Industry News

The University of California, Berkeley will renovate the 54-year-old Bancroft Library to current seismic specifications as part of a $1 billion campuswide seismic retrofit project. The $20 million library renovation will provide additional space for classrooms, exhibits, reading, and storage, as well as creating ramps for disabled people. State-of-the-art climate control to protect aged manuscripts will be installed, and the computer network will be upgraded. The project is expected to begin in June 2005 and reach completion in eighteen months.

Stony Brook University Hospital has contracted New York-based Cannon Design to provide planning and design services for a $120-million improvement program. A combination of 150,000 sf of renovation and 150,000 sf of new construction, the project will consolidate and expand Women’s and Children’s Services including neonatal intensive care, as well as triple the capacity of the emergency department and renovate and expand surgical services.

South Nassau Communities Hospital is planning a five-story, 160,000-sf addition at their Oceanside, N.Y., facility. The $58 million program will provide 108 medical/surgical beds, six LDRs, an obstetrics suite with 26 private, post-partum beds, and a 30-bed behavioral health unit, along with a renovated entryway to the ground floor garden reception area. The program also calls for modifications to the building systems, including a new mechanical penthouse, and additional parking for 400 cars.

The Design-Build Institute of America’s Southeast Chapter recently honored Skanska USA Building’s Georgia Division for the company’s work on Airside Terminal Building “E” of the Tampa International Airport. The project was recognized as the best public sector project of 2003 and as the year’s best overall design-build project. Awards were presented at the organization’s annual banquet in Atlanta on December 4, 2003. The project was built as a joint venture between Skanska’s Georgia and Florida Division.

The General Services Administration will complete the ten-year, $150 million modernization of the 1 million-sf Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in June of 2004. The one-block project, located in Washington’s historic Federal Triangle, is nearly halfway through its third and final phase. The project contractor is Gilbane Building, with the joint venture of Heery and Tishman as independent construction manager. Designed by Burt Hill Kosar Rittelman, the renovation is faithful to the historic building’s original design while providing a world-class work environment.