The $38-milllion facility took about 18 months to build and replaces the old municipal services building which was torn down after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. In 2003, the city began planning the new community services building but could not start construction until 2007 due to budget constraints. This project is the first phase of a civic center master plan for the city. The three-story, 72,000-sq-ft community services building has large canopies and full-height curtain walls at its main and secondary entrances. The building’s skin is comprised of limestone veneer, pre-cast concrete panels, aluminum composite panels and exterior glazing. The project is the city of Burbank’s first green building and is seeking LEED certification. Sustainable features include terrazzo flooring and rubber and 90 % of the structural steel came from recycled sources. Employees are also encouraged to use alternative transportation through the inclusion of changing rooms, showers and bicycle racks. The project team also installed a light-colored roof membrane to minimize heat gain, automated lighting-control systems, water-conserving fixtures and high-efficiency mechanical equipment. The building was designed to include a three-story central atrium that minimizes artificial lighting. Daylight from the windows above floods the two upper office levels to the public areas.

City of Burbank, Swinerton Builders, LEO A DALY, Nabih Youssef & Associates, Mollenhauer Group

Burbank

Photo courtesy of LEO A DALY

A new 500-student high school on 13 acres includes six classroom, administrative, multipurpose, library/lab and restroom buildings; athletic fields; and associated site development.

Sacramento City Unified School District/Regent Development (owner/developer), McCarthy Building Cos. (general contractor), HMR Architects (architect)

Sacramento, California

McCarthy Building Cos.

The $26.5-million renovation of the theater transformed a vacant, boarded-up corner of the Horton Plaza area into a five-story, 1,334-seat venue for downtown San Diego. The project, which took nearly 18 months to complete, had a number of challenges associated with it. For example, the original theater was built in 1924, long before seismic standards were mandated. The city of San Diego had closed the theater in 1985 due to seismic safety concerns. The original theater had a non-ductile concrete frame with hollow clay tile infill walls and would perform poorly in an earthquake. Proposed seismic upgrades in the 1980s were deemed cost prohibitive and would have destroyed much of the facility’s historic clay tile structure. For the rehabilitation, the project team used a supplemental shotcrete shear wall system to provide composite seismic strength approaching that of new construction. The new system was designed to control displacements to protect the existing structure and historic fabric. The project team also had to find a way to preserve the many features and amenities of the existing Balboa Theatre and incorporate them with newer and more modern facilities. The scope of the design and reconstruction encompassed the restoration of the entry rotunda and the entire audience chamber and balcony. New mechanical, electrical and performance systems such as rigging, lighting and audio/visual technology was installed. Using a digital printing process based on a historic photograph, a new house curtain and grand drape valence were created in the style of the original theater. The lobby, box office, loading area and public amenities were improved and expanded. The missing exterior blade sign and entry marquee were also recreated.

Centre City Development Corporation, PCL Construction Services, Westlake Reed Leskosky, Heritage Architecture & Planning, Curry Price Court, Nasland Engineers, McKay Conant Hoover, Inc., : Pacific Coast Iron, Coastal Air, Dynalectric, Brady Company, Miller Environmental

San Diego

Photo courtesy of PCL Construction Services

The Environmental Nature Center is a 9,000-sq-ft interpretive center that supports the Center’s ecosystems and provides more learning opportunities. The project consists of two buildings – one that serves for administration functions and the other to serve as a learning tool complete with a museum and classrooms. The $4.2 million project took a little less than a year to complete and is expected to receive LEED platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The facility features a number of sustainable designs including effective site placement and orientation, material selection, storm water management and water conservation techniques. A donation allowed the center to install a photovoltaic array on the roof of the building that provides 95 % of the onsite power requirements for the center. Because the project had a tight budget, some sustainable features were viewed as ways to save money, rather than spend money. For instance, heating and cooling systems were eliminated from the project allowing spaces to be conditioned naturally through natural ventilation techniques. The building’s east-west orientation allowed natural breezes to pass through the building as well as providing optimum solar orientation. A north-facing glass wall allows natural light to filter through the building, and combined with automatic dimming systems, saves both energy and cost.

Environmental Nature Center, Gentosi Builders, LPA, Inc., Culp & Tanner, Tsuchiyama, Kaino Sun & Carter, Konsortium 1, CTG Energetics, Inc.

Newport Beach

Photo Courtesy of LPA, Inc.

