GSBS-Designed Project Wins Merit Award from Intermountain Contractor

Intermountain Contractor, in its "Best of 08" issue (December 2008), awarded the Barnes Aerospace project with a Merit Award. This project included construction of a 165,000 s.f. tilt-up concrete building shell at the Business Depot Ogden (BDO).

Several elements made this project unique:

• Multiple pits with varying depths
  
• Changes in fire suppression systems
  
• Structural factors for suspended cranes
  
• Increased slab-on-grade thickness
  
• Extensive industrial water demand

The project team included Big-D Construction (GC), GSBS Architects (architect), Great Basin Engineering North (civil), BNA Consulting Engineers (electrical), Colvin Engineering (mechanical) and Dunn Associates (structural).

GSBS wishes congratulations to the entire team!

GSBS Architects Hires New Director of Sustainable & Energy Services, Broadens Capabilities

Salt Lake City— Most buildings use twice as much energy as automobiles, so in their continuing efforts to create superior facilities, GSBS Architects has hired Curtis Clark, a former State Energy Manager for the Utah Department of Administrative Services and founding member of Utah’s chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.

“Our firm is thrilled to have Curtis join our team, and we are pleased with our increased ability to add an additional value to our clients through his unique set of abilities and years of experience,” said Mike Stransky, president of GSBS. “We are especially excited that as we move forward with several new projects, we’ll be able to put Curtis’s talents to work in helping our clients reach their energy efficiency and environmental goals.”

As the principal author of Utah’s High Performance Building Rating System, Curtis has the insights to proven sustainable design, and the ability to make recommendations that will ensure each project leaves the smallest possible carbon footprint.

“I admire GSBS for taking such a big leap forward in the global effort to reduce the negative environmental impacts of buildings,” Curtis said. “It’s one thing to just hire an energy consultant to tell you you’re using too much energy—at GSBS, we’ll tell you where you’re overbudget on energy, and will help you find creative ways to make the proper changes, without destroying the aesthetics of your project.”

Curtis has additional experience in conducting energy modeling and finding ways to improve the efficiency of the building and the health of its occupants. He has a proven track record of helping clients make significant changes in the way their buildings operate, resulting in significant financial savings.

GSBS Architects is a 90-person firm offering architecture, landscape architecture, interior design and planning services through offices in Salt Lake City, Utah and Fort Worth, Texas. 2008 marks GSBS’ 30-year anniversary, during which time the firm has completed hundreds of projects of various project types including recreation, commercial, academic, government, justice, hospitality and health care. A recognized leader in sustainable design, GSBS has built an impressive portfolio of LEED-certified projects, currently more than any other architecture firm in the state of Utah.




Learn more about our Sustainability & Energy Consulting

For a Utah Museum, Polshek Takes Its Cue from the Land

GSBS Architects mentioned in Architectural Record Online - original article here.

All images courtesy of Polshek Partnership.

Polshek Partnership has designed a new, 161,000-square-foot facility for the Utah Museum of Natural History in Salt Lake City. The $98 million project will enable the 45-year-old institution to better showcase its collection of fossils, rocks, minerals, and other artifacts. Presently, only 1 percent of the museum’s 1.2-million-piece collection is on display in its current location, the George Thomas Building on the University of Utah campus.

The new venue, also on the school campus, sits on a 17-acre site surrounded by 600 acres of protected desert. Nestled into a hillside overlooking the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, a popular recreational path, the building offers dramatic views of the Great Salt Lake Basin, Oquirrhs Mountains, and Kennecott copper mines, the largest copper mine in the world.

The concrete and glass building has an angled massing that follows the site topography. Clad in horizontal bands of local copper alloy, its façade mimics geological strata. “The building is conceived as an abstraction, extension and transformation of the land,” says Polshek design partner Todd H. Schliemann, FAIA.

Inside, each of the four levels has a theme: sky, life, land, and past worlds. There will be eight permanent exhibit spaces totaling about 37,500 feet, in addition to a 1,200-square-foot children’s gallery. Terraces will offer a direct connection to outdoors exhibits and the surrounding landscape. In addition, the museum will contain a 150-seat theater, a bookstore, a café, and 31,500 square feet worth of storage space.

The architects hope to achieve LEED Gold for the project. The design calls for high-performance mechanical systems, recycled building materials, and a wind turbine. The facility also will have a planted roof system that will capture stormwater for use in irrigation.

Construction began July 29 and is scheduled to be finished in early 2011. The new venue is expected to increase attendance by 65 percent, attracting 220,000 visitors annually. The local firm Gillies Stransky Brems Smith is architect of record.

Ralph Appelbaum