commentBest Retail/Mixed-Use Development
The first year of construction on the $80-million Legg Mason World Headquarters/Four Seasons hotel project in Baltimore was spent below grade, excavating and then building the upscale development's 1,200-space underground parking garage. That work would result in the supporting foundation for a 662,000-sq-ft, 25-floor glass and stone office structure combined with a 455,566-sq-ft, 22-story, 256-room, luxury hotel, with eight upper-floor condominiums and 52,000 sq ft of lower-level retail.
Tim Hodges, project executive with Armada Hoffler Construction Co., considers the 26-month schedule and the five-level parking deck adjacent to Baltimore's Inner Harbor as the project team's two biggest challenges of the construction project. Construction of the underground structure began in March 2007.
“We poured a [3-ft thick, 1,300-ft-long] slurry wall around the entire site, 100,000 sq ft,” Hodges says. Then the team installed tie backs and dug out another row until reaching bottom. From there, the company poured the mat foundation and the garage floors.
It took a year to complete the excavation and the parking area. Construction crews removed almost 25 million sq ft of material from the site and replaced it with a 508,700-sq-ft concrete structure.
Once it was able to go vertical, Armada Hoffler built the office tower in less than a year, ahead of schedule, while simultaneously constructing the adjoining Four Seasons tower.
The base of the building is clad in Jura limestone with all glass entrances utilizing a Pilkington structural curtain wall system in a black granite surround. The two high-rise towers flank the development's entry court. Both of the high-rise towers feature a floor-to-ceiling glass curtain wall system.
The project was designed as a mission-critical facility and includes dual primary electrical and communication feeds, raised flooring and multiple security systems
The project earned LEED-Silver certification. Armada Hoffler racked up 3 million worker hours without a lost-time accident.
Owner/Developer: H&S Properties Development Corp., Baltimore
Contractor: Armada Hoffler Construction, Virginia Beach, Va.
Architect: Beatty, Harvey, Coco Architects, Baltimore
Civil Engineer: Rummel, Klepper & Kahl, Baltimore
Structural Engineer: Morris & Ritchie Associates, Towson, Md.
MEP Engineer: MMM Group, Toronto
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Armada Hoffler Construction Co.
Best Retail/Mixed-Use Development
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