Stanford University has broken ground for the Bing Concert Hall, designed by Polshek Partnership Architects. Image: © Polshek Partnership Architects Extra Large Image
Miami · 2010.0518
Matthew Polak, AIA, LEED AP, has been promoted to CEO and president of R.E. Chisholm Architects of Miami, Florida. Polak joined the firm in 1989 as a staff architect, and served most recently as senior vice president of architecture. He has been involved in a wide variety of project types, including aviation, telecommunications, transportation, medical, commercial, historic preservation, land planning, single-family and multifamily residential, and community planning. Outgoing company CEO and president Robert E. Chisholm, FAIA, becomes chairman of the board.
Portland · 2010.0518
The Evans-Harvard High Performance Classroom at the da Vinci Arts Middle School in Portland, Oregon, was recently awarded LEED Platinum certification. The 1,500-square-foot (140-square-meter) classroom features daylighting and passive cooling systems that help it track toward net-zero energy use. It was designed by the Portland office of architecture firm SRG Partnership, and was constructed by Todd Hess Building Company of Portland. Other team members included PBS Environmental, the University of Oregon's Energy Studies in Buildings Laboratory, SOLARC, GreenWorks, KPFF Consulting Engineers, Listen Acoustics, and Green Building Services.
Albuquerque · 2010.0518
The first phase of the Silver Gardens housing development in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has opened. The mixed-income project is targeting LEED Platinum certification through the LEED for Homes Midrise pilot project, and is included in the EPA's Energy Star Multifamily High-Rise pilot program. The architects are Claudio Vigil Architects of Albuquerque, and the Denver, Colorado, office of OZ Architecture.
The $12.5 million, 77,200-square-foot (7,170-square-meter) Phase I comprises 66 units, 85 percent of which are designated for families earning 30 to 60 percent of the area median income. Sited on a reclaimed brownfield, across from the Alvarado Transit Center, Silver Gardens is part of the Alvarado Transportation District Master Plan created by Calthorpe Associates of Berkeley, California, and is also part of Albuquerque's Downtown Revitalization Plan.
The four-story building is U-shaped, enclosing a 15,000-square-foot (1,400-square-meter) courtyard. The roof slopes on each side to collect rainwater, which is directed to a 5,000-gallon (19,000-liter) underground cistern. Other sustainable features include superior insulation, low- or no-VOC finishes, FSC-certified wood framing, recycled and recyclable materials, high-efficiency HVAC systems, operable low-E windows, high-efficiency plumbing fixtures, Energy Star appliances and lighting, and xeriscape landscaping.
The contractor is Gerald Martin. The project is codeveloped by the Supportive Housing Coalition of New Mexico and Romero Rose, LLC, the Albuquerque affiliate of Jonathan Rose Companies. It has achieved Enterprise Green Communities Certification.
Minneapolis · 2010.0517
Construction has begun on Lakewood Garden Mausoleum in the historic Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The design by Joan M. Soranno, FAIA, vice president and design principal at HGA Architects and Engineers (Hammel, Green and Abrahamson), takes cues from the 250-acre (100-hectare) cemetery, which is characterized by open, sweeping lawns.
The two-level, 24,000-square-foot (2,200-square-meter) mausoleum will be built into a hillside. Oriented on a north-south axis, the building will be intimately scaled on the north-facing street facade, its massing and height minimized. The exterior will feature horizontal bands of split-faced gray granite and a curving white, mosaic-tile marble entry. Along the south facade, on the garden level, three cubic crypt pods will be nestled into the slope. Inside, a line of clerestory windows will transmit light from above a central staircase to guide visitors as they descend to the burial rooms, and skylights and windows will introduce daylight and views to the lower level.
The rich palette of materials (granite, marble, wood) and architectural features (mosaics, bronze artwork, stained glass) will relate to other buildings at the cemetery, including a neo-Byzantine 1910 chapel and a contemporary 1967 mausoleum. Part of an existing master plan developed by landscape architects Halvorson Design Partnership in 2003, the new mausoleum and surrounding landscaping are scheduled for completion in September 2011.
Charleston · 2010.0514
LS3P Associates Ltd., an architecture, interior architecture, and strategic visioning firm with offices in South Carolina and North Carolina, has promoted a number of staff members. Laura Miller and Marc Marchant have been named principals, and Dana Reed and Roy Selvidge have been named associate principals. Other employees were named senior associates and associates.
Irvine · 2010.0514
Irvine, California-based architecture and planning firm MVE & Partners has revealed its designs for two housing complexes in California. Both projects will be located near mass transit, and will include commons areas, green spaces, and housing and retail fronts that engage the sidewalk to promote pedestrian activity.
In San Diego, the Westside Apartments at Civita will include 306 residences on 10.6 acres (4.3 hectares). The development by Sudberry Properties, Inc. will be part of a larger master-planned district. Construction is slated to start in late 2010.
