New Office Building: 215 N. Mason
|
|
The project is for the design and construction of a 71,515 gross square foot office building for City staff. The building will be located at the southeast corner of Block 32. Block 32 is bounded by Maple Street on the north, LaPorte Avenue on the south, Mason Street on the east, and Howes street on the west. The site is directly across from the Larimer County Justice Center site to the south, the future transit center to the east, and the Civic Center Parking Structure to the southeast.
The New Office Building will incorporate several City departments allowing easier access for the public to obtain information and services. |
Overall budget for this project is $11,044,073. The significant project cost elements consist of:
|
|
NEW OFFICE BUILDING OBJECTIVES:
The focus will be consistent with the Civic Center Master Plan. Conforming to the Fort Collins Land Use Code, the New Office Building will be close to the streets edge to engage pedestrians and provide continuity with "Old Town"; provide pedestrian access from adjacent businesses and activities; encourage the use of alternative modes of transportation; and will further redevelop the "4 Corners" area (the intersection of Mason Street and LaPorte Avenue). In addition, the New Office Building design will link the civic pedestrian corridor established by the Larimer County Justice Center. The New Office Building will project a positive image to the community by complementing the surrounding civic center buildings and fit within the existing urban scale of the area. It will enhance the downtown urban environment with a timeless not "trendy" look conveying a sense of permanence and community pride, and establish a friendly pedestrian environment with attractive street fronts and walkways. The New Office Building will serve as one of the anchors of the Civic Center area, compatible with, yet different from, the Justice Center and Civic Center Parking Structure. The "serviceable" life of the New Office Building is 40+ years. It maximizes use of relocatable, reusable, and recyclable products, and uses modular space standards and raised access flooring to promote flexibility for future interior design changes. The vision of the New Office Building is to better use daylight and maintain flexibility for the future. The open office area workstations are located along the perimeter of the building. Private offices and support spaces are located on the interior, accessing daylight and a view to the outside (where appropriate) via "borrowed light". Indirect lighting will be used in the open work areas to supplement the daylighting. One of the most important aspect of the New Office Building objective is to create a sustainable design. The New Office Building will meet the needs of today's society without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Over 40% of the total energy produced in this country is consumed by the built environment. The resources required to create, operate and replenish this level of infrastructure and income are enormous and diminishing. U.S. consumers utilize greater resources per capita than any other people world-wide. We consume about 20,000 pounds per person per year of construction-related materials. These include virgin forest products, fuels, steel, glass, cement and plastics. The New Office Building integrates, innovative, sustainable building techniques to minimize energy usage and damage to the environment while providing benefits for people using the building. Sustainable development ideally results in the following benefits: energy and water savings, reduced pollution, conservation of natural resources, promotion of recycling, better indoor air quality, enhanced occupant comfort (resulting in increased occupant productivity and performance), enhanced building durability, and reduced maintenance costs. The New Office Building will provide the City of Fort Collins' employees with an environmentally sound work place, while providing the City as a whole a model for the energy, environmental, and economic benefits of sustainable development. Balancing initial construction costs and long-term operational costs of this project is an important objective. The design-build team used an integrated "whole building" design approach to take into consideration the effect the design elements, energy and resource constraints, building systems, and building function have on one another. Use of an integrated approach addresses building orientation, daylighting opportunities, building envelope, and building system choices. Use of a multidisciplinary team approach allows all team members to share specialized expertise and coordinate their individual design efforts to achieve a synergistic, environmentally responsible building. |