Broward Brothers completes first phase of Sacramento Juvenile Hall expansion project

Broward Brothers Inc. of Woodland recently completed the first phase of Sacramento County's Juvenile Hall Expansion and Modification Facility Project and is nearing the halfway point on the second phase.

The $25.6 million first-phase expansion project of the chronically overcrowded B.T. Collins Juvenile Justice Center complements two other facilities completed in the past two years: an expanded and updated Warren E. Thornton Youth Center, a $12 million project that added two housing units, a gymnasium, exercise area, dining areas, classroom and new security systems; and the new $26 million Juvenile Courthouse with six courtrooms, private interview rooms, public lobbies and a children's waiting area.

The first phase of the project, designed by Sacramento-based Lionakis Beaumont Group in association with Design Partnership, added 59,100 sq ft of facilities, including three new housing units with 30 beds each, a public lobby, intake/release area, mental health offices and central utility plant. Most of the new facilities are one-story, but portions of the housing units are two stories.

The second phase includes construction of the new administration wing, renovation of the center core area, an addition to the warehouse, and new administration parking.

This phase also includes the construction of a new masonry wall and landscaping along Kiefer Boulevard. Construction is slated for completion by May. These additions will add another 14,500 sq ft to the complex.

Heery International is providing oversight management of the project, which is estimated to cost $95 million. Paul Santacroce, senior architect for the county's architecture services division, says that the third phase will include renovation of the existing housing units, warehouse, gymnasium, medical clinic, kitchen/staff dining area and laundry. This project is scheduled to bid in April with completion by April 2009.

All the phases will increase the capacity of Juvenile Hall to approximately 217,000 sq ft, of which 105,000 sq ft is new space and 112,000 sq ft of existing space is to be renovated.

McCarthy starts Central Los Angeles Middle School #3

McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. broke ground for Los Angeles Unified School District's Central Los Angeles Middle School #3. The new school will relieve overcrowding at nearby Virgil and Berendo middle schools as well as aid the district in reaching its goal of reducing busing and returning students to a traditional two-semester calendar. Central Los Angeles Middle School #3 will be located within a commercial area of central Los Angeles next to the Vermont Red Line Station.

McCarthy was hired by LAUSD in May 2006 to serve as the developer and builder for the new school under the California Education Code Section 17406, which consists of using the lease - leaseback procurement process. This innovative approach to project delivery provides distinct advantages over the traditional design-bid-build method by enabling school districts to select their contractor on a "best value" basis. It has also been recognized by the State Legislature as a proven system to deliver school facilities on-time and within budget.

Scheduled for completion in the fall of 2008, the 94,425-sq-ft middle school will serve as the educational component in a mixed-use development intended to enhance the surrounding community.

The school will comprise an L-shaped building consisting of a three-story educational facility that provides 810 seats in 30 classrooms. It will also feature two small learning villages with shared facilities, including a library, gymnasium, multi-purpose room and cafeteria.

The school's design incorporates innovative development principles, such as urban infill and transit-oriented aspects. The vertical design will maximize space on the 2.6-acre site by featuring a roof-top playground and athletic facilities situated above a 25,438-sq-ft underground parking structure. Additional amenities will include a turf field with jogging trail perimeter and basketball/volleyball courts.

Arquitectonica International Corporation of Los Angeles serves as the architect for the new school

Devcon, HOK break ground on State Fund's new Vacaville Campus

Devcon Construction and HOK broke ground on the first phase of the State Compensation Insurance Fund's new Vacaville office campus. The ceremonial groundbreaking included officials from the city of Vacaville and SCIF.

SCIF's Vacaville office campus will sit on a 32-acre site that is entitled to include five separate, two-story buildings with a total area office space of 434,375 sq ft. The project is slated to be constructed in two phases with the first phase consisting of three buildings. Completion of the first phase is scheduled for 2008 and will house SCIF's Information Technology operations, becoming its primary data center. The entire Vacaville office campus is scheduled to be completed in 2011 and will eventually house a number of other State Fund operations.

Meanwhile, work continues on SCIF's new district office in Redding. Gifford Construction Inc. of Redding is the general contractor on the project, and the architect is Form 4 Inc. of San Francisco.

Groundbreaking took place in May 2006 with construction slated to be completed by January 2008. The new building will replace State Fund's existing district office, located at 364 Knollcrest Drive.

PCL awarded Kaiser parking structure

PCL Construction Services was awarded the design/build Kaiser Ontario Vineyard Parking Structure.

With a construction value of approximately $23 million, the cast-in-place parking structure will hold 1,516-cars on seven levels and service the Kaiser Ontario Vineyard Medical Center in Ontario. Kaiser Permanente is embarking on a multi-billion dollar capital program over the next 10 years and this is one of many projects slated for design and construction. PCL's team includes HNA/Pacific, parking architect; Culp & Tanner, structural engineer; and Prieto Construction, concrete subcontractor.

NTDSTICHLER-designed library opens

San Dieguito High School Academy recently hosted a formal ceremony for the dedication of its new library and media center.

Designed by NTDSTICHLER Architecture and constructed by Barnhart, Inc., the new library replaces a 70-year old facility that was originally designed by Lilian Rice, one of the first two women to graduate from UC Berkeley's School of Architecture.

Dedicated to the school's late superintendent, William A. Berrier, the 11,129 sq-ft library sits atop the footprint of the former facility. NTDSTICHLER assisted the school with achieving $2.2 million in facility hardship rehabilitation funds, covering a large chunk of the $3.7 million total construction cost. Construction began on the new library in the summer of 2005, following a site modernization and the demolition of the old facility.

The new library and media center feature library stacks, reading spaces, large and small meeting areas, a multimedia distribution frame room, workrooms, book distribution storage with service windows, two teaching classrooms, a video studio, and production rooms. Pre-construction modernization efforts replaced all underground wet and power utilities, provided new sidewalk paving and ramps, added parking lots, and enhanced landscaping.

Ewing-Cole makes interior improvements for research facility

Irvine-based EwingCole recently transformed an existing administrative facility at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center into a new applied proteomics research. The new research facility houses state-of-the-art laboratories and high-tech equipment for proteomics research which focuses on analyzing blood proteins to develop more and effective therapies for diseases.

Designed and built within nine months, the fast-track project entailed the conversion of an existing Cedars-Sinai Medical Center administrative office building into a high-tech research and laboratory facility.

Located in West Hollywood, the building was originally built in the 1950s as a nightclub.

Previously scattered throughout several locations, the Cedars-Sinai Applied Proteomics group is now housed in the new 8,000-sq-ft Proteomics Center that combines laboratory, research, meeting and administrative space into one centralized location. The new facility, which involved input from a user group of three scientists, features extensive laboratory gas systems as well as 100-percent redundant emergency back-up power capability to ensure data and research safety in case of power failures.

The research components of the Center include sophisticated wet lab and sample processing areas, Mass Spectrometry (MS) sample and data analysis rooms with future expansion for up to six Mass Spectrometers as well as space for data visualization with state-of-the-art Touch Table equipment.

The Center also houses a reception area, office and workroom space, as well as an atrium with a library and conference room. Built by E.H. Butland of Arcadia, Calif., the Proteomics Center was constructed between March and August 2006.