A joint venture of Gilbane Building Co. and Turner Construction has topped out the 1.7 billion dollar Wadsworth Center Laboratory in Albany, New York, Turner announced on Wednesday. The five storey, 663,000 square foot laboratory is the largest construction project in the history of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, the state’s public finance and construction authority, according to the release.
The structural frame uses more than 8,200 major steel components totalling about 5,545 tons. The venture began construction in January, and the building, designed by HOK, will house five New York State Department of Health laboratory locations currently spread across the Capital Region under one roof.
Turner vice president Carl Stewart called the topping out a testament to the project team and its trade partners. The same Gilbane Turner pairing delivered Highmark Stadium, the 2.1 billion dollar home of the Buffalo Bills, in June.
A topping out is a milestone, not a financing event, and it earns its place here for scale and contrast: while Dodge reported commercial groundbreakings down 18.4 percent in September, state financed health infrastructure of nearly 2 billion dollars is moving from steel to fit out on schedule.