Tuesday Talk: GWCC’s new exhibit hall wins industry award

Tuesday Talk rounds up the latest Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA) news you might have missed and also points forward to upcoming events on our campus.

While the Georgia World Congress Center’s (GWCC) new $55 million expansion exhibit hall is already a hit with customers, the project is also earning construction industry respect.

Exhibit Hall BC was recently awarded First Place for Construction Excellence in the 2020 AGC (Associated General Contractors of America) Build Georgia Awards competition.

With oversight from the Georgia World Congress Center Authority’s (GWCCA) Project and Program Management team, general contractor Holder Construction finished the project early and under budget – and with zero time lost to injuries and accidents.

Representing the Congress Center’s first major expansion in 16 years, it was no easy feat.

It’s called Exhibit Hall BC because it physically connects with exhibit halls in Buildings B and C and serves as a fixed passageway between, allowing customers the flexibility to create more than 1 million square feet of contiguous exhibition space – in other words, one seamless, free-flowing gigantic exhibit hall.

The new space was officially christened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Jan. 28 on the show floor of the 2020 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE).

Among the challenges of building the new exhibit hall was working around the GWCCA campus’ busy schedule, including top trade shows such as IPPE, and a li’l ol‘ football game known as Super Bowl LIII.

“Many challenges come with a job as complex as the GWCC B+C Connector project,” according to the executive summary of the Build Georgia contest application submitted by Holder. “This $50+ million expansion took place within a fully functioning convention center, and many events took place in the active exhibit halls throughout the duration of the project. Noise complaints, interruptions to operations, and safety of building occupants and event attendees were a priority and major concern for GWCC.”

Often shifting work to a night schedule or shutting the site down completely, Holder accommodated the campus’ event schedule.

The AGC Build Georgia Awards recognize construction excellence, and “winning projects represent the best the construction industry has to offer by both general contractors and specialty contractors,” according to the organization’s website.

Submissions are judged by the following criteria:

• Overcoming the aforementioned challenges
• Project safety performance
• Innovation, in materials and techniques
• Excellence in scheduling and project management
• Dedication to customer care and client service

First-place award winners will be honored at a June 13 ceremony during the AGC Georgia Annual Convention held at Amelia Island, Fla, and will also be featured in a special edition of the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

ICYMI (In Case You Missed It): The second episode of GWCCA’s new podcast, The Authoricast, dropped yesterday featuring a candid conversation with Atlanta Basketball Host Committee Executive Director Carl Adkins. As you know, the NCAA Men’s Final Four and ancillary events were supposed to take place on the GWCCA last weekend, culminating in the championship game that was slated for yesterday (April 6) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The podcast was recorded before the Final Four – and other major sporting events around the globe – were canceled or postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Listen to it here.