The Grand Canal Theatre, designed by Daniel Libeskind, has opened in the Dublin Docklands. Synthesized Image: © Ros Kavanagh Extra Large Image
Dublin · 2010.0318
The Grand Canal Theatre (pictured above) has opened in Dublin, Ireland. Daniel Libeskind and his Zurich office, Architekt Daniel Libeskind AG, designed the building, part of a larger development by Chartered Land. The 2,100-seat venue stands on Grand Canal Square, the new urban piazza at the waterfront of Grand Canal Harbour in the Dublin Docklands.
The theater facade facing the plaza suggests a stage curtain: it consists of two overlapping, folded glazed screens with an entrance in between. The principal materials on the seven-story, 14,000-square-meter (150,000-square-foot) building are stainless steel rain screen cladding panels on a reinforced concrete and steel structure with strips of high-performance glazing. The auditorium includes visual references to the area's shipbuilding past: suspended "sails" conceal the technical gantries and equipment, while the large protruding "rib" volumes on the side walls evoke the timber members of an old boat hull.
Also included in the project are two seven-story office buildings with twin facades, glazed atriums, and landscaped roofs, expected to open in mid-2010 and mid-2011, respectively.
The project team also includes Lafferty Project Management (Dublin), project manager; McCauley Daye O'Connell Architects (Dublin), executive architect of the commercial buildings; Arts Team (part of Renton Howard Wood Levin LLP, London, United Kingom), theater planner and architect; Davis Langdon PKS (Dublin), quantity surveyor; Arup (Dublin), structural, civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering; Arup (Winchester, UK), acoustic and venue consultants; Billings Design Associates (Dublin), facade consultant; Pritchard Themis (London), lighting design; Michael Slattery Associates (Dublin), fire engineering; Bruce Shaw Partnership (Dublin), health and safety; and John Sisk & Son Ltd. (Dublin), general contractor.
Fairfax · 2010.0315
Donald E. Stone, Jr., P.E., has been promoted to CEO of multidisciplinary firm Dewberry, effective April 2, 2010. Stone joined the Fairfax, Virginia-based firm in December 2008 and has been serving as chief operating officer and infrastructure engineering services practice area leader. He is a water/ wastewater engineer with technical expertise in design-build programs and industrial, municipal, and federal projects. Stone has almost 30 years of experience, and previously held several corporate leadership positions at O'Brien & Gere.
Dan M. Pleasant, P.E., president of Dewberry's southeast division, has been chosen as the firm's new COO. He has spent 30 years of his 35-year career with Dewberry. He directs a staff of 175 in five office locations in Virginia and North Carolina, and has managed the acquisition of three companies and the initiation of the firm's new process engineering and technology practice housed in Raleigh.
Kenosha · 2010.0315
Construction has begun on an addition and renovation to the Communication Arts Building at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Designed by the Milwaukee office of HGA Architects and Engineers (Hammel, Green and Abrahamson), the $34 million project consists primarily of four interconnected buildings that will feature exposed concrete, brick, and bronze-tinted windows to complement the existing character of the modern campus.
The project includes renovation of 91,000 square feet (8,500 square meters), plus 72,000 square feet (6,700 square meters) of new construction. The revamped complex will include an acoustically sound 340-seat recital hall, a music library, a 120-seat black-box studio theater in conjunction with the existing main stage, art-instruction studios, two new galleries for professional and student exhibits, an 85-seat lecture hall, classrooms, rehearsal and practice spaces, administrative offices, and other support functions. HGA also is upgrading the building's infrastructure with energy-efficient mechanical, electrical, lighting, and curtain-wall systems.
The HGA project team includes d'Andre Willis, project principal, and David Lang, project designer. Occupancy is slated for the fall 2011 semester.
Arlington · 2010.0315
Lord, Aeck & Sargent has revealed its design for a U.S. Department of Defense Hazardous Material Response Facility on the Pentagon Reservation in Arlington, Virginia. The Atlanta, Georgia-based architecture firm is the architect of record for the project, on a design-build team lead by the Alexandria, Virginia, office of The Christman Company as general contractor.
