Timber Ridge at Talus wins NW Construction Award

Northwest Construction Honors the Best of 2008
Best of 2008 Washington

Timber Ridge at Talus GLY Construction Inc.

Best General Building Over $50 Million

Although Timber Ridge at Talus is located in an area that features preserved land, the lodge also offers facilities that appeal to an urban lifestyle. It includes a lobby with a three-sided fireplace, library, creative arts center, fitness center, wellness center, cocktail lounge, formal dining, private dining, cafe, postal center, convenience store, beauty and barber salon, and business center.

Incorporating a natural environment with metropolitan facilities, Timber Ridge provides not only the feeling of a suburban neigh- borhood, but also the opportunity for a resident to create a lifestyle of choice.

Residents are able to express their personal taste in their homes as well. All one and two-bedroom apartment homes are custom

designed and equipped with customary conveniences such as full kitchens, walk-in closet(s), a balcony or patio, washer/dryer, expanded cable, individually controlled heating and cooling (including air condi- tioning), and an emergency call system.

Overcoming Challenges

Timber Ridge at Talus includes two new city roads, 184 apartment homes, a 36-bed skilled nursing facility, 50,000 sq ft of commons area and over 100,000 sq ft of underground parking — all in a compact 75,000 sq ft footprint that maintains its program adjacencies and height restrictions within the Talus residential setting.

Located on a steep 91/2 acre hillside site on the eastern slope of

42 Northwest Construction 12/2008

Best General Building Over $50 Million

Cougar Mountain, the project faced an exacting owner program that presented many challenges. The 10-story building structure is ter- raced to follow the natural contours of the steep site, thus maximiz- ing the potential for outside spaces and strong view connections with the Cascade Mountains to the east. Some challenges of the adjacent program areas that the design team overcame included locating the skilled nursing over the Commons area, and stacking the “columnless” apartments above below-grade parking within the limits of post-tensioned concrete.

With the geographic separation of an Iowa-based owner and Bremerton-based architect. The team collaborated by using electronic project management tools.

When the region was faced with a concrete batch plant strike in the summer of 2006, most of the earthwork for Timber Ridge was pushed into a winter season that had record-breaking wet weather. It was imperative to the project schedule that backfilling of retaining walls continued through the winter months to avoid project delays. The particular make-up of the native on-site soil made it particularly sensitive to water, rendering it useless for backfill in winter months. The alternative was to remove the existing stockpiled soils from the site and import better soils from elsewhere at a significant cost pre- mium. GLY worked with its earthwork subcontractor and the geot- echnical engineer to develop an approach of amending the existing on-site soils with a combination of recycled crushed concrete and kiln dust. The result was a sustainable approach that ultimately saved the owner hundreds of thousand of dollars over the more conventional approach.

With the geographic separation of an Iowa-based owner and Bremerton – based architect, the team collaborated by using elec- tronic project management tools to assist communication. The architect utilized a Sharepoint website for the posting of documents, field reports and project photos. To the greatest extent possible, the contractor distributed RFI’s, submittals, meeting minutes and other communications electronically. The team is expanding the use of technology for Phase 11, which will begin in July 2009, utilizing Webex and conference calls for design meetings which is proving to be very effective and reducing lost time due to meeting travel.

Contribution to the Community and Construction Industry To help provide an engaging resident experience during construc- tion, GLY helped coordinate on-site activities including a ground- breaking ceremony, a topping-out celebration mid-way through con- struction, and most recently a grand opening event.

Resident satisfaction was always kept in mind throughout the build- ing process. Over an 18-month period, GLY provided weekly photo updates of the construction progress which were uploaded to the Timber Ridge website and made available to the residents. GLY also attended resident update meetings to present slide shows, discuss progress on milestones, and answer a wide range of resident ques- tions. Close communication between occupants, subcontractors and GLY made each individual apartment personal to each resident.

Eliminating common negative perceptions of what assisted living home environments are, Timber Ridge at Talus sets an example for what Continuing Care Retirement Communities can provide for today’s senior population. This lush, warm community was designed to meet the expectations of seniors, and is dedicated to offering an active and maintenance-free lifestyle in a spectacular setting. The communi- ty offers first rate services to its residents that can be customized to meet individual preferences and tailored as needs change over time.

Project Team Owner Life Care Services General Contractor GLY Construction Inc, Bellevue Architect Rice Fergus Miller, Bremerton Structural Engineer Coughlin Porter Lundeen, Seattle Electrical Design Build Cochran Electric, Seattle HVAC Design Build Holaday Parks, Renton Plumbing Design Build Stirrett-Johnsen

Earthwork and Utilities Northwest Construction, Bellevue, Wash; Landscape, Tuefel Landscaping, Everett, Wash.