HMC Architects-designed gym is underway

Construction began in October on a $6.3-million gym for Wilson Junior High School in El Centro.

The 17,400-sq-ft.gym was designed by Ontario-based HMC Architects and is expected to be completed by September 2007.

The 1,000-seat gymnasium will feature translucent wall panels that bring natural outdoor light into the gymnasium. It will also have state-of-the-art resilient flooring, which will accommodate a variety of uses and a high- efficiency AC system.

The gym is being funded through Measure G, a bond that was passed in November 2003.

HMC Project Architect Kenton Hems is serving as project architect for the project. HMC's design team also includes Katherine Lord, AIA, LEED AP, Principal in Charge; Gerardo MacAlpin, Project Manager; and Wendy Rangel, Project Leader. Project consultants include GSSI Engineers, structural engineering; Johnson Consulting Engineers, electrical engineering; and Merrick and Associates, mechanical engineering.

Nielsen Construction CA is the construction manager.

Nibbi starts St. Anthony Foundation Medical Office Building

A groundbreaking ceremony was held recently for the future home of the St. Anthony Foundation's expanded Free Medical Clinic, Employment Program, and Social Work Center at 150 Golden Gate in San Francisco.

San Francisco-based Nibbi Brothers is the general contractor and provided pre-construction services to the St. Anthony Foundation for this project. The architect is San Francisco-based Hardison Komatsu Ivelich & Tucker.

Demolition of the existing five-story property at 150 Golden Gate began in September. Because of the dense urban infill site, demolition is being done primarily by hand. The building is being gutted, the roof removed and the walls taken down. Once the demolition crew reaches the fourth floor they will pull down the remaining walls with a mini excavator. From that point down, they will demolish with a combination of hand and machine labor.

The new medical office building serving the St. Anthony Foundation will be a five-story steel frame administration building and health clinic with a one level below ground. There will be two floors of clinic facilities and outpatient services and two floors of offices to house administration for the entire foundation.

The Nibbi project team consists of Project Executive Michael Nibbi, Project Manager Robert Newdoll and Project Superintendent Dan McGill, who successfully completed the UCSF Student Housing at 145 Irving Street in July.

The owners, architects and Nibbi are committed to sustainable building. 150 Golden Gate has been registered with the USGBC and the team is pursuing LEED Silver Certification.

Snyder Langston completes church expansion

Irvine-based Snyder Langston has completed an expansion of Presbyterian Church of the Master in Mission Viejo. Construction of the 19,000-sq.-ft. worship center was completed on time and under budget at $5.4 million, according to Snyder Langston officials.

The building was designed by San Diego-based Dominy and Associates and has a modernized California mission-style façade with recessed stained-glass entry doors, a clay-tile roof and decorative plaster walls. The interiors of the 750-seat sanctuary include a narthex, two levels of balcony seating surrounding the chancel, clerestory windows, and chandeliers.

Modern, ecclesial furnishings include an elevated altar and ambo, a wooden cross suspended from an open-beam ceiling, a choir loft, curved pews finished in a combination of dark and light woods, a pipe organ, piano, and two large, flat-screen televisions. The new worship center additionally houses classrooms; a choir preparation area; a library; and meeting rooms, as well as a child-care center, restrooms and a women's lounge. A new, mid-campus courtyard connects this facility with the former sanctuary, which has been converted to a fellowship hall.

Gafcon, Inc. oversees classroom completion in Chula Vista

San Diego-based Gafcon, Inc. served as project manager on a recently completed 30,000-sq.-ft. classroom building at Chula Vista High School in Chula Vista.

The $8.5-million project is part of Gafcon's contract with the Sweetwater Union High School District to provide program management for all middle/junior high schools and high schools within the district. Gafcon is responsible for the modernization of the district's classrooms and labs, including electrical, heating and ventilation system upgrades. The new two-story building features a structural steel brace frame, with spread footings, rooftop package units for HVAC, and a small outdoor gathering area. The building is equipped with security and safety features, with an elevator for second floor access.

