Building Design & Construction articles from January 2005

Building Design & Construction archives from January 2005

AEC firms' biggest worry for '05.(Editorial)
January 1, 2005... Can you guess what issue AEC firms see as their Number One Concern going into 2005? Mold liability? No. The escalating cost of steel and other basic materials? Wrong. How about all those worries over outsourcing? Sorry, wrong again. The correct...

Feiner to retire as GSA's chief architect.(News & Trends)
January 1, 2005... Edward A. Feiner, FAIA, who, as Chief Architect in the General Services Administration, led the effort to make Federal buildings beautiful as well as functional, is retiring at the end of January to enter the private sector. Feiner, 58,...

Finding a plan that'll play in Peoria.(News & Trends)
January 1, 2005... The second major expansion of the 23-year-old Peoria (Ill.) Civic Center, originally designed by world-renowned architect Philip Johnson, has created a debate over aesthetics. But, as is often the case, economics has determined the immediate...

Westin Convention Center Seaport Hotel.(Projects awarded)
January 1, 2005... Scheduled for a 2006 opening, the 790-room Westin Convention Center Seaport Hotel is under construction adjacent to Boston's new convention center. Arrowstreet Inc., Somerville, Mass., is the architect; Suffolk Construction, Boston, is the GC...

Silver Slipper Casino.(Projects awarded)
January 1, 2005... Construction begins this month on the $50 million Silver Slipper Casino, located on the Gulf Coast near Bay St. Louis, Miss. The casino's four-level riverboat is being redesigned in conjunction with the construction of a new 36,000-sf building....

A. Alfred Taubman Student Services Center.(Projects awarded)
January 1, 2005... Southfield, Mich.-based A/E HarleyEllis is architect for the 38,000-sf A. Alfred Taubman Student Services Center at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield. Detroit-based Walbridge Aldinger is construction manager for the $9.6 million...

625,000-sf new terminal.(Projects awarded)
January 1, 2005... A 625,000-sf new terminal for JetBlue Airways at JFK International Airport in New York will be designed by architect Gensler. The 26-gate terminal is expected to open in 2008.

Church steeple doubles as a cellular antenna.
January 1, 2005... Cellular antennas have become a pesky source of mayhem to architectural landscapes in nearly every city across the nation. As cell phone use grows (roughly 50% of Americans now own a cell phone), cellular providers are scrambling to throw up...

"CM' is not the same as 'PM'.(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2005... Your October editorial ("What owners want from CMs," p. 3) pinpoints a weakness so common in building projects of all types these days. The lack of project management is usually the source of frustration and wasted time and money in...

Horowitz named publisher of BD&C.(Announcement)
January 1, 2005... Dean E. Horowitz has been named publisher of Building Design and Construction. Horowitz brings nine years of construction publishing experience to BD&C, including six years as publisher of Professional Builder, Reed Business Information's...

Software enables 'virtual constructability'.(Information Technology)
January 1, 2005... A big stumbling block in getting true data integration through the life cycle of a building project has been the handoff of the design from the design team to the construction team. Even under the best circumstances, whatever the design team...

Moore on recycling.
January 1, 2005... CHANGES What you have to keep in mind is that getting rid of waste material is a big expense. The demolition industry is a lot more sophisticated than it used to be. There's new equipment. Government regulations are tighter... and harder to...

Manufacturing vacancies decline, construction expected to surge.(Industry Data)
January 1, 2005... The vacancy rate for manufacturing facilities begins the year at 11%, nearly a full percentage point lower than a year earlier but still about 2% above the long-term average vacancy rate. New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and Salt Lake City have...

Contractor hiring will remain strong throughout 2005.(Industry Data)
January 1, 2005... Contractors added an estimated 125,000 workers in the last half of 2004, almost all for building and remodeling work. California contractors accounted for 30% of the hiring. Construction employment rose in 42 states. There was essentially no...

Commercial, industrial & institutional (CII) construction spending (Billions of current dollars).(Industry Data)
January 1, 2005... Commercial, industrial & institutional (CII) construction spending (Billions of current dollars) Percent Spending in change from Oct....

Office construction spending dips.(Industry Data)
January 1, 2005... After a surge last spring, spending on office construction fell in the second half of 2004 but should advance 11% this year and 18% in 2006, due to a strengthening economy. The weak office market caused an unexpected rise in the CB Richard...

Lodging sector grows as economy recovers, 9/11 travel fears fade.(Industry Data)
January 1, 2005... Construction spending for hotels and motels jumped an estimated 17% last year and will expand more than 20% both this year and next. Even so, this is a modest market expansion compared to the tripling of lodging construction spending from...

Cost comparisons per square foot in select metro markets.(Industry Data)
January 1, 2005... Cost comparisons per square foot in select metro markets Parking garage Underground parking '05 '04 % chg. '05 '04 % chg. Atlanta 31.16 30.00 ...

27-year-old roof earns ward for sustainability.
January 1, 2005... Massachusetts art supply retailer receives first Sarnafil Sustainable Roofing Performance Award Saturday Night Fever sparked the disco inferno, Rocky won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Charrette, a rapidly growing art and...

Signs of life: as the office market starts to revive, developers around the country are finding smart ways to connect with primary anchor tenants.(Office Market)
January 1, 2005... To say that the speculative office market is returning to health would be an egregious overstatement. Vacancy rates remain high--16-19% in many cities around the country--and ribbon cuttings on new net square footage are at an all-time low,...

