Building Design & Construction articles from November 2008

Building Design & Construction archives from November 2008

Waterfront opera house coming to China.(Gresham, Smith and Partners' design for Theatre Putuo Zhoushan Opera House)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff Nashville, Tenn.-based architect Gresham, Smith and Partners has unveiled its wild design for the Theatre Putuo Zhoushan Opera House, to be constructed on an engineered peninsula in the Zhejiang Province, southeast of Shanghai. A...

Twin towers to rise in Panama as part of mixed-use development.(Wimberly Allison Tong and Goo)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff Destination design firm Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo, Honolulu, has unveiled the design for Panama City Center, a contemporary mixed-use project in Panama City, Panama. The project consists of two towers that emerge from a podium...

Abu Dhabi's Capital Gate applies forGuinness record: 'most inclined tower'.(RMJM Hillier)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff Capital Gate, a new tower under construction in Abu Dhabi, UAE, leans westward an astonishing 18 degrees (the Leaning Tower of Pisa only leans 4 degrees). Project architects RMJM/Hillier and developer Dubai National Exhibitions are...

Cancer research center sets sail in Portugal.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff Planned on a sweep of land where the Tagus River joins the Atlantic Ocean--the point from which 15th- and 16th-century Portuguese explorers embarked on maritime journeys to discover new geographic lands--the Champalimaud Cancer...

NOAA breaks ground on laboratory in Mississippi.(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is consolidating its National Fisheries Service Laboratory into a 50,000-sf, $20 million lab building in Pascagoula, Miss. Designed to meet LEED Silver standards, the two-story...

Green campus center under way at Richard Stockton College.(contract with KSS Architects)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff Construction is under way on a 153,000-sf campus center at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in Pomona, N.J. Designed by KSS Architects, Princeton, N.J., with VMDO Architects, Charlottesville, Va., as associate architect,...

West Hollywood library will house much more than books.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff As part of its 25th Anniversary Capital Project, the City of West Hollywood, Calif., is planning a 42,000-sf library targeted to achieve LEED Silver certification. Designed by MDA Johnson Favaro, Culver City, Calif., the facility...

USGBC lays out its strategy for the next 5 years.(United States Green Building Council)
November 1, 2008... Robert Cassidy, Editor-in-Chief The U.S. Green Building Council's new strategic plan, which will guide the USGBC through 2013, acknowledges that, while the organization deserves credit for making "green building" a household term, real...

High-Performance School of the Future Gets an "A".
November 1, 2008... Staff The school of the future isn't just a dream; it's a reality that's available today. Exhibited in conjunction with Building Design+Construction magazine, Project FROG's "FROG Zero" classroom can be seen center stage at the 2008 U.S....

Industrial-Strength Green.
November 1, 2008... By Dave Barista, Managing Editor Three breakthrough projects provide a glimpse into the future of green industrial facilities. If there was one building sector that had the most to gain from the green building movement, it might just...

Modular Goes Green--and Greener.
November 1, 2008... By Jay W. Schneider, Senior Editor A modular building manufacturer introduces three sustainable office units for general contractors to green their jobsites. For more than two years, Williams Scotsman had tried bringing much-needed...

Credit freeze weakens construction outlook.
November 1, 2008... By Jim Haughey, PhD, BD+C Economist The worldwide credit freeze caused a marginal drop in construction spending in September and October, a larger--but still modest--decline in new project starts, and much larger project delays and...

RSMeans costs comparisons.
November 1, 2008... By Jim Haughey, PhD, BD+C Economist [TABLE OMITTED]

Photoshop CS4 Extended brings 3D in a panel.(Adobe Systems Inc.)
November 1, 2008... By Jeff Yoders, Senior Associate Editor Photoshop turned 18 this year. Not only has it been transmogrified into a verb (as in "I photoshoped you into my pictures"), it's ready to go off to college. Adobe Photoshop has ventured far beyond...

Conservation on the Kalahari.
November 1, 2008... By Chris Olson, Contributing Editor A racially diverse Building Team uses the aesthetic qualities of brick to lend a distinctive flair to a sustainable, mixed-income condominium project in Harlem. While New York City's Harlem is home...

Mixed-use center key to Long Beach redevelopment.(CT Realty Corp.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff Newport Beach, Calif.-based developer CT Realty Corp. has opened Pacifica, a four-story, 62-unit condominium project that sits atop 5,300 sf of ground-floor retail and one level of subterranean parking. A public-private venture with...

Airport terminal creates gateway to North Carolina's Research Triangle.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff Raleigh-Durham (N.C.) International Airport officially opened the gates at its new $570 million Terminal 2 late last month. At 920,000 sf, the terminal is nearly three times larger than the facility it replaces, allowing the airport...

