AWCI’s award recognizes excellence in construction quality in the face of complicated and challenging projects, and is awarded to a team of AWCI members.
Winning Project: State Historical Society of Missouri – Center for Missouri Studies, Columbia, Missouri
AWCI Contractor: T.J. Wies Contracting, Inc.
AWCI Team Members: Architectural Components Group, Inc. by Armstrong World Industries, Foundation Building Materials, Hilti, Inc., Negwer Materials, Inc., USG Corporation, Wildcat Materials, Inc. (A GMS Company)
Architect: Gould Evans Associates, LC
General Contractor: River City Construction, LLC
18,000 SF Acoustical Ceilings
8,000 Acoustical Wood Ceiling Clouds
600 Linear Light Yokes
“The biggest challenge we faced on this project was taking the wood ceiling in the Reference Library from conception to reality. The ceiling slopes in two directions and meets along a radius vertex that follows the exterior wall. It pitches downward in the middle only to rise back up on the other end. The framework was fabricated out of drywall suspension grid system and micro-perforated linear wood planks were installed perpendicular to the vertex. The entire 6,000-square-foot ceiling floats unattached to the adjacent walls over the rows and rows of historical record books.”
Winning Project: Loews Hotel & Convention Center, Kansas City, Missouri
AWCI Contractor: Performance Contracting, Inc.
AWCI Team Members: CertainTeed Gypsum, Foundation Building Materials, Grabber Construction Products, Hilti, Inc., National Gypsum, Radius Track Corporation, USG Corporation
Architect: Cooper Carry
General Contractor: JE Dunn Construction
2,818,802 SF Wallboard
158,510 SF Sheathing
117,743 SF Shaftwall
104,919 SF Tile Backer
19,776 Buckets of Joint Compound
202,723 LF Trims
6,381,111 Fasteners
391,902 SF Concrete Deck Skimmed with Drywall Compound
971,228 SF Gypsum VE’d Out by Implementation of New Product
“To fully appreciate the difficulty of this project, you have to understand the pace at which it was completed. An accelerated schedule and tight downtown jobsite demanded the utmost coordination of material delivery and distribution. In addition to deliveries throughout the day, anywhere from four to six trucks unloaded and dispersed material every night throughout the guestroom tower and the convention center. This was strategized through daily crane and material hoist coordination meetings with the general contractor and other trade partners. All aspects had to be coordinated down to 15-minute increments, as one delayed delivery would affect the entire job site.”
Winning Project: 333 Grand Street, Jersey City, New Jersey
AWCI Contractor: Simpson Plastering, LLC
AWCI Team Member: Sto Corp.
Architect(s): Urban Architecture
General Contractor: Grand Street Construction
60,000 SF EIFS
3 Colors
12 Floors
500 Windows
2 Textures
2 Foam Shapes
60,000 SF Vapor Barrier
“The contractor used V-grooving and Sto Limestone finish to create limestone blocks, those combined with Sto Creative Brick had a dramatic aesthetic effect.”
Winning Project: Javier’s at University Town Center, San Diego, California
AWCI Contractor: Raymond-San Diego, Inc.
AWCI Team Members: ClarkDietrich, L&W Supply, USG Corporation, Westside Building Material San Diego (AD Gypsum Supply Division)
Architect: Robinson Hill Architecture
General Contractor: PKJ Construction
22,051 SF Gypsum Plaster
22,051 SF Lath
20,000 SF Veneer Plaster
22,051 SF Substrate
“The design, which captivated several elements from other Javier’s locations and aimed to elicit an old world ambiance, presented a very intricate project with curved walls and ceilings and carved plaster. The contractor provided layout and framing relying not on precise building plans but on the imagination of the architect, ultimately creating the foundation for the high-end, custom textured finishes to come. The AWCI member contractor’s crew turned the hard lines of framing into a dreamscape of plaster.”
Winning Project: Our Lady of Lourdes, Denver, Colorado
AWCI Contractor: South Valley Drywall
AWCI Team Members: Armstrong Commercial Ceilings & Walls, CEMCO, Grabber, Hilti, Inc., L&W Supply Denver, Radius Track Corporation
Architect: Integration Design Group
General Contractor: Fransen Pittman General Contractors
23,270 SF Wallboard
11,200 SF Ceilings
781 LF Steel Framing
900 SF Elliptical Dome
“One of the challenges we faced was the 70+ year-old structure, which had to be completely redone to support all of the new construction to meet current code requirements. The prefabricated framing members that were ordered from shop drawings had to be field modified to accommodate the added structural supports that were not shown on the plans. The elliptical barrel vault had to be stretched width-wise to enclose the added scissor trusses that were required to support the roof.”
