KAI Design & Build received a 2018 Honor Award in the Commercial-Office Buildings category from the Design-Build Institute of America – Mid-America Region for its work on the Deaconess Center for Child Well-Being. KAI completed construction of the $8.5 million center in December 2017.
The project achieved 36 percent Minority Business Enterprises (MBE) and 3 percent Women Owned Business Enterprises (WBE) participation. Elizabeth Noonan, an economic development professional and United Church of Christ member, served as the project manager, and minority-owned Kwame Building Group was the construction manager.
The 21,272-square-foot facility at 1000 North Vandeventer Ave. provides meeting rooms, a chapel, and a large conference space for up to 125 people, as well as administrative offices for the Deaconess Foundation, Vision for Children at Risk, and Neighborhood Houses – a United Church of Christ ministry that supports low-income children and families of the inner core of St. Louis City.
The facility’s design incorporates many elements that appeal to children such as bright colors, eye-catching artwork by artist and illustrator Cbabi Bayoc and garden spaces.
The Deaconess Center is expected to host more than 6,000 citizens a year in more than 250 meetings focused on children’s issues.