News

JAMA Partner and Oakland office leader Kal Benuska wins the Zoom moment of the month with his participation on an “Impacts of COVID-19 on the AEC Industry” panel discussion. Speaking to Cal Poly College of Architecture & Environmental Design students, Kal and co-panelists Donna Clandening of AC Martin, Ted Boyce of Hathaway Dinwiddie and Alex Smith of Largo Concrete spoke about adjustments to day-to-day operations, implications to internships and general hiring, differentiation for job-seekers, and advice on how students can move forward from this terrible time. Kal represented JAMA (live from Oakland) perfectly.

On March 31, the LA County Board of Supervisors approved the LA County Natural History Museum’s (NHM) Commons Project. The effort – the second large-scale project JAMA has participated in for the institution – will provide an anchor for the institution and neighboring Exposition Park. JAMA’s first project for NHM was a decade-long expansion and renovation completed just before the Museum’s centennial in 2013, so to participate in it’s continuing growth is exciting for the team.   The Commons project encompasses 50,000 square feet of renovated space in the existing Unit 2 building, 32,700 square feet of new construction in a 2-story West Wing Expansion Building, and landscaping, all on the southwest side of its Exposition Park home. The transformative project is designed to offer an inviting, transparent “front porch” to campus, create a free welcome center, deliver a new state-of-the-art theater and multipurpose space alongside increased exhibition spaces, and expand NHM’s b

Led by Partner Jackie Vinkler, JAMA’s team issued a DD package this month for the Hosteling International Santa Monica project, a unique renovation/new construction project just blocks from the beach. The project adds 46 new rooms without shutting down this popular location by incorporating prefab wood-framed modules: 6 per floor stacked 4-stories high on top of a concrete podium. Craned in place and complete with MEP systems and architectural finishes, the project requires partial demo and alterations to an existing wood and masonry structure to make way for the new seismically separated elements. The firm’s work also includes identifying acceptable crane placement locations around this tight site.

Construction is about to get underway with Whiting Turner on Kaiser Permanente’s Moreno Valley Expansion, a CO Architects-designed project that includes a new seismically separated two-level Diagnostic and Treatment (D&T) building as well as an addition to the Moreno Valley Medical Center (MVMC) campus. In total, the effort encompasses 93,192 square feet of new construction and 20,300 square feet of demolition/make-ready work. The D&T building will be steel framed with composite metal decks, and lateral systems include ConXtech bolted moment frame connections. The lower level is a half basement and utilizes special concrete shear walls. To support the D&T, a new 20,244 square foot, one-level central utility plant – also known as the Energy Center (EC) – will also be constructed with an open equipment yard. The EC will have a steel framed roof with composite metal decks supported by perimeter CMU walls detailed as Special Masonry Shear walls for lateral resistanc

The ZGF-designed William and Linda Frost Center for Research and Innovation on Cal Poly SLO’s campus is about to get out of the ground! Approximately 75% of the footings are complete, and concrete walls and columns are beginning to be poured. The project is located just across the street from the Baker Center, another JAMA/ZGF effort, and when complete will house three colleges under one roof: College of Science and Mathematics: Supported by William and Linda Frost will be 13 modern laboratories designed for students to perform cutting edge research with their faculty mentors in each of the College’s disciplines. A new plant conservatory will be constructed on the hill overlooking Poly Canyon Village at the intersection of Village Drive and Poly Canyon Road. College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences: The Boswell Agricultural Technology Center will facilitate research and discovery in seven cutting edge laboratories to educate tomorrow’s leaders in food innovatio

We’re just a month or so away from completion of the Montclair Place AMC Theater Shell and Core. Rooftop equipment was placed at the end of March and the structure’s main waterproofing was completed on April 10th. Escalators were placed in position just last week, and as of the publishing of this post, installation of the aluminum facade was about 50% complete.  Kudos to the JAMA project team, which included Scott Willard, Kurt Clandening, Parbi Boodaghian, Eric Jimenez, Richie Lubas, and Art Padilla on this terrific looking project!

JAMA Project Manager Kent Kaewwaen wins the award for the best Zoom call ever. As part of his role in ACE Mentoring he, along with his mentee and team leader Luis Berrios and other regional and national representatives, awarded Pasadena High School student Obehb Hernandez a $10,000 scholarship this month via Zoom. This was part of the 2020 CMiC – Allen Berg Memorial Scholarship, an ACE scholarship program. Although it was awarded over Zoom rather than in person, the message (and surprise) was just as sweet.

JAMA is pleased to welcome Associate Principal John Nissen to its ranks this month. John has a 20-year history on the West Coast as owner of his own firm and brings technical expertise and deep experience with local and national commercial and institutional sectors with an emphasis on telecommunication projects to the firm. With particularly adept relationship-building skills that span disciplines and time zones, John will be instrumental in leading JAMA’s continued growth. We took some time to ask him about his background, including the following: What is the strangest / most interesting project you’ve ever worked on? My career is littered with strange and interesting projects…..riverboat casinos, buildings inside of buildings, buildings over existing buildings, internal structures for sculptures, artwork….. It has been a very cool ride. What drew you to JAMA? I worked for JAMA many years ago and joint ventured on efforts in the recent past. I knew that while the staff had change