February 2015
Keast & Hood Recognized For Three Projects By Local Structural Engineers Association
The Structural Engineers Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC, presented its annual Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards on Saturday, February 21, 2015. Keast & Hood took home three awards: Merit Award for Place Occide Jeanty in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (New Construction Under $25m category), and Outstanding Project Awards for United Nations Foundation Interior Renovation, Washington, DC (Renovation Under $15m category) and the Howard Hughes Corporation Rouse Building Renovation, Columbia, MD (Renovation $15m-$40m category).
Haiti Place Occide Jeanty: The new concrete-framed amphitheater was completed in time for its opening in summer 2014. Creative structural design balanced seismic retrofit with solutions appropriate for construction materials and methods available in Haiti. Haitian and U.S. building codes were incorporated for future seismic protection. Structural design minimized material usage, avoided specialty fabrication, enabled water collection on site for concrete mixes, and accommodated Haitian labor practices. The Design-Build Contractor was CEEPCO Contracting, LLC.
Renovation of the United Nations Foundation Headquarters: The project involved 95,000 square feet of interior space over four levels. The scope included alterations and reinforcements to the existing floor structure, detailing for equipment, partitions, and architectural features, and a new feature asymmetrical, multi-level, cantilevered staircase. The project was completed with STUDIOS Architecture.
The Howard Hughes Corporation Rouse Building: The 112,000 square foot corporate headquarters building, originally designed by Frank Gehry, was converted into a mixed-use retail and office building. The extensive renovation and adaptive reuse involved complete removal of the second floor structure, strengthening of the existing structure by adding new trusses and encasing columns in concrete, and repairing the building’s distinctive stucco cladding and wood trellises. The project was completed with Cho Benn Holback + Associates Inc.