FFA, Pivot Architecture and Mackenzie. FFA scored the highest in a competitive evaluation, but the spread between the three firms was only four points out of a total score of 100.

The design contract amount is not to exceed $665,000.

FFA told TriMet it expects to achieve 35 percent participation by firms certified as woman-owned, minority-owned, service-disabled-veteran-owned or emerging small businesses.

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A recent renovation project in Eugene has transformed a former auto parts warehouse into a nonprofit’s new headquarters.

Crews from Eugene-based general contractor McKenzie Commercial wrapped up construction late last year on ShelterCare‘s Center for Programs and Services at 499 W. Fourth Ave. in Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood. Eugene-based PIVOT Architecture designed the $2.3 million project for ShelterCare, which provides programs and services for the homeless and people with mental illnesses and brain injuries.

The industrial building, built in the late 1930s, was well-suited for housing the nonprofit’s administrative offices and client services, PIVOT principal Larry Banks said.

“It was basically a big, 22,000-square-foot warehouse, but they saw the potential in that,” he said. “It had big timber columns and roof structure.”

Work to transform the structure into office space involved tearing down a couple of poorly built additions as well as adding insulation and electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems, Banks said. Paint was stripped from Douglas fir columns, and the timber roof structure and the hardwood floors were refinished.

“Now, you have an amazing amount of warm wood,” Banks said. “You can see all the scratch work on the floor, so you’re kind of aware of the history of the building.”

The project helped consolidate ShelterCare’s services in one place and raise its profile in the community, he said.

“They were able to take this dumpy, faceless warehouse in kind of a semi-industrial area and brighten it up,” Banks said.

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One of the busiest buildings used by the drivers who pilot TriMet buses around Portland was also one of the public transportation agency’s most outdated.

The building on Center Street is supposed to serve as a home away from home for the bus operators. But after 20 years without an upgrade, the building seemed anything but. Bright orange carpet covered the floors, bland gray lockers lined the walls, and dark spaces sucked up light in the building.

So when the opportunity came to remodel the building as part of work on the Portland-to-Milwaukie light-rail project, TriMet decided to try a new approach by involving bus drivers, manager and agents – the very people who used the building the most – in the redesign.

“We wanted to take a whole new approach in how we looked at our operating basis,” said Shelly Lomax, TriMet’s executive director of transportation.

For most of the building the agency relied on a traditional design approach, working with Eugene-based Pivot Architecture. But TriMet and Pivot felt the upgrade for the first-floor areas used most often by bus operators required a fresh set of eyes, said Harriet Cherry, a Pivot principal. So they turned to Ziba Design, a Portland firm that bills itself as a “design and innovation consultancy.”

Working closely with Pivot, Ziba’s team began interviewing users of the first-floor spaces.

“We spoke with employees, drivers, upper managers, trainers, anyone who operates in that space,” said Cale Thompson, Ziba’s creative director. “Our goal was to understand the intent of the use of the area and the needs.

Through the information gathering phase, for example, Ziba’s team learned that the first-floor space functioned in several different ways on a daily basis, Thompson said.

The building needed to provide a transition zone for operators as they either prepared to start a shift or head home after the work day. For some operators, that transition time meant chatting with colleagues. For others, it meant a quiet place to read or listen to music.

“Twice a day, the drivers are transitioning. Sometimes it’s been a really rough day, and they’re expected to make a transition to ‘regular me’ after being out in the field,” Thompson said. “One guy said he would sit in his car and listen to music for 10 or 15 minutes, but there weren’t spaces for that.”

The building also needed to provide space for personal time for operators who might be on a break between shifts. One operator, for example, lived two hours away from the facility. So he preferred to stay on site if he had a break shorter than four hours.

“We took each of those insights and immediately tried to turn it into an opportunity,” Thompson said.

TriMet also had asked Ziba to a find a way to open up the working environment, putting managers and station agents in closer contact with operators while also providing spaces where private meetings could be held.

