By Sam Barnes

2001 Top Construction Project of the Year

Hotel Monaco Restoration
Contractor: Brice Building Co. Inc., Metairie
Location: New Orleans
Cost: $20.6 million
Project managers: Bill Doyle & Mitch Melancon
Jobsite superintendent: Jack Levy
Architect: Lyons & Hudson Architects Ltd., New Orleans

Hotel Monaco is a 250-room boutique hotel built within the 75-year-old Masonic Temple at 333 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans. The hotel is in the New Orleans Central Business District and is bound by St. Charles Avenue, Carondelet, Union and Perdido streets. The building had essentially two distinct halves: the rear half had 16 floors of lodge and meeting rooms, while the front half had 18 floors of office space.

The Masons used the lodge rooms for rituals, ceremonies and formal functions. The two halves remain distinct, whereas the eight lodge rooms and theater are being mothballed due to stricter regulations of today's life safety and fire codes (with three exceptions), and the front half was converted into guest rooms.

Two of the lodge rooms were converted into meeting rooms, and one lodge room is now the fitness room for hotel guests. The remaining lodge rooms will have dehumidifiers installed to help prevent any deterioration of the unused spaces. The typical lodge rooms are approximately 42 ft. wide by 65 ft. long with 22-ft. ceilings.

Due to their high ceilings, each lodge room is equivalent to two floors in the front half of the building. The half of the building that contains the lodge rooms is topped off by a beautiful large ornate theater that covers the entire width of the rear building. The theater covers three floors with a ceiling height of 37 ft. Balcony seating overlooks the floor level seating and both areas surround a spacious raised stage.

In addition to 250 rooms and suites, the project also includes The Cobalt Restaurant, a full service bar and restaurant. These service areas are located on the first floor.

The 18-story, stone-clad building is notable for its elaborate two-story loggia on St. Charles, its ornate bronze and glass entries and the elegant black marble elevator lobby.

The Masonic Temple Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was certified as a contributing building within the district in 1999.


2001 Top Design Project of the Year

New Orleans Center for Creative Arts
Architect: The Mathes Group/Billes Manning Architects, A Joint Venture, New Orleans
Location: New Orleans
Cost: $17 million
Project Design Team: Edward Mathes, Gerald Billes, Pete Priola, Michael Hunley, Donna Tregre, Ann Schmuelling
General Contractor: Brice Building Co., New Orleans

The New Orleans Center for Creative Arts was established in 1973 as a training center for students in theater, music, dance, communications and visual arts. Since its inception, it was housed in the LaSalle School, located on the 6000 block of Perrier Street. It has produced world famous performers such as Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick and Nicolas Payton.

With the original facility deteriorating and unable to provide suitable facilities, the Orleans Parish School Board and the Friends of NOCCA set out to provide an environment worthy of the reputation of the center.

Mathes Brierre Architects, formerly The Mathes Group, and Billes Manning Architects were selected to joint venture to be the architects and to assist with programming and site selection. Working in concert with the Academy of Educational Development and NOCCA, an ideal program was developed to satisfy the needs of all of the departments.

A site was purchased by the Friends of NOCCA, located on the Mississippi River between Faubourg Marigny and Bywater. The unique design of the facility was developed in response to the site and surrounding neighborhood, incorporating several historically significant warehouse buildings, including one of the oldest shed warehouses remaining in New Orleans.

The design weaves classrooms, studios and performance facilities into a campus environment, creating courtyards and green spaces that evoke spontaneity and creativity throughout the facility. NOCCA contains an Experimental Theater, a 300-seat Dance Theater, a Choral/Orchestra Rehearsal Room, Theater Classrooms, Theater Rehearsal Rooms, Dance Studios, Jazz Studio, Voice and Diction Classroom, 18 Music Practice Rooms, Visual Arts Studios, Painting Studios, A Structures/Fabrication Studio, which doubles as a Theater Scene Shop, a Ceramics Studio, Printmaking and Photography Studios, Visual Arts Studios and Creative Writing Classrooms.

These functions are housed in six separate buildings, most of which have been adaptively re-used contributing to the fabric of the school and the surrounding neighborhood.

Working closely with Brice Building Co., the general contractor, and with the encouragement of the Historic District Landmarks Commission, the two oldest warehouse buildings whose masonry walls were crumbling, were restored, by supporting the interior structure of the building so that the exterior walls could be rebuilt. These warehouses anchor the northwest corner of the site.

