BIG’s One High Line finally reaches completion in New York City’s West Chelsea neighborhood

One High Line, a luxury residential project spanning a full city block in New York’s West Chelsea neighborhood, reached completion this summer following years of delays related to investor lawsuits.

Urban Planning

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.

M/E/P Systems

After residential success, DOE will test heat pumps for cold climates in commercial sector

All eight manufacturers in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Residential Cold Climate Heat Pump Challenge completed rigorous product field testing to demonstrate energy efficiency and improved performance in cold weather.

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.

Aug 11, 2010

High-density planning allows abundant open space

Gilroy Unified School District's new Christopher High School in California opened its first phase this fall. The 1,800-student, 231,000-sf facility was designed with a high-density site plan that allows for both on-site sports fields and undeveloped open space. BCA Architects of Fremont, Calif., with Gilbane Building Companies as CM, collaborated with numerous user groups to plan the two-story,...

Aug 11, 2010

University building gets revamped, reused

KSS Architects of Philadelphia is designing the addition and renovation to SUNY Cortland's Studio West, a 43,000-sf metal panel and brick building dating to 1948. The 20,000-sf, two-story addition will become the Professional Studies Building, housing the consolidated departments of Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Studies; Communications Disorders and Sciences; and Kinesiology and Sports Managem...

Aug 11, 2010

Embassy's dual façades add security and beauty

The British government's new 46,285-sf embassy building in Warsaw, Poland's diplomatic quarter houses the ambassador's offices, the consulate, and visa services on three floors. The $20 million Modernist design by London-based Tony Fretton Architects features a double façade—an inner concrete super structure and an outer curtain wall.

Aug 11, 2010

Healthcare construction weathers the recession

Healthcare construction spending grew at a compound rate of more than 10% for seven years through mid-2008, but has stalled since then. The stall, however, still represents better growth than almost any other construction market during the recession, which deepened as a result of the fall 2008 credit freeze.

Aug 11, 2010

High-tech tower targets LEED Platinum

Construction is slated to begin on the new $38 million AI Tech Center in Hartford, Conn., in spring 2010. The Building Team, which includes Suffolk Construction Co., CBT Architects, and Jones Lang LaSalle, planned the high-tech 13-story, 259,000-sf tower to meet LEED Platinum certification. Green features include photovoltaic power, a fuel cell power plant, abundant natural lighting, and a roof...

Aug 11, 2010

Firehouse converted to hip hot property

Sound the alarm! A 9,000-sf former firehouse is being converted into a new multipurpose space for ZUMIX, a nonprofit music and arts organization that's partnering on the project with Landmark Structures of Woburn, Mass., and the East Boston Community Development Corporation. The $2 million renovation of the 1920s structure, known as Engine Company 40 Firehouse, includes a complete gut job to ma...

Aug 11, 2010

Project's mixed materials downplay massing

Philadelphia-based KlingStubbins provided design services for the 120,000-sf Carnegie Center, which is part of the 103-acre mixed-use Carnegie Center West development in West Windsor Township, N.J. The four-story building features horizontal brick bands, ribbons of glass, aluminum accents, and metal end panels and curtain wall at all four corners to break up the building's massing.

Aug 11, 2010

And the world's tallest building is…

At more than 2,600 feet high, the Burj Dubai (right) can still lay claim to the title of world's tallest building—although like all other super-tall buildings, its exact height will have to be recalculated now that the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) announced a change to its height criteria.

Aug 11, 2010

Dave Barista named chief editor of Professional Builder

David Barista has assumed the chief editor position at Professional Builder, a Reed Business Information (RBI) publication, with additional responsibility for Custom Builder, Housing Giants, and HousingZone. Barista joined RBI in 2000, shortly after graduating from Eastern Illinois University, as an editor with Building Design+Construction.

Aug 11, 2010

East meets West in hospital design

The Los Angeles office of HMC Architects and the Chinese firm Shunde Architectural Design Institute won the commission to design the 2.15 million-sf First People's Hospital in the Shunde District of Foshan, China. The team's winning concept organizes a series of buildings around a dynamic, curved spine element to create an interior “eco-atrium” with outdoor green space and healing g...