DOT/Lincoln High/Burien City Hall

Lorig, Seattle, is developing a mixed-use project in Newcastle. The city hopes the complex will revitalize the area.

DOT and AGC Honor Road Construction Teams

Olympia - Eight transportation construction projects were selected as winners of 2007 Excellence in Contract Administration Awards by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Washington. at a January 3, 2008 event in Fircrest, Wash.

The administrative teams were honored for delivering transportation projects in a timely, professional and responsive manner while also considering the needs of others who are affected by the project. A panel of judges based their selections on the following criteria: customer-focused administration, innovative problem solving, overcoming extraordinary challenges, effective contract administration, timely completion of the project, and safety.

The winning teams were:

Category: Eastern Washington Projects Less than $2 million

• Frank Gurney, Inc. of Spokane, Project Manager Tom Stewart, DOT Project Engineer Bob Hilmes for SR 21, 23, 27 and 272 guardrail improvements.

Category: Eastern Washington Projects Greater than $2 million

• KLB Construction, Inc. of Lynnwood, WA, Project Manager Aeish Ragih, DOT Project Engineer Bob Hilmes for US 395 North-South Corridor, Gerlach to Wandermere, Spokane County

Category: Western Wash. Projects Greater than $2 million

• Concrete Barrier, Inc. of Mukilteo, WA , Project Manager Mark Rohde, DOT Project Engineer Diane Berge for I-5, Spokane Street to I-90 bridge repairs.
• Guy F. Atkinson Construction of Renton, Project Manager David Doles, DOT Project Engineer Derek Case for SR 18 Maple Valley to Issaquah-Hobart Road.

Category: Statewide Special Mention City, County or Other Project

• Cameron-Reily, LLC of Airway Heights, Project Manager Jim Cameron, DOT Project Engineer Bob Hilmes for US 395 and Hastings, Portland cement concrete pavement intersection rehabilitation.

Category: Honorable Mention, Eastern Washington Projects Greater than $2 million

• Degerstrom - ACME, JV of Spokane, Project Manager Keith Peterson, DOT Project Engineer Darrel McCallum for I-90 Spokane viaduct bridge deck rutting repair.

Category: Honorable Mention, Western Projects Greater than $2 million

• IMCO General Construction, Inc. of Bellingham, WA, Project Manager Tim Whiteis, DOT Project Engineer Chris Damitio for Nooksack Road, Vic to Cherry St.

ACME Concrete Paving of Spokane, Project Manager Jim Allen, DOT Project Engineer Casey Liles for I-5, I-205 to North Fork Lewis River Bridge, Portland cement concrete pavement rehabilitation

Urban Partners Speeds Up City Hall Construction

Burien - Due to greater than expected sales of condo units, Urban Partners has announced that it is moving up the schedule for Phase II of Burien Town Square, a multi-use facility that, besides condos, will include the new Burien City Hall, a new branch of the King County Library, and a one-acre city park. In a press release, the company said that a third of the proposed condos have already been sold, and that they expect sales to increase in spring and summer of 2008.

Construction on Phase I of the project, which includes 124 condos and 20,000 sq ft of retail space, in addition to the public facilities, began in the spring of 2007, and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. Construction of the new city hall and library will begin in March. Phase II consists of an additional 20,000 sq feet of retail space and 169 condos, as well as parking.

Library System Partners With Developer at Newcastle

Newcastle - In a bid to revitalize its downtown core, the city of Newcastle in southeast King County has approved the development of a mixed-use library/apartment complex. The project, a co-development between the King County Library system and Seattle real estate developer Lorig, will combine a 10,000 sq ft library with a public plaza, a coffee shop, outdoor seating, structured parking, and approximately 80 apartments.

The project would be the first mixed use development in Newcastle and is intended to anchor the town center and attract more people to live and work in the Newcastle area. The apartment units will be a mixture of market rate and workforce housing designed to be affordable to professionals.

It is also anticipated that the project, located on a bus line and adjacent to neighborhood amenities, will encourage walking and public transit. The development will incorporate sustainable features including water reduction measures and the use of recycled building materials.

Construction on the project, which is currently in the design phase at Mithun Architects, is projected to begin in the fall of 2008.

Office Building at Lake Union Completed

Mercer Island - Express Construction has completed work on the North Lake Union Office Building in Seattle. The building, three stories above two levels of parking, has approximately 26,000 square feet of office space. The building uses exposed concrete with steel and metal siding on the exterior, with large windows that allow optimal daylighting as well as panoramic views of Lake Union.

Designed by Miller Hull architects, the structure and shell allow tenants flexibility in their interior design.

The site posed particular challenges because of its triangular shape combined with the distinctive building design and the adjacency of the Burke-Gilman Trail. The backside of the building was designed as an arc matching the curve of the trail, with its radius point in Lake Union, requiring extra surveys. The other three sides are located on or very near property lines, and to ensure safety and no interruption of activity, crews carefully fenced and monitored the site.

College of Architecture Names Three to Honor Roll

Seattle - The UW College of Architecture and Urban Planning celebrated its three latest inductees at a Roll of Honor event in Jamuary.

Elizabeth Ayer (1897-1987) was the third UW architecture graduate (and the first woman to graduate in architecture), and is believed to have been the first female registered architect in Washington state. She's also the first woman to be listed on the Roll of Honor.

