Photo by AP Wideworld Collapse Kills 54 in Latvia The city council of Riga, Latvia, has announced the names of the 54 people killed on Nov. 21 by the roof collapse at the Maxima supermarket in the city's Zolitude district. Investigations are focusing on the construction of a garden on the store's 4,000-sq-meter roof, according to the store's locally based main contractor, S.I.A. Re Re.Since opening two years ago, the roof had supported snow loads "substantially" greater than the soil being placed, according to the contractor. The roof was inspected by independent engineers two days before the collapse, the company
Photo by Nelson Barkerman Multi-trade teams work together in the assembly plant for a 32-story modular tower. Related Links: Developer Bruce C. Ratner Digs Into Difficult Deals to Alter the Urban Lanscape Forest City Ratner Skanska USA Building Modular Construction in Multi-trade Environment Set to Grow, Says FMI Study Things are beginning to stack up nicely at the 100,000-sq-ft assembly plant for the latest far-out adventure of developer Forest City Ratner Cos.—modular high-rise residential construction. On Nov. 1, the first 27 of 930 modules moved off the line for FCRC's 32-story B2 Bklyn tower at the nearby Atlantic Yards development.Last
Related Links: India Prepares for Population Explosion The 147-year-old Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which has built Mumbai's high-end buildings like that of RBI, is now planning to expand its affordable housing arena across India, apart from Kolkata.The firm's real estate company Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate (SPRE) has ventured into its first affordable housing project in Rajarhat, Kolkata, with SP Shukobrishti, and plans to extend this drive to other cities. The firm says that there is a huge market in the affordable segment and are looking at it seriously.Shapoorji entered the affordable housing segment in 2007 to cater to the highly under-serviced
Photo Courtesy of HKS Group Developer is considering trimming height of pivoting doors from 95 to 80 ft. Related Links: Minnesota Vikings Stadium Thanks mostly to a stronger market, bids are coming in over budget for the estimated $975-million Minnesota Vikings football stadium in Minneapolis. Work is scheduled to begin next month and be completed in 2016.The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority—the public developer—says negotiations between subcontractors and construction manager Mortenson Construction are ongoing. The design by HKS Group will not change, but some specifications may be altered, says MSFA.For instance, the height of pivoting doors may go from 95 ft
Related Links: Tensioning Eases Stress on a 13-Story Sustainability Showcase TMG Partners Tipping Mar Plant Construction Co. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Earthquake Protection Systems In a back-to-the-future scenario, the structural engineer for the seismic retrofit of a 1962 steel moment-resisting frame in earthquake-prone San Francisco fashioned the office building's high-tech lateral system after an ancient Japanese pagoda. The building's 14-story pivoting spine—equivalent to a pagoda's wooden "shinbashira"—turned into a $4-million-plus silver lining to a recession-related hiatus for the $110-million gut renovation and expansion of 680 Folsom Street.Instead of a tree trunk pivoting in a well in the ground, the ultra-modern
Rendering Courtesy of SOM Plan for brownfield site along Lake Michigan calls for 700 buildings. Related Links: Chicago Lakeside Development Argonne National Laboratory Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Computer scientists are teaming up with planners, developers and big data tools to inform decisions about megadevelopments. The goal of one fledgling effort is to develop a prototype computational framework that would be instrumental in planning the infrastructure for the future 600-acre Chicago Lakeside Development, a minicity sited on a former U.S. Steel complex on Lake Michigan, 10 miles south of downtown."Planners don't want to rely on intuition or hope. They want to
Rendering Courtesy of Millennium Partners; A Los Angeles group is trying to stop a city-approved $650-million high-rise development, claiming the site is dangerously close toor possibly on top ofthe active Hollywood fault. Photo Courtesy of Benchmark Contractors BLVD 6200 is already under construction on or near active splays of the Hollywood fault. Related Links: Millennium Hollywood Official Website Stop the Millennium Hollywood Project Organization Website Los Angeles city planners are so eager to redevelop the iconic Hollywood district that, according to a recent lawsuit, they approved a $650-million development that sits dangerously close to—or possibly on top of—the active Hollywood
Courtesy of Snohetta for the Golden State Warriors Snohetta remains the lead design firm for the San Francisco arena-on-a-pier but Manica Architecture has been added to the team. San Francisco’s Golden State Warriors basketball team is in the final stages of selecting an architect of record for its planned arena-on-a-pier. The team recently brought in Manica Architecture, Kansas City, Mo., to work on the "bones" of the arena and related buildings, says P.J. Johnston, a team spokesman.Architect AECOM completed its first phase of design work in the spring and is still on the project but only as a strategic advisor
Related Links: Showcase Soccer Stadium in Brazilian Capital Goes for Stylish Sustainability 49ers Use 'Integrated Bridging Design-Build' To Speed Stadium Construction Before the new $60-million San Jose Earthquakes Stadium can shake with more than 18,000 soccer fans, the construction team must finish removing all the underground World War II tank parts and factory components that were left behind by the site's previous occupants.Once used to build Bradley infantry vehicles in the 1940s, the land for the new stadium came with no as-built blueprints, says Dave Kaval, president of the San Jose Earthquakes. As a result, crews led by Milpitas, Calif.-based
Rendering Courtesy of Broad Group At 838 meters, Sky City would be the world's tallest building. Photo Copyright tobyphillipsphotography Broad Group Chairman Zhang Yue (right) gave a presentation on Sky City at the 2013 London conference of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Video by Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat Full video of Zhang Yue's presentation to CTBUH's London conference in June 2013. Related Links: CTBUH's Antony Wood's Report on His Visit to Broad Group World's Tallest Building Halted Over Missing Permit (Global Times, 7-26-13) Broad Sustainable Building Website (english version) On July 20, a groundbreaking
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