Two years ago, The Walsh Group, a $4 billion construction firm that traces its roots in Chicago back to 1898, found it needed more space for a new training and conference center. Unfortunately, there was no room at its West Loop headquarters for such a facility.
The fourth-generation, family-run firm could easily have built a new structure. Instead, the Walsh Group chose what it considered to be the more environmentally responsible path and rebuilt an underused 90-year-old warehouse/factory building. The project earned 86 points on the way to achieving LEED Platinum certification—at the time, the sixth-highest number of LEED points ever awarded.
PROJECT SUMMARY
WALSH GROUP TRAINING AND CONFERENCE CENTER
Chicago, Ill.Building Team
Submitting firm: The Walsh Group (owner)
Architect: Solomon Cordwell Buenz
Structural engineer: CS Associates Inc.
Mechanical/electrical engineer: McGuire Engineers Inc.
General contractor: Walsh Construction Co.General Information
Size: 93,000 sf
Construction cost: $24 million
Construction time: April 2010 to June 2011
Delivery method: Design-build
With its Building Team partners—architect Solomon Cordwell Buenz, structural engineer CS Associates, and M/E engineer McGuire Engineers—Walsh Construction, acting as its own contractor, turned the former automobile showroom and paperboard package facility into a 93,000-sf showcase of sustainable design and construction.
Most of the original three-story structure, including 30,000 bricks, was salvaged, and 96% of construction waste was diverted from landfill. A fourth story was added, and the designer created a central atrium that provides natural daylighting through a massive skylight in the roof.
Sustainable features included a vegetated roof, a rainwater recovery system, and smart building technology that allows for partially localized environmental control.
Sophisticated MEP systems were employed: an HVAC system that uses solar thermal technology to pre-heat outdoor air before being inducted into the air-handling units, resulting in a projected 42% savings in energy costs; boilers with an 88% efficiency rating; and chemical-free water treatment for the evaporative condenser. The building’s exhaust air provides primary heating for the garage.
In the opinion of BD+C’s Reconstruction Awards jury, The Walsh Group made the right decision, for itself and for its home town. +
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
AIA hires Worthen, Fitzgerald for sustainability, young architects initiatives
As part of an ongoing effort to bolster its education and outreach on sustainability, the American Institute of Architects has hired William J. Worthen, AIA, LEED AP, vice president of Simon & Associates (a green consulting firm) as Director and Resource Architect for Sustainability. The AIA has also hired Kevin A. Fitzgerald, AIA, a former associate with Robert AM Stern Architects, as a staff coordinator/team leader for several AIA committees devoted to young architects.
| Aug 11, 2010
Perkins+Will acquires Canadian firm Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners
Shore Tilbe Irwin & Partners of Toronto, Ont., Canada, has been acquired by Perkins+Will, a global integrated design firm headquartered in Chicago. The merger marks Perkins+Will's 19th office in North America and its second in Canada.
| Aug 11, 2010
NBBJ and C.T. Hsu associates join forces for Florida healthcare market
NBBJ has entered into an exclusive alliance agreement with C.T. Hsu + Associates P.A. (CTHA) to provide world-class design/planning services for Florida's emerging healthcare and science facilities market. The alliance combines NBBJ's international reputation for the design and planning of healthcare and science & research facilities with CTHA's knowledge of community needs and established reputation for planning and design expertise in Central Florida.
| Aug 11, 2010
Minneapolis Public Housing authority, Honeywell launch energy retrofit program
Minneapolis Public Housing Authority and Honeywell today announced a $33.6-million energy efficiency and facility renewal program that will help the housing authority improve its infrastructure, reduce its impact on the environment, and save more than $3.7 million in utility costs per year. Local contractors will also complete a majority of the work for the program, one of the largest of its kind for a public housing authority, helping boost the Twin Cities job market.
| Aug 11, 2010
Shepley Bulfinch announces merger of Merzproject
National architecture firm Shepley Bulfinch of Boston and Merzproject of Phoenix today announced their merger. The merger unites Shepley Bulfinch, one of the country’s leading design firms, and Merzproject.
| Aug 11, 2010
Skanska Promotes Richard Kennedy to COO for NY/NJ Metro Area
Skanska USA Building Inc., headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., has announced that Richard Kennedy was promoted to Chief Operating Officer from his previous role as Senior Vice President – General Counsel. Kennedy’s promotion marks the latest addition to Skanska’s national leadership team.
| Aug 11, 2010
The New Yorker's David Owen: Why Manhattan is America's greenest community
David Owen is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of 14 books, most recently Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability, in which he argues that Manhattan is the greenest community in America. He graduated from Harvard and lives in Washington, Conn., where he chairs the town planning commission.
| Aug 11, 2010
Brown Craig Turner opens senior living studio
Baltimore-based architecture and design firm Brown Craig Turner has significantly expanded its housing design capabilities and expertise with the launch of its new senior living studio.
| Aug 11, 2010
George H. Miller, FAIA, inaugurated as 2010 AIA President
George H. Miller, FAIA, partner at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners LLP, was inaugurated as the 86th president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) during ceremonies held on December 4th.
