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BRINGING SUSTAINABLE WATER TO THE SOUTH: THE HICKORY GROUNDWATER TREATMENT FACILITY

FOREST FOR THE TREES:SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION ON THE WOOD INNOVATION AND DESIGN CENTRE

ISSUE 77

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MILES AHEAD: COMMUNITY-MINDED BUILDING FOR DENVER’S MILE HIGH UNITED WAY

P.3ISSUE 77LOCATION: DENVER, COLORADO

THE PROJECTSimply put, Denver’s Mile High United Way is a catalyst for sustainable social change. Through partnerships with local nonprofits, government agencies, policy makers, and businesses, the organization’s early childhood development and literacy, education, and economic stability initiatives seek to change lives and transform communities.

To continue realizing these valuable goals, the group needed a building that would enable them to support the people of Denver well into the future. The result is the Mile High United Way Morgridge Center for Community Change, a 63,000-square-foot community hub located in downtown Denver’s historic Curtis Park neighborhood.

The mission-driven building is home to a large conference and collaboration area, Mile High United Way offices, a café operated by partner agency Work Options for Women, and a digital literacy center. The facility also hosts the Mile High United Way 2-1-1 Information and Referral call center and their Bridging the Gap program for foster youth, tenant space leased to other Denver-area community support agencies, and a below-grade parking garage.

COVER PHOTO: The Mile High United Way Morgridge Center for Community Change is nestled in the heart of Denver’s historic Curtis Park neighborhood.

PHOTO: The 63,000-square-foot, mission-driven community hub will provide needed services to countless Denverites.

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FEATURE STORY

MILES AHEAD: COMMUNITY-MINDED BUILDING FOR DENVER’S MILE HIGH UNITED WAY

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PHOTO: The new Mile High United Way building is located very close to where the first United Way organization in the US was founded in 1887.

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF When choosing a location for their new building, Mile High United Way wanted to be sure they were in a place that clients could easily access. The entire development team worked together to select the Curtis Park neighborhood because it is close to other nonprofit organizations, part of Denver’s underdeveloped downtown, and incidentally near where Mile High United Way—the first United Way organization in the country—was founded in 1887.

With the site purchased, the team sought design approval from local area partners in order to begin development. One critical challenge was to create a design that would satisfy the historic Curtis Park Neighborhood Association while adhering to Mile High United Way’s budget and design criteria. The design-build team, comprising PCL and Davis Partnership Architects, along with Mile High United Way, invited Curtis Park leaders to provide their vision and input into the design. The group spent time together in the community to really understand the history and essence of the area, get to the root of local concerns, and incorporate this knowledge into the project.

Once approval from the Curtis Park Neighborhood Association was secured and new design ideas incorporated, the Mile High United Way was able to continue the city approval process and achieve the required landmark approval in less than a month, allowing the project to proceed on course. The result was a building tailored to fit with and honor the history of the neighborhood while looking to the possibilities on the horizon.

We couldn’t have asked for a better team than PCL Construction. They were true partners in every sense, and they built our new home with love and with the community in mind. They not only build buildings, they build hope. Christine Benero, President and CEO of Mile High United Way

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PHOTO: The building is home to a number of unique spaces, including this café operated by partner agency Work Options for Women.

CONCRETE PLANNING One of the major design changes incorporated after the consultation with the Curtis Park Neighborhood Association was the addition of an underground parking garage. Neighborhood residents were concerned that an increase in street parking would result in an increase in area crime, so the below-grade parking was chosen as the best solution.

The team now had 25,000 cubic yards of earth to excavate and foundation work that was bound to have an impact on their tight, 12-month schedule. The challenge was to find a way to add the new structure without greatly affecting the timeline. After looking at the entirety of the project, the team saw an opportunity to shorten the schedule in the construction of the foundation. Originally planned as cast-in-place, where concrete is poured and set between removable forms, the group chose to use an alternative called shotcrete, where concrete is simultaneously shot and packed into a rebar system through a high-density hose. Using this method, the team was able to construct 120 feet of wall per day, and what would have taken six weeks by the cast-in-place method took a mere 10 days using shotcrete. As a result, a historically sensitive, community-minded, and modern building was delivered to Mile High United Way within their original 12-month window. Denverites can rest easy knowing that their favorite community support organization has the space to thrive for years to come.

