DALLAS, TX The Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) recognizes Balfour Beatty Construction with two 2016 Design-Build Project/Team Awards. The awards program showcases design-build best practices and celebrates the achievements of owners and design-build teams in ten categories across the spectrum of horizontal and vertical construction. Recognizing exemplary collaboration and integration in design-build project delivery, the award-winning projects were evaluated by a distinguished panel of experts.

Balfour Beatty's two DBIA award of merit-winning projects include the Zura Hall Housing Refresh for San Diego State University (SDSU) in the "rehabilitation, renovation and/or restoration" category and the innovative Cornish Commons for Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington, in the "educational facilities category." Howard S. Wright, a Balfour Beatty company serving the Pacific Northwest in Seattle and Portland, Oregon, delivered the Cornish Commons project.

San Diego State University: Zura Hall Housing Refresh

Balfour Beatty was contracted by SDSU for the renovation of the 140,000-square-foot residence hall originally built in 1968 and featuring three separate housing towers with five, seven, and nine stories, and a common first floor.

SDSU utilized a modified version of true design-build titled, "˜collaborative design-build.' It was set up to allow full collaboration among the design-builder and SDSU throughout design and construction. As a result, the approach provided SDSU much more input for the outcome of the project in comparison to a traditional design-build process.

As a result, Balfour Beatty partnered with HMC and Mahlum Architects and SDSU under California State University's new collaborative design-build process to deliver this highly successful project that finished on time and under budget in fall 2015. This complete top-to-bottom renovation and reinvention of a nine-story 585-bed to an eight-story, 673-bed freshmen residence hall is acclaimed by senior leadership at SDSU to be the most successful project ever built on campus.

"The Zura Hall Housing Refresh is an excellent example of a renovation project achieving Design-Build Done Right," said Lisa Washington, CAE, Executive Director/CEO of DBIA. "Their process for design-build procurement followed many design-build best practices, and the process gave the owner, San Diego State University, a high level of input. The superior teamwork achieved on this project is one factor that distinguished it as an award-winner."

Cornish College of the Arts: Cornish Commons

In 2013, Cornish College of the Arts realized that its current housing stock was under-served and was simultaneously notified that it was losing its lease on existing housing facilities. Faced with this urgency, the design-build delivery method was specifically chosen to accelerate the design and construction schedule, ensure forward momentum at each stage, eliminate cost ambiguity, and safeguard a quality-level consistent with the expectations of the owner.

A notable success of the project was the collaborative structure between the owner, architect and contractor. By merging all architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, site utilities, and curtain wall trade-specific models, the team worked seamlessly together in pursuing one comprehensive goal: consolidating all aspects of the project design construction process to accommodate a defined budget and schedule.

The Howard S. Wright team worked closely with the public-private partnership of Cornish College and Capstone Development Partners, and with design-build partner Ankrom Moisan Architects, to deliver a unique campus-housing solution that further enhances Cornish College and downtown Seattle. The LEED® Gold certified for Homes Mid-Rise, 157,623-square-foot building rises 20 stories and solves the long-time need of permanent housing with 224 rooms for Cornish students. The new facility successfully creates a community that supports residential and academic life all under one roof. Students live, learn, and play in the classroom studio spaces and in what has become known as the "˜campus living room.'

"The Cornish College of the Arts' Cornish Commons is an excellent example of Design-Build Done Right in the education sector," said DBIA's Washington. "The open communication inherent in a design-build project allowed team members to adapt to changes and meet on-site challenges and delays, while still completing the project within the original schedule."