Realigning the culture: RadioShack's move to a new riverside campus in Fort Worth was more than a simple relocation--it symbolized a whole new way of looking at itself.(Office Buildings)
January 1, 2005... When electronics retailer RadioShack realized that the layout of its headquarters building in Fort Worth, Texas, was incompatible with its emerging corporate objectives, it took decisive action. The company moved from two 19-story towers with...

Oklahoma gothic: in Tulsa, a 180-foot-high steeple draws worshipers to a 3,500-person sanctuary that incorporates a professional theater-quality sound system.(Religious Facilities)
January 1, 2005... Asbury United Methodist Church's 180-foot-high steeple is a new landmark on the east side of Tulsa, Okla. Visible for miles, it invites the curious to come face-to-face with Gothic-style architecture that is seldom seen in contemporary new...

Amazing Grace: in suburban Minneapolis, a massive church with room for 4,500 worshipers recognizes that it must still think small to keep its ministry growing.(Religious Facilities)
January 1, 2005... By almost any measure, the design and construction of Grace Church in Eden Prairie, Minn., must be judged a remarkable achievement. Despite its almost gargantuan physical properties--a total of 342,000 sf, with seating capacity for 4,500...

Catholic church fits into a colonial setting.(Religious Facilities)
January 1, 2005... The design of the new St. Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg, Va., required the incorporation of both traditional and evolving Catholic church motifs within a historic colonial milieu. A one-story commons area that is detailed like a...

Concrete jungle: in Paris, the exterior of a monolithic concrete apartment building is softened by a spectacular flourish of giant bamboo plants.(Building Technology)
January 1, 2005... At first glance, the new 10-story apartment complex in Paris known as the Flower Tower looks like a giant display of potted plants, or perhaps the work of a gardening enthusiast gone mad. A "vertical garden" of bamboo plants sprouts from...

World of concrete 2005 preview.(Concrete)
January 1, 2005... The annual World of Concrete trade show returns to Las Vegas later this month with an expanded seminar track, its famous "mega demos," and a high-tech expo reborn. World of Concrete 2005, which is expected to draw more than 70,000 design and...

High-tension epoxy.(Concrete)
January 1, 2005... Three-component epoxy grout is designed for projects (such as parking structures) that involve the post-tensioning of precast concrete members, where the installation of a formed cube of grout to protect the anchorage from long-term corrosion...

Add a twist.(Concrete)
January 1, 2005... Concrete reinforcing wire features a helical form that acts like a tiny screw locked into the concrete, resulting in concrete structures that are up to five times stronger than standard reinforced concrete, according to the maker. Helix's shape...

Reaching new heights.(at work)
January 1, 2005... When site restrictions and time constraints eliminated precast tilt-up concrete as a possible wall system for a new exhibition hall at the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Fla., the Building Team turned to insulated concrete forms....

Quick concrete repair.(Miscellaneous)
January 1, 2005... Concrete crack injection system features a hand-held mixing nozzle that accommodates two 22-ounce cartridges, eliminating the need for bulky injection equipment. The ETI injection epoxy, available in low and gel viscosities, can be used to...

Braving the weather.(Miscellaneous)
January 1, 2005... Rapid-hardening structural repair mortar designed for horizontal concrete applications is composed of selected cements, graded sands, and chemical additives that repair mortar in hot or cold weather conditions, without the aid of chloride or...

Anchors aweigh.(Miscellaneous)
January 1, 2005... Mechanical anchoring system reconnects existing masonry and concrete facades to various substrates, including concrete block backup. Torq-Lok provides two independently activated expanders that do not create tension between wythes, effectively...

Working wonders.(Miscellaneous)
January 1, 2005... Concrete patching compound is a durable, fast-setting material useful for patching and detailing tilt-up panels, precast concrete, and concrete block. Composed of premium-grade hydraulic cement, calcium carbonate, and high-performance polymers,...

Urban rural revival.(at work)
January 1, 2005... Located several blocks from Coors Field in Denver's historic Curtis Park/Five Points neighborhood, the new, 241-unit Jefferson@CityGate apartment building is part of a public-private initiative to revitalize the city's residential...

Shooting sound dead.(at work)
January 1, 2005... With two shooting ranges, offices, classrooms, and a gymnasium under the same roof, the 28,000-sf South Metro Public Safety Training Facility in Minneapolis posed a soundproofing challenge to architects. The design team specified SonexOne foam...

Ultra-safe schools.(Miscellaneous)
January 1, 2005... Brochure describes how ultraviolet-C technology installed in air-handling systems at schools can prevent the spread of colds, flu, and other viral and bacterial infections, enhance indoor air quality, and reduce energy and maintenance costs....

Easy-to-clean wall panel.(at work)
January 1, 2005... Decorative wall panel composed of fiberglass-reinforced plastic provides the look of the without the grout lines. Matrex panels are sealed with a clear acrylic coating that prevents dirt from penetrating the surface and resists mold and mildew....

Adding drama.(at work)
January 1, 2005... A translucent canopy provides a dramatic entry into Terrell (Texas) High School's new Performance Arts Center. The SW-400 glazing system is fully tested for air and water infiltration, features condensation gutters on all framing members, and...

Making waves.(at work)
January 1, 2005... To create the effect of an underwater dining experience at the Aquarium Restaurant in the Opry Mills Mall in Nashville, Tenn., architects designed ceilings and walls that undulate and curve like waves. Local drywall contractor Wall-Tech framed...