The $26.1-million project is a six-level parking structure that has room for 1,169 cars. The project team also created 101 new surface parking spaces in a nearby parking lot. The parking structure was designed to mimic the existing Mission-style architecture of the school. Arches and red tile roofs on the stairwell and elevator towers are among those touches. The project features a pedestrian bridge to a standalone elevator tower that takes students to the main campus level. The project features a number of new solar panels on the fourth and sixth levels of the parking structure with the system expected to generate enough power to cover 10 % of the school’s energy usage. The $2.8-million solar system created additional shade for the parking structure and is expected to generate 5,400 megawatts of renewable energy each year.

Glendale Community College, McCarthy Building Cos., International Parking Design, Apollo Electric, Gary Redcher Plumbing Co. dba George Kauffman Plumbing

Glendale

Photo courtesy of RMA Photography, Inc.

The $170-million West Tower consists of 128 patient care rooms, a pharmacy, a cafeteria and an expanded clinical laboratory. The six-story tower is the final phase of a rebuilding plan that was outlined in 1986. Taking a little more than a year to build, the 245,226-sq-ft project also has a utility tunnel that ties into the hospital’s central plant. The project was designed as a mirror image of the hospital’s East Tower and has helped create a “front door” to the campus. The facility’s design reflects the Spanish colonial architecture of Pasadena with Mediterranean-style arches and stucco. The project team used several methods to expedite the project schedule. For example, the builder took advantage of time gained during shoring and excavation to begin early work on the underground plumbing and slab-on-grade installation at the basement level. This hastened construction but also protected the sub-grade before the rainy season. One of the challenges of the project was building next to an existing lobby building. The builder took steps to ensure that air quality controls were upheld and made an effort to reduce construction noise.

Huntington Memorial Hospital, McCarthy Building Cos., HDR, Inc., Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., TMAD Taylor & Gaines, Lawrence Moss

Pasadena

Photo courtesy of RMA Photography, Inc.

HMC’s new 57,000-sq-ft two-story headquarters building in Ontario replaces an older, smaller building within the same city. The $8.7-million project took about 18 months to build and is seeking LEED silver certification. The building houses a number of conference rooms, printing space and other resources with few private offices. Large open office areas are pushed toward outside walls in order to optimize employee access to natural daylighting and views. This method allows more natural light to enter the building and reduces the need for electricity. The lobby and training room were designed using a NanaWall system, which allows the doors to be rolled completely back. This feature allows both areas to be used for public functions. The project used a number of sustainable design measures in an effort to pursue the LEED silver rating. A sensor-controlled lighting system works in conjunction with window shades to ensure proper light levels within the office. The skin of the building was also designed to use natural light and can be naturally ventilated to improve the ambiance of the work environment.

HMC Architects, JD Diffenbaugh, HMC Architects, EPT, ARA & Associates

Ontario

Photo courtesy of HMC

The $24-million project took a little more than two years to build and consists of a 28,000-sq-ft performing arts center and a 25,000-sq-ft, three-story, 18-classroom building. Covered walkways, shade structures, synthetic resurfacing of the football field and track, eight new tennis courts, handball courts and dugouts for the baseball and softball fields were also built. The project was of the most successful projects in the history of the owners, the Sweetwater Union High School District. The project was the district’s first design-build project and is the first on-time and on-budget done for the district, allowing for classes to begin in July 2008. The project team used building information modeling on the project and used clash detection so that space conflicts could be identified. The use of BIM resulted in zero change orders due to space conflicts. For the entire project, there were only three change orders. One of the challenges of the project was building while the campus remained in operation. For example, when statewide student testing was being done, the project team switched to evening hours for construction.

Sweetwater Union High School District, Sundt Construction, Roesling Nakamura Terada Architects, KPFF Consulting Engineers, Bender Dean Engineering, ILA Zammit, Lintvedt McColl & Associates

San Diego

Photo courtesy of Sundt Construction

The $2.7-million project took a little more than 18 months to build and created a high-quality project that fits along the beach. The 5,800-sq-ft single-family residence contains six bedrooms and five-and-a-half baths and a 560-sq-ft garage. The home rests on a sloping, west facing lot in Hermosa Beach. The home boasts a wine cellar, roof deck, theater, sauna, a central stair tower and a six-stop elevator. Because the project was built on a small lot, it required some unique design and construction techniques. Some of the challenges the project team encountered was that the narrow property had neighboring structures that sat extremely close to the property line. A number of shoring and excavation activities also needed to be accomplished along with the erection of retaining walls up to 16 ft high. The project also features some sustainable elements including high-efficiency heating and cooling systems and an extensive lighting control system that provides strong illumination while at the same time limits energy use.