Winning Project: CPMC Van Ness Hospital, San Francisco, California
AWCI Contractor: California Drywall
AWCI Team Members: Ames Taping Tools, CEMCO, Grabber, Hilti, Inc., L&W Supply, PeerAssist, USG Corporation
Architect: SmithGroup
General Contractor: Herrero-Boldt Construction
2,112,867 LF Non-Load-Bearing Studs (14-16ga)
337,001 LF Non-Load-Bearing Track (16ga)
28,869 16ga ProX Headers
302,870 16ga Backing
“Impetus for the hospital was state seismic-safety standards that require hospitals to remain operational after earthquakes. OSHPD-regulated buildings are massive undertakings with significantly more stringent requirements and inspections than standard. Some walls required 10 inspections before approval. Our co-located team of 25 included eight BIM modelers and one engineer. They coordinated work with architects and other trades. The coordination team worked to resolved up to 1,000 clashes a week. The team tied data from the schedule to help prioritize work through the use of 4D sequencing. Each level of the building was available on iPads and makes the model easily accessible to anyone.”
Winning Project: Cal Poly yakʔitʸutʸu Residential Community, San Luis Obispo, California
AWCI Contractor: California Drywall
AWCI Team Members: CEMCO, Dryvit Systems, Inc., Grabber Construction Products, Hilti, Inc., L&W Supply, Westside Building Materials (AD Gypsum Supply Division)
Architect(s): Valerio Dewalt Train Associates
General Contractor: Webcor Builders
15,000 SF Stucco
4 Colors
29 Floors
700 Windows
1 Texture
15,000 SF Lath
40,000 LF Trims
“With a strict budget, the architect had to manage the architectural ‘wows’ and focused on creating architectonic forms that would be monumental, clad in stucco. We installed, lath and 3-coat plaster system with Tyvek wrap, drainage mat and a high-quality, integral-color, acrylic fine-sand finish. To break up the visual mass of the buildings colors, ‘eyebrows’ were built out at entries, and windows were clustered together, which cuts in half the number of perceived openings. L-shape sunshades shield windows, giving façades variety/texture. Across long façades, which have windows to rooms, the façade was offset horizontally to break down massiveness of the walls.”
Brady Company/Central California, Inc.
Castroville, California
“Our company’s safety and health program is not only designed to meet regulatory requirements, it was also designed with best practices in mind. With best practices in mind, it has allowed us to take a proactive approach in managing our safety and health, which has made our program a successful one.”
George M. Raymond Co.
Las Vegas, Nevada
“At The Raymond Group, analyzing safety data is extremely valuable to the cornerstone of our strategic pre-planning process. Customizing the data points collected, our team analyzes the information and uses it to help with strategic planning to determine leading and lagging indicators relative to health and safety for all Raymond projects and field staff. Having this information and deploying it properly reduces the potential for negative trends like increased workers’ compensation claims which, as a result, negatively increases the company’s Experience Modification Rate. All of this information is communicated out to our executive and senior management staff monthly so that change, if necessary, can be implemented from the top down. This method has proven effective for the last five years, and we are excited for the future as we relentlessly strive for continuous improvement.”
E&K of Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska
“We have a special designation known as the ‘Safety Wolf Pack.’ The members of this designation are comprised of field and staff who go above and beyond our safety standards. They are nominated and elected in by members who have already achieved the status. These members also sit on the safety ownership committee, which holds meetings to discuss the development of culture and policy to better protect our workers. This committee helps foster a sense of personal responsibility to elevate the company standard in safety.”
Nevell Group, Inc.
Brea, California
“We rotate employees on our division safety committee. We conduct safety lunch-and-learn sessions regularly to encourage employee feedback. We promote multiple ways for employees to provide feedback: replying to the craft newsletter, filling out a Google doc we host, contacting their supervisor, or calling the office to speak to or leave a message for our safety/HR administrator.”
Performance Contracting, Inc.
Lenexa, Kansas
“Safety at PCI has always been our number-one focus. During orientations we explain the importance of safety and PCI’s goal to send each employee home in the same condition they arrived to work. We provide our people with the full gamut of PPE, and we have policies in place to assist with the management of our company goal for target zero. One of these policies is our pre-task cards that help employees identify upcoming hazards and subsequently plan their work. We meet with our field members in a 2- to 3-hour worker lunch in an open dialogue where we can identify job hazards and get them corrected, find out if there are additional needs of the field team to help them be safer, and overall what we can do better as a company. I really feel that the field team appreciates the opportunity to speak their mind to management and provide insight for the operations of the company. We have a strong family here, and we want every individual to go home safe to their families each day.”
Introduced in 2013, AWCI’s Excellence in Construction Innovation Award recognizes products, services, materials, technologies or systems that improve the means and methods utilized in the wall and ceiling industry.
Marino\WARE & SCAFCO
SoundGuard Silent Steel Framing System
“SoundGuard replaces traditional double studded walls (chase or other) with a single stud configuration. It is much faster to install a single stud. Additionally, bracing and resilient channel are not needed allowing the contractor to construct the walls faster.”
“Job Details: Bozeman High School in Bozeman, Mt. SoundGuard was used for partition and corridor walls. The Sound Guard studs performed great during our sound tests of the classrooms. We tested above our spec, even with dozens of MEP wall penetrations at our worst case scenario. Lead time and delivery was shorter than expected, and the gaskets hold true through shipment, off-loading, storage, stocking and install.”
