Casestudies

Soaring to a height of 1,776 feet (540-meter), the 2.6-million-square-foot (242,
Soaring to a height of 1,776 feet (540-meter), the 2.6-million-sf (242,000-square-meter) building soon to become the new One World Trade Center in the lower Manhattan district of New York City is a marvel of design and...
Sarnafil membrane now protects St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, Cal
As any doctor knows, a band-aid sometimes just isn’t enough, and that was the case with the roof on the St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, Calif. After extensive repairs to a leaking roof assembly, it was...
The design for Red Hawk Elementary School stems from the desire to create a vibr
A 71,000-sf elementary school was recently constructed in Erie, Colo.; Red Hawk Elementary was developed as an addition to the St. Vrain Valley School District. According to Ken Field, principal architect at RB+B Architects...
OPN Architects knew using copper as a building material for the Moline Public Li
As OPN Architects, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, set out to design a new library for the residents of Moline, Ill., they acknowledged the library as an institution has evolved from a traditional space reserved for individual reading...
Strongwell’s products were used by Plas-Tech Ltd., a Hawaiian fabricator, for an
Strongwell’s products were used by Plas-Tech Ltd., a Honolulu, Hawaii fabricator, for an architectural trellis overlooking Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii. The trellis sits on top of the Waikiki Shopping Plaza located at the...
The University of Michigan Law School, founded in 1859, is an institution rich in tradition and history. When the University embarked on its first major addition since the opening of Hutchins Hall in 1933, preserving the...
It’s a Chicago landmark. Officially measuring 1389 ft (423 m) with 98 floors, it’s the second-tallest building in the U.S., and the 11th-tallest building in the world*. The Trump International Hotel and Tower is a marvel of...
Tyler Junior College wanted a roofing system that wouldn’t need any attention fo
The official colors of Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas, might be black and athletic gold, but when it comes to campus building roofs, the school prefers to see “white and green.” White, for the color of the Sika...
The Royal Floridian is a seven story vacation resort that is a major economic driver in the small coastal town of Ormond Beach, Fla. Originally built in 1973, the building had received several alterations over the years but...
As Northeast headquarters for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Frederick C. Murphy Federal Center in Waltham, Mass., houses irreplaceable federal documents, including Revolutionary War military...
         
 
The colorful ribboned flooring at Toronto’s Corus Quay mimics the iconic corkscr
The colorful ribboned flooring at Toronto’s Corus Quay mimics the iconic corkscr
Discussions of commercial flooring tend to focus on the floor covering or finish material. This is hardly surprising, since the covering is the part of the floor that stakeholders see, interact with, and care about most. The...
The use of light load-bearing glass to create transparent stairs, floors, and ot
The use of light load-bearing glass to create transparent stairs, floors, and ot
Glass has taken on new life in recent building years. Long valued for its transparency and lightness, glass is now also being considered for its structural and protective capabilities. Beyond the technique known as...
Building owners must plan ahead for roof replacement to avoid emergency leak rem
Building owners must plan ahead for roof replacement to avoid emergency leak rem
No building owner wants to be caught unprepared by catastrophic roof failure. Emergency roof replacements tend to be more expensive than planned ones, and damage to interiors may mean unrecovered costs and detrimental...
AIA: New Developments in Concrete Construction
AIA: New Developments in Concrete Construction
Concrete has long been a reliable building material for commercial and institutional projects. Yet recent trends, including the growth in hospitality and urban rental project starts, as well as mixed-use towers and transit-...
AIA Rainscreens BD+C DEcember 2011
AIA Rainscreens BD+C DEcember 2011
Until recently, it has been lighting, mechanical, and control system upgrades which have received the most attention in the green building movement. At long last, the industry is now recognizing building enclosures as a long...
Brick and stone masonry have served as reliable and valuable elements of commercial building projects for centuries, gracing urban and rural landscapes since time immemorial. Building Teams have trusted clay brick to bring...
Making the Most of the Reconstruction Boom Reconstruction in its many forms—tenant improvements, retail fitouts, adaptive reuse, historic preservation, gut rehab, and so on—is keeping many design and construction firms...
The topic of water shortages is nothing new, as cities around the globe struggle with drought, water quality, supply constraints, and failing infrastructures. However, the idea of new plumbing codes and design standards...
Guard booths, stations and shelters are defense strategy linchpins, becoming increasingly integral to perimeter defense planning. Before evaluating the efficacy of different guard booth configurations, and before selecting a...
From the company that brought you Construction Computing Magazine’s 2011 BIM Product of the Year ArchiCAD 15, the “Get There Faster with ArchiCAD” whitepaper examines five critical areas to explore before making your final...
Download Complete White Paper Download Introduction Download Chapters 1-4Defining Net-Zero Energy Buildings
Our seventh White Paper on Green Buildings focuses on the role of water in sustainable design and construction. The editors conclude with a set of 21 detailed recommendations for the consideration of the Building Teams, home...