Image: Courtesy of Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center PCL Construction Services, the pending owner's representative for the $383-million Orlando Performing Arts Center, is reviewing Balfour Beatty's construction management contract and subcontractor bids in an effort to cut costs. The first phase of the venue designed by Barton Myers Associates is estimated at $202 million, or $17 million more than is available. The PCL report is due May 9.
Even without the spire that will make London’s Shard the tallest building in Western Europe, its recently topped-out core, reaching 72 floors above ground, already dominates the city. With the structural steelwork frame ending at level 40, concrete columns and post-tension floors will complete the rest of the 310-meter-tall building’s frame next to the River Thames. Now looming 244 m over the London Bridge railroad hub, the Shard’s stump has become a temporarily unattractive city landmark. But from ground level, the rising curtain wall gives a foretaste of the final building, designed by architect Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Genoa, Italy.
Photo: Courtesy of Lester Ali Earlier this month, tenants began occupying architect Frank Gehry’s first residential supertower, which is New York City’s eighth-tallest high-rise structure and the tallest residential tower in the Western Hemisphere. The 76-story building, with its spectacular folded facade, is the first icon to appear on the lower Manhattan skyline since terrorists destroyed the 110-story towers of the World Trade Center. The $875-million building, although not completed, is on time and on budget, says the owner, Forest City Ratner Cos. The rental building’s signature is the undulating waves of stainless steel that reflect the changing light. The
Astumbling economy has claimed another victim on the Las Vegas Strip. The two-tower, 1,720-room Sahara Hotel & Casino will close on May 16 amid funding woes that have temporarily stalled redevelopment plans. Photo: Courtesy Of Sahara Hotel & Casino Las Vegas hotel was a popular tourist and entertainment spot in the 1950s, but tough economics are forcing its closure. Los Angeles-based owner SBE Entertainment Group will shutter the 59-year-old resort on 17.5 acres because continued operation is “no longer economically viable,” a company statement said. The closure will likely affect the bankrupt 3.9-mile Las Vegas Monorail, which has a passenger
Structural engineers inspecting Christchurch’s six steel structures designed with eccentric bracing to resist seismic loads found that five performed well in the shallow Canterbury earthquake that devastated the city on Feb. 22. But the engineers are curious about why two eccentric-braced bays of a three-story parking garage did not fare well—one fractured and the other deformed. The garage did not collapse, thanks to redundancy in the overall structure. “This is the first time the level of excitation of an earthquake was at least as large as or has exceeded the design basis in an area where steel, eccentrically braced frames
Numerous structures are on course for completion in time for the London 2012 Summer Olympics, including a few that are uniquely shaped. Perhaps the strangest is a steelwork monument that will rise 114.5 meters, serving as an icon for the Olympic Park. Image: Arup The ArcelorMittal Orbit will be ready to greet crowds at London’s 2012 Summer Olympics. Image: Arup Related Links: Olympic Orbit Takes Off The red steelwork being built just outside the main stadium’s entrance, so far around 40 m tall, is the diagrid stem of the fantastic 15,000-tonne sculpture known as the Orbit. The structure is the
The Minneapolis Metrodome, ripped and deflated after blizzard-like conditions in December, will be replaced after engineers questioned the safety of the entire fabric dome. The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which operates the 28-year-old Metrodome, is taking proposals for the job, which will cost an estimated $18.3 million. Offerings are due by Feb. 23, and the work is to be completed by Aug. 1. The dome, a two-layer fabric structure supported by fan-blown air and held in place with steel cables, has been under study since December after snow and ice ripped holes in the fabric and caused it to collapse.
After a lengthy delay in picking a site, plans to build a new $500-million Social Security Administration data center are moving ahead. Federal officials finally selected a site in Urbana, Md., in early February and a request for qualifications for a design-build team for the project is on the street. The 400,000-square-foot project is one of the largest new buildings funded by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The stimulus act provided $400 million to cover the construction cost, plus $100 million to partially fund equipment for the new center. The project was the focus of a Feb. 11
In an attempt to prevent a Las Vegas-style resort/casino from being built near Glendale, Ariz., Gov. Jan Brewer (R) signed a bill into law allowing Glendale to annex the 54-acre site. Casinos can be built only on tribal land, according to the state’s Indian Gaming Compact. However, as the law takes effect in 90 days, the window is open for legal maneuverings by the project’s developer, the Tohono O’odham Nation. Despite a scaled-back design, West Valley Resort still faces opposition. The bill, HB 2534, was pushed through the Republican-controlled Legislature last month but failed to reach a two-thirds majority that
History keeps disproving predictions that the supertall skyscraper, as a developer’s building type, was destroyed when the two 110-story towers of New York City’s World Trade Center went down. Last year alone, 66 towers taller than 200 meters opened their doors, breaking the 2007 record of 48. Of these, eight are taller than 300 m, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, which is the keeper of the tall-building flame. CTBUH predicts 97 more 200-m-plus high-rises will have ribbon-cuttings next year, including more than 20 taller than 300 m, which the group dubs “supertalls.” “Immediately following the
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