Isabella Horton, FSB Structural Engineer Intern, visited her alma mater last week to assist with their 1st Year Studio “crits” for the School of Architecture. One of this year’s studio projects is to design a bridge with the intention to incorporate structure into their design development. Since she is an OSU graduate with a background in structures, emphasizing bridges, the professors invited her to participate. We love that our employees enjoy sharing their experience and giving back.
Video of Progress at Heartland Middle School
FSB has completed programming / project definition for the OSU CEAT Engineering Lab which entailed interactive workshops with students, faculty and staff. We are excited to move forward with the design of this important project.
Oklahoma City University has selected Frankfurt Short Bruza to redevelop the former Oklahoma High School into an educational facility for its School of Law.
“Our team will collaborate with university officials to ensure generations of future Oklahoma City University law students experience a first-class educational environment,” said Fred Schmidt, principal at FSB.
Built in 1910, the former high school was purchased by Southwestern Bell in the 1980s and converted to office space.
“Oklahoma High School was originally designed by Solomon Andrew Layton, who also designed the Oklahoma state Capitol,” said Jason Holuby, project manager at FSB. “We want to make the renovations necessary to provide Oklahoma City University with a top-notch law school while preserving the overall design of the current building. The function, layout and technology will change, but the look will stay consistent with the current style.”
Renovation plans include converting office space to classroom space and adding a courtroom, faculty, staff and administrative offices, a venue for meetings and events and a two-story library with cafe and collaboration rooms.
Oklahoma City University’s School of Law currently occupies 110,000 square feet in four buildings on the university’s campus. Moving the school downtown will increase space to more than 140,000 square feet.
The new location will be within walking distance of a large legal community, including the Oklahoma County Courthouse, the U.S. Federal Building and Courthouse and several law firms.
FROM STAFF REPORTS • Published: June 1, 2012 12:00 AM CDT
BRAGGS — Gov. Mary Fallin will formally dedicate the Thunderbird Chapel at the Oklahoma National Guard’s Camp Gruber on Saturday.
During the dedication event, soldiers, donors, volunteers and state military leaders will tour the completed chapel for the first time.
Announced in September, the project aimed to establish a spiritual center at Camp Gruber for the Oklahoma National Guard and other military service members and their families.
Private donations and volunteers under the direction of Fallin were the driving forces behind construction of the chapel.
Camp Gruber has not had a chapel since 1947.
The new chapel includes chaplain offices and a fellowship hall, which will help broaden its services to include weddings, family events and community activities.
The chapel was designed by Glenn Short, principal architect for Frankfurt-Short-Bruza Associates.
A majority of the construction work was done in November, when hundreds of volunteers worked to erect the chapel structure in just 16 days.
Gerry Shepherd, president and chief executive officer of Oklahoma Roofing and Sheet Metal, spearheaded the chapel construction.
The construction effort also included World Mission Builders, the Southern Baptist General Convention and other groups across the state.
More funds needed
Todd Pauley, chairman of the Thunderbird Chapel executive committee, said hundreds of hours of labor and hundreds of thousands of dollars of in-kind services and materials already have been given to support the Thunderbird Chapel. He said in order to finalize the funding for the chapel and honor outstanding commitments, an additional $400,000 is still required.
In addition to the chapel building, a memorial garden is being planned, with an estimated cost of $100,000, to recognize Oklahoma National Guard soldiers.
For more information or to donate to the effort, go to www.campgruberchapel.org.
March 1, 2010
OKLAHOMA CITY – A new set of walls designed to make it tougher to get into prison has gone up at the Eddie Warrior Correctional Center in Taft as part of a statewide prison chapel project.
It’s been open for less than a month, but Glenn Short, who helped design the chapel, said 14 baptisms already have been held inside the brick structure in Taft. And, he said there’s a waiting list for more at the minimum-security women’s facility.
Short’s architectural and engineering firm, Frankfurt-Short-Bruza Associates of Oklahoma City, is collaborating with World Mission Builders, led by R. Joe Wilson, and the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, to build chapels as one way to give offenders a reason to seek a better life.
The Taft chapel has 4,800 square feet, three classrooms, a library and computer lab, card shop, two offices and a 176-seat auditorium, stage and baptistry.
