Rhode Island Hospital and Boston Children's Museum Projects Recognized
Boston, MA – October 9, 2009 – Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts (AGC), a construction trade association representing the leading construction firms in Massachusetts and New England, honored Shawmut Design and Construction with two awards at their AGC Build New England Awards gala held October 1 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Boston. This bi-annual event recognizes outstanding project teams who have designed and built the most remarkable and complex facilities, included offices, healthcare facilities, schools, laboratories and academic institutions from across New England. Shawmut Design and Construction was called to the stage twice, once for our work with Rhode Island Hospital, and once for our work with the Boston Children's Museum.
Rhode Island Hospital Bridge Expansion Project – Honor Award Recipient
In collaboration with architects Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, Inc., and Rhode Island Hospital's Facility Design Team, Shawmut's Science and Healthcare Group topped the hospital with a 90,000 square foot, three-story, vertical expansion that was, in the words of Shawmut Director of Safety Shaun Carvalho, "not unlike performing open heart surgery on a moving patient."
This remarkable, innovative project added three new floors of inpatient beds and a 140-foot high, glass-enclosed pedestrian bridge. The 110-bed patient addition features a glass and masonry curtain wall.
You might expect this next part − where we explain how Shawmut did an incredible job of communicating and collaborating with hospital staff. But for the hospital, Shawmut's communication procedures were a new experience that really raised the standards for future hospital construction. Weekly meetings kept staff and patient's safe, informed, and engaged, and allowed them to advise the Shawmut team on ideal times for noisy work. The project team installed exhaust filters in order to limit fumes, and used a Shawmut "Rule Book" which explained everything from where to park to how to speak.
Thanks to Shawmut, Rhode Island Hospital's most intricate construction project in their 145-year history went off without a hitch, not only preserving the sensitive operations of the trauma center and surgical suite right underneath the site, but finishing up five months ahead of schedule. In addition to the AGC Massachusetts Merit Award, this project also received several other prestigious honors including the AGC Aon Build America Merit Award, and the "Project of the Year" award from New York Construction Magazine.
Boston Children's Museum Addition and Renovation– Merit Award Winner
The Boston Children's Museum won a Merit Award and received special recognition from the award panel. "BCM (Boston Children's Museum) deserves to be honored by this award because it elegantly reflects the best of the design and construction industries…from the subcontractors who erected the steel and laid the bricks, to the estimators, managers and supervisors at Shawmut who oversaw the process step by step…The stunning end product is a testament to the extensive planning and meticulous execution of the entire project team."
The scope of this 19-month project, executed in collaboration with architect Cambridge Seven Associates and landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc., required that the famous Boston institution be able to accommodate its visitors, young and old alike, while undergoing a major overhaul to better serve and educate them in the future.
The project included renovations to a 150,000 square foot existing facility and the construction of a 23,000 square foot glass-enclosed atrium, incorporating sustainable design components in the renovation and construction. Recycled, local, and low VOC-emitting building materials were utilized; a storm water reclamation system and a green roof were put into place to reduce pollution; and the facility houses extensive state-of-the-art mechanical systems, such as boilers, water pumps, electrical systems, and a new air handling system, increasing the buildings' efficiency. This project was granted LEED® NC Gold Certified status by the US Green Building Council and has the distinction of being the first green museum in the city of Boston.
In addition to the AGC Merit Award and LEED® Gold Certification, the Boston Children's Museum project also received an Honor Award for Design Excellence from the Boston Society of Architects, a Preservation Achievement Award from the Boston Preservation Alliance, Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects, and a Greenest Building Award, AIA, BSA and City of Boston.
About Shawmut Design and Construction
Shawmut Design and Construction is a 100% employee-owned company headquartered in Boston with offices in New York, Providence, Las Vegas, and New Haven. Shawmut is a leading ENR top 100-ranked national construction management firm providing client-oriented services in the following markets: Academic, Commercial, Corporate Interiors, Cultural and Historic Preservation, Gaming, Healthcare and Science, Hotels, Restaurants, Retail, and Spas and Health Clubs.