Delphi Properties, Tomaro Architecture, MS Structural Engineering, Denn Engineers, NorCal Engineering, Beach Cities Contracting Services

Hermosa Beach

Photos courtesy of Tomaro Architecture

The South Bay Expressway is connecting neighborhoods in San Diego but in the future may serve as a model for public-private partnerships. South Bay Expressway is a $635-milllion, 10-mile express toll road that connects Chula Vista and surrounding communities to the San Diego region and international border crossing. The project, which took a little more than four years to build, was made possible through a public-private partnership between Caltrans, the San Diego Association of Governments, the Federal Highway Administration and South Bay Expressway. One of the significant aspects of the South Bay Expressway is its Otay River Bridge, which was built from the bridge deck, rather than the ground, minimizing the impact on the Otay River Valley floor. Each segment of the bridge was precast in nearby Perris and trucked 80 miles to the construction site. From there, the pieces were put into place from above, limiting the effect on the ground below.

South Bay Expressway, L.P., Caltrans, San Diego Association of Governments, Parsons, Otay River Constructors, SR125 Designers, Washington Infrastructure Services/URS, International Bridge Technologies, Mendoza and Associates, EDAW, Coffman Specialties Inc., MCM Construction, Pomeroy Corporation, Select Electric, Calmex Engineering, Valley Crest, Leighton Group

San Diego County

Photos courtesy of South Bay Expressway

This project increased an existing water treatment plant from 140 millions of gallons per day to 215 million gallons per day. At the same time, the project team also needed to ensure that the facility fit in with the surrounding neighborhood. When finished, the $80-million Miramar Water Treatment Plant successfully blended both the technical and architectural. Taking a little more than four years, the process gave a facelift to the eight buildings at the plant while adding a few more. The renovation included the redesign of all major facilities at the site and the construction of new administration and processing facilities. A cantilevered suspension bridge connects the parking area to the Administration building but also serves as a way to engage visitors by helping them to better understand the water production process at the plant and serving as a front door. The administration building was set above three stories of production areas so visitors and staff alike could oversee operations.Civil

City of San Diego, Western Summit Constructors, Manuel Oncina Architects, Beyaz & Patel, Brown and Caldwell

San Diego

Photos courtesy of Manuel Oncina Architects

This 518,000-sq-ft shopping center sits at the gateway of Stoneridge Ranch, a master-planned community in Moreno Valley. The $57-million center faced a tight construction schedule. The project was begun in February of 2007 but needed to be completed in time for the holiday shopping season that year to begin. The project finished in time in November 2007. A Super Target, Best Buy and Kohl’s are among the major retailers at the center. The project team used a wide variety of materials when building the center, giving each building a unique appearance. For example, four different roofing materials ranging from slate tile roofing to brick venires were used. The architectural style also blended modern geometry with contemporary wine-style design.

Stoneridge Centre Partners, NearCal Corporation, Perkowitz Ruth, ANF & Associates, Harris/Brown Electric, Inc., Tva Fire & Safety, Inc.

Moreno Valley

Photos courtesy of Perkowitz Ruth

The $49-million Allied Health & Science Center at Los Angeles Valley College is a 100,000-sq-ft three-story facility that includes a state-of-the-art laboratory and classroom building for physical science, earth science, health science and anthropology. A three-story administration building was also constructed. Originally intending to earn a LEED silver rating, the project team instead pursued a LEED gold rating for the project and included a number of sustainable features. One of the major sustainable features is a complete photovoltaic paneled canopy structure that connects the two buildings. The system generates 50,000 kilowatts of power. Other sustainable features included were a chilled HVAC system and furniture that met other green requirements.

Los Angeles Community College District, FTR International, Inc., CO Architects, Hickman Mechanical

Los Angeles

Photos courtesy of FTR

The Riverside County Development Agency funded the construction of a new 10,000-sq-ft library that blends unique architectural design with green elements. The $5-million library includes a children’s library, public meeting rooms and offices. The project also features a water-wise demonstration garden. The project team is pursuing LEED silver certification for the project.

Riverside County Economic Development Agency, RC Construction, HMC Architects, Kanda & Tso, PENCO Engineering, Inc.

Riverside

Photo courtesy of HMC