LANSING - Hardhats who toiled on the Lansing Community College (LCC) Health and Human Service facility, which wrapped up last spring, worked on an award-winning building.

Building designer Ruby & Associates received the 2005 Outstanding Project award by the National Council of Structural Engineering Association (NCSEA) Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards competition.

"For us it's a big award because it came from our peers," said Jay Ruby, a structural engineer. "On any project, you'd like to think you're providing value and quality service, but it's icing on the cake to get this kind of recognition."

The $2.7 million building was designed for three stories, but LCC's wish list included a fourth level, which was originally thought to have to be erected during a future expansion. To address the customer's wish list, Ruby & Associates, working with steel fabricator/erector Douglas Steel, a union contractor, took a second look and together completely redesigned the building's structural steel, saving LCC enough money to add the fourth level and still bring the project in several hundred thousand dollars under budget.

Ruby said in an effort to get LCC their fourth level, they looked carefully at "constructability principles" of the design and came up with a plan to employ 700 fewer pieces of structural steel, but maintaining the strength of the building by beefing up the concrete floor slabs.

"One of the things that allows us to apply constructability principles is to employ a quality fabricator," Ruby said. "We delivered on our end, and then we handed the job over to Douglas Steel and the workers in the field. They brought the job through on schedule and with a high level of quality."

Iron Workers Local 25 BA Art Ellul said the entire job was completed under a project labor agreement. "LCC has been a very good owner for us," he said.

EFFICIENCIES in the structural re-design of Lansing Community College's Health and Human Services facility allowed the owner to have a fourth floor installed. The re-design also made the designer a national award-winner in October.