Forrester Construction. Keep Building.

Rockville, Maryland, April 7, 2020— Forrester Construction’s work on the St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church in Washington, DC has earned the company a national Excellence in Construction Eagle Award, which will be presented during the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Convention 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 18. The EIC awards program is the industry’s leading competition honoring both general and specialty contractors for innovative and high-quality merit shop construction projects.

“The St. Thomas project is another example of the commitment to excellence our teams demonstrate every day on every project. I’m incredibly fortunate to work with such talented, skilled, and dedicated builders, and we share this award with the owner who had the vision, the designers who brought that vision to life, and our subcontractor partners who put the work in place. I’m very proud of this project and grateful to ABC and the judges for the recognition,” said Forrester’s President and CEO Stephen Houff.

The new construction of this religious facility included a new church built atop a below-grade parking garage, the interior fit-out of the elevator lobby, and four floors above grade. The first floor includes a lobby, chapel and offices. The second floor serves as the primary worship space with a two-story sanctuary. An organ and choir loft are featured at the mezzanine level and the remaining floors house a fellowship hall, kitchen, and terrace. The facade includes large punched windows, storefront, and curtainwall integrated with a complex terracotta rain screen system and a green roof. The finishes include acoustical ceilings, large format tile and acoustic paneling, and significant ornamental metalwork including the feature tower, cross, and stained-glass elements. Finishes in the 1,000 SF lobby include ruins from the remnants of the original church, built in 1889 but destroyed by a fire in 1970. Part of the ruins remained in place and over time were deconstructed, catalogued, cleaned, and refabricated with new stone elements to fit within the space provided and to supplement elements that were not recoverable. The building reflects a perfect blend of the past and present with the incorporation of the ruins and exceptional modern finishes within, and the striking tile and terracotta on the facade.

“The craftmanship of Forrester Construction and their hardworking employees continues to raise the bar when it comes to how we define excellence in construction,” said 2020 ABC National Chair Tim Keating, owner and president of R.C. Stevens Construction Co., Winter Garden, Florida. “It’s an honor to recognize these award winners for their respective commitments to building safely, on time and on budget, as well as contribute to the communities in which they work.”

The EIC award honors all construction team members, including the contractor, owner, architect and engineer. The winning projects, selected from entries across the nation, were judged on complexity, attractiveness, unique challenges overcome, completion time, workmanship, innovation, safety and cost.

This year’s panel included representatives from Building Owners and Managers Association International, Smithsonian Facilities Construction Division, Construction Management Association of America, Engineering News-Record, Design-Build Institute of America and various construction-related firms nationwide.

A PeopleReady Skilled Trades is the presenting sponsor of the Excellence in Construction® Awards.

A full list of EIC winners is available on ABC’s website.