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For the third time in the last four years, a design build team led by Clark Construction has earned a National Design Build Award from the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA). The award was presented to HSH Design/Build Inc., comprised of Clark, Skidmore Owings and Merrill, LLP (SOM) and Hines. This year’s award was presented in the Public Sector ($15 million +) category for the San Francisco Civic Center, a project for the State of California. The award was presented last month at DBIA’s national conference in San Diego.
Clark Construction design build teams previously won DBIA awards for the McCormick Place Expansion in Chicago and the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.
In response to the emergence of design build project delivery as a significant force in the design and construction field, DBIA’s mission is to provide a voice supporting this integrated process. Design/build embraces architecture/engineering and construction services under a single contract, combining the vital roles of designer and constructor. The National Design Build Award represents the highest achievement in the field. “The Clark led team was honored for exhibiting excellence in project management and innovation in construction techniques and materials in the on-budget and on-schedule delivery one of the first two projects by the State of California to utilize design/build delivery on its building projects,” said Dr. James Broaddus, PE, President and CEO of the Design Build Institute of America.
The 1 million-square-foot project was awarded through a national design competition and was executed through a $246 million fixed price contract. The complex houses the Administrative Office of the Courts, Department of Justice, Department of Industrial Relations, as well as offices for the Governor, Attorney General, and legislators.
Combining Old and New
Located in the heart of the city’s historic district, the massive project, which covers one city block, included rehabilitating the historic beaux-arts Earl Warren Building and constructing the new 14-story Hiram W. Johnson State Office Building. In addition to a seismic retrofit, the renovation included the three-story California Supreme Court Room, the Governor’s Office, the Supreme Court Justices’ chambers and the First District Court of Appeals. Major elements of the new building include two glass-walled, sky lighted atria rising 10 stories above the law libraries, each with a bridge along every floor to connect the north and south sides of the building. The seven-story, clerestory-lighted Great Hall contains a 40-foot steel and glass sculpture and provides a multi-level central lobby connecting the two buildings. The complex is occupied by 11 state agencies with over 2100 employees, consolidating 18 state leases throughout the San Francisco area. “The HSH team was outstanding! By using design/build, the state reduced its delivery time for a project of this size by at least 2 years. The collaboration between DGS and the HSH team was truly remarkable,” said Mike Courtney, project manager for the State of California.
Owner - Design/Builder Communication
By overlapping the design and construction activities, the project took only 42-months to complete - less than half the time it would have taken using the traditional design-bid-build delivery, according to the owner. Open communication between the owner and design-builder enabled the State to reap the advantages of design-build and resolve problems in a creative and efficient manner.
The Clark team faced many challenges along the way, including the concerns of neighborhood groups to the height of the addition. To address these concerns of the citizens without affecting the fast-track schedule, the team quickly devised a solution to reduce the building’s height from its original 16-story design to 14 stories.
The project’s massive concrete pour also created scheduling challenges. To maintain the schedule, the foundation design was varied to create savings. These savings were used for overtime work. Clark built the foundation in two massive placements - 5,700 cubic yards and 8,300 cubic yards respectively. To minimize disruption to the traffic patterns around the congested site, Clark implemented a carefully planned traffic control system to permit around-the-clock concrete pours with ready-mix trucks arriving just in time for concrete placements. The collaboration between team members along with their individual expertise resulted in quick resolution of issues through innovative solutions.
The Department of General Services’ Real Estate Service Division, acting with assistance from the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, led the project effort for the State of California.
Successful Partnership
The HSH Team was assembled with Clark leading the design/build entity and providing construction services, while SOM designed the facility and Hines served as development manager. Clark, SOM, and Hines enjoy a long history of working together successfully on a number of projects. In addition to Clark, SOM, and Hines, the project team included the San Francisco offices of Forell/Elsesser Engineers, Inc., and Flack & Kurtz Consulting Engineers, structural and mechanical engineers, respectively. Silverman & Light, Inc., of Emeryville, Calif., served as the electrical engineer, and Page & Turnbull, also of San Francisco, was the historic preservation architect for the Earl Warren Building.
Clark Construction Group, LLC is headquartered in Bethesda, Md.
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