10.14.2019 — The University of Washington’s new Burke Museum had its grand opening on Saturday, October 12th! The grand opening festivities included featured poets, singers, dancers, and DJs to celebrate the completion of the facility’s six new galleries, 12 labs and workrooms, and artists’ workshop. The new design is 66% larger than the original building and features a Coast Salish-inspired roof and climate-controlled collection storage areas that allow for future growth. The project hopes to achieve LEED-Gold certification. MKA’s engineering team was led by Principal-in-Charge Jay Taylor and Project Manager Leif Johnson. The museum’s grand opening transformed the outdoor space into a festival where visitors found multicultural music performances, food trucks, weaving demonstrations, live art showings, and other family-friendly activities. The grand opening event concluded at the end of the day on Monday, October 14th — but be sure to put a visit to the museum on your list! 

» New Burke Museum Grand Opening!

08.16.2019 — Congratulations to the Spheres Team! Pictured is Jay Taylor, P.E., S.E., Hon. AIA Sea. and Robert Baxter, P.E., S.E. receiving the 2019 Presidential Award of Excellence in Fabrication from the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC).

The Spheres were recognized as part of the IDEAS2 Awards honoring excellence in the use of structural steel in the built environment.

Learn more about the projects honored in this video from AISC here.

Congratulations to all the winners!

» Sphere Team Honored By AISC IDEAS2

08.15.2019 — Thursday, August 15, we celebrated the topping out of Rainier Square Tower in Seattle. This project is the FIRST high-rise to use "SpeedCore", the Concrete-Filled Composite Plate Shear Wall system researched and developed by MKA’s Foundation along with collaborating industry organizations and universities. A building of this size would take a predicted 21 months to top out with a traditional concrete core. The first prediction for SpeedCore was 12 months... and this project topped out in just 10 months thanks to the amazing steel fabricators and erection crew! Congrats to all! 

» Rainier Square Tower Tops Out In 10 Months!

04.12.2019 — Salesforce Tower has been named "Best Tall Building Worldwide" for 2019 by the Council on Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat (CTBUH). The tower was recognized for its focus on occupant health, sustainability, structural efficiency, and its integration with the surrounding urban habitat. On-hand to accept the award was Edward Dionne from Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, Paul Paradis from Hines, and our Chairman and CEO, Ron Klemencic. Congratulations team!  Read more on Salesforce and the other Best Tall Building winners at the CTBUH website here.

Photo credits: Jason O’Rear and CTBUH

» Salesforce Tower Named Best Tall Building Worldwide for 2019

03.22.2019 — 150 North Riverside in Chicago was recently awarded the 2019 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement (OCEA) Award, a top honor presented by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) at their annual OPAL Gala in Arlington, Virginia. Accepting the award from MKA was Ron Klemencic, Rob Chmielowski, and Dave Eckmann—joined by Jim Goettsch from Goettsch Partners and Chris Phares of Clark Construction. Currently, 150 North Riverside is only the fourth building structure, and second tower to ever be recognized with this prestigious award!

Also recognized at the gala was MKA’s Chairman and CEO, Ron Klemencic, who was presented with the OPAL Award for Design. Ron is a pioneer in the field of Performance-Based Seismic Design (PBSD) for tall buildings, a new methodology that increases building safety, reliability, and flexibility (find out more about MKA’s PBSD approach here). “From experimental research needed to advance our practice to innovations with respect to new and novel structural systems, [Klemencic] has been on the forefront of our profession” said Farzard Naeim, a seismic specialist at John A. Martin Associates. Ron’s dedication to continuing research is also apparent in his long-standing position as a board member for the Charles Pankow Foundation, a past 5-year Chairman of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, numerous authored and co-authored journal articles, and memorable presentations at an international level.

To read more about the evening and other 2019 honorees, visit the ASCE website here.

» 2019 OCEA Honors

01.18.2019 — MKA was pleased to be on-hand Friday, January 18th for the Annual ACEC Engineering Excellence Awards in Bellevue. Our own John D. Hooper, P.E., S.E., was recognized as Engineer of the Year. John serves as MKA’s Director of Earthquake Engineering and has worked on over 100 projects, leading earthquake engineering efforts in seismic zones over the last two decades. “His knowledge on seismic issues is encyclopedic, “ says Jonathan C. Siu of Seattle’s Department of Construction and Inspections. John also presents nationally on seismic design, as well as being active in code development and research.

Also honored with a Platinum Award was the team for Salesforce Tower in San Francisco. Salesforce Tower is a 1,070-foot tall office tower that uses a first-of-its-kind “high-performance core,” or HPC. The tower required a robust foundation system including 42 load-bearing elements that are socketed into bedrock 310 feet below.

Congratulations to the 29 projects that were honored in this year’s program. To read more, download the special section to the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce here.

» 2018 ACEC Washington Awards