To fulfill that request, Ziba removed the glass partition that walled in station agents and kept them separated from the drivers, increasing communication. Managers were taken out of what Lomax described as “little, dark offices in the back.”

For managers who need to hold private conversations with employees, Ziba came up with what Thompson calls a “fishbowl” area. The glass-walled room allows for quiet conversations while also maintaining contact with the rest of the first-floor area.

While a significant portion of the first-floor remodel called for serious design work, other areas were revamped with simpler fixes.

One area, for example, was plastered with communication – fliers and notices – that no one read. TriMet figured it was because the area was too dark. After talking to drivers and agents, though, Ziba learned that no one checked the space because the information was all outdated, year-old information. A simple tweak of procedure helped solve the problem.

Even though the user needs for the first floor were varied, they all contained a common thread, according to Thompson.

“There was a high level of ownership,” he said. “It was kind of a one-for-all (mindset).”

At a time when employers are increasingly finding that workforces are transient and short-term focused, TriMet is an anomaly. Thompson and his team learned that many TriMet employees are married to each other. They met three generations of women from a single family – grandmother, mother and daughter – who all work for the agency. Those bonds create a unique work environment that also created a unique environment for designing a project, according to Thompson.

“I think we were blown away by … the shared sense of commitment,” he said.

Pivot Architecture’s team also found the experience of working on the TriMet facility – and with Ziba – eye-opening.

“Ziba’s an unusual company; they look at things differently,” Cherry said. “We learned a lot working side by side with them. We learned different ways of asking questions (of clients and building users).”

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wants the new Keizer transit center to benefit not only the community, but also the environment.

That’s why the firm’s design of the multimillion-dollar facility includes many sustainable features not often found in transit centers.

“The most unique feature of the facility is the check-mark-shaped roof, which will have photovoltaic panels,” said Kari Turner, a PIVOT associate. “You don’t see many bus stops with green roofs.”

PIVOT also is hoping that the final product will include a geothermal ground loop system for heating and cooling, LED lighting and rain gardens to treat stormwater on-site.

Although the facility will not receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating – because no one will work there full time, Turner said – the project did receive a large sustainability grant from the state. The grant money will help pay for the sustainable features, as well as grass lawns and water features around the bus waiting areas.

“It looks like a place designed for people rather than something you wait in on the side of the road,” Turner said.

The project is part of Salem-Keizer Transit’s plan to expand transportation access in the northern part of its district. The design includes bus bays, passenger waiting areas, park-and-ride spaces, carpool drop-off and pickup areas and bicycle storage. The park-and-ride lot will include approximately 70 parking spaces.

“As individuals and communities look for ways to live more sustainably, a well-planned transit system encourages people to leave their cars behind and try alternative methods of transportation,” Turner said.

She said PIVOT does not anticipate many construction challenges, except that the land being used for the $8.2 million (in 2009 dollars) project is “not ideal” for bus circulation.

“On the Boards” is a weekly feature that spotlights local firms’ best design work. Submissions from architectural and engineering firms are encouraged. Please email ontheboards@djcOregon.com or call 503-802-7240.

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Lane County officials saw an expansion opportunity in an unremarkable parking garage in Eugene, and now that facility is undergoing a unique transformation into sustainable office space.

The project team – , and Lane County – at first targeted a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design silver rating, though it now may settle for basic LEED certification for the future home of the county’s Public Works Customer Service Center.

The 30,000-square-foot building at 3050 N. Delta Road was built in the early 1970s to accommodate a communications company’s trucks. After storing heavy equipment for more than 30 years, the building has presented several environmental and design challenges.

“We went through a lot of efforts to figure out ways to make what was basically a low, squat, flat building into a place that’s agreeable to people,” said Toby Barwood, principal in charge at PIVOT.