Including its furnishings, the chapel is valued at about $300,000. Even more impressive is what it took to put it there.
Along with dozens of inmates, the chapel was erected with the help of more than 40 volunteers from six states, who came by motor home and stayed on the job for two weeks to install prefabricated wall components on the slab and complete the interior.
“They raised the bar, or the building, so to speak,” Short said.
Area businesses also got involved by providing more than $130,000 in donated goods and services, while churches and individuals donated more than $100,000.
In addition to offering nondenominational services, the chapel was built to provide needed space for educational and counseling programs designed to help offenders stay out of jail once they are released.
The programs, which also have long waiting lists, provide a range of reintegration services, including career training, education and drug and mental health treatment. Oklahoma’s 26-percent recidivism rate among offenders is below the national average, but state budget cuts have impacted community re-entry programs lately, along with the need to replace chapels with more prison beds as the prison population expands.
“We don’t begin to address all the needs of offenders,” Justin Jones, director of the state’s prison system, said. “Some finish their entire incarceration and never go through their biggest need area.”
That’s why he welcomed the chapel construction program, provided security concerns could be overcome.
“We knew that for quite a few years that our chapel space was insufficient,” Jones said. “Most were built on grounds when they were a third of their present size, and we never had funding for expanding the areas for religious services.”
With a goal of building 15 chapels in Oklahoma, Short said his company already has started designing chapels for the Dick Connor Correctional Center in Hominy and the Mack Alford Correctional Center in Stringtown.
“It’s a longtime commitment that involves a lot of benevolence and community contribution,” said Short, who got involved with World Mission Builders after he met Wilson, the founder, at church.
While Short’s firm does other work for DOC, he said the chapel project fits their calling as faith-based owners.
“All companies have responsibilities to their community and society,” Short said. “This has a greater return because it involves the lives of these people.”
Extensive interior repairs and refurbishment of the state Capitol, which had been planned to begin next year, will start next month, project leaders said Thursday.
First on the list: Oklahoma Senate and House staff space on the first and third floors.
Specific architectural drawings and costs for that work are not available, said John Estus, a spokesman for the state Office of Management and Enterprise Services.
Asked whether it is unusual not to have this material in hand with work scheduled for so soon, Estus said the plans still are being formulated.
“It’s extremely aggressive, but they can save a lot of money if they can get started that soon,” he said.
He said refurbishment of the Senate staff area will be aided by architectural drawings produced previously, but added that it was up to the Senate to release these plans publicly. Matt Glanville, a spokesman for the Senate, said he did not have the drawings.
While work will begin soon on the Senate and House staff space, testing is still being done on the crumbling exterior of the building to see best methods for repairs. Windows are in bad shape, and many will have to be cut out and replaced.
Towering scaffolding has been set up on the south side of the nearly 100-year-old building to assess repair techniques and costs for fixing the exterior. The limestone facade is stained and water intrusion has led to deterioration. Bits of rock have been falling off.
Walls along the roof and ornamental features are not anchored properly and pose a risk of falling. There are cracks in panels of the relatively new Capitol dome.
The Oklahoma Legislature approved $120 million in bond money to repair the building, which also has leaky plumbing and outdated electrical wiring.
More money will be required if all of the proposed repairs and refurbishment are to be completed, but a prioritized cost list is still being formulated.
“Although it is certain that additional funding will be required to meet the overall project goals identified, we are in process of developing cost models to align with the scope of work,” stated a report submitted Thursday to an oversight committee.
The Senate and House staff space is first on a phasing plan that calls for building occupants to be moved only once.
These staff members will move from largely substandard basement offices to the first and third floors, where they will stay. Once they are out of the basement, construction workers will tackle major problems there, including the broken sewage system.
It’s not clear who will eventually be moved into the basement.
The State Capitol Repair Expenditure Oversight Committee was told Thursday that by moving people only once, tenant relocation expenses can be reduced.
The report, which was approved by the committee, estimated a six-year time frame for the project.
It was prepared by Manhattan Construction and Frankfurt Short Bruza Architects & Engineers, the construction and design firms working with the state to restore the interior.
“The approach we’re suggesting represents a much more efficient use of taxpayer resources and the least disruption to the functions of the building,” said Kyle Nelson, project director for Manhattan Construction.
