On May 23, Skanska broke ground on the $180 million Integrative Sciences Building North Carolina State University in Raleigh, a molecular science teaching and research facility that will host the university’s Integrative Science Initiative program, aimed at transforming teaching, research and discovery in chemistry and other STEM fields at NCSU. Skanska began construction on the 165,947 square meter building in May 2023. It features state-of-the-art classrooms, teaching laboratories, core research facilities, collaboration and study spaces, as well as offices and a cafeteria. It required more than 134,000 cubic feet of concrete, more than 1,000 tons of structural steel for the skeleton frame, 128 smoke hoods for transformative research, and an air handling unit capacity of more than 190,000 cubic feet per minute. Skanska is targeting a fall 2026 completion on the six-story facility that will be the centerpiece of NC State’s main campus.
Courtesy of Robins & Morton
Robins and Morton i Baptist Health South Florida topped off the Gloria Drummond Patient Tower at Boca Raton Regional Hospital in Boca Raton, Fla., on April 26, marking the structural completion of the nine-story building, which is scheduled for full completion in 2025 .The facilities designed by HKS include all private patient rooms, surgical suites and critical care units. It will house the Michelle and Michael Hagerty Center for Graduate Medical Education and more than double the hospital’s educational space, helping to recruit and retain top medical school graduates. The 427,000-square-foot expansion, which will bring the hospital to a total of more than 1.08 million square feet, will include 20 new operating rooms, two hybrid operating rooms with ceiling-mounted IMRIS, a hybrid MRI, an X-ray room , a public bistro. , canteen for doctors, pharmacy, intensive care unit, medical-surgical beds and a large entrance with a large canopy, skylights and fountains. LEED certified and WELL certified, the hospital plans to be one of the first in Florida to receive the latter, a performance-based global standard for certifying health and wellness in the built environment. Robins & Morton is also building a 39,000 square meter central power plant as part of the project to support expansions and renovations across the campus.
Photo courtesy of Doster Construction Co.
Work began May 6 on the $15 million expansion North Okaloosa Medical CenterEmergency Department of Crestview, Florida, a Doster Construction Co. effort to expand the existing department up to a capacity of 25 beds. Designed to enhance the hospital’s clinical team resources, investments are also being made in new technology and equipment, including diagnostic imaging to provide critical data to clinicians. Anticipating completion in early 2025, patients will enter the emergency department through a new entrance and ambulances will take patients to a new ambulance bay. The project will also prepare the facility for further growth in the future, preparing the cardiac catheterization laboratory department for further expansion. North Okaloosa Medical Center says more than 39,000 patients sought emergency medical care at the hospital in 2023, a 30 percent increase from 2020.
Photo courtesy of WJ Architects
WJ Architectsalso known as Wannemacher Jensen Architects, has opened its newest office in Ybor City in the heart of Tampa’s National Historic District, an expansion that the firm says underscores its commitment to improving services and fostering the growth of talent in the Tampa Bay community. Jason Jensen, president of WJA, says Tampa was a natural next step for the company, while its director of public safety and Tampa director Jeff McDowell says the location will allow the company to tap into a talent pool diversity that thrives in the historic district. The office is the company’s sixth in the state. The company is actively hiring across all locations, with a particular focus on the Tampa office, which is expected to house a team of 20 and grow its workforce to nearly 100. WJA’s portfolio in Tampa includes notable projects such as the ConnectWise office headquarters, the Tampa Fire. and Police Training Complex Modernization Project, Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park, RYDE It Cycle Studio in Midtown, Academy of Holy Names School, North Tampa Christian Academy and HART Operations Center.
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has awarded Poettker construction a National Safety Merit Award for its continuous commitment to safety at work. Presented at the 34th Annual Construction Excellence Awards during the 2024 ABC Convention in Orlando, the award was presented to just 45 contractors nationwide, selected from among ABC member companies that achieved the ‘diamond, platinum or gold status in its STEP safety management system by 2023, reflecting the companies’ safety performance data by 2022. During selection, contractors were judged on self-assessed scores, rates of lost cases, total recordable incident rates, use of leading indicators, process and program innovations, and interviews conducted by ABC’s National Health and Safety Committee.
