Dubai’s Design District, which has already seen the likes of Zaha Hadid Architects open an office in early November, is about to welcome Foster + Partners and Santiago Calatrava as residents, soon, as well.
These most recent firms will join 30 other architecture practices that are already based in the United Arab Emirates city, according to Dezeen. Not only has Dubai been at the center of the rise of the Middle Eastern architecture market, thus making itself an attractive locale for an office, but also each of these three firms is already hard at work on major Middle Eastern projects.
ZHA unveiled its plans for the Urban Heritage Administration Centre in Saudi Arabia and a hotel in a new city in Qatar. Santiago Calatrava is hard at work on an observation tower in Dubai that is expected to rise higher than the Burj Khalifa. Meanwhile, Foster + Partners is working on a skyscraper for Dubai’s financial district and a creative hub that will be a part of the design district.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Stimulus funding helps get NOAA project off the ground
The award-winning design for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) new Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) replacement laboratory saw its first sign of movement on Sept 15 with a groundbreaking ceremony held in La Jolla, Calif. The $102 million project is funded primarily by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), resulting in a rapidly advanced construction plan for the facility.
| Aug 11, 2010
JanCom Technologies expands headquarters
JanCom Technologies, Inc., an Austin, Texas-based technology, infrastructure, audio-visual, and critical power systems consulting and engineering services firm, continues to grow due to an influx of high-profile international projects. The company recently expanded to a 5,000-square-foot office space at 206 Wild Basin Road. The move represents a 2,000-square-foot increase in space to accommodate the company’s growth.
| Aug 11, 2010
New book on ‘Green Workplace’ by HOK’s Leigh Stringer, a BD+C 40 under 40 winner
The new book The Green Workplace is a comprehensive guide that demonstrates how green businesses can reduce costs, improve recruitment and retention, increase shareholder value, and contribute to a healthier natural environment.
| Aug 11, 2010
LEED 2009 cites FloorScore Certification as indicator of indoor air quality
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has cited FloorScore® certified flooring products as eligible for credits under the new LEED 2009 Version 3 guidelines. Reflecting the inclusion of FloorScore, the new LEED IEQ Credit 4.3 for Low-Emitting Materials has been expanded from “Carpet Systems” to “Flooring Systems” to include hard surface flooring.
| Aug 11, 2010
BIM adoption rate exceeds 80% among nation’s largest AEC firms
The nation’s largest architecture, engineering, and construction companies are on the BIM bandwagon in a big way, according to Building Design+Construction’s premier Top 170 BIM Adopters ranking, published as part of the 2009 Giants 300 survey. Of the 320 AEC firms that participated in Giants survey, 83% report having at least one BIM seat license in house, and nearly a quarter (23%) have 100-plus seats.
| Aug 11, 2010
New air-conditioning design standard allows for increased air speed to cool building interiors
Building occupants, who may soon feel cooler from increased air movement, can thank a committee of building science specialists. The committee in charge of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55 - Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy—after months of study and discussion--has voted recently to allow increased air speed as an option for cooling building interiors. In lay terms, increased air speed is the equivalent of turning up the fan.
| Aug 11, 2010
PCA partners with MIT on concrete research center
MIT today announced the creation of the Concrete Sustainability Hub, a research center established at MIT in collaboration with the Portland Cement Association (PCA) and Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) Research & Education Foundation.
| Aug 11, 2010
Rouss & Robertson Halls
University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce
Charlottesville, Va.
Rouss Hall, a historic 24,000-sf building designed by Stanford White, served as the home of the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce from 1955 to 1975. Thirty years later, the university unveiled plans to have the business school return to the small, outdated 110-year-old facility, but this time with the addition of a 132,000-sf companion building to be named Robertson Hall.
