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Xantrex

admin — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:58:21 +0000

BJG | Architecture + Engineering is proud to announced that Xantrex’s new $1.1 million facility located in Livermore, California is complete. The tenant improvement is in an existing tilt up concrete building that houses two other tenants. The new 18,000 square foot facility houses the engineering department and testing facility for Xantrex, a power supply manufacturer for the solar and wind power industry.

Designed to fit the culture and corporate brand of a sustainable company, such as Xantrex, the open office areas were designed to maximize natural day lighting to provide a space that is open, clean and high energy. In addition, BJG has been able to successfully merge the feel of the industrial use of Xantrex’s testing space with a high tech office area through the selection of finishes and the design of an open ceiling.

Although the project presented challenges of working within an existing building partnered with a short schedule, the project was able to stay on track because of the clear communication and directives between the entire team. The project delivered design build for mechanical, electrical and plumbing was managed by the general contractor Kares Construction.

When asked about the importance of this project, BJG’s Vice President Teresa Goodwin said, “Xantrex is an important part of the renewable power industry contributing their part to reducing our carbon emissions. We are excited to work with a company that is such an important part of our sustainable future.”

Xantrex was recently acquired by Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries. The newly designed Livermore facility is an additional investment by Schneider into the renewable energy market, and it will afford Xantrex the opportunity to expand and hire additional staff as the renewable power industry continues to grow.

Photography by Lucas Fladzinski, www.fladzinski.com

Peppermill Hotel Employee Parking Garage

admin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:06:39 +0000

The structure contains approximately 618 parking spaces on three levels. The garage is post-tensioned, cast-in-place concrete. The west and north walls are virtually solid to mitigate noise and light to the neighboring apartments. The upper barrier panels are a minimum of eight feet tall to mitigate sound and light emission. A decorative mansard required an inventive torsion-tube support to eliminate interior columns that could interfere with the parking. The conceptual design was created by MBA and then refined and implemented by BJG. The garage occupies nearly all of it’s site and posed difficult staging for the contractor.

Mazda Dealership

admin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:48:30 +0000

New Mazda Kia Dealership (combined project with KIA). Design follows the national prototype design from Mazda USA. Mazda is 17,000 sf 2 story showroom, service garage, parts storage warehouse & administrative offices.

Kia Dealership

admin — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:33:08 +0000

The new Kia dealership is 20,000 sf and also included a new 17,000 sf Mazda dealership. Each individual building includes it’s own showroom, offices and service bays. A third 3,000 sf building houses the shared wash

bays. Construction was completed in Spring of 2008.

Incline Village GID

admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:03:00 +0000

Incline Village General Improvement District Pulic Works is a 17,330 sf building for district offices, inspector quarters and vehicle maintenance. Fleet maintenance area includes a welding bay, parts mezzanine and freight elevator. Architectural highlights include clerestory windows, exposed structure and a sheltered bridge entry.

Reno Women and Family Shelter

admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:27:36 +0000

The family shelter on the third floor is a state-of-art design allowing families in crisis to remain together in a small, apartment-like setting to help resolve issues and get the family unit stabilized. There is also a homeless single mom’s unit which is based more on a dormitory model to allow the moms to help each other. Security for the facility is key – from the health clinic and HIPPA health records compliance to the security of the councilors, women, children and families in the shelter, a great deal of work was done to insure safety. Numerous electric strike doors and separate entrances are used to separate populations as much as possible in one building. Security cameras on DVRs continuously monitor all public spaces.

The second floor has storage space, will house the Children’s Cabinet, Nevada AIDS foundation and HAWC clinic. The ground floor has ReStart and the Good Shepherd Clothes Closet. Each tenant was interviewed for space planning needs and operational needs in order to determine the best location in the building and the proper size and plan. ReStart also has a significant data center on the second floor which has two tech offices, a back-up generator and redundant isolated cooling for six full racks of 42 U’s each.

The first floor has a public space for persons to receive their aid checks, have access to telephones and computers for job searches and mailboxes for transient persons looking for work. This space is isolated from the remainder of the facility for security but still has the feel of being incorporated into the rest of the building.

As this building houses a family shelter, a playground was essential but we had no land- the entire site is either public access or building. So we developed the roof as a playground complete with shade structure and restroom. This also had the advantage of being secure from an access perspective because the stairs and elevator are equipped with access controls.

Clark County Fire Station #66

admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:59:42 +0000

Fire Station #66 is positioned as a fine demonstration of the transition from design ideal to design realization in real world architecture. This is the first implementation of our prototype design.

Monica

admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:44:58 +0000

Monica travels... a lot.

I have been with BJG since 1996 and I am the Accounting Supervisor / H.R. Representative. Prior to working for BJG, I worked for architects and contractors for more than 15 years. I enjoy working with the great people at BJG in a positive and fun environment. When I am not at work, I enjoy traveling to unusual destinations and spending time with my sons and grandchildren.

George

admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:33:40 +0000

George was a geologist.

George Ghusn Jr., is a founder and Team Leader of BJG Architecture + Engineering. George started out as a geologist but became more interested in engineering than geology. His structural engineering career took him from missile launchers to building design over the years. George has a BS in Geological Engineering and a MS in Civil (Structural) Engineering from the University of Nevada Reno. He is a licensed structural engineer in Nevada, Washington and Arizona and is nationally certified as a Structural Engineer by the Structural Engineering Certification Board. George is married with two children and lives and works in Reno.

Jim

admin — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:51:57 +0000

Jim = people spaces.

An instructor once said if we can leave a building with at least one memorable space we have succeeded with architecture. Architecture is a finite profession; we only have a few projects to work on in a life time, so I want to make them count.

Favorite job: Walgreens over I-80: ‘I know it’s only a drug store, but it’s also a building as a bridge. Best synergy between structure and design we’ve done so far.’

Jim is a licensed architect in Nevada, California, and Oregon. He also holds NCARB certificate. He has designed award winning projects for BJG including the Reno Community Assistance Center and Walgreens over I-80 in Reno.