ACEC Illinois Recognizes Wight & Company with an Honor Award for the LEED® Platinum Certified Hidden Oaks Nature Center

Darien, Ill. (March 7, 2010) – Wight & Company, a leader in integrated architecture, engineering and construction solutions, is pleased to announce that their Hidden Oaks Nature Center project has received an Honor Award—the highest award given—in the American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois’ (ACEC-Illinois) 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards Competition.

Fifty-five Illinois firms were recognized for excellence in engineering before an audience of over 250 engineers, clients and government officials at an awards luncheon held February 12, 2010 at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield, Ill. The firms were recognized for award-winning engineering projects in the American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois’ Thirty-Ninth Annual Engineering Excellence Awards Competition. The competition recognizes outstanding projects designed by private practice engineering firms from the state of Illinois. Honor awards are given for projects that are “recognized for exceptional engineering that meet the needs of the client and benefit the public welfare.”

“On behalf of the Bolingbrook Park District, we are proud to be honored with this award and to share it with our client and all our partners involved in completing this project,” said Pete Mesha, group president of engineering at Wight & Company. “As a pioneer in sustainable design and construction, we help our clients reach the level of sustainability that best suits their needs to deliver significant economic, aesthetic and environmental benefits.”

Submitted in the category Special Projects, Wight was honored for its engineering breakthroughs on Hidden Oaks Nature Center. In particular, Wight incorporated ecological systems into every design decision pertaining to both the site and the building, established a holistic view that nature is an important aspect of development, similar to Aldo Leopold’s land ethic, and adhered to the explicit mission set forth by the owner to develop the site with green infrastructure that improves the hydrological patterns within the oak/hickory ecosystem – one of the most endangered ecosystems in the Midwest. The nature center also achieved the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED®-NC Platinum certification. The Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) Platinum standard is the highest measurement of building sustainability.

Nestled amongst century-old oak trees near the East Branch of the DuPage River in Bolingbrook, Ill., the center takes its cue from nature by mimicking its surroundings. In particular, one half of the building is shaped like the trunk of the two large oaks that closely flank both sides of the building, while the other half is designed to be like a ‘tree house.’ When visitors walk onto the roof, they are within the canopy of the two flanking oaks. Throughout the site there is a subtle undertone that even the most astute visitor may not discover – the advanced stormwater management techniques that make Hidden Oaks such a jewel below and above ground. Hidden Oaks’ management of stormwater is remarkable because it re-establishes the pre-settlement hydrology of the site to the same form it took before human settlement. In other words, it does not utilize conventional detention, which can place a strain on existing water bodies such as the adjacent East Branch of the DuPage River. Designed to provide interactive learning experiences that foster admiration for the natural world, Hidden Oaks encourages responsible environmental behavior.

Judges for the 2010 Engineering Excellence Awards Competition were: Somali Tomczak, Sr. manager of environmental & safety, NICOR; Tom Short, Jr. chief remedial response branch 2, USEPA Region 5; Paul Kovacs, P.E., chief engineer, Illinois Tollway; Susan Shea, director, IDOT division of aeronautics; Bill Gray, P.E., public works director, City of Urbana; Lisa Mattingly, administrator of professional service, CDB; Eric Harm, P.E., deputy director, assistant chief engineer, IDOT.






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