OVERVIEW

OWNER: Los Alamos National Laboratory
LOCATION: Los Alamos, NM
COMPLETION DATE: June 2006
INDUSTRY SERVED: Research and Development
CAPABILITIES: Design-Build, Electrical, Voice and Data Communications

WHAT WE DID

B&D Industries, Inc. was the design-build general contractor for the Radio Shop Replacement project. This is a 7,000 square foot service and support facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The facility consists of a high–bay service area that can accommodate vehicles as large as fire trucks for radio installation and maintenance, an office area for technical support personnel and a radio equipment room linked to a 70-foot radio tower.

The building sits on a concrete slab with turned-down footings to support the structure. Exterior finishes consist of a split faced CMU block around the high-bay area and contrasting colored stucco surrounding the low-bay area. Insulated and tinted glazing was installed to lower energy costs, in addition to providing solar shading on the south side of the building to increase the building’s energy efficiency.

One of the major challenges of this design-build project was that the existing Radio Shop facility was on a pre-set demolition schedule. This left an abbreviated schedule to design and build the new facility. B&D handled this challenge by separating the design and construction schedules into phases, enabling B&D to start construction while working on the design. The phased approach allowed B&D to have the civil and site drawings ready for construction in a timely fashion. As the civil and site utilities neared completion, the remainder of the design was completed and released to the construction team.

B&D worked with the HVAC Contractor, IT Contractor and General Contractor very closely to schedule the work processes to ensure a coordinated effort. In addition, B&D worked with the engineering firm to commission the electrical system for a LEED certification. This was the first LEED Silver certified data center in the United States.

B&D received an award for Exemplary Work from the Associated General Contractors of America for this project.