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Chicago Blue Cross Blue Shield to add 24 stories to its headquarters
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois will add 24 floors on the top of its existing 33-story headquarters building in Chicago to accommodate the health insurer's rapid growth. Health Care Service Corp., parent of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois and co-occupant of the building, said recently that the $270 million construction project will begin early next year, upon approval of various permits. The structure was originally designed by Chicago architect James Goettsch to accommodate the 24 additional stories to meet an expected need for more office space. The building’s height will increase from the current 466 feet, to 796 feet.

Boston convention center gets $24 million for design errors
The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority has settled its lawsuit against the project's design and engineering firms for $24 million. The settlement, recently approved by the authority's board of directors, will cover repairs to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center’s roof drainage system, mechanical air-handling units, and roadway expansion joints and drains. Agreeing to the settlement were defendants HNTB Corp., Kansas City, Mo. (ranked 11th among architects in BD+C’s Giants 300); Rafael Viñoly Architects, New York and London; R.G. Vanderweil Engineers, Boston (ranked 11th among engineers in BD+C’s Giants 300); and Shen Milsom & Wilke, New York.

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Hotels muscle into meeting-space market
A new generation of resort hotels is challenging traditional convention halls as venues for conferences and even trade shows. Not long ago, many hotels could barely accommodate a Rotary Club luncheon. Today, giant resorts with 1,500 or more guestrooms and hundreds of thousands of square feet of conference space are no longer a rarity.

2012 London Olympic venue construction lags behind schedule
The construction timetable for several key London Olympic venues has slipped, organizers recently admitted. The changes are shown in a detailed "countdown" that spells out when each of the sites will be designed, built, and tested. The schedules for the aquatics center and velodrome have been moved back two and a half years; the Olympic stadium and media center will be delayed by four months.

Trade organizations create industry transformation study group
The American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), and the Construction Users Roundtable (CURT) recently announced the formation of a new collaborative working group to spearhead design and construction industry transformation issues for the three organizations.

If your power was recently out, blame aging infrastructure
Aging parts of the nation's power system, like creaky cables and transformers, may be to blame for recent heat-related blackouts in California and New York and less severe power outages in cities across the country. Federal officials say more money is needed to upgrade the U.S. power grid as consumer demand continues to increase, and some electric companies are already planning to spend billions on further construction.

New Orleans envisions plaza comparable to Chicago’s Millennium Park
Since opening two years ago, Chicago’s Millennium Park has become an instant landmark. Could the same thing happen in New Orleans? The prospect has captivated a cadre of political and corporate power brokers, who see the Chicago park’s six-year evolution from an unsightly railroad yard to a park of world renown as a model for renewing an area of New Orleans that includes City Hall and the Louisiana Superdome.

Fluor tops firms doing international work
Fluor Corp. did more than $1 billion of international work last year to lead BD+C’s Giants for international design, engineering, and construction. Jacobs Engineering was second with $435.5 million, HOK third at $96.5 million.