Two small-scale shed roof warehouse buildings are parallel to the oldest buildings, creating a courtyard with the easternmost building, serving as a gateway into the campus. The views overlooking the river are spectacular. The combination of different forms and materials all contribute to the unique character of the school and are symbolic of the eclecticism contained within.

The real success of the project has been its contribution to the neighborhood, which has experienced a rebirth similar to that of the warehouse district. When the site was selected, the surrounding area was blighted and in an advanced state of decay. The neighborhood is now in the process of turning itself around, with property values increasing at rates equal to or higher than almost all other areas of the city.


Best Industrial Project

Pure MDI Splitter Project, Rubicon Inc.
Contractor: Performance Contractors Inc., Baton Rouge
Location: Geismar
Cost: $11.4 million
Project manager: Kevin Courville
Jobsite superintendent: Don Richardson
Engineer: Ford, Bacon & Davis, Monroe

The Pure MDI Splitter Project at Rubicon Inc.'s Geismar facility was one of the most important projects undertaken at the facility in years. Performance Contractors Inc., Baton Rouge, was awarded the project in August 1999 and was presented with a challenging schedule that demanded completion by November of the following year.

The Splitter Project called for the construction of a new unit at Rubicon that would purify MDI, the main product at the facility, to a level not achieved at most MDI production facilities throughout the world. Industry is forever faced with the challenge of product quality, and MDI is certainly no exception to this rule. The worldwide MDI market is tremendously competitive, and the Splitter Project presented a significant competitive advantage for this Rubicon facility.

Rubicon had pre-sold a significant portion of this new purified MDI prior to award of the construction contract and was contractually committed to delivery product in December 2000. If the Splitter Project was not completed by December 2000, Rubicon would be faced with the challenge of purchasing similar quality product from their competitors in order to satisfy the production guarantees of their contracts.

Performance Contractors was awarded the Splitter Project in August 1999. Due to the tight scheduling restrictions of the project, Performance, Ford, Bacon & Davis and Rubicon project management immediately began an intensive constructability effort to expedite the start of field activities.

Performance was the general contractor for the Splitter Project in charge of all activities, with the sole exception of electrical and instrumentation work, which was subcontracted directly by Rubicon.

At the midpoint of the project it became apparent that a traditional approach of building by areas was not going to satisfy the schedule. With this in mind, the construction team began to adjust priorities to systems, which became the scheduling milestones for the remainder of the project.

The Splitter Project encompassed a new Purification Unit that was the grassroots portion of the project, along with two offsite locations. The offsite locations were two existing MID production units at the plant. The project's concept called for all MDI that was produced in the existing units to be piped to the new Splitter unit where it would go through the final and more extensive purification stage.


Best Infrastructure Project

The Whitney Avenue Project
Contractor: Barriere Construction Co., New Orleans
Location: New Orleans
Cost: $7.7 million
Project manager:
Jobsite superintendent:
Engineer: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Baton Rouge

The Whitney Avenue project is part of the Capital Improvements Program to upgrade the drainage systems in Jefferson Parish. The scope of the project included the closing in of 4,000 ft. of existing open drainage canal from Stumpf Boulevard to the Westbank Expressway, with a combination of single, double and triple barrel culverts and open flume culverts.

The scope also included road construction, mill and overlay of the adjoining roads, including the converting of the existing service road on the west side of the canal to a two-lane one-way road heading south, and converting the existing two-way road on the east side of the canal to a two-lane one-way road heading north.

The planning stages of the project were very important to its future success. The cycle of how Barriere would move down the canal and at what lengths each work area would be designated had to be pre-planned and scheduled. Barriere had a 15-man crew on the Whitney project, as well as four major subcontractors.

One of the critical constraints of the project was the coordination of the workday and the curing time of the concrete. A lot of coordination with subcontractors who are supplying the concrete and forming the steelwork is essential.

Another major constraint was the weather. Barriere was able to complete 100 ft. of canal every four days, but if 1 in. or more of rain occurred, the project had to shut down. This placed a huge time constraint on the scheduling aspects of the project. Hard work by Barriere crew along with good planning allowed the company to keep the job on schedule by utilizing the dry days to their fullest.

Another exciting challenge for Barriere was the fact that it was the contractor's first box culvert drainage project of this size.


Best Mechanical/Electrical Project

Shell Chemical OIU & West Column Instrument Project
Contractor: Triad Electric & Controls Inc., Baton Rouge
Location: Geismar
Cost: $1 million
Project manager: Eric Neubig
Jobsite superintendent: Ken O'Neal
Engineer: Ford, Bacon & Davis, Monroe

Triad Electric & Controls Inc., Baton Rouge, through an alliance with Honeywell Inc., was selected to install a $1 million distributive control system for the OIU and West Column Instrument Project at the Shell Chemical facility in Geismar.