Visit http://bit.ly/1tGCZih to watch a video on the grand opening of the new Mile High United Way Morgridge Center for Community Change. The video tells the story of what this new building means to the Mile High United Way and to the Denver community.

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PHOTO: With the collaboration of the project team, the pressure filters were transferred safely and efficiently to the slab bases.

BRINGING SUSTAINABLE WATER TO THE SOUTH: THE HICKORY GROUNDWATER TREATMENT FACILITY

THE PROJECTSan Angelo is nestled in the heart of Texas and enjoys warm and dry weather most of the year. While perfect for appreciating the great outdoors, it can be challenging to secure a reliable potable water source for the nearly 100,000 residents. Until very recently, the City has been unable to properly treat the water from their most reliable source, the Hickory Aquifer, owing to naturally occurring radium in the nearby soil, the high cost of treatment, and limited available technology. With severe drought in the area a reality, and low reserves of surface water a certainty, the City of San Angelo needed to act.

The City set out to install new wells, pump stations, and a transmission pipeline to transfer water from the aquifer to the treatment facility. There, the water was treated and the radium removed, making purified water available to the City’s residents. The project also included the demolition of existing buildings and erection of new structures. The Hickory facility has the capacity to treat the radium-contaminated water from the aquifer and provide San Angelo residents with a new, sustainable water source long into the future.

LOCATION: SAN ANGELO, TEXASINFRASTRUCTURE STORY

UNDER PRESSURERETURN TO THE SLUDGE LAGOONDuring water filtration, water called backwash is forced backwards through the system to remove built-up sediment and debris. This process cleans the filter media and adds longevity and cost savings. The dislodged sediment then travels through a backwash drain to the sewage line.

Sludge lagoons are temporary holding areas that deal with the excess sediment the drain is unable to handle. The original requirement at Hickory was to reline the existing lagoon with concrete to prevent radium-filled water from seeping into the ground.

However, the lagoon was extremely deep and filled with poor quality, unmanageable soil, so the City was faced with large unforeseen costs to remove the sludge, backfill with high-quality soil, and line the new lagoon with concrete.

As an equally effective, budget-friendly work-around, the project team built a large, concrete tank to hold the backwash water instead of releasing it into the lagoon, resolving any potential issues with groundwater contamination.

One component of the project included the construction of a building designed to hold three large pressure filters. The original installation plan would have had the filter tanks rolled into the building using Hilman rollers (a “jack-and-roll” system) and a large crane hoisting them into place. The availability and cost of the crane and jack-and-roll services required to move the tanks was a concern, however, so the team looked for another approach to install them within the budget.

After assessing options, the construction team chose to leave a larger opening in the building walls. This meant that trailers carrying the filters could pass through and also accommodate a crane small enough to fit into the building but sufficiently sturdy to move the filters from the trailers to a slab base. To make sure this

would all work smoothly, the team collaborated with an engineering firm that specializes in rigging and cranes and received engineer’s approval to drive the trucks directly onto the slab. Together, they assessed the entire procedure, paying special attention to pressure points and load weights—all with an eye to ensuring that the structures and crane could manage, beyond a doubt, the weight of the filters. Once the slab base and crane were in place, the pressure filters were brought in by truck and transferred to their final destinations, and the building walls and roofing were enclosed.

With all work complete, San Angeleans can rest easy knowing that they have a first-rate water treatment facility to rely on now and into the future.

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PHOTO: The installation of wells, pump stations, and transmission pipeline assisted in the water-purification process.

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LOCATION: PRINCE GEORGE, BRITISH COLUMBIA

PHOTO: The structural concept used in the WIDC is “dry construction,” virtually eliminating the use of concrete above grade. Much engineering knowledge went into ensuring the wood achieved the necessary rigidity, fire resistance, and acoustic resistance without the help of concrete.