The original floor was sloped so that petroleum and other chemicals dripping from trucks would trickle down to a drainage system. While the tilted concrete floor obviously had to go, the solution was not immediately evident.

“Heavy equipment had parked on it for years and there was no way to really seal it with all of those leakages,” said Tanya Heaton, administrative services manager for Lane County Public Works, and project manager for the renovation. “We didn’t really know what all had poured onto that cement.”

The project team devised a plan to build a raised floor system, which would have allowed installation of mechanical systems in the interstitial space. An under-floor air distribution system could have helped the project earn some LEED points, but ultimately the expense didn’t make financial sense.

“We were up at about $7 million in costs,” said Dave Suchart, director of management services for the county. “But it was a CM/GC project, so we all met and met and met until we got the numbers to come within our budget.”

The final construction budget is approximately $4.6 million.

“The program was put on a diet,” Barwood said. “All of the original program elements brought value, but we had to look at which systems were not bringing value to the project that was equal to its cost.”

Instead of building a raised floor, the team decided to demolish the fuel-impregnated concrete and pour a new slab.

Half of the existing building will remain warehouse space. The county is planning to use the space for vehicle storage unless it encounters a need for further expansion in the future, so the costs to insulate that space or make any other changes did not ultimately make sense.

The facility will house land management administration, planning, surveying and parks departments, making it easier for Lane County residents to access several services at one site. The county already houses several other offices in a complex nearby, which led officials to purchase the parking garage when it became available approximately 10 years ago, according to Heaton.

Even though the project team may not meet its original LEED silver goal, the new center will include rain gardens, photovoltaic panels and a great deal of daylighting.

“We’re doing our standard construction points like waste stream mitigation, and we’re also using certified lumber and reusing lots of materials,” said Rob Braziel, project manager for Chambers Construction.

Crews are installing drywall and starting to paint the interior. They are expecting to be substantially done in April, Braziel said.

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In its design of a new 12,600-square-foot building in Wilsonville, was challenged to provide functionality on a tight budget.

The Wilsonville SMART Operations Fleet Facility will primarily serve as a maintenance hub for the city’s transit fleet and public works vehicles. Presently, they are maintained at a Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue facility that the city needs to vacate next year. The new facility will be built on a site near the Wilsonville WES station, and provide space for maintenance and office use.

When PIVOT began work on the project, its team met with Wilsonville officials and determined program needs to create a construction cost estimate. That initial cost was much too high, however.

“It came out to $8 million for everything they wanted,” said Eric Gunderson, PIVOT principal-in-charge. “Their budget was only $4.8 million.”

To reduce cost, PIVOT downscaled plans for the building and parking lot, and switched out materials and construction systems.

“We looked at a lot of different construction systems,” Gunderson said. “A combination of tilt-up concrete construction and wood framing proved to be a pretty economical system.”

The building now is “pretty bare bones,” but works well, according to Gunderson.

“We try to make the most out of the bare bones of the building, and that includes plenty of daylight,” he said.

For the exterior, the PIVOT team considered the building’s use.

“We wanted to create a sense of motion in the exterior appearance,” Gunderson said.

The windows are laid in bands and “slipped” a bit from their frames. The siding is metal, taking cues from buses. And some of the building will be painted the lime green color that is part of the SMART transit brand.

Bids are being accepted from contractors, and construction is expected to start early next year.

The PIVOT Architecture team for the project includes: Gunderson; John Stapleton, project manager; Adam Davidson, designer; Liza Lewellen, interior designer.

Other project consultants include: , structural engineering; , mechanical engineering; , landscape architecture; , cost estimation; , civil engineering and management consulting; , surveying; and , geotechnical engineering. 

“On the Boards” is a weekly feature that spotlights local firms’ best design work. Submissions from architectural and engineering firms are encouraged. Please email ontheboards@djcoregon.com or call 503-802-7240.

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Established firms and gritty startups alike are attracted to office space in a historic, downtown Eugene building renovated recently.

