Go North: 2 new building projects aid rebirth of North Side

Architects in Utah have designed a five-story brick building for the new $30 million federal office building to be built under the Rimrocks north of downtown Billings.

The Boyer Co., and GSBS Architects, both based in Salt Lake City, recently submitted plans to the city of Billings for a design that looks something like the current Parmly Billings Library, only taller and with more windows.

“From my standpoint, I think the building fits the needs. I like the design,” said Marty Connell, president of the Billings Industrial Revitalization Project, a group of business leaders spearheading improvements in the East Billings Urban Renewal District.

The U.S. Department of Interior office building is one of a handful of new buildings in the district, an old industrial zone between MetraPark and downtown.

A square building is the least expensive to build and the design undoubtedly is dictated by the lot size and federal government regulations, Connell said.

“Maybe it could be more architecturally pleasing, but it’s sure better than the federal courthouse,” Connell said.

The $60 million federal courthouse being built at North 26th Street and Second Avenue North is expected to be ready for occupancy by late summer. The General Services Administration owns the courthouse land and building and federally owned buildings don’t have to submit plans to local governments for review.

But the Interior office is a private project, so Boyer, the builder/owner, must have its plans reviewed by the city of Billings. Boyer will lease the building back to the GSA for at least 20 years to house about 400 Interior department employees.

John Brittingham, a registered architect and professor at Montana State University Bozeman, said the GSA has been “very aggressive in supporting the pursuit of excellence in design” over the past 15 years.

This Billings design is “fairly generic,” Brittingham said, and is modeled after loft buildings that were historically used as light manufacturing warehouses in Chicago and New York City. The building seeks basic Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification.

Designs for an $18 million library to be built at Sixth Avenue North and North Broadway are shooting for a high silver LEED rating.

The Interior building appears to have equal amounts of glass on all sides, Brittingham said, rather than treating elevations differently in relation to the sun for better energy efficiency.

“On the southern exposure, you might have more glass to gain exposure to the sun in the winter months,” he said.

In the starting blocks

Boyer won the GSA contract last October, but getting the sale closed with Aldrich’s Lumber and getting started has taken months. However, once construction starts, the pace will be rapid to meet a completion date of summer 2013.

Demolition of the lumber yard buildings was completed last week and the rubble is almost removed. The bidding process, which will determine how much work goes to local companies, should be completed in March, said GSA regional spokeswoman Sally Mayberry in Denver.

Steel will start going up in May or June and that work has been awarded to Lundahl Building Systems Inc., of Logan, Utah.

The plans allocate $13,285,000 to construct the shell. The balance of $16,715,000 will be spent on interior finishes and on a separate warehouse and storage yard still being designed for a site at the southern end of South 27th Street.

Building plans cover 133 pages — 30 inches tall by 42 inches wide — plus 2-inch thick specification books. The documents specify everything from details on the tile wainscot to where to install toilets and electrical panels.

Brian Anderson, a senior plan examiner at the Billings Building Department, said reviewing 20 pounds of drawings will take at least a week of uninterrupted work.

“It’s a fairly typical project,” Anderson said. “It will probably go smoothly and will be a success.”

The building will be heated and cooled by two boilers pushing hot or cold water throughout the building. The exterior will be covered by reddish bricks with a matte finish. The GSA requires that the brick to be manufactured within 500 miles of Billings. A brick called “sunset” specified in the plans is made at Interstate Brick in West Jordan, Utah, which works with Boyer and GSBS Architects.

Landscaping includes two-dozen plants: trees of Honey Locust, Canada Red Cherry, Lindens, Crimson Pygmy Barberry; Peking Cotoneasters and fragrant sumac shrubs; and Foerster’s reed grass.

When the building is completed next year, the Interior employees now working at the James F. Battin Courthouse at Fourth Avenue North and North 26th Street will move in. Eight years ago, tests showed several high readings of asbestos in the courthouse built in the 1960s. Future use of the Battin building has not been determined.

City input

Some Billings officials saw the plans before Christmas, but had only a modest input into the design, according to city/county planning director Candi Beaudry.

“We did offer suggestions, one which was to put in a boulevard sidewalk,” Beaudry said. “That was important because we’re trying to create a softer feel.”

The EBURD renewal district is close to adopting zoning codes that would strongly influence building designs. The Boyer Group was aware of the proposed codes, Beaudry said, but they didn’t affect the office design.

So far, Boyer has hired three local companies to work on the office tower: Collaborative Design Architects; Sanderson Stewart, an engineering firm; and Langlas & Associates, which is the chief local contractor.

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Go North: 2 new building projects aid rebirth of North Side