Again, this year, Haskell was highly decorated in the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) National Excellence in Construction (EIC) Awards, receiving its third consecutive National Safety Excellence Pinnacle Award and Pyramid Awards for two projects.
The Special Collections Building for the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida in Gainesville and Fleet Readiness Center Hangar 101 at Naval Air Station Jacksonville each earned national EIC Pyramid designation. The EIC Awards, the leading national competition honoring contractors for industry-leading, safe, and innovative construction, recognized 91 projects in 2023.
“These exemplary projects are the pinnacle of quality, safety and innovation in our industry, showcasing the incredible structures and teams at Haskell that build the best of the best in merit shop construction,” said Buddy Henley, president of Henley Construction and 2024 National Chair of the ABC Board of Directors. “The UF Special Collections Building and Hangar 101 are industry-leading projects, showing how ABC members build projects safely, on time and on budget. It is an honor to congratulate Haskell for showcasing construction excellence.”
Haskell is ranked No. 20 on the ABC’s Top 250 Performers list and ranked in the top 20 contractors in 11 different industries, including No. 1 in Religious Contractors, No. 2 in Infrastructure Contractors, No. 3 in Sports Complex Contractors, No. 4 in Parking Contractors and No. 6 among Airport Contractors and Military Contractors.
To be eligible, ABC member contractors have achieved the association’s Safety Training and Evaluation Program (STEP) Gold designation or higher and earned its Accredited Quality Contractor (AQC) certification credential in 2023. Rankings are determined by work hours.
Fleet Readiness Center Hangar 101
Naval Air Station Jacksonville (Florida)
The Fleet Readiness Center Hangar 101 project at Naval Air Station Jacksonville comprised the design and renovation of an 89,000-square-foot hangar built in 1940. It included major demolition work and renovation of the overall facility and five attached mezzanines totaling another 21,050 square feet.
Haskell executed the phased project while the building was occupied and performing its mission. The project included demolition work; removal of hazardous materials (asbestos and lead paint); replacement of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC); renovation of the office mezzanines; renovation of the bathrooms; new electrical equipment and lighting; repair of the existing hangar floor and application of an epoxy painting system; replacement of the roofing system; replacement of the existing windows with translucent panels; replacement of the exterior siding; refurbishment of the two large existing hangar doors; and repainting the facility.
Hangar 101 serves as the central hub for restoring naval aircraft to combat readiness at NAS Jacksonville. The end user is a firm contracted by the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) to perform the work. Before the renovation, the hangar could only work on certain fighter jets due to its outmoded spaces. Now, the upgrades allow the Navy to provide a facility that meets the needs of restoring more advanced classes of aircraft to combat readiness.
Given the facility’s modifications since the 1940s, the U.S. Navy’s existing as-built documents did not reflect Hangar 101’s current condition. Haskell overcame this challenge by conducting an extensive site investigation, implementing building scan tools to determine the hangar's accurate dimensions, and hiring an electrical subject matter expert to assist in tracing and evaluating the existing electrical systems. Through careful exploration, documentation of changes, and coordination with the client, the team delivered the renovated hangar to the client ahead of schedule and on budget.
Hangar 101 has existed since NAS Jacksonville opened as a primary flight training base and served as a key location on base since World War II. Haskell used modern technology to renovate Hangar 101 while preserving the original 1940s-era architecture of the hangar and mezzanines. For instance, drones were used to scan the inside of the hangar and determine accurate dimensions. Using their findings, our design team balanced preserving the iconic legacy of the facility with the necessary modernization.
“Quality Management was maintained to an exceptional level throughout the project by an exceptional team,” said Lisa Kouchinsky, Project Management and Engineering Branch Head, NAVFAC Facilities, Engineering & Acquisition Division, NAS Jacksonville. “The project was successfully managed such that completion was achieved approximately two and a half months ahead of schedule.”
UF Florida Museum of Natural History Special Collections Building
Gainesville, Florida
Haskell’s first project for the University of Florida was, for the school, a rare use of design-build delivery and the first to employ tilt-wall construction. With the tilt-up panels molded in a bas-relief hexagonal pattern, the exterior of the first floor was inspired by the skin of an alligator, the university’s mascot.
For more than 100 years, the museum has functioned as Florida’s official repository of the state’s biodiversity and cultural heritage and is home to more than 40 million specimens and cultural artifacts it holds today. The new building houses the museum’s “wet” collections, stored in 60,000 gallons of ethyl or isopropyl alcohol.
Thus, the Special Collections Building is purpose-built and includes systems designed to provide the highest level of life safety and fire suppression. These features include specialized air handling, spark-free lighting fixtures, sprinklers, floor drains and storage tanks, large-scale fume hoods, and temperature and air quality sensors that together meet stringent modern building codes for storing materials preserved in alcohol.
The two-story floorplan offers 23,000 square feet of mobile, compacted high-density shelving systems, research laboratories and office space, providing ample room for the continued expansion of the wet collections.
The building received Platinum Certification from the Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC), the organization’s highest-level sustainable building recognition. The project passed various on-site inspections, including indoor air quality, Florida WaterStar certification, and UF’s first commercial blower door test.
“We’re fortunate indeed to have had our project shepherded at every step by such consummate professionals,” said Beverly Sensbach, Senior Associate Director, Museum Operations. “Our building is not like most, and its VERY special requirements made the project tricky from day one.”
Contact Haskell’s architects, engineers and construction professionals to discuss how design-build can delivery your project with speed and certainty.
