Demolition, construction to start soon on ORNL shipping, receiving building

Demolition and construction are expected to start soon on a shipping and receiving building at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a press release said.

“Hickory Construction Inc. will begin demolition of an existing structure ahead of breaking ground on a LEED Gold design-built construction at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on April 1, as part of the campus-wide Site Sustainability Plan,” the press release said.

“We are always honored to work with ORNL, and the chance to build a LEED Gold structure is something we love to do,” said Chris Duncan, project manager. “Hickory not only has the ability to make quality LEED buildings, but it does so for incredible value and on time.”

The building, which will serve as a central hub for everything that ORNL ships and receives, will be a total of 26,000 square feet. Of that, 17,000 square feet is designated as a shipping/receiving warehouse with 11 loading docks, and areas for packaging, staging, and storage. The remainder of the building is designated as office space.

The press release said Hickory weighed the option of maintaining the existing building or demolishing and building from scratch. They opted to demolish and build because it helps them achieve the LEED Gold specifications.

Some of the features of the building include natural lighting with a cupola design for the shipping area, which will reduce or eliminate need for electric lighting. The shipping/receiving part of the building will be constructed of pre-engineered metal.

The project is expected to be completed on or before Feb. 16, 2015.