Image by Vilius Kukanauskas from Pixabay

Bridging the gap: How early architect involvement can revolutionize a city’s capital improvement plans

Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) typically span three to five years and outline future city projects and their costs. While they set the stage, the design and construction of these projects often extend beyond the CIP window, leading to a disconnect between the initial budget and evolving project scope. This can result in financial shortfalls, forcing cities to cut back on critical project features.

MFPRO+ New Projects

Luxury waterfront tower in Brooklyn features East River and Manhattan skyline views

Leasing recently began for The Dupont, a 41-story luxury rental property along the Brooklyn, N.Y., waterfront. Located within the 22-acre Greenpoint Landing, where it overlooks the newly constructed Newtown Barge Park, the high-rise features East River and Manhattan skyline views along with 20,000 sf of indoor and outdoor communal space.

Resiliency

Climate change degrades buildings slowly but steadily

While natural disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires can destroy buildings in minutes, other factors exacerbated by climate change degrade buildings more slowly but still cause costly damage.

Healthcare Facilities

New surgical tower is largest addition to UNC Health campus in Chapel Hill

Construction on UNC Health’s North Carolina Surgical Hospital, the largest addition to the Chapel Hill campus since it was built in 1952, was recently completed. The seven-story, 375,000-sf structure houses 26 operating rooms, four of which are hybrid size to accommodate additional equipment and technology for newly developed procedures.

Oct 4, 2022

In dire need of affordable housing, Aspen, Colo. will get a development that provides 277 affordable homes

A few miles from downtown Aspen, Colo., a development will provide 277 new affordable homes for an area experiencing a dire affordable housing crisis.

Green | Oct 3, 2022

California regulators move to ban gas heaters for existing buildings

California regulators voted unanimously recently on a series of measures that include a ban on the sale of natural gas-powered heating and hot water systems beginning in 2030.

Oct 3, 2022

The College of the Holy Cross completes a $110 million performing arts center

In Worcester, Mass., a one-hour drive from Boston, the College of the Holy Cross has completed its $110 million Prior Performing Arts Center.

Resiliency | Sep 30, 2022

Designing buildings for wildfire defensibility

Wold Architects and Engineers' Senior Planner Ryan Downs, AIA, talks about how to make structures and communities more fire-resistant.

Sep 30, 2022

Manley Spangler Smith Architects partners with PBK in strategic merger

Manley Spangler Smith Architects (MSSA), a Georgia-based, full-service architectural firm specializing in educational and municipal facilities, announced today a significant development aimed at increasing its capabilities, expertise, and suite of services.

Sep 30, 2022

Lab-grown bricks offer potential low-carbon building material

A team of students at the University of Waterloo in Canada have developed a process to grow bricks using bacteria.

Sep 29, 2022

FitzGerald establishes Denver office

The new location bolsters FitzGerald’s nationwide reach and capitalizes on local expertise and boots-on-the-ground to serve new and existing clients seeking to do business in Denver and the Front Range, as well as the Southwest United States, California, and Texas.

Sep 28, 2022

New digital platform to foster construction supply chains free of forced labor

Design for Freedom by Grace Farms and the U.S. Coalition on Sustainability formed a partnership to advance shared goals regarding sustainable and ethical building material supply chains that are free of forced labor.

Sep 27, 2022

New Buildings Institute released the Existing Building Decarbonization Code

New Buildings Institute (NBI) has released the Existing Building Decarbonization Code.

Sep 23, 2022

High projected demand for new housing prompts debate on best climate-friendly materials

The number of people living in cities could increase to 80% of the total population by 2100. That could require more new construction between now and 2050 than all the construction done since the start of the industrial revolution.