In March 2017, the Washington Building Congress awarded both Hayles and Howe, Inc. and Norwood Environmental Systems each with a Craftsmanship Award in their respective categories of Plaster and HVAC-Sheet Metal.
In addition, the WBC Craftsmanship Award Judges conveyed the highly coveted Star Award for Excellence in the Face of Adversity to Hayles and Howe for their exceptional work in the execution of solutions used to restore and stabilize the damaged ceiling in the main hall of Union Station. It was noted, that the supporting structure of the glorious coffered ceiling was weakened by the 2011 earthquake. Pieces of the ceiling began to break and fall into the main hall of the train station. Technical excellence was represented by the way the Hayles and Howe craftsmen worked with structural engineers and architects to create seismic bracing to protect the ceiling from future earthquake damage. The difficulty of execution in this project was to repair the enormous ceiling in the main hall without shutting the station down. In order to keep the patrons safe from the work going on above them, Hayles and Howe built an enclosure around the scaffolding. Quality of craftsmanship was found in the precision applied to the repair of each damaged coffer. With these techniques the historic ceiling was returned to its original splendor.
Additional Project Team Members include Construction Manager–Jones Lang LaSalle; Architects–Gensler and John Bowie Associates; and MEP Engineer– GHT Ltd.