A Chicago architect is producing a holistic planning approach to reduce carbon emissions in dense urban cores. The fledgling urban replanning effort, which Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture is developing for the 550-building Chicago Loop area, is a process that starts with a survey of existing buildings in a district to assess age, use, condition, energy consumption and more. The survey is a first step toward devising a district-wide approach to sustainable retrofits and appropriate adaptive reuse. The planning framework can be used as a model for retrofits in other cities, urban cores and building campuses, says the architect.
With three projects under construction and three more scheduled to start by the end of the year, officials in Guangzhou, China, are spending nearly $1 billion to prepare the north axis of the city’s center for the 16th Asian Games, which begin on Nov. 12, 2010. Although near-term activity is focused on improving the north axis, which covers 5.9 sq kilometers, the city has even more ambitious long-term plans, valued at $6.5 billion worth of construction, for the adjacent 16.1-sq-kilometer area, called the south axis. Photo: Heller Manus Architects Plans call for a central park crossed by city streets and
The “implosion” of the faulty, 31-story condominium tower and interconnected four-level parking garage on South Padre Island in Texas is not going to be standard by any measure, says the demolition contractor. The razing by explosives is complicated by the failed structural elements—a consequence of differential settlement between the structural concrete tower and the post-tensioned garage; post-tensioned beams; the tower’s robust frame; the high water table; and sand that conducts vibrations to nearby buildings, says J. Mark Loizeaux, president of Controlled Demolition Inc. Slide Show Photo: Controlled Demolition Inc. Developer alleges flawed engineering led to failed columns and beams near
Athird of the engineers surveyed in recent market research on building information modeling say they get a negative return on BIM investments; a fifth say they break even. The perceived return on investment for architects is better, with 19% saying they have a negative ROI and 23% saying they break even. BIM value for owners and contractors is perceived as much greater, at about 70% ROI. + Image Source: McGraw-Hill Construction “Engineers are the most pessimistic about the value of BIM, with 12% saying they see no meaningful value from it,” according to a market report, “The Business Value of
The Portland Cement Association is defending its sample ordinance for high-performance buildings despite strong objections from critics and a call to withdraw the proposal. “PCA will continue to promote our concepts and views, work to educate the general public and encourage the adoption of more stringent building-code requirements by state and local jurisdictions for the good of the people and their communities and the environment,” says Stephen S. Szoke, PCA’s director of codes and standards. The group has “no intention” of withdrawing its recommendation for code changes, says Szoke, the lead author of the controversial document. He says PCA plans
Only the giant cruise ships sidled up against the riverbank offer any hint of what lies below Shanghai’s newest stretch of green along the Huangpu River in the resurgent North Bund district. The Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal Development Co. Ltd. wanted its 30,000-sq-meter passenger terminal, which had its soft opening last year, to disappear below grade, except for an iconic, 4,000-sq-m observatory on stilts that resembles either a bubble, spaceship or a giant bug. The public owner, part of the Shanghai port authority, wanted the world’s first underground cruise terminal to be topped by a park. Slide Show Photo:
After years of controversy and a total redesign, Forest City Ratner Cos., the developer of the Atlantic Yards megadevelopment in Brooklyn, N.Y., says it expects to begin construction of the development's centerpiece, an arena for the NETS basketball team, later this year. Ratner "anticipates" opening the facility, called Barclays Center, for the 2011-12 basketball season. Image courtesy of SHoP Architects and Ellerbe Becket Redesigned basketball arena in Brooklyn. Ratner released renderings Sept. 10 of the redesign by Ellerbe Becket in collaboration with SHoP Architects. The original architect was Frank Gehry. Under the new design, the 675,000-sq-ft arena is clad in
After years of controversy and a total redesign, Forest City Ratner Cos., the developer of the Atlantic Yards megadevelopment in Brooklyn, N.Y., says it expects to begin construction of the development's centerpiece, an arena for the NETS basketball team, later this year. Ratner "anticipates" opening the facility, called Barclays Center, for the 2011-12 basketball season. Photo: SHoP Architects and Ellerbe Becket Redesigned basketball arena in Brooklyn. Ratner released renderings Sept. 10 of the redesign by Ellerbe Becket in collaboration with SHoP Architects. The original architect was Frank Gehry. Under the new design, the 675,000-sq-ft arena is clad in weathered-steel and
Performance-based seismic design is on a roll, thanks to recent, first-of-their-kind shake-table tests that proved the viability of a “rocking” braced frame that moves seismic design beyond life safety toward build-for-repair. The steel frame not only survived shaking that was 1.75 times stronger than the Northridge earthquake, it returned to its original plumb position after shaking, thanks to post-tensioned strands. Damage was limited to a replaceable fuse, as planned. Slide Show Photo: NEESR-SG The system, tested in Japan, allows an owner to go beyond the minimum code requirements and commission a structure engineered to be repaired after a quake. Related
Concern is growing over a recently released “sample” ordinance for high-performance buildings from the Portland Cement Association. “High Performance Building Requirements for Sustainability,” which adds to and amends the International Building Code, was developed outside the standard consensus process and is biased toward concrete, say sources. “Wholesale changes” to scope and requirements of the IBC outside of the established consensus process are not supported by the American Institute of Architects’ policy on the development and promulgation of codes and standards, says the AIA. The majority of IBC modifications in the document have been fully vetted in the national model code