The Haus für Musik und Musiktheater in Graz, Austria, designed by UNStudio, has been completed. Photo: Christian Richters Extra Large Image

Graz · 2009.0225
The Haus für Musik und Musiktheater (pictured above) in Graz, Austria, has been completed, and is set to open officially on March 1, 2009. Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos of architecture firm UNStudio of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, designed the €19 million building, also known as MUMUTH, for the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz.

The music theater is enveloped by a stainless-steel mesh surrounding steel-and-glass walls. The 6,200-square-meter (67,000-square-foot) structure houses a 450-seat auditorium, as well as classrooms, dressing rooms, workshops, offices, and a recording studio. The building is structured to combine the unit-based volume of the theater's black box with a series of movement-based volumes, namely the foyer and public circulation.

The multipurpose auditorium is adaptable to a great variety of performances. The free-flowing space of the foyer is made possible by a spiral constructive element that connects the entrance to the auditorium and to the music rooms above, thus melding together with a twist the three levels on that side of the building.

Houston · 2009.0223
Brave / Architecture of Houston, Texas, has revealed its design for the Sicardi Gallery in Houston. Argentinian firm principal Fernando Brave envisioned the 5,200-square-foot (480-square-meter) space, located near Renzo Piano's Menil Collection, as a blank canvas for the gallery's exhibitions of modern and contemporary work by Latin American artists.

Three interconnected galleries will be able to function independently or in combination to create multiple space layouts. Primary display and work spaces will be connected for clear circulation, while also offering secondary exterior niche spaces for art display and private reflection. Controlled daylight will enter the building indirectly and light many of the gallery spaces. Material selection is based on a bold but neutral palette. Simple interior finishes include smooth white walls, and concrete and wood floors. The exterior is clad in charcoal-colored zinc and masonry.

LEED Gold certification will be sought. Construction is expected to begin by summer 2009.

West Palm Beach · 2009.0223
Construction has been completed on the regional headquarters of FTI Consulting in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida. Architecture and interior design firm Glidden, Spina & Partners of West Palm Beach designed the project, which comprises approximately 15,000 square feet (1,400 square meter) of office space. Glass walls transmit daylight throughout the office, and allow more employees to share in the panoramic water views.

New York · 2009.0222
George W. Hellmuth, AIA, LEED AP, has joined New York City-based FxFowle Architects as director for the mid-Atlantic region. Hellmuth comes with over 35 years of principal-level experience at Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum (HOK), where he established the firm's Washington, D.C., office and served as senior principal, after stints in marketing and financial management in New York; St. Louis, Missouri; and Saudi Arabia.

Vernon Hills · 2009.0220
Ground has been broken for the new $7 million Aspen Drive Branch of the Cook Memorial Public Library in Vernon Hills, Illinois. Gilfillan Callahan Nelson Architects, based in Rolling Meadows, designed the 20,000-square-foot (1,900-square-meter) library, which will include a computer lab, small group study spaces, public meeting rooms, and a separate space for teens. Construction is expected to be complete by April 2010.

The firm is also designing a 10,000-square-foot (930-square-meter) addition to the Cook Park branch library in Libertyville.

Chicago · 2009.0220
Several new employees have joined the Chicago, Illinois, office of HOK. Luigi Franceschina, LEED AP, is vice president and director of retail design. Three new senior associates include senior project designer Adam Berkelhamer, LEED AP; technical director Fernando Araujo, AIA, CSI, LEED AP; and business manager Kirti Patel.

Franceschina has over a decade of retail and branding experience. Previously, he was senior design manager for Starbucks Coffee Company, and has worked at Gensler in Chicago. Berkelhamer previously worked as a lead architect for Santiago Calatrava LLC in Zurich, Switzerland. His design portfolio includes work on the Chicago Spire residential tower and three high-speed rail stations in Europe.

Araujo has over 18 years of professional experience, and previously worked as a technical leader and senior project manager for OWP/P, Inc. in Chicago. Patel has over 15 years of experience in the AEC fields and previously worked as an accounting systems manager at Teng in Chicago.

Dallas · 2009.0220
Dallas, Texas-based architecture and interior design firm Corgan Associates, Inc has promoted Eric Horstman, AIA, LEED AP, to principal. Horstman has been with the firm for over 18 years, focusing on design and management in the education sector.

College Park · 2009.0219
The design has been revealed for a new dorm on the College Park campus of the University of Maryland. Washington, D.C.-based WDG Architecture is the project architect leading the design team, which also includes Clark Design/ Build, a division of Bethesda, Maryland-based Clark Construction Group, LLC.

The $80 million project comprises the Oakland Hall Dormitory and a satellite central utility facility. The eight-story, 200,000 square-foot (19,000-square-meter) cast-in-place concrete building will provide beds for 650 students. The building is designed to achieve LEED Silver certification.

To blend with surrounding dorms, the building's exterior will feature brick and punched aluminum windows with cast stone accents and prominent vertical window walls. The satellite central utility in the basement will provide chilled water for the dorm and several other existing and planned buildings.

Construction is scheduled to begin in summer 2009, and substantial completion is expected by spring 2011.

New York · 2009.0217
A new phase of renovations recently began at the American Bank Note Company Building, a 1908 landmark in the Bronx, New York City. As part of the building's $25 million redevelopment as The BankNote office and retail complex, the current phase includes building new lobbies, installing a cooling tower, upgrading corridors, building new bathrooms, and modernizing elevators in the Lafayette and Barretto Buildings, as well as renovating the parking lot and adding landscaping and new pedestrian walkways.

The New York City office of architecture firm Beyer Blinder Belle is designing the renovation and restoration to preserve the historic character of the 405,000-square-foot (37,600-square-meter) structure, marked by prominent arched windows, sawtooth skylights, concrete floors, exposed brick walls, and light-flooded interiors. A recently completed phase focused on installing more than 300 new low-e double-hung windows throughout the complex, repointing the facade, and installing a new boiler.

LEED certification will be sought for the project. The current phase is scheduled for completion in 2009. The BankNote is being developed as a joint venture of Taconic Investment Partners, LLC and Denham Wolf Real Estate Services, both of New York City.

Corpus Christi · 2009.0203
The Dallas, Texas, office of Omniplan, an architecture, interiors, and planning firm, has revealed its design for the O'Connor Business Building, a $25 million facility at Texas A&M University's Corpus Christi campus. The 76,000-square-foot (7,100-square-meter) building will include classrooms, computer labs, executive education facilities, business incubators for entrepreneurial companies, and faculty and administrative offices. The design is intended to meet LEED Silver-certification criteria.

The building design includes some acute angles and an almost 180-degree curving facade. These forms are direct responses to site challenges, including some massive underground thermal utility lines on two sides. Since the campus is located on the Gulf coast, the building's materials and structure are designed to be resistant to hurricanes and salty ocean air.

Construction is scheduled to begin in summer 2009, with occupancy expected in fall 2010. Gray "Tuck" Henry, AIA, LEED AP, is Omniplan's project principal, and Mark Dilworth, AIA, LEED AP, is serving as design director.

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