The Associated General Contractors of Colorado honored the winners of the 2009 Awards of Construction Excellence (ACE) at the association’s 22nd annual awards banquet in Denver on November 6. The Lockheed Martin Space Operations Simulation Center (SOSC), constructed by Fransen Pittman General Contractors, won the top prize in the category Meeting the Challenge of a Difficult Job (General Contractor). The project was also honored with the Jack Mincher People's Choice Award.
Working within an aggressive 10-month schedule on an incredibly specialized facility, Fransen Pittman devised intensive planning and ingenuity to build the 40,576-sq ft LEED-Gold certified facility. The facility will allow engineers to test spacecraft under simulated space conditions and was constructed on unique red rock formations in Littleton’s Waterton Canyon. This foundation is ideal for precise testing and simulation of maneuvers such as spacecraft docking. Large, powerful lights have the ability to simulate full sunlight; however, when turned off the facility stands in complete darkness.
“This is one of the more challenging projects we’ve designed because the owner had such specialized requirements,” says OZ Architecture’s Kelly Meissner.
One such requirement was importing 6,000 cubic yards of fill to construct a 1,000-ft temporary road, which accommodated ongoing operations at Lockheed Martin’s adjacent facility. Another specific condition was that the adjacent building had to be shored to stabilize the foundation and maintain the integrity of decade’s worth of seismic data recorded from within while constructing the new addition. Fransen Pittman worked not only to keep the building from moving, but also ensured that construction activities did not interrupt daily operations.
“Our project superintendent was constantly thinking several steps ahead,” says Von Fransen, Fransen Pittman Strategic Advisor. “He had to shift and adjust a monster schedule week to week due to changing conditions. This one-of-a-kind project had complexities to a magnitude we’ve never seen.”
The Fransen Pittman project team included Keith Vaughn, LEED AP, Project Manager; Brian Rethmeier, LEEP AP, Project Engineer; Tim Campbell, Project Superintendent; and Anthony Villegas, Foreman.