missoula library wins interrnational award

Missoula Library Named Public Library of the Year The International Federation of Library Association and Institutions (IFLA), along with Danish software company Systematic, has recently honored the Missoula Public Library as the 2022 Public Library of the Year. As the first public library in the United States to receive this award, the Missoula Public Library is opening doors for the community. The building meets the vision of its stakeholders; an energy-efficient, versatile space for the community to meet, learn, and connect. “Working on the Missoula Public Library with our community, MSR Design, and A&E Design has been one of the true honors in my career,Read More →

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missoula public library

Missoula Public Library Nestled in the city’s vibrant downtown, the Missoula Public Library is a 106,675-square-foot cultural and educational center that replaces its former 1970s-era building. Designed with a focus on changing technology, accommodating future growth, upholding sustainability, and space for community engagement, this four-story building includes: Missoula Community Access Television (MCAT) – a media production studio. University of Montana Living Lab – a research facility. Hank and Nancy Harrington Children’s Library. Families First Learning Lab. University of Montana spectrum Discovery Area. Book collections, a kitchen, and space for genealogical research. An events space for meetings, receptions, and community social events. Engineering Services Our teamRead More →

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seeley building morrison maierle

Seeley Building The Seeley Building is a striking 64,000-square-foot multi-level, multi-purpose building located on Helena, Montana’s historic Last Chance Gulch. This four-story structure provides underground parking and storage areas for the following: Multi-Disciplinary Services Our client, Slate Architecture, worked on behalf of Ray Kuntz Development on this project and engaged us to provide the core and shell of the building and the commercial tenant spaces: Most of the design considerations for the Seeley Building involved electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and access and security systems that blended between three healthcare clinics, an office suite/recording studio, and a below-grade parking structure. Since each tenant performs unique services, provisionsRead More →

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AIH Montana state university

American Indian Hall Receives Best in Show Honors Montana State University’s American Indian Hall project recently received two prestigious awards from the Structural Insulated Panel Association (SIPA) Builder Excellence Award program. Working with Big Sky Insulations, the AIH project received awards for Best in Show (top overall award) and Best Commercial Structure over 10,000 sq. ft. The criteria included overall design, design creativity, energy performance, and overall impact. The project has been in the works since 2004 when MSU Alumni, Dennis Sun Rhodes and Jim Dolan, presented President Geoffrey Gamble with their idea to build an American Indian Hall on campus to support MSU’s growing populationRead More →

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vigilante stadium project

Vigilante Stadium Lighting Design Helena Public Schools’ Vigilante Stadium is in Helena’s South-Central neighborhood and home field to both Helena High and Capital High schools. In the fall during football season, it is busy nearly every Friday night as both schools take turns hosting home games and again throughout the spring for middle and high school track meets. The Problem The stadium, with its 1970-era HID lighting system, regularly sent the district’s maintenance staff scrambling for replacement parts that were extremely difficult to find and, in most cases, obsolete. Most of the poles had at least one fixture that did not function, and the lightingRead More →

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mass timber office building

Mass Timber Group Features Supervisor’s Office Project WoodWorks, a non-profit organization that provides education and free technical support related to the design, engineering, and construction of commercial and multi-family wood buildings in the U.S., released a new case story on our Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests Supervisor’s Office mass timber project. Working for our clients, the U.S. Forest Service, Morrison-Maierle’s team of structural engineers, Mosaic Architecture, and Quality Contractors, used mass timber materials supplied by RedBuilt, SmartLam North America, and QB Corporation to design and construct this two-story, 16,000 sq. ft. facility in Kamiah, Idaho. The building consolidates the former five locations into three communities andRead More →

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lighting controls

Beyond the Switch: Understanding Lighting Controls By Brian McDivitt, PE – Ever since the late 1800s, electrical circuits have used simple switches to turn lights on and off. In recent decades, energy codes have been encouraging innovation to reduce the amount of energy consumed by electric lighting. With lighting controls now starting to involve new functionalities such as automatic control of plug-in receptacles, many building owners find themselves wondering: what happened to the basic switch on the wall? The lighting controls components used in a building depend on the needs of the owner and the building’s function and size. Some components can wire into buildingRead More →

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generator oversized

Why is My Generator So Oversized? By Garth Stevens, PE – It’s a warm sunny day, and your facility is at full capacity, with everything humming along just right. Suddenly, the utility power drops out, and everything goes dark. You’re not worried, though, because you have a well-maintained generator that backs up your critical loads. Within seconds, the generator is up and running, and the loads transfer to the backup power. Since you are conscientious about maintenance, you head out to the generator building to check the load on the generator. All the backed-up loads are up and running, and you want to make sureRead More →

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bend structural engineering mass timber clt

Seven Benefits of Panelized Mass Timber By Reed Newcomer, PE – Mass timber has become increasingly popular in the building industry in recent years and has placed exposed wood construction into the limelight. Given its many benefits, it is understandable why mass timber has gained popularity. Aside from being aesthetically pleasing, research has shown that mass timber buildings can provide occupants with both physical and psychological benefits. The characteristic properties of wood and proportioning of mass timber panels also provide numerous advantages to building owners that are deeper than just architectural appeal. While there are many other reasons to consider mass timber for your nextRead More →

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american indian hall montana state university

American Indian Hall Morrison-Maierle worked with ThinkOne, a local Bozeman architect, to perform the structural design and site civil design for this unique building located on the Malone Centennial Mall at MSU. This $20M, 31,000 sq. ft. building was funded through donor gifts. It is the first in Montana to obtain LEED Platinum v4 status (video below), earning all three points in the structural materials category plus one additional point for exemplary structural performance. The building system is a combination of wood and steel, and there were several unique architectural features including a curved monumental staircase, curved canopies, a drum room, and a 140 ft.Read More →

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american indian hall montana state university

American Indian Hall Opens on MSU Campus A grand opening for the American Indian Hall at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, was held on October 16, 2021. Nearly 1,200 were on hand to celebrate this achievement, including Morrison-Maierle’s structural design team of Nate Menuez, Rebecca Scheetz, Austin Batson, and MaKayla Beckman, and the site civil designers Mike Hickman and Cody Farley. The ceremony had a full agenda that included traditional songs, prayers, dances, and drumming. Speakers included MSU President Waded Cruzado, MSU President Emeritus Geoffrey Gamble, head of the MSU Department of Native American Studies Walter Fleming, U.S. Senator Jon Tester, and the U.S.Read More →

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engineering design for building maintainability

Designing for Ease of Building Maintenance By Doug Downie – A good friend of mine once worked at a building maintenance company and would occasionally download with me that day’s work challenges. One theme that kept getting repeated was how difficult it was to maintain the equipment he had to work on. I often use the analogy of the three-legged stool for how buildings can be designed. The three legs are: Permittable – All designs must meet this minimum level from the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) in order to receive a permit to build.  Constructable – Various aspects of a design are challenging to build, which is relatively common.  Maintainable – A design that locatesRead More →

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mass timber office building

Nez Perce Clearwater Forest Service Supervisor’s Office Project at a Glance Type – Office building Services Provided – Structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering; fire sprinkler and low-voltage design Size – 15,000 sq. ft. Cost – $9M Completion Date – Fall 2021 The Nez Perce Clearwater Forest Service needed a new office building to serve as its home base in Kamiah, Idaho, for more than 70 permanent and seasonal USDA Forest Service employees. This new building uses a cross-laminated timber (CLT) roof system that is supported by glue-laminated (GLT) timber beams and columns to highlight a variety of the wood products native to the area. ItRead More →

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