Rudolph and Sletten begins work on new Placerville Casino

Rudolph and Sletten Inc. reports that it has been named general contractor for the $200 million Foothill Oaks Casino in Placerville.

Foothill Oaks Casino, a 270,000-sq-ft full service gaming facility located 35 mi east of Sacramento on U.S. Highway 50, will open in late 2008. Rudolph and Sletten’s Sacramento regional office in Roseville is overseeing the project.

Cuningham Group Architecture, P.A. of Marina del Rey is the architect on the project.

Foothill Oaks Casino is owned by the Shingle Springs Tribal Gaming Authority and is being developed and managed by Lakes Entertainment Inc. The gaming facility is a three-level braced steel frame structure built on a steep hillside location. It includes an 88,000-sq-ft casino floor with 2,000 slot machines and more than 100 gaming tables.

The casino also has retail space and five full-service restaurants, three casino bars, a childcare facility and an arcade.In addition, the project includes major infrastructure improvements to the Rancheria and a 1.2 million-sq-ft, eight-story parking structure with 3,100 parking spaces.

ROEL completes Rancho Bernardo Inn

San Diego-based ROEL Construction Co. Inc. has completed construction of a new conference center at the Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego.

Located on Bernardo Oaks Drive, the one-story 27,439-sq-ft conference center includes a 10,000-sq-ft ballroom, 6,700 sq ft of pre-function space with an indoor/outdoor fireplace, a commercial kitchen, a swimming pool and spa surrounded by cabanas, and a new 3,200-sq-ft lawn area with an adjacent trellis-covered patio.

The architecture of the building compliments the look of the existing high-end, Spanish-style resort and features a traditional two-piece clay tile roof, exposed wood rafters, and French doors.

WWCOT designs East L.A. College buildings

Construction recently began for the $12.8 million Student Services Center and Braun Administrative Center at East Los Angeles College. Designed by WWCOT, the buildings will form the new “front door” of the campus, in conjunction with a 1.2-acre plaza.

Strategically located to provide the first impression for visitors entering campus from Avenida Cesar Chavez, the student services and administrative buildings were designed to ease new students into higher education by efficiently consolidating pertinent campus departments into one central space.

Both buildings will utilize green building techniques, including recycling at least 75 percent of the construction waste. The Student Services Center, which was designed to achieve LEED-certification, incorporates shading devices and overhangs, low-flow sensor faucets, recycled and regional materials, and energy generated on-site. Sustainable aspects of the administration building include compact fluorescent lights controlled by occupancy sensors, double-pane glazing to reduce heat gain, waterless urinals and natural ventilation.

Construction is scheduled for completion in summer 2008.

McCarthy, Zimmer Gunsul Frasca finish Stanley Hall at UC Berkeley

McCarthy Building Cos. and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca, along with UC Berkeley Capital Projects, celebrated the opening last month of Stanley Hall on the UC Berkeley campus.

The $162.3 million Stanley Hall was supported by a combination of state and private funds, the new building is considered one of the few biophysical science research facilities in the U.S.

Stanley Hall is the first building on campus in which decisions about space allocation support a multidisciplinary program, rather than being controlled by a department or college.

Instead of being clustered by discipline, researchers are dispersed throughout the building in “neighborhoods” where they work alongside colleagues in other fields. Their space is flexible in order to evolve with the science. Each neighborhood includes three to four research labs, equipment rooms, office and conference space, and a shared workroom that serves as a “community center” where researchers can interact.

The 11-story building -- three floors of which are below ground -- features 33 wet laboratories and eight computational suites that will be used by bioengineers, biologists, chemists, physicists, mathematicians and computer scientists. Altogether, there is space for 650 faculty, students and staff members.

Turner begins work on Rossetti-designed Clippers training center

Turner Construction broke ground on the Los Angeles Clippers’ new Training Center on a two-acre parcel in Playa Vista.The 42,500 sq-ft facility will offer comprehensive state-of-the-art training for the NBA team.It will house two full basketball courts, rehabilitation facilities, media screening rooms, offices for the Clippers’ basketball operations department, players’ lockers and lounge, a food court, and coaches offices that overlook the playing floor.

Designed by Los Angeles-based Rossetti, the training center will feature a 30-ft high glass facade that reveals specific elements of the interior while obscuring others behind frosted panels. A 120-ft scrolling dot matrix reader board stretching across the street front of the building will inform the city of the team’s progress before, during, and after game time.

Two industrial buildings under construction at Visalia Center

The Allen Group has announced that construction is underway for two industrial buildings at its MidState 99 Distribution Center in Visalia.

The 139,590-sq-ft MidState Hayes Building 5 and 140,700-sq-ft MidState Hayes Building 6 will both be developed as warehouse/distribution facilities. The project is currently under construction, with both buildings expected to be completed by April 2008. The development team includes Taylor-Teter Partnership, as architects and structural engineers; Lane Engineers Inc., as civil engineers; and B.J. Perch Construction, as general contractors.