RIM Architects Voted Best Place to Work in Alaska

RIM Architects Voted Best Place to Work in Alaska

Jul 7, 2023

RIM Architects Voted Best Place to Work in Alaska

DATE PUBLISHED: July 6, 2023 

RIM Architects, LLC (RIM), a provider of world-class architectural services, announces that it has been awarded a 2023 Best of Alaska Business Award for Best Places to Work (1-250 employees). The Best of Alaska Business Awards are given out annually by the “Alaska Business Magazine” and recognizes top businesses in the state. The award is based on feedback from the business community and the readers of the “Alaska Business Magazine.”

“RIM is extremely proud to be recognized for this honor among the Alaska business community,” said Managing Principal of RIM – Alaska, Michelle Klouda, “It speaks to our efforts of creating a positive work culture.”

RIM places a high priority on staff retention. It offers benefits that employees value, such as paid time off for professional education and charitable volunteer work, as well as hybrid and remote work options. The company also emphasizes learning and team building through regular group outings, teaching sessions, internal mentorship programs, and financial support for certification training, licensure programs and regularly seeks employee feedback on improvement areas.

 “RIM was founded in Alaska in 1986 and has weathered challenging economic times, evolved with changing technologies, and has grown to include seven office locations,” said Klouda. “Our culture, success, and resiliency are in large part to our team from all of our offices who make it exciting to get up and come to work every day, take care of our clients and partners, and foster a great work environment.”

 This is the first time RIM has won the Best Places to Work award in Alaska. The company also won 2023 Best Place to Work honors in Hawai’i from the Hawaii Business Magazine. 

 To quote our founder, Larry Cash, “The best is yet to come.”

BART HQ Project Wins National Engineering News-Record Award

BART HQ Project Wins National Engineering News-Record Award

May 8, 2023

BART HQ Project Wins National Engineering News-Record Award

DATE PUBLISHED: May 8, 2023 

Engineering News-Record (ENR) has awarded the progressive design-build Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Headquarters project with the Best of the Best Projects Award in the Interior/Tenant Improvement category. Completed by RIM Architects and Turner Construction Company, this national award exemplifies the importance of developing meaningful, collaborative partnerships to achieve excellence in design and construction. The BART Headquarters project received ENR California’s 2022 Best Interior/Tenant Improvement Project Award and advanced to the national competition.
“Ten months to deliver a ten-story, 234,000-square-foot tenant improvement would have been challenging on its own, but the global pandemic was at its peak, and BART is a complex entity. Governed by a publicly elected board, BART also required a fully transparent process, including multiple presentations to the board, their labor workforce, and the general public,” said Shelah Shanks, RIM designer for the project. “The client, contractor, and design team had to quickly overcome the same struggle—mastery of a new virtual reality for communication and collaboration for a project that required meticulous scheduling, phasing, packaging, and documentation to meet the end goal. But the challenge was unifying—building a foundation of respect and then trust that streamlined interactions throughout the project.”

RIM’s design team has the capability and in-depth knowledge to provide services in interior design, space planning, as well as furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) selection, specification, and procurement. For the BART Headquarters project, our interior design team shifted the internal space from a traditional arrangement to a primarily open office configuration with strategically positioned private offices at key locations. With this new setup, BART now has a space that actively promotes collaboration and an environment that reflects its corporate goals and brand identity.

This latest award adds to the growing list of recognition for the BART Headquarters project. Last year, the project won the International Partnering Institute’s John L. Martin Partnered Project of the Year Diamond Award and the Sue Dyer Innovation Award for the team’s virtual planning process. Most recently, the project achieved LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Congratulations to the team and all this year’s ENR Best of the Best winners! See ENR’s complete list of winners here: Critical Path | Engineering News-Record (enr.com)

Camp Sarika at Amangiri Provides the Ultimate Glamping Experience

Camp Sarika at Amangiri Provides the Ultimate Glamping Experience

Aug 6, 2021

Camp Sarika at Amangiri Provides the Ultimate Glamping Experience

DATE PUBLISHED: AUG 9, 2021 

Images courtesy of Camp Sarika at Amangiri

Opened in April 2020, Camp Sarika at Amangiri is the ultimate glamping experience in the heart of the Utah canyon lands. Named after the Sanskrit word for “open space” and “sky”, the camp is set amidst 600 acres of striking desert landscape with stunning canyon rockscape and buttes.  Anchored by the communal amenity building and surrounded by desert wilderness and breathtaking natural beauty, highlights include 10‐tented luxury pavilions.

