Phoenix (Awards) Rising! 2018 Winners Hit the Stage in Austin

Last night in Austin, as part of a special presentation during the RIA’s International Restoration Convention & Expo, two very special projects were honored with the prestigious RIA Phoenix Award.

In order to recognize conspicuously high achievement in the area of disaster restoration, RIA has established the RIA Phoenix Awards for Innovation in Restoration and Reconstruction. In addition to earning the respect of fellow RIA members, this award provides a vehicle for winners, challengers and the entire RIA membership to achieve recognition in the media and in the insurance industry for their contributions.

Let’s take a look at this year winners:

Phoenix Award for Innovation in Restoration: France&Co

The Phoenix Award for Innovation in Restoration is awarded to a contractor or firm for a residential or commercial restoration project, which does not include building reconstruction, but may include the restoration and/or remediation of a structure and its contents. This year we would like to recognize our winner France & Company.

On the afternoon of March 28 2016, France & Company was called in to respond to the Cascadian Fruit Shippers Warehouse in Wenatchee, Washington. The request involved pumping out water from a parking/loading area that was filling with water from the final stages of firefighting activities related to the adjoining building that had caught fire the night prior.

The Cascadian Fruit Shippers Warehouse is a historic cold storage facility of heavy timber post and beam construction with a poured concrete exterior shell and concrete central support structure. With a storage area of over 110,000 square feet on three levels contained within the 42,000 square foot footprint, the warehouse at one time was the world’s largest apple cold storage facility.

This project presented numerous challenges to overcome, including a long list of traditional challenges that would be expected in such a scenario. However, France and Co. was able to overcome all such challenges, while being able to uphold the historical integrity of the facility.

This was a unique and delightful project that was as much a work of art as it was restoration. France & Company demonstrated true restoration work and delivering on the promise of what it means to return a property to “pre-loss” condition.

Congratulations to France & Company! And check out the March issue of C&R magazine for the complete case study.

Phoenix Award for Innovation in Reconstruction: Sharp, Robbins, and Popwell

The Phoenix Award for Innovation in Reconstruction is given to an individual contractor or firm for work on a project that may encompass some restoration, but generally requires significant rebuilding of the structure.

Hurricane Harvey was the most expensive storm on record, dumping more than 40 inches of rain in parts of Texas and causing nearly $200 billion in damage. The storm hit Middle Tennessee as a tropical depression late on the evening of August 31. The Highland Rim is a region of hills and valleys lying just west of the Cumberland Plateau and completely surrounding the city of Nashville. Post Ridge Apartments is a complex that rests at the foot of a steep hillside just outside the state capitol city of Nashville.

As Harvey barreled into town, the deluge ensued. Heavy rainfall saturated the ground and quickly began to accumulate. Raging water carved its way down the hillside with increasing momentum delivering a river filled with limbs, debris and sediment which made its way to the apartment community situated below.

Sharp, Robbins, and Popwell LLC received the initial emergency response call early in the evening, shortly after the damage was reported to the onsite management staff. Post Ridge could have been a story of untold tragedy; a distressed complex collapsing in on itself as flood waters ripped through the structure’s foundation. Instead, it is a story of triumph, and the building stands as a monument to teamwork. In less than two weeks, all foundational reconstruction had been completed without having to permanently relocate a single resident. Within another 30 days, the cosmetic and interior restoration was also complete. Expediency, expertise and ingenuity prevailed.

Sharp, Robbins, and Popwell exemplified professional project management, demonstrated innovation, established superb process, and revealed comprehensible cost-savings.

Congratulations to Sharp, Robbins, and Popwell! And check out the March issue of C&R magazine for the complete case study.