Castleford Bridge, a footbridge designed by McDowell+Benedetti, recently opened in Castleford, United Kingdom. Photo: Tim Soar Extra Large Image

London · 2008.0723
The Angela Carter Close affordable housing development is complete in Brixton, London, United Kingdom. Anne Thorne Architects Partnership of London designed the nine-home project for the Metropolitan Housing Trust. The exteriors feature a palette of natural materials, with variations between houses. The project includes a common playground.

The two- and three-story houses meet the BREEAM Ecohomes "Excellent" standard. They were constructed of FSC-certified prefabricated timber cassettes. Recycled newspaper provides a high level of insulation. The walls consist of breathable sheathing board, either rendered or clad with English chestnut slats on the exterior. The facades include boxes for bats and birds.

Other sustainable features include a green roof and rainwater collection system, low-flow plumbing fixtures, solar hot-water panels, passive-stack ventilation of kitchens and bathrooms, and permeable paving.

Penderyn · 2008.0722
The new visitor center is complete at Penderyn Distillery in Penderyn, Wales, United Kingdom. David Archer Architects of London transformed one of the distillery's existing buildings for the center, located on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park.

The building was clad in black-stained, waney-edged sawn oak panels. A seam of gold marks the entrance, a motif borrowed from the whisky bottle label and replicated in brass and slate.

Visitors enter into a light, double-height white entrance lobby and move through to the tasting room, lined in sawn timber with a hand-painted finish. Stacked barrels served as dividers. The tasting bar is made of black slate with brass inlay. The center offers views and aromas of the still, bottling area, and cooperage store.

Victoria · 2008.0722
Dockside Green Residential Phase I in Victoria, Canada, has been certified LEED Platinum, with 63 points, the highest number of LEED points for any project to date. Busby Perkins + Will, the Vancouver, Canada, office of Perkins + Will, designed Phase I and was also responsible for the design of the master plan for the entire 15-acre (six-hectare) mixed-use Dockside Green project, developed by Vancity and Windmill West.

Phase I, called "Synergy," includes four detached buildings constructed over a common underground parking structure: a two-story townhouse, a four-story residential building, and six-story and nine-story residential buildings with minor commercial units on the ground floors.

The Dockside Green development is employing an integrated energy system, including a biomass gasification plant that converts locally sourced wood waste. Other sustainable features include an onsite wastewater treatment system; rooftop gardens; a car co-op with Smart Car; Energy Star appliances, heat-recovery ventilation units, low-e double-glazed windows; and exterior blinds on the west and south faces of each building.

When complete, Dockside Green will house approximately 2,500 residents, and will also include live/work, hotel, retail, office, and light industrial spaces, as well as public amenities. Each of the development's 26 buildings is designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification. Phase II is currently under construction and expected to be complete in early 2009.

The previous highest-ranked LEED Platinum-certified project was the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center in Baraboo, Wisconsin, with 61 points.

Glacier · 2008.0721
Construction of the Method Cabin was recently completed in Glacier, Washington. Architecture firm Balance Associates of Seattle designed the prefabricated house, which was manufactured by Method Homes of Seattle and constructed in three months. Sustainable design features include locally grown and produced building materials, such as FSC-certified Douglas fir framing material, reclaimed fir trim and cedar siding, resource-efficient lighting and plumbing fixtures, hydronic radiant heating, whole-house ventilation systems, solar options, and enhanced insulation applications.

Raleigh · 2008.0717
The City of Raleigh, North Carolina, has broken ground for the Walnut Creek Urban Wetland Educational Park, located in central Wake County. The project will transform 49 acres (20 hectares) of polluted wetlands. Phase one includes a 7,000-square-foot (650-square-meter) environmental education center designed by Frank Harmon, FAIA, of Raleigh firm Frank Harmon Architect PA, with landscape architect Robin C. Moore and education specialist Nilda Cosco of The Natural Learning Initiative.

The construction will be all-wood, including some recycled materials, with extensive windows to provide views and facilitate natural ventilation and daylighting. All circulation will take place on the exterior of the building across large projecting porches. The center will house a bookshop, conference room, kitchen, classrooms, laboratory, and small library.