RIM Architects served as Architect of Record for the amenities building in conjunction with Selldorf Architects taking the lead as the Design Architect. Canyon Equity led the development of the Tent and Commons Site.

The Commons features its own restaurant, one main swimming pool, and a whirlpool‐‐accessible for each tent dweller. Other amenities include two spa suites with therapies inspired by traditional Navajo wellness practices. Guests can choose to escape from technology and modern stress, be physically active, and/or dine on specially prepared delicacies from the camp’s unique restaurant or at the main resort restaurant. Yoga, guided meditation, evening campfires, cultural storytelling, and desert and mountain hiking are among the activities to be offered.

Challenges and Features

Due to its remote location, access to the building site was a significant challenge throughout all phases of the project. The massing of the Commons Building is as formidable as the steep canyon walls it sits beneath. Concrete, colored to emulate the desert palette, is the dominate building material that anchors the entire camp into the secluded location. The adjacent water features and wood accents soften the building mass and intertwine with the Navajo‐themed accents found at the tent structures nearby.

Gear Up for National Parks and the Great American Outdoors Act

Gear Up for National Parks and the Great American Outdoors Act

Aug 6, 2021

OUTDOORS & RECREATION

Gear Up for National Parks and the Great American Outdoors Act

DATE PUBLISHED: Aug 6, 2021 

Eielson National Park Visitor Center, Alaska

During the pandemic year, Americans rediscovered their love of the outdoors—embracing the strong connection between wellbeing and nature. Sites like the Denali National Park and the Eielson Visitor Center anticipate the arrival of more guests than usual as parks more fully open this post-pandemic year.

The candid photo of the bear (above) enjoying the view from the Eielson Visitor Center in Denali, Alaska was a relatively common sight when the RIM crew was working there. Special precautions and regulations are in place to protect the bears and other wildlife, as well as park visitors.

Eielson National Park Visitor Center, Alaska

The landmark Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA), enacted in 2020, will provide $9.5 billion over five years to fund national park programs and conservation projects across the county. The bulk of this funding, up to $6.65 billion total, will go to the National Park Services (NPS) as well as other funding sources for the Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS). Today, the NPS manages more than 400 sites, and its backlog of maintenance repairs is estimated at $13 billion. While the GAOA funding will address a significant amount of deferred maintenance, it will not cover the entire backlog of park repairs.

The Associated Press called the GAOA “the most significant conservation legislation enacted in nearly half a century,” The initial funding will pay for more than 30 improvement projects at the nation’s most visited parks—those benefiting the greatest number of visitors. In future years, the funding will spread to smaller parks.

United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) Sacramento Northwestern Region Visitor Center

Since 1998, RIM has completed more than 200 NPS projects as well as other Visitor Centers for the FWS. Project examples vary from well-known sites like Denali National Park Visitor Center to other unique projects for FWS such as the Tule Lake Visitors Center near the border of California and Oregon. With a portfolio that includes more than 50 national parks and national wildlife refuge centers, RIM’s park projects range from remote sites in Katmai, Alaska and Pacific Islands to more accessible locations such as Muir Woods and the Presidio at San Francisco, Mt. Rainier near Seattle, and Crater Lake in southern Oregon.

For each of these projects, RIM focused on incorporating sustainable design features. Sustainable design results in facilities with long-term benefits of resource efficiency, resiliency, and environmental protection, for current and future generations, lessening the impact on natural resources and honoring them.

