A Banner Year

Well before Banner Health opened the doors of Banner Estrella Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ, in January 2005, the 172-bed Greenfield hospital project—built by DPR and designed by NBBJ architects in partnership with The Orcutt/Winslow Partnership—has been a notable award winner. The project captured “Best of ‘04 Award” for Private Projects over $5 million from Southwest Contractor Magazine, the AIA Arizona Honor Award in the “Distinguished Building” category, and most recently, an “Award of Excellence – Built Projects” from Modern Healthcare magazine. Calling it “the closest thing to the hospital of the future,” the Modern Healthcare panel of leading architects from around the country described Banner Estrella as “elegantly conceived and remarked that it “incorporates some of the desert’s most striking elements into a hospital that blends technology, comfort and the surrounding environment.”

“Topping Out” 2005

More than 150 people applauded and cheered as the final steel beam, traditionally adorn with individual signatures, a Douglas fir tree and the American flag, was lifted by crane and bolted into place to mark the ahead-of-schedule completion of the 1,800-ton structural steel frame of Camino Medical Group’s (CMG) 250,000-sq.-ft. medical office building in Mountain View, CA. A significant construction milestone, the “topping out” celebration dates back hundreds of years and was brought to America by European and Asian immigrants, who became the country’s contractors and steelworkers and continued the custom of placing the Douglas fir tree on the beam to “bless the project” and the American flag to demonstrate their patriotism. Today, the ceremony is more of a salute to the project in general and provides an opportunity for everyone involved to celebrate a major accomplishment in the construction process. The facility and adjacent two-story parking garage, which are being built using lean construction techniques and four-dimensional virtual modeling, are scheduled for completion in February 2007.

Leading by Example

In addition to having the highest percentage (20%) of LEED-Accredited professionals on staff of any general contractor in the country, DPR continues to lead the industry in high-performance green building practices, lean construction techniques and our use of 4D virtual building technology. In fact, DPR captured top Gold award honors in Constructech magazine’s sixth annual Vision Awards for our use of 4D modeling on a 250,000-sq.-ft. medical office building for Camino Medical Group in Mountain View, CA, and the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University project in Tempe, AZ. DPR also received the Excellence in Environmental Risk Management award for its exemplary performance of and proactive approach to its environmental risk management practices. For the award, each company was evaluated on its commitment and practice of employee training, health and safety programs, contract preparation, insurance programs, claims history and other risk management practices.