New high school football stadium touches down at Texas school district
Allen (Texas) Independent School District’s Eagle Stadium debuted to a sold-out crowd last August. The $60 million football stadium was designed by PBK Architects and built by Pogue Construction. Construction began on the 18,000-seat stadium in 2010. It features a 38-foot-wide high-definition video screen and a 75-foot Daktronics scoreboard. The field is surfaced in NaturalGrass Matrix turf. The facility also includes an 11,256-sf weight room and an indoor golf practice area.
[pagebreak]
Botanical gardens visitors center achieves net-zero energy status
The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens Bosarge Family Education Center in Boothbay, Maine, has become the first nonresidential development in Maine to achieve net-zero energy status. After a year of operation, the LEED Platinum, 8,000-sf visitors’ center, designed by Maclay Architects and Scott Simons Architects, produces almost 30% more energy than it uses. The excess energy is used to supplement other power needs throughout the botanical gardens. Also on the Building Team: Fore Solutions (green building consultants), Allied Engineering (mechanical/electrical), H.P. Cummings (construction manager), Bensonwood (building shell construction), and Becker Structural Engineers.
[pagebreak]
Child care center rebuilds after Hurricane Katrina damage
Children’s Place Developmental Preschool and Child Care in the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The ground-up reconstruction of the school started in 2011 and was completed last August. AGL Architecture & Interior Design conceived the 3,500-sf space, built on a $500,000 budget, as a playhouse-like setting. The preschool’s geometrically shaped windows were placed at a child’s height to give the children a view to the outside. Construction South was the general contractor. Raymond Canzoneri & Associates was MEP engineer.
[pagebreak]
Century-old university building earns gold by going green
A renovated visitors’ center and administrative building on the campus of Loyola University in New Orleans has earned LEED Gold certification. Designed by Mathes Brierre Architects, the upgrade includes green features that have provided the 101-year-old Thomas Hall with a 30% savings in energy and an overall cost savings of 27% since the renovation. Twenty percent of materials within the building contain recycled content. Use of native plants and high-efficiency plumbing fixtures led to a 47% reduction in water use. Landis Construction Co. served as general contractor.
[pagebreak]
Residential development provides support, privacy for tenants
Narford Road, a 62-unit housing development in the Hackney borough of London, is a new project from Fraser Brown MacKenna Architects. The development, located on a former industrial site, includes Salvesen House, an 18-bedroom care and support facility for residents with mild learning disabilities. Timber screens and high-level windows maintain a level of privacy, and, aside from ground-floor vehicle access to the wheelchair-accessible units, the site is entirely car-free. The Building Team also included BPP Construction Consultants, Mullaley and Company Ltd. (contractor), and MESH Landscape Architects. The owner is One Housing Group.
[pagebreak]
Medical center to offer scenic views to enhance treatment options
Gilbane Building Co. recently completed construction on the 366,000-sf LEED-certified Einstein Medical Center Montgomery in East Norriton, Pa. The 146-bed facility, designed by Perkins+Will, provides cardiovascular, orthopedic, women’s health, critical care, and outpatient medical services. An entire floor is dedicated to mother and infant services. A five-story atrium adds natural daylight to the space and provides views to the neighboring Norristown Farm Park. Hammes Company served as engineer. +
Related Stories
| Jan 4, 2012
January 2012: New Projects Portfolio
Houston apartment complex receives $10 million renovation; Children’s hospitalemploys handicap-accessible design; Casino expansionincludes hotel and fine-dining restaurant in Tucson; Manhattan conventembodies religious and environmental doctrines; Environmental sciences magnet schoolreceives platinum-worthy renovations; Austin mixed-use developmentgains inspiration from surrounding landscape
| Dec 9, 2011
December 2011: New Projects Portfolio
Senior living tower in Milwaukee combines lakefront luxury, urban flare; Okanagan College hosts largest PV array in western Canada; West Chelsea art gallery exposes the old to create the new; Green-minded restaurant opens in Chicago’s Wicker Park; Market center adds convenience to Chicago’s Lakeshore East; Regional library in Vancouver moves to center of city life; Academic center in Oregon unites academia with campus services; University of North Texas scores nation’s first LEED Platinum for a stadium; University of Idaho athletic center receives life-safety upgrades
| Nov 10, 2011
November 2011: New Projects Portfolio
Casino helps revive Florida racetrack; Walter Reed Medical Center LEED Gold; new labor union HQ in Tinley Park, Ill.; Philly’s first LEED Gold office building.
| Oct 11, 2011
October 2011: New Projects Portfolio
National Center for Explosives launches research and learning facility; Marine Corps bachelor housing strives for LEED-NC Gold; Luxury Manhattan hotel a dream getaway for guests; Army’s Fort Belvoir hospital earns LEED Silver; Freestanding replacement hospital opens in NY; Largest secondary school campus constructed in St. Louis
| Sep 12, 2011
September 2011: New Projects Portfolio
Mixed-use development helps revitalize failing Grand Rapids business district; Arts education enhanced by renovations to historic North Carolina school; Martha’s Vineyard Hospital earns first LEED Gold hospital in the Bay State; Texas-based church heeds growth with sanctuary expansions; Reuse bolsters office complex renovations in New York; Updated federal office building in Pittsburgh saves 28% on energy; Suburban office building to receive AIA New Jersey Honor Award; Smilow Cancer Hospital receives Green Building Award; Coral reef research center eagerly anticipated at Florida university; Virtua Health opens its newest hospital in southern New Jersey
| Aug 17, 2011
August 2011: New Projects Portfolio
Milwaukee-based health center; treehouse resort in Oregon; Chicago's newest data center; cutting-edge research facility at Virginia Tech; Maine call center.
| Jul 22, 2011
July 2011: New Projects Portfolio
Justice center in San Leandro earns LEED Gold; CHPS-certified elementary in Panorama City, Calif., school makes the most of small spaces; IKEA plugs Colorado city into solar energy; Innovative classrooms help California high school save energy; Dinosaur exhibit ready to open in Los Angeles; Yankee-style batting range marries history with innovation; Old seaplane hangar in Seattle now functions as an athletic club
| Jul 5, 2011
June 2011: New Projects Portfolio
Outdated Phoenix mini-mall renovated, reopened as an upscale bistro; Massachusetts office complex uses BIM, earns LEED Gold; Ontario town hall marries tradition with modernity; Lighting design illuminates educators’ HQ; World’s highest hotel opens as the Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong; Minneapolis public works facility earns LEED Platinum; Fire-ravaged Florida church rises from the ashes in just one year
| May 18, 2011
May 2011: New Projects Portfolio
Raphael Viñoly’s serpentine-shaped building in San Francisco; Winchester gun factory now PepsiCo lab; Bronx railyard becomes shared education campus.
| Apr 13, 2011
April 2011: New Projects Portfolio
Red Bull Canada’s ultra-mod HQ; country’s first freestanding LEED parking garage; NYC’s expanded Museum of the Moving Image; and a LEED Platinum park pavilion in southern Illinois.