The project, which commenced in January 2001, is part of the GOAL Venture project being performed at Shell, with Fluor Daniel as the construction manager.

Triad's relationship with Honeywell, one of North America's largest providers of distributive control systems, is unique in the industry in that Triad was chosen by Honeywell to be its preferred nationwide installer/constructors. Triad developed and implemented new project-specific safety, scheduling, communication and quality control programs.

Through these remarkable efforts no OSHA recordable accidents occurred during the project.

Triad's communication strategy during the Shell project included the use of the latest technology to facilitate rapid interaction among all project participants. The Triad team utilized frequent staff meetings, electronic mail (e-mail), Primavera software and on-site Internet access in an effort to maintain constant contact with and among all team members.

To complement on-site operations, a Novell-certified network operating system was installed. Performance goals were met through the implementation of these and other means to stay on schedule and remain within the budget. Triad's customer-designed tracking system, along with exceptional communication efforts, allowed the company to maintain the flexibility required when changes occurred in the scope of work.

The most overwhelming obstacle encountered on the Shell OIU project was the scheduling of manpower on site within the highly congested west column unit. Overcoming worker congestion hurdles in this unit was facilitated through the "team spirit" that is an integral part of all Triad jobsites.


Best Private Building Project

Ochsner Hospital Lieselotte Tansey Breast Center
Contractor: Landis Construction Co., Jefferson
Location: Jefferson
Cost: $1.3 million
Project manager: Andy Quinn
Jobsite superintendent: Spud Hockersmith
Architect: Eskew +, New Orleans

The new 15,000-sq.-ft. comprehensive Women's Breast Center for the Ochsner Foundation Hospital will provide the New Orleans metropolitan area, as well as the southern Mississippi-Louisiana region, with a level of comprehensive service that does not currently exist.
Located on the main Ochsner campus, the new medical facility for breast cancer diagnosis features the latest in digital mammography technology providing immediate results. As a premier facility focused on the female patient's needs, sensibilities and comforts, the center will provide a central location for both surgeons and radiologists to work together in the diagnostic process.
The conceptual design of the new Breast Center focuses on a warm, tranquil and relaxing atmosphere through careful use and articulation of materials, spatial sequences, and light and sound qualities. Subtle textures, warm woods, soft lighting and soothing water sounds create a spa-like environment untraditional to typical mammography clinics and the common sterile and cold hospital spaces.
The design of the Ochsner Breast Center unites a softer, more comfortable environment with state-of-the-art medical technology.


Best Public Building Project

Baton Rouge Airport Expansion
Contractor: J. Caldarera & Co. Inc., Baton Rouge
Location: Baton Rouge
Cost: $35 million
Project manager: Amanda Castello
Jobsite superintendent: Keith James
Architect: URS Corp., Baton Rouge

A new terminal building and rotunda, as well as a massive renovation effort in the existing structures, are all combining to bring the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport into the 21st Century in a big way.

The two-phased, $35 million terminal building project also includes construction of a new canopy between the new parking garage and main airport building, as well as extensive renovations throughout the existing airport structure.

With Phase I completed in late 2000, Phase II of the Terminal Development Program began construction immediately thereafter, and includes the reconstruction of Concourse B, which will house American Eagle and U. S. Airways. It will also include a business center, passenger lounges, a play area for children, a reading room, smoking lounge and a non-denominational chapel.

The terminal front adjacent to the remodeled Phase II will also be completely covered and the road on the front will be completely rehabilitated.

The new north concourse will also come equipped with two new "jet bridges," which channel passengers from the concourse onto waiting planes. The Caldarera crew, under the supervision of project manager Amanda Castello, is also building a new baggage claim area that will include two larger luggage conveyors that will be easier to access.

The entire south terminal complex is being torn down and brought back up as part of Phase II.


Best Transportation Project

Rehabilitation of Hwy. 11 Bridge
Contractor: Boh Bros. Construction, New Orleans
Location: Orleans & St. Tammany parishes
Cost: $5.1 million
Project manager: Drue Wands
Jobsite superintendent: Tony Saladino
Engineer: Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, Baton Rouge

Just in time for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, all was clear and good to go on the Hwy. 11 Bridge when Boh Bros. Construction completed the first phase of the old span's restoration for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

The Hwy. 11 Bridge was built in the late 1920s as a private venture toll bridge. It was later acquired by DOTD. The five-mile bridge consists of one lane in each direction, with no median barrier.

