Chicago · 2007.0307
International building engineering and design firm Thornton Tomasetti has named structural engineer Daniel Marquardt managing principal. He will be based in Chicago, Illinois and be responsible for the management and growth of the firm's western region, including offices in Chicago; Dallas, Texas; and Los Angeles and Irvine, California. Marquardt will also continue as principal-in-charge of major projects in diverse sectors, including healthcare, office, mixed-use, transportation, and education, with a special emphasis on cultural projects. He has over 30 years of experience designing cultural and institutional buildings in the Chicago area, including the Goodman Theater and Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago, the University of Chicago's new Center for Biomedical Discovery, the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport north terminal, currently under construction in Detroit, Michigan. In 1988, Marquardt joined the engineering firm Cohen Barreto Marchertas, Inc., which was acquired by Thornton Tomasetti in 1993.
Presteid · 2007.0306
The design by Steven Holl Architects for the Knut Hamsun Center in Norway has been approved. The New York City-based firm was originally commissioned to design the project in 1994. The building design won the 1996 Progressive Architecture Award, and a building model is in the collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art. The center will be located above the Arctic Circle near the village of Presteid of Hamarøy. The facility will include exhibition areas, a library and reading room, a cafe, and an auditorium. A long-grass rooftop garden will reference traditional Norwegian sod roofs. The tarred black wood facade, characteristic of wooden-stave Norse churches, will be punctuated by irregular balconies. Rough, white concrete interiors will accentuate changes in the light throughout the year. Groundbreaking is planned for spring 2008, and construction is scheduled for completion by August 2009. Knut Hamsun was a Norwegian writer and the recipient of the 1920 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Mansfield · 2007.0305
The new $134 million Methodist Mansfield Medical Center has opened in Mansfield, Texas. International architecture and planning firm RTKL Associates Inc. designed the 80-bed, 312,000-square-foot (29,000-square-meter) acute-care hospital. The elliptical, sawtooth-shaped bed unit houses 36 private rooms on each floor and is designed to reduce noise levels in the corridors. Decentralized nurse work stations are located between every two patient rooms to reduce nurse travel time. Curved hallways maximize sightlines. Patient rooms feature a clinical zone for the patient bed area and a family zone. To facilitate wayfinding, all services are accessible from a public promenade. Construction included an adjacent 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) medical office building. A planned second phase of construction will add a 144-bed patient tower, an additional medical office building, and a parking structure. The principal-in-charge for RTKL was Brad T. Barker, AIA, senior vice president and managing director of healthcare.
New York · 2007.0301
The new "apple seeds" play facility has opened in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Ellen Honigstock Architect of Brooklyn designed the facility, which comprises 10,000 square feet (930 square meters) of ground floor space for classrooms, play space, and a retail boutique, and a 6,000-square-foot (560-square-meter) mezzanine for offices and a classroom. Color, shape, and light provide easy pathfinding for young children. Art, science, and cooking classrooms feature miniature sinks and countertops adjacent to standard ones. The project also includes open gathering spaces for parents. Roto Studio designed and constructed the New York City-themed indoor playground. A cafe is scheduled to open in spring 2007.
Atlanta · 2007.0301
An $8 million renovation project is now complete at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally designed by Atlanta architect John Portman, founder and chairman of John Portman & Associates, Inc., this trendsetting example of the modern atrium-style high-rise hotel celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2007. The 200-guestroom renovation project in the "Ivy Tower," now known as "Radius," was designed to appeal to the growing number of female business travelers, with features such as a cool color palette of light greens, proximity to a health club, and key-restricted entry to each floor. The studio-style guestrooms also have new carpeting, fixtures, and dark wood furniture.
West Palm Beach · 2007.0228
A new campus of The Children's Place at Home Safe recently opened in West Palm Beach, Florida. Garcia Stromberg Architecture of Boca Raton and Stuart provided planning and design services for the 10-acre (4-hectare) campus for children and families who have been affected by abuse, neglect, substance abuse, or domestic violence. Facilities include two residential group cottages for teenage boys and a family education center. Future expansion plans include additional structures designed by the firm.
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