Building Design & Construction articles from June 2009

Building Design & Construction archives from June 2009

Opening night close for Kent State performing arts center.(Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center )(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff The curtain opens on the Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center at Kent State University in early 2010, giving the New Philadelphia, Ohio, school a 1,100-seat multipurpose theater. The team of Legat & Kingscott of Columbus, Ohio, and...

University of Florida's traditionally modern graduate building.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff The University of Florida's Hough Hall Graduate Studies Building was designed by Rowe Architects, Tampa, and Sasaki Associates, Boston, to blend with the school's traditional collegiate gothic architecture outside, but reflect a...

Three Schools checking into L.A.'s Ambassador Hotel site.(Gonzalez Goodale Architects )(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff Pasadena-based Gonzalez Goodale Architects is designing three new schools for Los Angeles Unified School District's Central Wilshire District. The $400 million campus, located on the site of the former Ambassador Hotel, will house a...

Expanding retail complex is LEED pre-certified.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff The Promenade at Coconut Creek in Broward County, Fla., a live-work-play shopping and lifestyle center, is being expanded by 105,000 sf. When phase II of the 335,000-sf project is complete, the facility will house 75 retailers,...

Utah research facility reflects Native American architecture.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff A $130 million research facility is being built at University of Utah's Salt Lake City campus. The James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building--a USTAR Innovation Center--is being designed by the Atlanta office of Lord Aeck &...

Philadelphia cancer center seeks LEED certification.
June 1, 2009... Staff The New York office of Thornton Tomasetti provided structural engineering services for the Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine in Philadelphia, a $232 million medical research center and advanced treatment center...

Colonnade fixes setback problem in Brooklyn condo project.(Scarano Architects )(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff The New York firm Scarano Architects was brought in by the developers of Olive Park condominiums in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn to bring the facility up to code after frame out was completed. The architects designed...

Florida International University's cantilevered design.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff Suffolk Construction's Miami-Dade business unit is serving as GC for the $14 million School of International and Public Affairs building at the University Park Campus of Florida International University. Designed by Arquitectonica,...

Luxury Hotel required faceted design.
June 1, 2009... Staff Goettsch Partners, Chicago, designed a new five-star, 214-room hotel for the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The design-build project, with Saudi Oger Ltd. as contractor and Rayadah Investment Co. as...

Mea culpa: A few things I wish I'd never said.
June 1, 2009... Robert Cassidy, Editor-in-Chief In the past, I've come down pretty hard on Building Teams for failing to revisit their completed projects to see if the great edifices they have built were really performing as planned. Now it's my turn to...

Bim School, Green School.(American Canyon)
June 1, 2009... By Jeff Yoders, Senior Associate Editor How building information modeling made a groundbreaking high-performance school possible. Nestled deep in the Napa Valley, the city of American Canyon is one of a number of new communities in...

Modest recession for education construction.
June 1, 2009... Staff Construction spending for education expanded modestly but steadily through March, while at the same time growth for other institutional construction had stalled earlier in 2009. Education spending is now at or near the peak for...

RSMeans cost comparisons: Hotels, motels, and apartments.
June 1, 2009... Staff [TABLE OMITTED]

Glass Wall Systems Open Up Closed Spaces.
June 1, 2009... By Jay W. Schneider, Senior Editor Two projects utilize movable glass wall systems to achieve one goal:create privacy, not isolation. Sectioning off large open spaces without making everything feel closed off was the challenge faced by...

BIMBoy puts HP's Z600 workstation to the test.(Hewlett Packard )
June 1, 2009... By Jeff Yoders, Senior Associate Editor Hewlett-Packard engineers have spent the last two and a half years designing and developing the Z series of workstation computers, whose 20 or so innovations include self-checking power supplies,...

7 Tips for Specifying and Designing with Insulated Metal Wall Panels.(Insulated metal panels)
June 1, 2009... By Dave Barista, Managing Editor Experts offer important advice on working with IMPs for exterior facade applications. Insulated metal panels, or IMPs, have been a popular exterior wall cladding choice for more than 30 years. These...

LEED Platinum office complex opens in Morristown.(Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation )(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff The new headquarters for the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation in Morristown, N.J., is on track to achieve LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Designed by Minno & Wasko Architects and Planners, Lambertville,...

D.C. gets sweeter with expanded green eatery.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff Greens Restaurant Group has expanded its popular salad and yogurt eatery, sweetgreen, to two neighborhoods in the Washington, D.C., area, Dupont Circle and Bethesda, Md. Designed by local architect CORE architecture + design, the...

Outdated office tower becomes Nashville's newest boutique hotel.
June 1, 2009... Staff A 1960s office tower in Nashville, Tenn., has been converted into a 248-room, four-star boutique hotel. Designed by Earl Swensson Associates, with PowerStrip Studio as interior designer, the newly converted Hutton Hotel features 54...

High-level NICU opens in Washington, D.C.(neonatal intensive care unit)(American Academy of Pediatrics)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff Design to the highest distinction available by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the new Level IIIC neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Children's National Medical Center in Washington D.C., is equipped to care for the sickest...

Alabama hospital gets a four-story addition.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff Birmingham, Ala.-based Hoar Construction has completed the North Tower addition at Thomas Hospital in Fairhope, Ala. The four-story, 123,000-sf addition accommodates an ER on the first floor, 32 private patient rooms and nursing...

