The nominations were so good this year that members of AWCI’s Industry Awards Committee selected three top projects to win a 2006 Excellence in Construction Quality Award. Here are the three winning projects:
Winning Project #1:
Private Residence,
Lone Tree, Colorado
Take an 11,000 square foot floor plan for a private residence in Lone Tree, Colo. Add nearly every type of drywall detail ever installed. And specify that nothing is to be prefabricated. The result is an exquisite home that is a testament to the craftsmanship and imagination of South Valley Drywall, Littleton, Colo.
From the moment you step into the two-story entryway, it’s obvious South Valley has created someplace special. Marvel at the layered medallion and matching light trough. A curved open stairwell beckons the eager explorer. Every room has a unique treatment; there are no flat ceilings, no boring rectangular rooms.
The dining room, on the first floor, features a barrel ceiling with a matching oval light trough, hand-bent to exacting standards. The formal living room enhances this look with its deeper barrel ceiling and a double light trough constructed from step board. The kitchen features a breakfast nook that slopes inward, using more than 20 different layers of board to create the perfect space holding the antique light fixture. Completing the theme is the two-story family room, with its deep-trapped ceiling and step detailed light trough.
Ascend the meandering stairs to discover three bedrooms boasting similar treatments: vaults, barrels, drywall friezes and numerous step and cove details. The real treat here is South Valley Drywall’s touch in the master suite. It’s a retreat featuring a multi-tiered step detail, enhanced by three separate lighting techniques. The oval treatment in the master bath mirrors the shape of the tub below. The egg-shaped dome in its center is sheer perfection. Yet another multi-tiered and frieze detail borders the room.
The skills of the South Valley Drywall artisans are apparent even in the basement. The billiards area offers a complex combination of drywall friezes and steps. The adjacent sunken recreation room features 20 steps bathed softly in a warm light from the embedded rope illumination.
This extraordinary home features more than one mile of step board and nearly one mile of drywall cove molding. Every single one of the domes, traps, friezes, medallions and step details were hand crafted. If ever any project were a monument to our industry, surely it is the work performed by South Valley Drywall within this magnificent residence.
Manufacturers That
Contributed to This Project
Grabber Construction Products
National Gypsum
United States Gypsum
Suppliers That
Contributed to This Project
Award Metals
Murco Wall Products, Inc.
Winning Project #2:
Westfield Shopping Town of
Franklin Park Mall
At first glance, the idea behind this project seemed simple enough: Create a hybrid-style shopping center that combined the best attributes of traditional fashion retailing with entertainment, alfresco dining, lifestyle and numerous customer service amenities. It was a concept requiring the creation of a warmer, softer shopping center that incorporated the feel of home.
But the challenges presented by the Westfield Franklin Park shopping mall in Toledo, Ohio, to AWCI member OCP Contractors of Holland, Ohio, were anything but easy: to create an additional 258,000 square feet of space—designed with numerous skylights, flooring materials from five different countries, multiple arches, stone columns and vaulted ceilings—in less than 9 months. That includes everything from incomplete drawings in adverse weather conditions, to a multitude of changes and additions, all while providing superior craftsmanship, flexibility in job scope and minimal loss of revenue to existing businesses.
OCP rooted its solution in the daily flawless execution of the basics: efficiency, accuracy, quality and exact timing.
But the successful completion of the mall required more than skilled trades, diligent on-site management, tools, equipment and proper materials. These critical components alone would have been insufficient without innovation in technology and staffing. OCP Contractors used the latest estimating software and manpower tracking tools to measure progress against milestones and highlight areas in need of rebalancing. This, in turn, enabled the contractor to keep pace with a work scope that doubled from the original contract of $6.5 million to $13 million, without changing the project’s end date.
OCP’s principals understood that the keys to success rested in a pervasive “can do” attitude and a commitment to uncompromising craftsmanship. The company’s excellent customer service was reflected in its welcoming response to change, allowing flexibility and efficiency to occur simultaneously. In addition, the company went above and beyond its scope of work by solving design and structural problems due to incomplete drawings.
As for the clients, their observations say it all: Having worked in construction all over the country for the last 20 years, dealing with hundreds of contractors, OCP Contractors is the best and most honorable they’ve ever encountered. High praise, indeed.
Manufacturers That
Contributed to This Project
DecoForm Corporation
Dryvit Systems, Inc.
Fry Reglet Corporation
Georgia-Pacific Gypsum
Isolatek International
Radius Track Corporation
USG
Suppliers That
Contributed to This Project
Allied Interior Supply
Dietrich Metal Framing
Winning Project #3:
Kalahari Resort
For many Americans, indoor water parks are becoming a popular vacation destination. The climate-controlled parks offer families a quick getaway that often is close to home.
Three AWCI member contractors—J&B Acoustical Inc., Mansfield, Ohio; OCP Contractors, Holland Ohio; and Saylor’s Inc., Ottawa Lake, Mich.—were contracted to work on Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio, one of the largest of these parks to be built in the Midwest.
OCP Inc. had the contract on the 80,000 square foot indoor water park with two adjoining outdoor beach-like pool settings, and a six-story condominium complex. J&B Acoustical was awarded the contract for two four-story hotel wings.
Early on, however, these contractors ran into several challenges: Snow storms and subsequent power outages stopped crews dead in their tracks for more than a week at a time; manpower estimates more than doubled; there were shortages of some materials, and unexpected additions of others—yet, the original completion date remained. Crews were booked for six-day work weeks, 10 hours a day. J&B Acoustical and Saylor’s, Inc. joined forces to coordinate all phases of construction, including submittals and close-out documentation, as well as work in the field.
The exterior of each building was light gauge metal framing with a DensGlass skin.
The architectural design team utilized 12 different exterior finish colors and five unique surface textures throughout the four main structures.
Interior walls were typical of hotel sound barriers, but sported African-themed adornments. The entire project was skinned with Dryvit EIFS over 5/8″ DensGlass sheathing. The square footage of all buildings combined equals approximately 275,000 square feet.
Six boom truckloads of drywall per day were necessary to keep up with the demanding time schedule! With that extraordinary commitment, the project was completed on time, to the satisfaction of the client … and also, the many families eager to book their vacation at the Kalahari Water Park Resort.
Manufacturers That
Contributed to This Project
DecoForm Corporation
Dryvit Systems, Inc.
Fry Reglet Corporation
Georgia-Pacific Gypsum
Isolatek International
Radius Track Corporation
USG
