Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
November 9, 2011
The Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) received the Construction Management Association of America’s (CMAA) 2011 Project Achievement Award for the New Embassy Compound in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. CMAA presented the award to the U.S. Department of State during a ceremony Tuesday evening at the association’s 2011 National Conference & Trade Show in Washington, D.C.

The new facility, completed on schedule in August 2010, supports both the U.S. Mission to Ethiopia under Ambassador Donald E. Booth, and the U.S. Mission to the African Union under Ambassador Michael A. Battle. Over 1,500 local workers were engaged during the course of 30 months of construction and received extensive trade-craft and safety training. The project was executed on an active embassy compound that required phasing portions of the work and close coordination with embassy staff to limit the impact of construction on existing operations. The new facility features the largest U.S. chancery building in Sub-Saharan Africa at 15,552 gross square meters. The $156 million project- designed by Page Southerland Page of Arlington, Virginia- was awarded to B.L. Harbert International of Birmingham, Alabama in September 2008.

CMAA’s Project Achievement Award, distributed annually since 1999, aims to showcase creative and innovative construction management projects around the world. The CMAA Awards Committee is composed of owners and professional construction managers, and considers outcomes, overall management, safety, quality management, cost management, schedule management, complexity, innovation and creativity, and customer satisfaction as the basis for the award.

Since 1999, as part of the Department’s Capital Security Construction Program, OBO has completed 87 new diplomatic facilities and has an additional 37 projects in design and construction. The program has successfully moved more than 25,000 people, furthering OBO’s mission to provide safe, secure, and functional facilities for the conduct of U.S. diplomacy and the promotion of U.S. interests worldwide. These facilities should represent American values and the best in American architecture, engineering, technology, sustainability, art, culture, and construction execution. For further information, please contact Angelina Rotella at RotellaA@State.gov or (703) 875-6763, or visit http://www.state.gov/obo.