Curtain rises on Broadway's first green theater.(Durst Organization )(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff The Durst Organization and Bank of America have opened New York's first LEED-certified theater, the 1,055-seat Henry Miller's Theatre. Located inside the new 55-story Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, the 50,000-sf theater is...

Nursing home turned charter school opens in Dorchester, Mass.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff Cambridge, Mass.-based HMFH Architects spearheaded the design for the conversion of a former nursing home in Dorchester, Mass., to learning and community space for the Neighborhood House Charter School. The pre-K--8 school has two...

Aloft hotel opens at Washington National Harbor.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff A partnership of five developers, including the John Hardy Group and Peterson Companies, have completed a 190-room aloft hotel at Washington National Harbor, a mixed-use retail/entertainment development in Oxon Hill, Md., near...

Toronto mandates green roofs.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff The city of Toronto late last month passed a new green roof by-law that consists of a green roof construction standard and a mandatory requirement for green roofs on all classes of new buildings. The by-law requires up to 50% green...

News Briefs.(Green Building Certification Institute)
June 1, 2009... Staff GBCI begins testing for new LEED professional credentials. The Green Building Certification Institute last week began testing candidates who wish to pursue credentials through the new LEED Green Associate or LEED Accredited...

'Feebate' program to reward green buildings in Portland, Ore.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff Officials in Portland, Ore., have proposed a green building incentive program that would be the first of its kind in the U.S. Under the program, new commercial buildings, 20,000 sf or larger, that meet Oregon's state building code...

BD+C editors win journalism honors for White Paper.(Building Design+Construction )(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff Building Design+Construction has received the Boger Special Reports Award from the Construction Writers Association for its 2008 White Paper, "Green Buildings + Climate Change." Senior Editor Jay W. Schneider received an...

Construction material prices drop slightly in April, extending the decline.
June 1, 2009... Jim Haughey, BD+C Economist and Chief Economist with Reed Construction Data The construction materials price index for nonresidential buildings fell 0.3% in April extending the decline since the September index peak to 13.1%. Prices for...

People+Firms.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff The world's largest retail design firm, Callison , just got larger with the acquisition of Dallas-based retail architect RYA Design Consultancy . RYA specializes in U.S. and international department store and specialty retail brands,...

Cost of HVAC equipment to remain flat in 2009, says Turner.
June 1, 2009... Staff While some manufacturers have announced slight increases in facilities equipment pricing for 2009, the average cost of equipment is expected to remain flat in 2009, according to the 2009 Turner Logistics Equipment Cost Index....

BD+C's Jay Schneider elected to CWA board.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff Senior Editor Jay W. Schneider has been elected to the board of the Construction Writers Association, an international organization of some 300 journalists, writers, editors, and public relations professionals serving the information...

Laying the foundation for a medical center.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff If you've been really sick in Magnolia, Ark., chances are you've been to Magnolia Hospital. This municipal facility has been a healthcare beacon for the city and surrounding community since 1939, when its doors first opened. So, in...

That's one heavy-duty ticket booth.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff Tasked with designing a ticket booth for Florida Atlantic University's new arena, B.I.G. Enterprises, a manufacturer of prefabricated, blast-resistant booths, had to meet strict Florida hurricane and energy codes, in addition to...

High-bay occupancy sensor for wet locations.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff Engineered specifically for wet locations, such as nurseries and greenhouses, food processing facilities, parking garages, and industrial facilities, the new HB350W high-bay occupancy sensor features sealed and gasketed lenses and a...

Translucent architectural fabric covers Wimbledon's legendary Centre Court.(W.L. Gore & Associates)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff The new retractable roof over the Centre Court at Wimbledon is made of Gore Tenara Architectural Fabric. More than 5,200 square meters of the fabric cover the legendary court, providing protection from the elements while allowing...

World's first 0.75-GPF toilet.(Niagara Conservation )(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff The patented design of the Eco 3 toilet uses pressurized air to create a powerful vortex and vacuum effect, allowing the toilet to flush all contents of the bowl with a single, 0.75-gallon flush. Unlike pressure-assisted toilets,...

Daylight is plentiful at new children's hospital.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff From the colorful curtain wall envelope to the operable windows, Kawneer architectural aluminum products are contributing to the green campus of the newly constructed $625 million Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. The...

Concrete block is full of glass.(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Staff Line of lightweight concrete masonry units, masonry veneers, and landscape products incorporates post-consumer recycled glass collected through municipal blue box programs. Atlas Block can be manufactured with up to 30% recycled...

Enclosure Strategies Buildings For Better Buildings.
June 1, 2009... By C.C. Sullivan and Barbara Horwitz-Bennett Sustainability and energy efficiency in building projects depend not only on the overall design of the structure but more specifically on the proper design and construction of its enclosure...

'There are opportunities on the edges of campuses'.(Gary Paetau )(Interview)
June 1, 2009... Staff Gary Paetau , AIA, is senior vice president of development and leader of the Education Group at Carter, a leading full-service real estate firm, headquartered in Atlanta. He specializes in program and project management services as...

Big Timber Hits London.
June 1, 2009... By David Barista, Managing Editor An eco-focused Building Team employs 'jumbo plywood' and modern prefabrication techniques to create the world's tallest all-wood residential structure. At a glance, East London's newest high-rise...