The $11 million project restored some of architect A.E. Doyle’s design from 1927, but the new office spaces within the Broadway Commerce Center intentionally retain a “do-it-yourself” atmosphere.

, the renovated building’s first tenant, invested approximately $1 million to customize 8,500 square feet of the third floor. But other companies that have signed letters of intent may simply add some desks and chairs.

“It’s definitely a new product for Eugene,” said Pete Eggspuehler, head of real estate development for . “People kind of have to get used to it, but when they see it – they love it.”

Brad Malsin, a Beam co-founder and principal, described the occupancy plan as “menu driven” – similar to what the firm did with its renovation of the historic Olympic Mills Commerce Center in Portland into mixed-use, creative office and flex space.

Unlike Olympic Mills, though, the Broadway Commerce Center did not qualify for the National Register of Historic Places because of damage sustained by the building’s skin during previous redevelopments.

“We tried very hard to bring back the original feel, both of the exterior and interior, but the original part of the skin was so invaded and intruded upon that we had to peel it off,” Malsin said. “It still has historic significance, but didn’t qualify for the historic register.”

While designed a renovation that would echo the building’s original appearance, Beam also is encouraging incoming tenants to come in and “put your fingerprints on the space and make it your own,” Malsin said.

Leases start at $1.50 per square foot, but can vary based on the desired finishes. So far, interested parties have chosen a wide range of budgets and improvement projects, according to Malsin.

“You can load it up or dress it down, and we can give you a price tailor-made to your budget,” he said. “Pivot came in and put a huge (tenant improvement) budget in, and other people will come and throw in a desk and computer terminals and almost nothing else.”

Pivot’s design required a year of work from a five-person team. The firm has operated out of its new, open office space for a couple of weeks, and principal-in-charge Toby Barwood said the new space is “basically awesome.”

“We used to be ‘siloed’ into individual spaces with lots of divisions,” he said.

Pivot, which has 22 employees, for 15 years operated from offices in the neighboring Washburne Building, another Beam property.

“Now we’re in one big space and have a much more varied way of collaborating – the communication between project team members is just way superior,” Barwood said.

Pivot’s work contrasts with the plans of future tenant Code Chops, which will create a co-working space for technology-focused freelancers. Code Chops is finalizing a lease in the building, but its spatial plans are comparatively sparse. In addition to approximately 700 square feet of space, Code Chops’ office needs are listed on its website as a coffee machine and “more power strips.”

Beam also is finalizing leases with Rabbit Bistro, Eugene Magazine and reports having letters of intent with other companies that they are not yet willing to name. Approximately 15,000 square feet of space is still available, and Malsin said interest is significant enough that Beam is choosing between parties based on their potential contribution to the building community.

“We’re committed to work with small startups that may be less creditworthy or at an early stage of business development,” Malsin said. “I mean, we still want to see a plan and understand what they’re doing, but we’re much more flexible with getting them in and working with them.”

The Broadway Commerce Center, formerly called the Center Court Building, is one of three major renovation efforts under way in downtown Eugene. Next door, is building a five-story, 50,000-square-foot office building developed by And just one block west, is working on a new housing complex for Lane Community College.

“I’m sure it’s been frustrating to be walking through all of the construction going on,” Eggspuehler said. “But Eugene languished kind of late and we’re happy to see some attention being paid to it. We’re trying to look for our next project downtown – there’s still work to be done and we want to keep going.”

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Reliance on state-of-the-art technology can lead to unforeseen costs, and the Eugene Water & Electric Board is paying the price.

EWEB opted for a $300,000 cutting-edge system to manage the wastewater generated at its new operations center. The innovative treatment system, which has been installed at a handful of facilities in Oregon, involves a delicate start-up period and ongoing maintenance, and some owners adapt to it more easily than others. Unanticipated levels of water usage contributed to EWEB’s decision to spend $55,000 to connect its facility’s pipes to Eugene’s conventional sewer system.