Ayer had a long career, initially as an associate with Seattle architect Edwin Ivey. After Ivey was killed in a car accident in 1940, Ayer assumed his practice and later took UW graduate Roland Lamping into partnership (Ayer & Lamping, 1941, 1950-69). Primarily a residential architect, Ayer designed more than 100 houses as well as other buildings during her career.

Fred Bassetti (b. 1917) is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects recognized for his contributions to Northwest architecture. He is a UW graduate (Bachelor of Architecture, 1942) who received his Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University in 1946.

Beginning in the late 1940s, Bassetti contributed significantly to development of modern architecture in the Pacific Northwest. His many buildings include student housing at Central Washington University and Western Washington University; several buildings in Pike Place Market; the Henry Jackson Federal Office Building, Seattle (1964); the Seattle Aquarium (1971); the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal (1983); and the Seattle Municipal Tower (1991).

From 1947 to 1962, Bassetti partnered with fellow Seattle architect Jack Morse; from 1962 to 1985 he headed Fred Bassetti & Co; and from 1985 to his retirement about 1992, the firm was known as Bassetti, Norton, Metler, Rekevics. Today, the successor firm is known as Bassetti Architects.

Bassetti’s work was published nationally, and his firm received numerous design awards. He occasionally served as a guest studio instructor at the UW and other schools. Bassetti was deeply involved in Seattle urban design and preservation from the 1960s to the 1980s. He worked, for example, with Allied Arts of Seattle, a network of residents concerned about the arts, urban design and historic preservation. Bassetti is also an AIA Seattle Gold Medal winner.

Norman J. Johnston (b. 1918) is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects noted for his commitment to teaching, scholarship and the community.

He received a bachelor's degree in art from the UW in 1942, then a Bachelor of Architecture degree at the University of Oregon (1947), followed by a Master of Urban Planning degree (1959) and a doctorate (1960) from the University of Pennsylvania.

Early in his career, Johnston practiced as an architect, worked for the City of Seattle as a planner and taught at the University of Oregon. He came to the UW in 1960 as a faculty member in architecture and urban planning, and taught until his retirement in the early 1990s.

Author of five books and numerous scholarly articles, Johnston served as associate dean for 16 years. He was key in creating the college's visual resources collection and in broadening its book collection. Johnston’s love of the UW campus is reflected in his many years of service on the UW Landscape Advisory Committee and his support of the Architectural Commission.

Johnston served on the Architectural Registration Board in the 1960s and was a founding member of Allied Arts of Seattle. He was an advocate for anti-billboard legislation in Washington state and for 18 years served on the Washington State Capital Area Master Plan Advisory Committee. Johnston was also deeply involved in the American Institute of Architects and other professional and community groups. He is an AIA Seattle Gold Medal winner.

Initiated in 1987 and mounted in Room 147 of Architecture Hall, the Roll of Honor already includes Carl Gould, Lancelot Gowen, Richard Haag, Paul Kirk, Wendell Lovett, Lionel Pries, B. Marcus Priteca, Robert Reamer, Victor Steinbrueck, Ellsworth Storey, Paul Thiry, and Myer Wolfe. Inductees were last announced in 2005.

Lincoln High Wins More Accolades for Renovation

DLR Group and Tacoma (Wash.) School District are celebrating recent honors for the renovation of Tacoma’s historic Lincoln High School. The design has earned the 2008 Shirley Cooper Award from the American Association of School Administrators (aasa.org/awards), in partnership with the American Institute of Architects and the Council of Educational Facility Planners. This award is presented annually to a project that best meets the educational needs of its students.

The District’s decision to adopt a brand new academy-based Small Learning Community (SLC) curriculum for this high school necessitated substantial renovations to align the school’s historic 1913 architecture with a new educational model. Renovations were completed in the fall 2007.

“The design restores the building’s timeworn elegance, maintains its traditional character, and still meets the needs of academy-based learning,” said Craig Mason, Principal and designer with DLR Group. “Many of the original architectural details, including the large windows and stained glass skylights, were repaired and reinstalled to preserve the building’s historic character.&rdquo

Six academies were originally planned, however, the school is currently structured around three academies, demonstrating the design’s remarkable flexibility. Each academy is arranged around a Student Learning Center, a flexible, central space, which serves as its heart. An academy’s Student Learning Center is comprised of a “living room”, a project learning space, a teacher planning center and a technology center.

Cleanup Scheduled at Chemical Processing Site

The Washington State Department of Ecology and Kalama, Wash. are close to reaching a consent decree. The terms of the decree will determine how to clean up environmental waste at Emerald’s organic chemical manufacturing plant. Toxic chemicals including toluene, benzene and arsenic have been found in soil at the site.

The plant uses toluene to make chemicals for food preservatives, fragrances, plasticizers and pharmaceuticals.

Historical releases at the plant resulted in the contamination of soil and groundwater with toluene, benzene, diphenyl oxide, benzoic acid, arsenic, copper and other compounds.

The proposed consent decree is a formal legal agreement between Ecology, former plant owner BF Goodrich and the current owner, Emerald. The agreement requires carrying out the Cleanup Action Plan, which includes:

• Existing trench systems and groundwater recovery wells.
• Soil vapor extraction on the highest contaminated soils.
• In-place groundwater treatment wells.
• A restrictive covenant on the property prohibiting activities on site that will interfere with the cleanup or the protection of human health and the environment.

Emerald generates over 13,000 tons of hazardous waste a year, which is burned for fuel. Because of its hazardous waste management activities, the facility must have a permit under state regulations and federal RCRA hazardous waste rules.