Fauver Takes First Place in Building Competition

Wesleyan’s Fauver Field Residences received a First Place Award in the 2006 Connecticut Building Congress (CBC) Project Team Awards competition. It placed in the New Construction category and competed against other buildings, of which construction costs exceeded $10 million.

Fauver’s construction began in August 2004 and the student residences were completed in September 2005.

The CBC requests that projects submitted in the competition be located in Connecticut and substantially completed during 2005.

“We’re honored Fauver is setting a positive example for other new constructions in the state,” said Joyce Topshe, associate vice president of facilities. “A great deal of time and effort went into the planning, and it shows. It’s a lovely facility, and one that not only affords more students a comfortable place to live, but it has also made the campus more beautiful. This is something the entire Wesleyan community should be very proud of.”

Each year, the Connecticut Building Congress looks for outstanding nonresidential building projects that exemplify project team excellence by representing building owners, architects, engineers and constructors. CBC’s goal is to recognize project team members who have adopted this close collaboration as an industry standard for improving a project’s quality.

A panel of judges is selected to include representation from each of the major disciplines that form the project team: owners, architects, engineers and constructors.

Susan Labas, associate and director of marketing for van Zelm Heywood & Shadford Inc. of West Hartford and CBC member says Wesleyan was judged for meeting its budget and schedule constraints; documenting team cooperation and collaboration from conceptual design through project completion; having a team which approached the project’s unique challenges; and considerations made for the project’s social, economic or sustainable design.

Fauver Field Residences consist of two buildings on the corner of Vine Street and Cross Street. The units comprise of about 85,500 sq-feet. The Fauver Apartment Building houses 104 upperclass students and the Fauver Residence Hall for first-year students, houses 166 students. It opened for the 2005-06 academic year.

The Connecticut Building Congress was formed in 1952 and initiated the Project Team Award program 11 years ago to recognize and promote teamwork among participants in the construction process. Plaques will be presented during the CBC Awards Program in New Haven, Conn. May 18.