THE PROJECTThe award-winning Wood Innovation and Design Centre (WIDC) in downtown Prince George, British Columbia, incorporates a structural system that uses a variety of sustainable, locally manufactured wood products. The six-story WIDC is one of the tallest contemporary wood buildings in North America. For the owner, the BC government Ministry of Jobs, Tourism, and Skills Training, it is a showcase of innovative uses of wood that will lead to community sustainability and resiliency.

The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), Canada’s Green University, is one of the tenants of the WIDC, which provides a fitting home for UNBC’s master of engineering program in integrated wood design. Graduates will lead the world in the construction of new wood structures that will be both sustainable and healthy, illustrating the benefits of wood construction for healthy ecosystems and communities. WIDC will also be home to the Emily Carr Centre for Design Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which will feature art and design-based educational programs and applied research activities, as well as partnerships focused on design innovation and secondary manufacturing with wood and wood-based products.

FOREST FOR THE TREES:SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION ON THE WOOD INNOVATION AND DESIGN CENTRE

TIGHT TOLERANCES ACOUSTICS DESIGNED IN WOODBuilding with wood comes with challenges beyond those that are typically known on a project before construction starts, such as the need to overcome differences in tolerances between wood, steel, concrete, aluminum, and glass. Engineered wood elements such as cross-laminated timber panels and parallel strand lumber are computer modeled in a factory setting, which permits accuracy to a few millimeters. But such tight tolerances are unforgiving if conditions in the field are less accurate. PCL partners Nicola Logworks (a local industry expert in wood installation) and the fabricator, Structurlam, another leader in engineered wood, were involved early in the process. Their input not only drove the installation method and fabrication sequence, but also highlighted critical areas where tolerances would be the

most challenging, particularly at connections and at the tallest structural components, where a slight variation in location or levelness at the base of the building could telegraph up and become a large variation at the top.

Embed plates in the reinforced concrete slab are the starting point for the wood structure, and this is where misalignment could start. Well before the first wood elements showed up on-site, the team locked in the structure design and poured the slab, giving them time to survey and triple-check the slab and embeds before, during, and after the pour. This focus paid off: of almost 80 slab connection points, only one embed required a minor modification.

UNBC’s need for high-performance videoconferencing in their classrooms introduced another layer of complexity for the WIDC team, as wood historically does not perform as well acoustically as concrete.

To meet acoustic requirements and still maximize the exposed wood finishes, the team introduced a layer of sound dampening below the floor finishes and installed insulation and drywall noise barriers above the visible wood-grille ceiling. In addition, noise barriers installed within service troughs in the ceiling and floor—originally designed to house the mechanical and electrical lines—ensured the spaces would have superior sound.

While this solution required reconfiguration of the mechanical and electrical service distribution, it provided ample soundproofing without the use of concrete or acoustic ceiling tile and kept to the fundamental goal of exposing wood in unique and visually appealing ways.

The final acoustic testing results met or exceeded the university’s standards throughout the building.

Just as primarily wood buildings were common in the past, so they are likely to be again, as part of the outlook for green building. The intent of the WIDC was not only to further wood construction, but also to better it through innovative designs and engineering, and comprehensive testing, so that future wood construction will benefit.

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PHOTO: Most of the exterior cladding is made up of charred, western red cedar siding. Charring is a traditional practice used in many parts of the world to protect wood from the elements, pests, and fire.

We feel WIDC will be a catalyst for tall wood construction not only in BC but, across Canada and around the world. This increased awareness will lead to a heightened demand for wood products, expanding BC’s market share and ensuring a diverse, strong, and growing economy for Prince George and the rest of our province. Shirley Bond, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour, and MLA for Prince George-Valemount

MORE FOREST FOR THE TREES

Visit http://bit.ly/1vTobCi to watch a video on the making of the Wood Innovation and Design Centre. The video tells the story of the building, the teams that contributed, and how the vision was realized.

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