Ecological wastewater treatment, which uses microorganisms and living plants to clean wastewater, can drastically reduce water usage. And the innovation is growing in popularity as the technology advances. Both EWEB and the Port of Portland last year installed such living systems.

But while EWEB is still sorting out issues with the “Eco-Machine” at its Roosevelt Operations Center after one year of use, the Port of Portland’s “Living Machine” has been running smoothly, although it too required some tweaking.

“(The Eco-Machine) wasn’t really working as well as we had hoped,” said Lance Robertson, a spokesman for EWEB. “It took us a while to figure out what was preventing it from working as was planned.”

EWEB did not initially connect its operations center to the city’s sewer system, hoping that the Eco-Machine would handle all water treatment on-site. But the utility paid $30,000 to connect to the conventional sewer lines and $25,000 to add necessary system controls, according to Robertson. The center officially hooked up to the city sewer lines on Nov. 1, he said.

, the project’s general contractor/construction manager, also paid a small amount to connect the systems and was responsible for purchasing the meter, according to Robertson.

“The concept has very noble environmental goals,” said Larry Banks, principal at , the firm that designed EWEB’s operations center. “But the owner of the system does need to go in with their eyes open and understand the ongoing maintenance effort that a system like this requires.”

When nearly 300 employees at the Roosevelt Operations Center began moving into the facility in early winter 2010, cold weather prevented the Eco-Machine’s cultures from developing properly. Then, when workers from the facility’s maintenance shops washed their equipment throughout the winter, surges in water use overflowed the system.

“The term eco-machine implies something comes in on a truck and just works as if thousands are built in a factory,” Banks said. “It’s a bit of a misnomer. In hindsight, I wish we had more fully engaged operations and maintenance staff in discussions about maintaining the system during design.”

The Living Machine, a similar system installed at the Port of Portland’s headquarters, also endured a rocky start. The system, featured prominently in the lobby and at the building’s entrance, went into toxic shock after a couple of weeks of use at full occupancy.

The microorganisms that aid the cleaning process can handle only a limited amount of activity at first. When the building became fully operational in May, the system was overwhelmed by waste from 430 employees, and the plants started dying.

Unlike the EWEB facility, the Port of Portland’s headquarters was already hooked up to the city sewer system. When samples indicated that the system wasn’t functioning properly, the port diverted the water into Portland’s sewer system and started feeding the machine powdered milk to reintroduce the productive bacteria.

“It was a good lesson,” said Dan Gilkison, the port’s lead engineer for the headquarters project. “Now we control how much (wastewater) we put into the system at any given time so the machine sees a constant stream, which is what it likes.”

The system was back on pace after approximately two months and has since functioned smoothly, according to Gilkison. The Living Machine helps decrease water usage by approximately 75 percent in comparison to a similar-size office building.

The plants and organisms in EWEB’s Eco-Machine also have started to thrive, according to Robinson, and the system is still being monitored so that its effectiveness can be evaluated.

But some of the challenges both facilities faced can be traced to the fact that they introduced the technology into new buildings, which makes it difficult for designers to accurately predict the waste stream and water flows.

“In a brand new building, you can get surprised during the start-up – and you have to be prepared for that,” said Will Kirksey, a global development officer at , the corporation that provided the system for the port headquarters. “If you have an existing building, you can see what’s coming in so you know how to prepare the system.”

Despite the challenges, people involved with the projects stand behind the technology and expect to see more of these systems installed in the future.

Kirksey cited a Living Machine being developed at the new headquarters for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The wastewater system will be done in January, but construction crews will still be working on the building’s interior until the summer; by using the restroom in the interim, they will make the Living Machine more robust and better able to handle the transition into full occupancy.

“This is all a part of trying to be more sustainable and trying to do the right thing,” Robinson said. “Oftentimes there are these technical issues that get in the way of that. We’re glad we were able to figure it out and get the thing running.”

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