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)