New York Projects Win Design Awards

Several New York projects were among those to receive 2003 Professional Awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects. Award-winning projects were:

• Battery Park City's master plan and esplanade received the Landmark Award. The landscape architect was Hanna/Olin (submitted by Olin Partnership in Philadelphia, Penn.) and the client was the Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority.
  
• Hither Lane in East Hampton, N.Y. received the Design Honor Award. The landscape architect was Reed Hilderbrand Associates, Inc., Watertown, Mass. The clients were Patsy and Jeff Tarr.
  
• The Arthur Ross Terrace of the Rose and Priest Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, N.Y. won a Design Merit Award. The landscape architect was Charles Anderson Landscape Architecture in Seattle, Wash. And the client was the American Museum of Natural History.
  
• Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park in New York, N.Y. won a Design Merit Award. The landscape architect was Olin Partnership in Philadelphia, Penn. and the client was the Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority.

Meltzer/Mandl Architects Honored

Meltzer/Mandl Architects on New York, N.Y., were presented with an Award of Excellence from the National Society of American Registered Architects for Bond Street Lofts in New York, N.Y.

With the design of Bond Street Lofts, a $7 million project at 57 Bond St., Meltzer/Mandl introduced a new architectural vocabulary to multi-family residential buildings. The six-story, 27,560-sq.-ft. building is mid-rise tower with two setbacks. The building's main volume, a curving four-story mass, is clad in aluminum and glass. To marry the building to this historic neighborhood, the architects created a low stone wall with round columns along the Broad Street front.

The developer on the project was Alchemy Properties, New York, N.Y. Construction was completed in May 2003.

NJDOT Receives Achievement Award

The National Partnership for Highway Quality has awarded its 2003 National Achievement Award to the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

The award was given to the department for achieving highway quality on its construction of the U.S. Route 9 bridge over Nacote Creek in Galloway Township. The project involved replacing a deteriorating drawbridge built in 1922 with a 500-foot fixed span bridge. The bridge includes innovative design features, such as the use of load and resistance factor design method for the bridge design and high performance concrete for the beams. Also involved in the project were the engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff of Princeton, N.J. and J.H. Reid General Contractor of South Plainfield, N.J.

Reverse Auctions Questioned

The Associated General Contractors of America issued a four-page white paper raising concerns with the use of reverse auctions to procure construction.

In the white, AGC states its belief that reverse auctions will seldom, if ever, provide the same level of benefits and protections existing in currently recognized selection procedures for construction contractors. The white paper offers five major points for consideration by owners, contractors and other construction project participants, including:

• Reverse auctions do not guarantee the lowest price for owners
  
• Reverse auctions may encourage imprudent bidding practices
  
• Negotiated procurements allow thorough evaluation of value
  
• Sealed bidding assures that the successful bidder is responsive and responsible
  
• Reverse auctions may contravene federal procurement laws and certain state laws

New York Projects Honored

The General Building Contractors of New York State announced the winning entries in its 14th annual Build New York Awards competition. The winners are:

• New construction - Sano-Rubin Construction Co., Inc. in Albany for Hawthorne Valley School Fine Arts Wing in Ghent
  
• Renovation - Carey Construction in Kingston for Matthewis Persen House in Kingston
  
• Small/new renovation - Sano-Rubin Construction Co., Inc. in Albany for St. Peter's Hospital Emergency Department in Albany
  
• Large/new renovation - Murnane Building Contractors in East Syracuse for Turning Stone Casino Resort Expansion in Verona

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