NEWPORT BEACH, CA—The Associated General Contractors of America has given the Bill Holmes Tower at CHOC Children's Hospital here an Alliant Build America Award for best new building project. Representatives from McCarthy Building Cos., which served as general contractor for the project, accepted the award earlier this month during the AGC of America's annual convention in Las Vegas.

GlobeSt.com was unable to reach McCarthy prior to deadline to discuss what this project and the award mean for the firm, as well as whether this was the first project of its kind for McCarthy.

The new eight-level tower, designed by FKP Architects of Houston with WBSA of Irvine leading the construction administration and serving as associate architect, features the region's only dedicated pediatric operating rooms, emergency and imaging departments and laboratory with leading-edge technology and advanced programs and services in a child-friendly, healing environment. The facility increases capacity and consolidates all formerly dispersed diagnostic and treatment functions into a self-sustaining facility tailored for a culture of safety and family-centered care.

The project team developed a variety of solutions to overcome challenges in this complex project. BIM technology, in conjunction with design-assist delivery, was used during the project's design phase to coordinate the tower's intricate drawings for MEP and other related systems.

In addition, the project was completed 64 days ahead of schedule, enabling children to receive advanced medical care in the new CHOC facility sooner than originally anticipated. This was accomplished on a fully functioning hospital campus, while achieving an exceptional safety record.

The AGC Alliant Build America awards highlight the nation's most-significant construction projects. A panel of judges, representing all areas of construction, evaluated the nominated projects' complexity, use of innovative construction techniques and client satisfaction, among other criteria.

As GlobeSt.com reported last week, McCarthy recently completed the $113-million construction of the Health Sciences Biomedical Research Facility at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla.

The project, designed by the Portland office of ZGF Architects LLP, is one of the most sustainable laboratories in the country—a 196,000-square-foot facility located on a 3.3-acre site within the UCSD Health Sciences campus. It will accommodate new and expanded multi-departmental programs, including bioinformatics, genomic medicine, gastrointestinal medicine, childhood diseases, pathology, immunology, inflammation, psychiatry, cardiology, neurosciences, infectious diseases, and glycobiology.