The bulk of the rehabilitation involved removing the worn out asphalt overlay, scarifying the surface, pressure washing, spreading grout slurry and then replacing the surface material with a new steel fiber-reinforced super-strength concrete overlay.

The new super-strength concrete contained silica fume, 88 pounds of steel fiber per yard, set retarders and super plasticizers. The resurfacing of the bridge deck was a thinner pour than usually made on a project of this size and, therefore, dried much faster than materials normally used for this type of project.

Additionally, thanks to the warm summer weather and strident temperature requirements for the new material, Boh workers had to get a little creative. That's when everything got a little foggy. The high summer temperatures mandated night pours. An innovative process alleviated concern by the designers that the thin overlay would dry too quickly. Boh workers ran piping along the handrail, with fogging heads every 4 ft. The whole thing was hooked up to a water truck and, as the concrete machine passed by, valves were turned on accordingly.

Boh crews fogged the entire time, with 3,600 ft. of pipe attached to the handrail. The day crew moved the piping ahead each day to prepare for the night crew to pour.


Best Public Architecture Project

The Edith Garland Dupre Library
Architect: Architects Southwest, Lafayette
Location: Lafayette
Cost: $12.3 million
Design Team: Steven J. Oubre, Wayne P. Domingue, Norbert L. Langlinais, Greg Louvierre, John Cox III and Dione Bourgeois
General Contractor: Woodrow Wilson Construction Co. Inc., Baton Rouge

The library at any major university is considered its heart and soul. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette's heart and soul revealed a tired and functionally obsolete image. With roughly half of the required square footage for more than one million volumes, and a technology core likened to a third world nation, ULL embarked on re-defining its likeness.

First, it expanded the collections area by more than 80,820 sq. ft., bringing it to a total square footage of 216,898. Next, it revamped the interior into a reading environment conducive to long contemplative hours of study and research through major technological and physical advancements. And finally, by repackaging the building shell through a confluence of historical Georgian architecture and a modernism reflecting that of a cutting edge institution.

The front façade is likened to a book, set between two "Lanterns of Learning Bookends." The entry is enforced by a continuation of an arcade, long a symbol of the "Old Campus," re-interpreted as an entryway. The interior is vibrant and developed around how natural light can be used effectively in a library and how the "main street" corridor can make orientation friendly and less intimidating.

Construction of this cast-in-place concrete superstructure and the subsequent renovation of the entire existing building were orchestrated while interfacing with ongoing university operations, most notably maintaining full library operations.


Award of Excellence in Industrial Construction

ECLA-W "C Furnace" Project, ExxonMobil
Contractor: Performance Contractors Inc., Baton Rouge
Location: Baton Rouge
Cost: $4.2 million
Project manager: Dennis White
Jobsite superintendent: Scott Gautreau
Engineer: AGRA Birwelco Ltd., London, England

The NACC "C" Furnace Project was extremely significant to owner and contractor alike. There were numerous accomplishments that all contributed to the success of the project, but the single most significant factor that makes this project special is the fact that it was completed ahead of schedule prior to a major in-plant turnaround.

This was significant in that without the completion of the "C" Furnace, the plant would be limited in the production of ethylene due to the shutdown of the remaining in-plant furnaces for this turnaround. With the completion of the "C" Furnace, production and operation could maintain the same level of output throughout the DB3 Turnaround, which allowed the facility to maintain its production of ethylene when they would otherwise have been totally shut down.

This could not have been accomplished without a number of areas contributing to the efficiency in which the project was executed, namely planing, scheduling and tracking, constructability/value engineering, modular construction, quality control and personnel management.


Award of Excellence in Public Building

Physical Fitness Center, Barksdale Air Force Base
Contractor: Lincoln Builders, Ruston
Location: Bossier City
Cost: $8.6 million
Project manager: Nat Mixon
Jobsite superintendent: Billy Parker
Architect: KBJ Architects Inc., Jacksonville, Fla.

Barksdale Air Force Base personnel have waited nearly 15 years for a new fitness center on their base in Bossier City. In 1998, after much lobbying, Congress approved funding for a new state-of-the-art facility that would replace the existing fitness center.

The Air Force personnel will now be able to utilize a new 48,000-sq.-ft. facility with a 1/8-mile indoor running track, two full-size basketball courts, four racquetball courts, aerobic room with spring load floor, men's and women's saunas and locker rooms, and an outdoor football and track area.