Nature, views enhance healing environment at children's hospital.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff The Children's Medical Center in late September officially opened the doors to its new 184,000-sf Legacy facility in Plano, Texas. Designed by the Los Angeles office of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects, Portland, Ore., with...

Mixed-use housing comes to Wisconsin's capital.(Alexander Company Inc.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff Madison, Wis.-based developer Alexander Company has completed the first phase of its $110 million Capitol West development--one of the largest private housing efforts in the history of downtown Madison. The 164 condos at Capitol West...

Green student center opens at UCSD.(University of California, San Diego)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff Loaded with sustainable design features, including drip irrigation systems, high-performance glazing, and distinctive sunscreens made of recycled plastic lumber (pictured), the University of California, San Diego's new five-story,...

Concrete's sustainable attributes focus of NYC conferences.
November 1, 2008... Matt Phair, Contributing Editor Nearly 100 architects, engineers, and invited journalists from the U.S., France, China, Poland, Canada, and elsewhere around the world convened in New York City in early October to discuss the role of...

People+Firms.
November 1, 2008... Staff - New York-based architect Perkins Eastman has opened an office in Boston to accommodate increased business in the New England region. The new office will be headed by principal John R.A. Pears , RIBA, and associate principal Jana G....

Day labor station wins sustainable construction award.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Jay W. Schneider, Senior Editor A self-contained, multipurpose day labor station prototype designed by the San Francisco-based firm Public Architecture won the Silver Award in the 2008 Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction competition...

News Briefs.
November 1, 2008... Staff - Many consumers still think cars and trucks create the most pollution. Shelton Group's Energy Pulse survey revealed that one-third of respondents erroneously named cars and trucks as the number one cause of global warming, while...

Permeable pavement selected for fountain.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff The Chicago Park District recently began installing Unilock permeable interlocking concrete pavers as part of a Buckingham Fountain renovation project. With 235,000 sf of permeable pavement being installed, it will be the largest...

Smart air barrier protects green home project.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff The "Smart Home" is a 2,500-sf, fully functioning, modular green building constructed on the campus of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Among the Michelle Kaufman-designed building's many green features is a VaproShield...

Compacted earth blocks: the concrete alternative.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff Integrity Block is made of half natural earth and half post-consumer recycled content, providing a greener alternative to traditional concrete masonry units. The blocks require 40% less energy to manufacture than traditional CMUs,...

The new TKTS booth, New York City's sustainable ticket solution.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff The sophisticated and complex new glass TKTS Booth sits in the heart of New York City's Times Square. The show-stopping urban structure features a 27-step amphitheater-style red staircase covering a fiberglass shell, which, along...

More colors and prices available in low-e glass.(Guardian Industries Corp.)(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff Guardian has added six glass colors to its line of low-emissivity SunGuard Architectural Glass. SunGuard AG 50 is a low-e coating that now comes in light silver, silver gray, and green. The coating is spectrally selective, allowing...

Community center gets LEED certification.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff The 58,000-sf expansion of the East Grand Rapids (Mich.) Community Center involved the complete reconstruction of the existing city hall and library facilities. The two buildings, located on scenic Reeds Lake, were combined into one...

School in Denmark generates 100% of its electricity from solar, wind turbines.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff Located off the east coast of Denmark, the island of Samsø meets 100% of its electricity demands with wind turbines, and 70% of its heating needs through renewable energy. Samsø won a national competition issued by...

Low-e glass contributes to six of AIA's top ten green projects.(Brief article)
November 1, 2008... Staff The solar-control performance of Solarban glass enhances six of the 10 projects selected as the 2008 COTE Top Ten Green Projects by the American Institute of Architects' Committee on the Environment. Two of the award-winning...

Commercial Restrooms That Work Right.
November 1, 2008... By C.C. Sullivan and Barbara Horwitz-Bennett When you've got to go, you've got to go. But where? "The reality is that public restrooms matter to the public. The way a business or building treats its facilities is a reflection of its...

Restaurant/Workshop Redefines Culinary Arts.
November 1, 2008... By Jay W. Schneider, Senior Editor An architect and an artist become restaurateurs and transform a San Diego warehouse into a lean, green foodie machine. Call it the green restaurant that almost wasn't. Three years ago, when artist...

'The U.K.'s goal: reduce emissions 80% by 2050'.(University of Oxford's David King)(Interview)
November 1, 2008... Staff Sir David King, ScD, FRS, directs the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment at the University of Oxford. He is president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and co-author of The Hot Topic: What We Can Do...

Green Buildings + Climate Change.
November 1, 2008... Staff Sixth in a Series of Annual Reports on the Green Building Movement What AEC Professionals + Firms Can Do to Tackle 'The Single Largest Issue Facing the Nation Today' "To me, climate change is the single largest issue...