Zahl-Ford, Wallace Engineering

Win 2006 Engineering Excellence Awards

 

ACEC OKLAHOMA announced the 2006 Engineering Excellence Awards recipients at the January 25th meeting in Oklahoma City.

Zahl-Ford, Inc., Oklahoma City received the 2006 GRAND CONCEPTOR AWARD for the City Center Parking Garage Expansion & Harvey Ave. Extension in Oklahoma City.

Wallace Engineering, Tulsa, received the 2006 HONOR AWARD for their design of the Morton Comprehensive Health Services Facility in Tulsa.

ZAHL-FORD - GRAND CONCEPTOR AWARD

The original Galleria Parking Garage in downtown Oklahoma City was built in 1980 as part of a larger planned development, which was anticipated to be a multi-story retail building with additional parking levels. However, the planned development did not continue past the construction of the parking garage.

In 2003, the owner commissioned a study to examine alternatives for providing significant additional parking on the site. After evaluating various options, it was decided to replace a portion of the original steel-framed two-level garage with two new six-level garages.

The new 663,000 square-foot structures added 1,000 net parking spaces, with the ability to expand the new west garage to accommodate five more levels, creating an additional 1000 parking spaces.

The structural system consists of precast concrete wall panels with three different face mix textures that are integrated into a surface grid design. An aluminum curtain wall system is used on the prominent stair towers. Perforated metal panels make up architectural accent screens on one building elevation and the illuminated cornices along the top levels of both garages.

The site was subdivided with the extension of a major downtown street creating a separation between the new Oklahoma City Metropolitan Library and the Oklahoma Tower Office building.

Two tunnels link the garages under the street extension, and two bridges link the garages above the street so that parkers may enter on one side and traverse both garages. Also, a pedestrian tunnel links the east garage to an office tower on the north.

From the beginning, the owner expressed a strong desire to avoid a square, gray, concrete box that is common for parking garages. To that end, a strong architectural element provides a modern complementary tie to the surrounding architecture in downtown Oklahoma City, and the signature steel arch vehicular bridges at the top levels connect the two garages both visually and functionally.

WALLACE ENGINEERING - HONOR AWARD

The Morton Comprehensive Health Services Facility is the new home for Morton Health Care and its distinguished history of providing health services to Tulsa’s minority and economically disadvantaged population.

The new $14 million, 60,000 square foot facility provides space for medical, dental, behavioral health, optometry, podiatry and other services, and also houses pharmacy, laboratory and radiology services.

The signature element of the Center is its long, arching atrium. The atrium structure splits the facility into two parts, and rises above the adjacent roofs to act as a clerestory and extends beyond each end of the building to provide canopies.

The biggest challenge with the design was to satisfy the desire for a light, open structure, while providing the lateral stability that the atrium needed to resist code-mandated wind loads. Wallace Engineering worked with the architect to position the "branches" so that they aligned with roof and wall elements and could act as lateral bracing. A deep roof deck was used to allow longer distances between roof framing members without requiring intermediate purlins.

The project demonstrates the ability to meet the architectural vision of the project while meeting engineering requirements with and elegant and open structure.