The $1.5-billion project earned LEED Gold certification. NGA Campus East is the consolidated eastern headquarters of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a unit of the Dept. of Defense that provides geospatial intelligence, such as satellite imagery, for national security objectives.
The $5.6-million Gunther Volkswagen dealership, near the Mall of Georgia, infuses historic and modern elements in a showroom that celebrates vintage vehicles alongside new product.
Despite the economic downturn, Baker Roofing Co. is reaching new heights, literally and figuratively, as it ventures into new market sectors and broadens its reach in the Southeast. The Raleigh-based company, 96 years in the roofing business, is moving into renewable energy markets. Baker continues to focus on its home Southeast turf, but it is expanding into more cities in the region. The strategies have paid off. Although its profit margins are down, Baker's regional revenue climbed a strong 29% last year, to $117.1 million. The company has also maintained its work force at more than 750 during tough economic
Nightmarish ground conditions and a fast-tracked schedule are not stopping the design-build team for a 1.2-million-sq-ft airplane assembly plant in South Carolina from delivering the building in just 18 months and on budget. There was no time for a learning curve for the 1,037-ft x 616-ft Boeing Co. facility, which encloses the equivalent of 12 football fields, says the team. “Speed was the [project's] overriding theme,” says Kenny Anderson, project executive for BE&K Building Group, Charlotte, N.C. “We signed a contract on Nov. 7, 2009, and within 10 days we were breaking ground.”BE&K joint-ventured with longtime partner Turner Construction Co.,
The Port of Miami is steaming ahead on the Southeast's largest port project—a $1-billion tunnel aimed at enhancing the South Florida transportation hub's efficiency and interstate connectivity in time for an expected surge in oversized cargo traffic coming from an expanded Panama Canal. Inconsistent geological variations—from loose sand to limestone to porous areas in an undefined pattern—make the Port of Miami Tunnel project a “soft-ground” tunnel, creating challenges in design and construction, says the Florida Dept. of Transportation. Related Links: Bouygues of France Starts $1-Billion Miami Port Tunnel “From an engineering aspect, a tunnel [here], because of the geology, is
Article toolbar In Atlanta green building circles these days, Ryan Gravel is a bit of a “rock star,” according to one co-worker at Perkins+Will. But he's not a “starchitect,” whose big reputation comes from signature buildings. Instead, he's an urban designer, and the mastermind behind the multibillion-dollar BeltLine project, the 22-mile collection of light rail, public mixed-use trails and parks that is now progressing in Atlanta. Image Courtesy Of Perkins+Will New HQ Perkins+Will designed its new LEED Platinum-rated Atlanta offices in 2010. The building features a radiant heating and cooling system. Related Links: Southeast Top Design Firms Main Rankings Southeast
Article toolbar The builders of a super-green expansion and renovation of Clemson University's school of architecture, a project featuring geothermal wells, operable windows and daylighting, are finding that connecting with the environment is easier said than done, especially when Mother Nature intervenes. Photo by Dmitri Jajich for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Unusual Structure The new Rudolph E. Lee Hall building features an open interior, with skylights above each structural column. The building�s structure is supported by slender column �trees� that are 10 3/4 in. in diameter and made of steel plate that is 1 in. thick. At left, the second-floor
Article toolbar The ongoing Southeast retrenchment for architectural and engineering services continued unabated in 2010, as evidenced by a further decline in the collective revenue represented by ENR Southeast's most recent Top Design Firms ranking. This year's ranking includes slightly more than $2.65 billion in collective 2010 revenue from projects located in the four-state region of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, down from last year's total of approximately $2.9 billion. Image courtesy SchenkelShultz Architecture Down On Education? Funding for school projects, such as the $78-million Venice High School in Florida, may prove scarce for 2011. Related Links: Southeast Top Design
Article toolbar Power giant Duke Energy is getting down and dirty as it spends more than $2 billion to upgrade its Cliffside Steam Station, in rural North Carolina, with advanced clean-coal technology. The builders attribute much of the job’s success to date to a collaborative team approach and a strategy that involves site preassembly of powerplant components. Photo Courtesy Duke Energy Investment Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy is investing more than $2 billion in clean-coal technology at its Cliffside Steam Station plant in Cleveland and Rutherford counties in North Carolina. “The fabrication and preassembly performed onsite are a significant element of