EDMOND — The skyline has changed dramatically during the past two years, as a nearly $37 million public safety center building has risen out of a deep, muddy hole in downtown Edmond.
The more than 70,000-square-foot building on the southeast corner of First Street and Littler Avenue will soon be the home of police headquarters, public safety communications and emergency management operations.
Two buildings make up the public safety center complex. A 15,000-square-foot building near 33rd Street and Broadway will be the police department’s crime lab and provide storage for evidence and vehicles.
Dream come true
The project has been a dream in the minds of many people for more than 10 years, while city employees continued to work in crowded and uncomfortable quarters, enduring basement flooding and a situation that put victims and their attackers too close together during interrogation.
“Space needs drove it all,” said Deputy Police Chief Steve Thompson. “It started with the need for more jail space and it grew into looking at not only needs for the police department, but also for communications and emergency management. We are all cramped into very small spaces.”
Thompson was assigned full time to work with the architects and contractors during the construction.
“There are many facets to the need,” said Matt Stillwell, public safety communications and emergency management operations director. “Number one is space. We currently house our operation for communications and emergency management in two separate locations. The current working conditions have been less than ideal for quite some time.
“Working in an area that is prone to flood is not only unpleasant, but is also a potential safety hazard. Our folks can’t wait to get out of that environment.”
City officials will hold a dedication at 10 a.m. Thursday. People can tour the three-story downtown building after the ceremony.
Move-in will start Monday.
The cost
Voters in October 2011 approved a half-cent sales tax for five years to pay for the complex.
The first attempt to raise money to build the center failed in 2008 when voters rejected a larger, more expensive center to be paid for with a 10-year property tax increase.
Video: Play this Video Edmond’s public safety building new look for downtown
As of this week, the city has spent or encumbered $36.95 million for the project. That figure includes all change orders, engineering, furniture, fixtures, equipment, artwork and parking.
The original contract to construct the two buildings was for $27.47 million.
The city has collected through the middle of September $27.36 million from the half-cent sales tax, which ends in April 2017.
Voters also agreed to borrow money from a trust fund from the sale of Edmond Memorial Hospital to help pay for the center.
“With the assistance of the $6,881,060 hospital trust fund revenue, we have been able to pay as you go,” said Ross VanderHamm, city clerk and finance director.
Money borrowed from the hospital trust fund will be paid back after all project expenses are paid. VanderHamm anticipates that will be by the end of 2016.
The jail
The historical-style downtown building, made from concrete, steel and metal, is expected to take care of the city’s needs for 25 years.
The 14-cell jail — 9,932 square feet — is in the basement. It will house 38 inmates.
The old jail across the street at 23 E First St. was crowded and not safe for detention officers working in the 748-square-foot holding facility, city officials said.
The new jail is equipped with a master control area where detention officers can see all the prisoners.
“The entire detention center was designed with security and safety in mind,” Thompson said. “Even the glass in the area is designed through reflective glass and lighting so that the inmate cannot see out, but the staff can see them very well.”
The new jail, to be called the Edmond Detention Center, is one of the the only such facilities in the state lighted with natural sunlight. The light will be funneled down a tube.
“We are required to have so much candle power in each cell,” Thompson said. “Light was a priority for the staff also to help with morale.”
The lobby
Artwork displayed in the three-story lobby and outside the entrance is one of a kind.
A bronze sculpture of a police officer in an Edmond uniform, sitting on a bench with a young boy and his dog kneeling on the ground sits outside the entrance. The sculpture is called “Edmond’s Finest — Edmond’s Future.”
Inside, two abstract paintings hang where they can be seen at night from the outside. The 10-foot by 16-foot paintings are by artist Dennis Johnson and cost $26,000.
“The lobby is going to be really nice for the community, and then of course, the exterior of the building is phenomenal.” Thompson said. “It is in my opinion the most attractive building in Edmond.”
Communication center
The communication center will be on the third floor, where employees can see outside. Before, they were in a basement with no windows.
“The windows will improve morale and employee retention,” Stillwell said. “They also will have the option to sit or stand at their new work stations.
“The communications dispatch furniture is very exciting. Not only does it create an ideal working environment for our communications professionals, ergonomics and individual heating, lighting and air, but also a great environment to house our technology.”