The two-story facility will house lab, storage, training, and administrative spaces to be shared by members of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency. Sheathed in a ground-face concrete masonry unit, both smooth and corrugated aluminum panels, and a low-E glass curtain wall with an anodized aluminum framing system, the building's exterior design will complement other industrial structures on the Reservation.
A LEED Silver certification is targeted. The building's sustainable features will include recycled-content materials, including a steel frame with 95 percent recycled content; regionally sourced materials; sunshades for control of solar heat gain; a high-efficiency air handling unit with a heat recovery wheel and a building management system; bike racks and showers for bike commuters; and water-conserving plumbing fixtures.
The project team also includes Newcomb & Boyd (Atlanta), mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineer; KSi/ Structural Engineers (Atlanta), structural engineer; and URS Corporation (Atlanta), civil engineer. Construction is scheduled to begin in May 2010 and be completed in summer 2011.
Amman · 2010.0311
In Amman, Jordan, construction continues on the Galleria, a retail-focused mixed-use project. Nadel Architects of Los Angeles, California, designed the $85.8 million (JD 60.8 million) facility, located in the pedestrian-oriented Swefiyah District. The project is about 35 percent complete and slated to open in fall 2011.
The shopping center's perimeter will be defined by geometric blocks, but the interior will center on a curvilinear atrium, crossed by meandering walkways. The ten-story center will house about 560,000 square feet (52,000 square meters) of midlevel retail tenants, 6,000 square feet (56 square meters) of top-floor office tenants, and 430,000 square feet (40,000 square meters) of below-grade parking for 1,200 cars.
Beverly Hills · 2010.0311
Ground has been broken for the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California. Designed by Zoltan Pali, principal of Studio Pali Fekete architects (SPF:a) of Culver City, California, the project will encompass restoration and adaptation of the historic Beverly Hills Post Office, along with the addition of an adjoining contemporary 500-seat theater.
List on the National Register of Historic Places, the 1933 U.S. Post Office was designed in the Italian Renaissance revival style by Ralph C. Flewelling in concert with Allison & Allison Architects. It will be renovated to house a theater school, flexible studio theater, sculpture garden, cafe, gift shop, and administrative offices. The new Goldsmith Theater will be defined by rectilinear volumes clad in weathered copper panels.
Encinitas · 2010.0310
Construction has begun on a new five-level, 864-space parking structure on the campus of Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas in Encinitas, California. Sherman Oaks, California-based International Parking Design (IPD) is the architect of record for the $10.3 million design-build project. The structure will consist of Class II cast-in-place reinforced concrete, and the exterior will feature a combination of concrete and EIFS synthetic stucco.
The San Diego office of McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is building the structure, and Scripps Health is the developer. The team also includes Jessen-Wright, structural engineer; E3 Design Group, electrical engineer; B&P Associates, mechanical engineer; Latitude 33, civil engineer; and M.W. Peltz & Associates, landscape architect. Completion is slated for February 2011. The new parking structure represents the first phase of a $200 million expansion project at the hospital.
Avalon · 2010.0310
Construction has begun on the Avalon Grill in Avalon, California, on Santa Catalina Island. Located in a 1920s structure on the Front Street boardwalk, the restaurant was designed by Backen, Gillam & Kroeger Architects of Sausalito, California. It will feature travertine flooring, exposed high redwood ceiling, recessed lighting, a large horseshoe bar of afromosia wood, and an 80-square-foot (7.4-square-meter) patio. Irvine-based R.D. Olson Construction is building the project. The owner is Santa Catalina Company.
Shanghai · 2010.0309
The Los Angeles, California, office of RTKL, a subsidiary of ARCADIS, has revealed its winning design for the Shanghai Changzheng New Pudong Hospital in Shanghai, China. Construction of the 2,200-bed, 3.9 million-square-foot (360,000-square-meter) facility will cost an estimated ¥2.82 billion (US$413 million).
The academic hospital will include four inpatient towers, a VIP tower, an outpatient center, an emergency center, and an infectious-disease building. In addition to patient-care components, plans also include research and teaching facilities, dormitories for students and staff, an administration building, and a conference and reception facility. RTKL will provide master planning and design services for the project, with Shanghai Municipal Architecture Design Institute as a local partner handling the construction documentation. Constructed is scheduled to begin later in 2010.
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