The curved metal roof of the facility bears a similarity to Barksdale's many hangar buildings. To achieve this design, 30 bow trusses weighing 15,000 pounds each were set on top of structural steel and masonry. To top off the building, standing seam metal roof panels 120 ft. long, weighing 100 pounds each, were then hoisted in bundles of 10 on a specially-made jib by a 150-ton crane.

As part of a nationwide pilot program for "green buildings," the new Fitness Center incorporates environmentally friendly design and construction methods. By considering the life cycle costs of building "green," the government can reasonably expect energy savings over time, increased durability, enhanced quality of life and health of military personnel.



Award of Excellence in Renovation/Restoration

American Can Renewal Project
Contractor: Gibbs Construction, Harahan
Location: New Orleans
Cost: $27.1 million
Project manager: Ricky Smith & Darrell Linden
Jobsite superintendent: Jim Burgard
Architect: HCI, New Orleans

Like the colorful, eclectic, yet laid-back Mid-City New Orleans neighborhood in which she resides, the American Can Company has seen years of toil and sweat and is settling down comfortably to enjoy her next stage in life.

Although years of abandonment, water damage and even fire have scarred the once-bustling, productive site, the building embraces her marred interior floors, irregularly matched windows and fallen walls as beautiful lines of character and willingly endures the transition to a new use.

It's fitting that a project site with such self-possessed, calming demeanor should be the stage for what everyone involved describes as a smooth, efficient, trouble-free restoration. After the initial hubbub from politicians and neighborhood associations died down and the decision was made to turn a national historic landmark into a residential and commercial mixed-use facility, the obstacles were few and easily surmounted.

In an effort to "fast track" the project, Gibbs hired a professional facilitator for partnering sessions with the property owner, Historic Restoration Inc. The facilitator organized a two-day session that included representatives from both the management and construction team, which included architects, electrical, plumbing and mechanical contractors and major subcontractors.

The project was divided into two phases, with deadlines for completion in August and October, respectively.

The first phase consisted of the rehabilitation of the four original, heavy-tempered wooden construction buildings, Smith said. These buildings represent the oldest of the eight on the site, dating from circa 1908 through 1913.

Phase II of the project included buildings five east and west (circa 1923) and building six (circa 1929), both concrete structures.

Awards of Merit

Industrial
PPG Steam Line to Lyondell and Rental Boilers Project
Contractor: Turner Corp., Sulphur
Location: Westlake
Cost: $4 million
Project manager: Jim Smith
Jobsite superintendent: Larry Fontenot
Engineer: Ford, Bacon & Davis, Monroe

Mechanical/Electrical
BASF EOE/EG Upgrade Project
Contractor: Industrial Specialty Contractors, Baton Rouge
Location: Geismar
Cost: $4.2 million
Project manager: Kurt Kling
Jobsite superintendent: Brent McCann
Engineer: Jacobs Engineering, Baton Rouge

Mechanical/Electrical
Motiva Power Systems Expansion, Phase One
Contractor: Industrial Specialty Contractors, Baton Rouge
Location: Convent
Project manager: James Baldwin
Engineer: CDI Engineering Group Inc., Baton Rouge

Private Architecture
Renovation of the old Guaranty Bank building
Architect: Holly & Smith Architects, Hammond
Location: Hammond
Cost: $1.5 million
Design Team: Jeff Smith
General Contractor: MBD Construction Co. Inc., Hammond

Private Building
Children's Hospital, Research & Education Building
Contractor: Brice Building Co. Inc., Metairie
Location: New Orleans
Cost: $11.5 million
Project manager: Patrick Descant & Keith Boudreaux
Jobsite superintendent: John Boyd
Architect: Cannon Design, St. Louis, Mo.

Private Building
SpringHill Suites
Contractor: Brice Building Co., Metairie
Location: New Orleans
Cost: $3 million
Project manager: Robert Hurley
Jobsite superintendent: Michael Cuccia
Architect: Howard-Montgomery-Steger, New Orleans

Private Building
333 Girod Street Apartments
Contractor: Landis Construction Co., Jefferson
Location: New Orleans
Cost: $5.03 million
Project manager: Lyle Landry
Jobsite superintendent: Emile Troxler
Architect: Yeates & Yeates Architects, New Orleans

Private Building
ROMEX World Trade Center
Contractor: Ratcliff Construction Co., Alexandria
Location: Alexandria
Project manager: Reggie Deloach
Jobsite superintendent: Don Allen
Architect: Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects Inc., Memphis, Tenn.