In the event of a tornado, dispatch operations can be moved to the basement, Stillwell said.
Crime lab
The new crime lab and storage areas allow space to work with state-of-the-art equipment.
“We will have all the modern technology that a crime lab should have today,” Thompson said. “We have a main lab, an alternate light source lab, a digital fingerprint lab and a vehicle exam bay lab plus space to actually work with the right tools to make it safe like ventilation snorkels to get odors and chemicals away from the lab technicians.
The mobile storage unit can hold up to 1.2 million pounds of evidence that will be coded for finding certain item at ease. Each unit is 16 feet tall by 35 feet wide.
“The evidence storage or property room is enormous,” Thompson said. “It will meet our storage needs for many, many years to come.”
Heating and cooling
In downtown Edmond, 20 miles of black PVC pipe are hidden underground and headed to the public safety center to make way for geothermal systems. One hundred and one wells will heat and cool the center.
In a geothermal system, water is circulated through underground plastic pipes.
During the winter, the fluid collects heat from the earth and carries it through the system and into the building.
During the summer, the system reverses itself to pull heat from the building, carrying it through the system and placing it in the ground.
A geothermal system is cost-effective, reliable, sustainable and environmentally friendly, city leaders said. The system cost $1.25 million.
Brian Sauer, principal and licensed mechanical engineer for Frankfurt Short Bruza, said the public safety center will recoup the investment two or three times faster because the building will operate 24 hours a day. The average building has a payoff in the five- to 10-year range.
“This building will pay back faster because the building never really sleeps,” Sauer said. “A typical office building runs eight hours and gets a break. This building will get a payback in a couple of years.”
By Mike Molina, Editor / Published March 19, 2009
DENVER — The future home of the Air Reserve Personnel Center was winner of the Merit Award in the Concept Design Category at the 2009 U.S. Air Force Design Awards Program.
“This award further validates that employees can take pride in the future of ARPC,” said Capt. Paul Hubenthal, ARPC liaison to the construction project. “We’re building a new facility that has the latest and greatest in design and technology.”
Nineteen winners were named out of 87 entrants in this year’s awards program. Awards were given for first, second and third place, or Honor, Merit and Citation, respectively.
Facilities that are entered in the concept design category are judged on the degree to which programming requirements were met, uniqueness of the design solution, constructability, and compatibility with other facilities on the installation.
ARPC is scheduled to move to Buckley Air Force Base by 2011. Groundbreaking for the new building is expected later this year.
Design drawings of the building have been shown at commander’s calls, and employees voted in January for the color scheme that will be used for the building’s interior.
“We are extremely pleased with the diversity and level of design excellence associated with the 2009 winners,” said David Duncan, senior architect and program manager of the U.S. Air Force Design Awards Program, in an e-mail to the winners.
The awards program is managed by the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment, and has recognized and promoted design excellence of Air Force facilities since 1976.
Frankfurt Short Bruza Associates, P.C. shared The Connecticut National Guard‘s photo.
Originally posted on Facebook: August 20, 2015
Along with Governor Dannel P. Malloy, Senator Richard Blumenthal, Congressman Joe Courtney, and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, members of the Connecticut National Guard officially broke ground on a $14.3 million fuel cell and corrosion control facility on August 20, at the Bradley Air National Guard Base in East Granby, home of the @103AW. The 29,600-square foot facility will provide specialized hangar space for fuel cell maintenance and corrosion treatment for the C-130 Hercules aircraft. is one of many ongoing projects to transform Bradley Air National Guard Base after transitioning to a fleet of C-130s in 2013.
“With each project start we move closer to fulfilling our responsibility to provide Connecticut’s National Guard with the best possible training, equipment and facilities necessary to ensure mission accomplishment.” said Maj. Gen. Thaddeus J. Martin, Adjutant General and Commander of the Connecticut National Guard.
Construction of the facility is expected to be completed in October of 2016. Thanks to everyone who is working to make this possible. Special thanks to the City of OKC, Inasmuch Foundation, Gaylord Foundation, 7-Eleven and the Leeman Family Foundation.
Frankfurt Short Bruza Associates, P.C. is the project architect, and Lippert Bros., Inc. is the general contractor.