Fort Lauderdale performing arts center to experience upgrade and expansion
A joint venture between Stiles and Miller Construction Co. is renovating and expanding the 20-year-old Broward Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The 18-month upgrade is phased and planned to keep the center’s schedule of performances running smoothly while new amenities, a two-story waterfront pavilion, and terraced dining areas are added. A three-story arts education wing that will face Avenue of the Arts is also in the works. Wilson Butler Architects designed the project, with Jacobs Engineering Group as project manager.
[pagebreak]
New office building in Virginia to house behavioral health services
The Fairfax County (Va.) Board of Supervisors has awarded Manhattan Construction Co. the contract to build a new five-story, 200,000-sf office building and 230,000-sf parking garage. Scheduled for completion in 2014, the $48.5 million project, managed by the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services and designed by Alexandria-based Noritake Associates, will house behavioral healthcare services of the Fairfax–Falls Church Community Services Board. It will seek LEED Silver certification. The exterior will feature precast concrete, metal panels, punched and ribbon windows, and glazed curtain walls. The lighting control system in the garage is being designed to provide a 65% reduction in energy costs.
[pagebreak]
University of Pittsburgh planning biomed research center in Italy
The Ri.MED Biomedical Research and Biotechnology Center in Palermo, Sicily, is a 334,000-sf research facility for global biomedical research and development, planned by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The $269 million (210 million euros) center will focus on translational science, which aims to accelerate the development of practical solutions to medical challenges. It will employ more than 600 staff when fully operational (it is slated to open in 2016). Future phases call for a new hospital and medical school. The joint venture design team: lead architect HOK, engineering consultant Buro Happold (London and Milan), designer Progetto CMR (Milan), and engineers De Cola Associati (Palermo) and Eupro (Ragusa, Italy).
[pagebreak]
International magnet school under way in Connecticut
A new International Magnet School in South Windsor, Conn., will serve more than 400 students from grades pre-K through 5. It is scheduled to open January 2014. The project was designed by the Stamford, Conn., office of Perkins Eastman and managed by the construction division of the Capitol Region Education Council, which will also manage and operate the school upon completion. The three-story, 60,000-sf school centers on a two-story library/media center, with other more intimate areas placed around the building for collaborative learning and instruction outside the classroom. The site’s natural landscape will be used to create nature trails, playscapes, and playgrounds.
[pagebreak]
Massachusetts office building to seek LEED Silver designation
Margulies Perruzzi Architects is designing a new 160,000-sf, Class A office building in Norwood, Mass., that will seek LEED Silver certification. The building, scheduled for completion in spring 2013, will provide new office space for mutual insurance company FM Global, as well as facilities for a medical office tenant. Located on Route 1, the building will be part of an FM Global campus, allowing employees direct access to training facilities and other amenities in nearby existing company buildings. The four-story building has three primary entryways, including a covered drop-off area for patients, as well as a cafeteria and fitness center. Columbia Construction is serving as construction manager, and Hobbs Brook Management is the project’s developer and owner.
[pagebreak]
New apartments will house University of Georgia students
The Flats at Carrs Hill is a $13 million, 225,000-sf student housing facility at the University of Georgia in Athens that is slated to open in June. The 316-bed project is located at 592 Oconee Street and includes four stories of apartments atop two stories of structured parking. The Building Team consists of Gary B. Coursey & Associates-Architects (designer), Atlanta; Roger B. Kennedy (construction manager), Orlando, Fla.; and Vestcor (developer), Jacksonville, Fla.
[pagebreak]
Science and Engineering Quad at Stanford in final stages
The fourth and final building of a 595,000-sf teaching and research complex known as the Science and Engineering Quad is in construction at Stanford University. The Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering Building is slated to open in early 2014. It is part of a master plan devised and collaborated on by Stanford University and Boora Architects since 2004. This fourth building will connect with two other facilities of the SEQ, and includes features such as solar panels, ventilation louvers, and energy-saving display panels, in an effort to integrate sustainable techniques as learning tools. The Building Team also includes Whiting-Turner (contractor), Rutherford & Chekene (structural), Gayner Engineers (mechanical), BKF Engineers (civil), and CAS Architects (lab planner).
[pagebreak]
Mixed-use retail center offers model for urban development in Mexico City
The nine-story Gran Patio Santa Fe is Mexico City’s first high-rise building to blend retail, lifestyle, and commercial office space. Located on a 9.8-acre site in the city’s financial and education district, the 2.1 million-sf project includes a movie theater, casino, and rooftop park, as well as shopping, dining, and other entertainment venues. The building will also feature four stories of office rental space and a 3,000-space underground parking garage. The Gran Patio Santa Fe was designed by Stantec’s ViBE (Visioning, Brands, and Experiences) group, in association with Taller Unico de Arquitectos. The owners are Mexico Retail Properties and Icon Group of Mexico City. +
Related Stories
Cultural Facilities | Feb 25, 2015
Edmonton considering 'freezeway' to embrace winter
If the new Edmonton Freezeway is constructed, residents will have an 11-km course that winds through the city and allows them to skate to work, school, and other city activities.
Mixed-Use | Feb 11, 2015
Developer plans to turn Eero Saarinen's Bell Labs HQ into New Urbanist town center
Designed by Eero Saarinen in the late 1950s, the two-million-sf, steel-and-glass building was one of the best-funded and successful corporate research laboratories in the world.
| Oct 28, 2014
Miami accepts more modest plan to renovate its convention center
The city of Miami has awarded an $11 million contract for its on-again, off-again convention center renovation to Denver-based Fentress Architects, which will serve as the design criteria professional on this project.
| Aug 14, 2014
Museum of Mayan Culture draws inspiration from temple design [slideshow]
The Museo Maya de América in Guatemala City will be the world’s largest museum of Mayan history and culture, at 60,000 sf.
| Aug 4, 2014
Facebook’s prefab data center concept aims to slash construction time in half
Less than a year after opening its ultra-green, hydropowered data center facility in Luleå, Sweden, Facebook is back at it in Mother Svea with yet another novel approach to data center design.
| Mar 25, 2014
Sydney breaks ground on its version of the High Line elevated park [slideshow]
The 500-meter-long park will feature bike paths, study pods, and outdoor workspaces.
| Jan 30, 2014
See how architects at NBBJ are using computational design to calculate the best views on projects [video]
In an ideal world, every office employee would have a beautiful view from his or her desk. While no one can make that happen in real life, computational design can help architects maximize views from every angle.
| Jan 29, 2014
Notre Dame to expand football stadium in largest project in school history
The $400 million Campus Crossroads Project will add more than 750,000 sf of academic, student life, and athletic space in three new buildings attached to the school's iconic football stadium.
| Jan 28, 2014
2014 predictions for skyscraper construction: More twisting towers, mega-tall projects, and 'superslim' designs
Experts from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat release their 2014 construction forecast for the worldwide high-rise industry.
| Apr 19, 2013
7 hip high-rise developments on the drawing board
Adrian Smith and Gordon Gill's whimsical Dancing Dragons tower in Seoul is among the compelling high-rise projects in the works across the globe.