The Crescent Village mixed-use project in San Jose will include 1,750 residential units on nearly 40 acres (16 hectares). Developed by The Irvine Company Apartment Communities, it is expected to start construction in 2011.
Neath · 2010.0513
Work has begun on the refurbishment of Gwyn Hall (1887) in Neath, United Kingdom. The community arts center was largely destroyed by a fire in October 2007. London-based Holder Mathias Architects has designed a new center using the shell of the fire-damaged historic building. The £7 million, 2,125-square-meter (22,870-square-foot) project will include a new 400-seat theater, a 140-person studio venue, and a 70-seat cinema.
A major renovation of the heritage-listed hall, originally designed by London architect John Norton, was nearly complete when the fire occurred. The original roof line of the building and its chimneys will be restored. The gutting of the building by the fire enabled the relocation of the auditorium on the ground floor. The second floor will be raised up at the sides to allow the original full-length windows to be enjoyed from within the auditorium.
The new building will incorporate a number of sustainable features. A 20-meter- (66-foot-) long ridge vent and skylights will be introduced on the top floor, facilitating natural ventilation and daylighting. A new cafe and entrance area will be housed in a contemporary, planar-glazed extension at the front of the building, and back-of-house functions will be contained in a simple rear addition.
The client is the Neath Port Talbot Borough Council. The project team includes Morgan Ashurst, main contractor; EC Harris, quantity surveyor and project manager; AKS Ward, structural engineer; Hoare Lea, mechanical and electrical consultant and acoustical engineer; and Carr and Angiers, theater consultant. Completion is scheduled for fall 2011.
El Segundo · 2010.0512
Geologist and environmental engineer Andrew Brack has joined El Segundo, California-based Partner Engineering and Science as a principal. Brack will head the firm's national site mitigation practice. He brings more than 18 years of experience in natural resource management, brownfield redevelopment, soil and groundwater assessment and remediation, and renewable energy development. Brack was previously a vice president with Tetra Tech, where he headed the firm's commercial operations in California.
Stanford · 2010.0511
Stanford University in Stanford, California, has broken ground for the new Bing Concert Hall (rendered above). The $119 million, 112,000-square-foot (10,400-square-meter) facility was designed by Polshek Partnership Architects of New York City, with Yasuhisa Toyota of Tokyo, Japan-based Nagata Acoustics, and
theater planning consultants Fisher Dachs Associates of New York City.
A fez-shaped building form will echo the configuration of the performance space within. The 844-seat hall has been designed for a wide range of music performances, from small chamber ensembles to full-sized orchestras, jazz, multimedia, and world music. It will feature a vineyard-style configuration, with terraced sections wrapping around the stage. Audience members will be facing each other, rather than a proscenium stage, and will be at almost the same level as the performers.
Colonnades, arcades, porches, and trellises will give a contemporary nod to the Spanish and Romanesque styles of the Main Quad, and glass walls will open the view to the surrounding landscape. A glass-enclosed foyer will provide space for lectures, receptions and other programming. The facility also will include a substantial rehearsal studio, recording studio, artists' suites, and a performers' lounge and garden. The Office of Cheryl Barton of San Francisco is the landscape architect.
Slated for completion in summer 2012, the building will be located a short distance from Palm Drive, the main gateway to the campus from Palo Alto, and will be the first new building in a planned arts district.
Gainesville · 2010.0511
The new Biomedical Sciences Building has opened at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Architecture and planning firm Ellenzweig of Cambridge, Massachusetts, designed the $90 million, 160,000-square-foot (15,000-square-meter) facility, with HuntonBrady Architects of Orlando as architect of record. Whiting Turner was the contractor.
The structure is clad in red brick, with extensive use of glass throughout. Daylit spaces include a two-story lobby atrium and terrace; bold colors were used in personnel spaces not exposed to daylight. The entire upper floor is a mechanical penthouse with a sound well designed to mitigate the noise of the large exhaust fans.
LEED Gold certification is expected. The building includes regionally manufactured materials, and is expected to use 50 percent less water than a typical laboratory building. The project involved redeveloping a brownfield site; an industrial loading dock and contaminated soils were removed.
The structure unites two existing buildings: a vivarium and a research laboratory. The facility will house researchers affiliated with the College of Medicine, the College of Public Health and Health Professions, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, as well as the research and administrative operation of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
Albany · 2010.0510
The State University of New York at Albany has revealed the design for its new School of Business building. Planned for the main entry plaza at the university's uptown campus, the $64 million, 96,000-square-foot (8,900-square-meter) building was designed by Perkins + Will.
The new building will preserve the modernist formality of the orthogonal aesthetics on campus — including the Academic Podium by Edward Durell Stone — with a more contemporary interpretation. An atrium and floor-to-floor terracing will facilitate daylighting. Other resource-conserving features are also planned. The university expects to begin site work in summer 2010, and project completion is scheduled for 2013.
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