Documenting an Endangered Sacred Site in Alaska

Documenting an Endangered Sacred Site in Alaska

Aug 5, 2021

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

Documenting an Endangered Sacred Site in Alaska

DATE PUBLISHED: AUG 5, 2021 

Photo credit: Tom Pillifant of Tommy’s Dog Cinematography

In 2020-21, RIM assisted with Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documentation to help protect an endangered historic church on Kodiak Island in Alaska. Constructed in 1888, the Ascension of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church is the oldest extant Russian Orthodox church in Alaska and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Karluk Church, which is attributed to Charles Smith Hursh, is beautifully designed with a prominent bell tower, pedimented Greek Revival doorway, and octagonal cupola. Originally built by a cannery for its Alaska Native workers, the wood-framed chapel sits on a high bluff, located above the Karluk River overlooking Shelikof Straight, on the west coast of Kodiak Island. The church was placed on the Alaska Association for Historic Preservation’s “Ten Most Endangered Historic Properties” in both 2020 and 2021.

Photo Credit: National Park Service, September 1, 2015

The Devastating 1978 Storm

In 1978, a storm surge altered the course of the Karluk River, forcing the village to move inland about three-quarters of a mile. Since then, the bluff the chapel sits on has severely eroded and is now about 10 feet from the edge. A variety of stakeholders are working to temporarily relocate the building away from the bluff as it continues to erode.

 

Documenting the Church

In 2019, RIM was contracted by the National Park Service (NPS) to prepare HABS drawings of the church. In September 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, careful arrangements were made through collaborative discussions with the Village of Karluk and the NPS to ensure RIM’s consultant, Chrystal Prism Consulting, could safely conduct a site visit to develop 3D imaging of the interior and exterior of the building, using high definition laser scanning.  Chrystal Prism landed early in the morning, and completed their scanning effort in one day, resulting in minimal exposure to village residents.

The resulting cloud of scan points at a density of 1/8” is a 3-dimensional as-built of the building, which allowed RIM to generate documentation drawings using Revit CAD software. Utilizing RIM’s staff in the Anchorage, Honolulu, and San Francisco offices, the HABS drawings were generated. The HABS program is administered by the NPS, and the final drawings will be deposited in the Library of Congress. The goal is to temporarily relocate the church away from the bluff and use the HABS drawings to further stabilize and restore the church at a site further inland.

For more information on this historic preservation project, contact Bryce Klug: bklug@rimarchitects.com or visit https://rossialaska.org/project-ascension-of-our-lord-chapel/ to donate.

Above: Enlargement of HABS drawing by RIM
Exterior scan image: Chrystal Prism Consulting
Livermore Electric Safety Academy Wins Multiple Awards

Livermore Electric Safety Academy Wins Multiple Awards

Aug 5, 2021

SUSTAINABILITY

Livermore Electric Safety Academy Wins Multiple Awards

DATE PUBLISHED: Aug 5, 2021 

Photos by Tyler Chartier

Dubbed the Training Center of the Future, the Livermore Electric Safety Academy is the recipient of a Green Project Award by Engineering News-Record (ENR), recognizing California’s Best Projects. The new training center won ENR’s Best Project of the Year 2020 Award for Northern California as well as the 2021 Richard A. Clarke Environmental Leadership Award Champion. The trifecta was achieved when it was announced the project also received a 2021 Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) Western Pacific Region Award.  

The Livermore Electric Safety Academy’s focus is on Transmission and Distribution safety training. The largest new addition to the academy is the electric substation and training building for operations and maintenance education. This new training site provides a safe environment to train, validate, and assess substation employees in realistic, simulated field conditions, complete with full-size training poles and mini-residential buildings.

The training center is comprised of more than 44 acres dedicated to electrical training and safety. Targeting net-zero, the 12,000- square foot, substation training LEED Gold building contains break-out training rooms and state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment. The 17,000- square foot, Main Building was awarded LEED Silver ID+C. This building project consists of the renovation of an existing building, including a new cafeteria, offices, classrooms, and meeting spaces. Other project components include a new transformer training building, photovoltaic canopies, and drought-resistant native landscaping.

SPECIAL FEATURE

A new seismically-sound glass floor brings maximum daylight into the first-floor café via a second-level glass floor feature. The glass floor minimizes noise levels for the administrative offices located between this feature and the café.

CHALLENGES

Since hundreds of apprentices were being trained and certified during construction, working around a busy, occupied training facility was especially challenging. Multiple projects occurred throughout the site with strategic phasing to keep onsite activities and circulation active and safe.