The project will incorporate several sustainable features. To minimize its footprint, the structure will be raised six feet (1.8 meters) above the wetlands flood plain. A metal roof with deep overhangs will reduce summer solar gain. A geothermal system will provide heating and cooling, and photovoltaic panels will generate much of the center's electricity. Rainwater runoff from the angled roof will be collected in cisterns and reused. Stormwater runoff will be filtered before being returned to Walnut Creek.

Manistee · 2008.0715
The Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, Michigan, has officially reopened after significant exterior and interior renovation and expansion. Memphis, Tennessee-based Hnedak Bobo Group, Inc. served as the architect for the resort, owned by the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. Austin, Texas-based TBG provided site planning and landscape architectural services.

A stone-and-water theme connects renovated interior and exterior spaces. The lobby and central gathering space resembles a turtle, a sacred animal for the Ottawa. The project included construction of a new 1,675-seat, 14,000-square-foot (1,300-square-foot) event center, with a curved water wall to help manage noise from the venue.

Alpena, Michigan-based DeVere Construction Company, Inc. served as the general contractor.

Castleford · 2008.0714
Castleford Bridge (pictured above) has opened in Castleford, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. McDowell + Benedetti of London designed the £4.8 million footbridge across the River Aire. The 130-meter- (427-foot-) long S-shaped bridge curves in response to the site context of the nearby mill, weir, and old wrecked barge. The structure rises through the deck to create four 20-meter- (66-foot-) long curving benches.

Materials include untreated cumaru timber for the bridge decking and handrail, and stainless steel for the balustrades, tension cables, and bench panels. The durable cumaru timber boards have been sourced from sustainable forests in Brazil; the bridge is fully certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The boards run longitudinally along the bridge, fitted together by a unique, custom-made concealed clamped-fixing system. Lighting is embedded under the handrails.

The three white bridge supports minimize visual impact and disruption of river flow. Twinned double steel columns branch off foundation caps in a V formation, spreading the load at bridge level. The base of these columns is permanently below water to maintain a more delicate appearance. Stainless steel fins cantilever off the main spanning beams, between which bearers for the timber decking are fixed.

The project team also included Alan Baxter & Associates, structural engineering; Arup, civil and hydrological engineering; and Costain, design-build contractor.

Pomona · 2008.0714
Construction is underway on a new campus center at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey in Pomona, New Jersey. The project architect is Princeton, New Jersey-based KSS Architects LLP, and the associate architect is VMDO Architects of Charlottesville, Virginia.

Outstretched trusses topping structural columns inside and outside the building will evoke tree boughs in the surrounding Pine Barrens. Sited at the head of a future campus green, the campus center will include a cafe, large event venue, meeting rooms, a bookstore, lounge spaces, and offices.

The goal for the 153,000-square-foot building is LEED Gold certification. A digital building management system will monitor and control use of alternative energy sources to provide energy-efficient heating, ventilation, and lighting. Rooftop-collected stormwater will irrigate an onsite rain garden. Large translucent skylights will allow daylight penetration deep inside the building. The center will run on the campus's existing geothermal well field. Completion is scheduled for early 2011.

Arlington · 2008.0627
George B. Hartzog, Jr., former director of the National Park Service, died on June 27, 2008, in Arlington, Virginia, at age 88. During his tenure as director from 1964 to 1972, the Park Service acquired 2.7 million acres (1.1 million hectares) of parkland. Hartzog also contributed significantly to the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, which added about 47 million acres (19 million hectares) of parkland.

"Mr. Hartzog was a prime mover in drafting the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, which significantly broadened the federal government's mission of preserving major historical landmarks," according a July 17 obituary in the New York Times. That legislation established the National Register of Historic Places.

Earlier in his career, as superintendent of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, Missouri, Hartzog successfully pushed forward construction of the 630-foot- (192-meter-) high Gateway Arch, designed by Eero Saarinen, which had been mired in delays.

He also pushed for urban parks and appointed the first African-American, female, and Native American park superintendents.

Hartzog was born in Smoaks, South Carolina, in 1920. Forced to leave college when his father fell ill during the Depression, Hartzog studied law independently and passed the state bar in 1942. His entry into the Park Service came through its legal office.

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