The Gafcon project team included Robin Duveen as program manager and Chetan Shah as project manager. Trittipo Architecture and Planning served as the project architect. DVC Engineering, Inc. served as the civil engineer, FBA Engineering as the electrical engineer, F.T. Andrews, Inc. as the mechanical engineer, Dudek & Associates as the environmental engineer, and Thornton and Tomasetti Engineers as the structural engineer. Rudolph & Sletten, Inc. was the construction manager.

Construction begins on JCM-managed project in Oxnard

JCM Group, a Heery International Co., is serving as program manager on a $26.3-million student services facility at Oxnard College in Oxnard.

Construction on the project was started in October.

The 40,000-sq.-ft. project will consist of a two-story building and a one-story food services building. Administrative services -- admissions and records, matriculation, counseling, financial aid, student health services and more -- will be consolidated into one building in order to serve as a "one stop shop."

To accommodate future growth, the facility will be able to serve 11,400 students, 40 percent more than are currently enrolled. Projected student growth has also played a key role in the relocation and expansion of the cafeteria.

JCM chose to move the facility from its current, out-of-the-way location to a new site at the student services center, which is adjacent to the existing library.

The student services building and cafeteria are expected to be completed in early 2009. The project is being funded by the district's Measure S program, a $356.3 million bond passed in 2002.

JCM Group serves as program manager for all current Ventura County Community College District construction.

Turner-built Tahoe Center is completed

The $24-million Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences recently opened its doors. The center was designed by Reno-based Lunhahl and Associates and the UC Davis Division of Architects and Engineers, and built by general contractor Turner Construction Co.

The center is home to a state-of-the-art research laboratory, hands-on public museum and college classrooms. It is a collaboration between the University of California, Davis; Sierra Nevada College; the University of Nevada, Reno; and the Desert Research Institute.

The building is expected to use half the energy of a conventionally designed laboratory and office building. Some of its many green innovations are: The walls are packed with insulation made from recycled blue jeans; the toilets use rain and snowmelt, saving water and reducing storm water runoff; water is cooled by night air, then circulated through radiant pipes for air-conditioning.

Cool and warm air is dispersed by "displacement" ventilation in the office areas and, for the first time in the U.S., energy-efficient "active chilled beam" ventilation in the laboratories. Sunlight is maximized:

Exterior "light shelves" send daylight deep into rooms; daylight travels from the large central atrium through offices into corridors; and rooftop photovoltaic panels turn solar energy into electricity.

Major subcontractors on the project include RHP Mechanical Systems, Reno; Pezonella Associates, Inc., Reno; John A. Martin & Associates of Nevada, structural engineer; Rumsey Engineers, Oakland, mechanical engineers; Ideas Design Facilities, Santa Clara, electrical engineers; Architectural Energy Corp., Boulder, LEED consultant; and Gary Davis Group, Tahoe City, civil engineer.

McCarthy will build three projects at Orange hospital

Newport Beach-based McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. was selected to build three new projects at the St. Joseph Hospital campus in Orange. The projects include a new 87,000-sq.-ft. cancer center, a 131,000-sq.-ft. medical office building and a 1,083-car parking structure.

Construction on the $68.5-million cancer center began this fall. Construction on the parking structure is expected to begin in winter 2007.

McCarthy was hired by St. Joseph Health System to provide design/build services for the new three-level cancer center. Featuring a structural-steel frame and an exterior skin composed primarily of glass curtain-wall, the new center is being built adjacent to and simultaneously with the new medical office building and parking structure. The facility is expected to be completed in mid-2008.

Being developed by Pacific Medical Buildings, LLC, the new seven-level medical office building and a parking structure will provide support for the new cancer center.

The design/build projects include construction of a structural-steel medical office building with a plaster and glass exterior, as well as a cast-in-place parking structure featuring an architectural concrete exterior skin.

The parking garage was designed by Irvine-based Innovative Design Group. Construction of the medical office building and parking structure is scheduled to complete in spring 2008. TAYLOR of Newport Beach is the executive architect and Chong Partners Architecture of San Francisco is the design architect for the cancer center and medical office building projects.