on the boards

uofl recognizes omni for solid performance
May 11
On April 26, 2011 at the IM Awards program, Dale Ramsay, CRSS, Director of Intramural Sports, and student representatives of the University of Louisville bestowed their coveted SOLID PERFORMANCE AWARD to the Omni Architects / Cannon Design team for their work on the new Student Recreational Facility currently in design.

state plans new commonwealth emergency operations center

January 11

The Kentucky Department of Military Affairs has selected Omni to design a new Commonwealth Emergency Operations Center on the Boone National Guard Center in Frankfort, Kentucky. With more than 7,000 Soldiers and Airmen in 54 locations statewide, this facility will expand the ability of the Boone National Guard to remain fully operational at all times, regardless of the situation. The new CEOC will serve the entire Commonwealth during natural and civil disasters.
In partnership with AECOM, Omni is working with Kentucky Division of Emergency Management (KYEM), the DMA, and the Division of Engineering and Contract Administration to design a state-of-the-art facility that supports 24/7/365 monitoring, and steps up during activation to support Kentucky's 15 emergency support functions. The facility will be located adjacent to the existing EOC buiding and will incorporate more current stand-alone and redundant design features with the latest technology, and comply with DoD security standards to protect its users. The facility will also be designed to be compliant with the latest FEMA guidelines.
This is not Omni’s first project in the realm of Public Safety. In 2007, Omni was selected by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government to design a new Public Safety Operations Center, which is designed to meet LEED Silver standards. This project was also designed in partnership with AECOM, was bid under budget, and is currently awaiting funding to move into construction.
Omni is also working with the Department of Military affairs on another project at the Boone National Guard Center. Omni is serving as Owners Consultant Architect-Engineer for the design of a new Joint Force Headquarters building and be located close to the new Emergency Operations Center.

maysville ctc to expand cynthiana campus

January 11

Omni has been selected to design a new addition to Maysville Community and Technical College (MCTC) Licking Valley campus in Cynthiana. The new addition will add 8,000 SF of instructional and administrative space, including nursing and simulation labs, to support this campus’ growing Nursing and Allied Health program. Design will begin this winter and construction will kickoff in August.

The Licking Valley Campus is one of three campuses and two extensions of Maysville Community and Technical College. Maysville Community and Technical College was recently ranked among the nation’s fastest growing two-year public colleges by Community College Week. Among colleges with enrollments of 2,500 to 4,999, Maysville CTC ranked 41st with an enrollment change of 3,426 in 2008 to 4,111 in 2009, a 20 percent increase. The college’s enrollment consists of primarily part-time student (61%), the majority of which are over the age of 15 (44%).

This project marks Omni’s twelfth project for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and the third project for Maysville Community and Technical College. Omni assisted MCTC in the development of its master plan in 1997, and updated the plan in 2005.

appalachian regional health to expand hazard hospital

June 10

Continuing in its commitment to respond to the changing demands of rural healthcare, Appalachian Regional Health is expanding its Hazard Hospital to increase its capacity to serve trauma and cardiac patients. Selected as 2010 Outstanding Rural Health Organization in the Nation, ARH is adding approximately 88,000 square feet of new patient care space, including a new Emergency Department, a 16-bed Critical Care Unit to support the growing cardiac care program, and a new 34-bed private patient room nursing unit. The project also includes renovation of space for Surgery Prep and Recovery. In partnership with Denham-Blythe, Omni is serving as design consultant and assisting in hospital planning for this design-build project, which just completed the Schematic Design Phase.
The Hazard ARH Regional Medical Center, which recently earned Chest Pain Center Accreditation from the Society of Chest Pain Centers, is a 308-bed, acute-care and psychiatric hospital. ARH also operates hospitals in Harlan, McDowell, Middlesboro, Morgan County, South Williamson and Whitesburg, Kentucky, and Beckley and Summers County, West Virginia.

uk gets stimulus funds to renovate research lab

May 10

Both the University of Kentucky and the local economy will benefit from a National Institutes of Health ARRA grant awarded to the University in March to renovate research space in the Sanders-Brown Center for Aging. When construction is completed in fall 2011, UK will have updated, state-of-the-art research support space, taking one more step toward its goal of becoming a top-20 research institution. In addition, the ‘Buy American’ requirement of ARRA funding means local businesses will be tapped to provide materials and services for the project.
Omni Architects, who assisted the University in applying for the grant, was awarded the project in April, in partnership with Jacobs Consultancy. Jacobs Consultancy is a New York based firm who has provided lab planning for 17 of the top 20 research universities, giving UK access to best practices in lab design from all over the nation. The Omni design team, led by Eric Zabilka and Don Adams, is working closely with NIH to meet their design guidelines and grant requirements, including submitting documentation to the agency at the end of each design phase.