By transforming a 250-hectare blot on London’s landscape into a permanent sports village, after a fortnight for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games, the shapers of the $11.5-billion park hope to leave a green mixed-use development that lives on well into the future. Furthermore, with the 75%-complete project on schedule and very close to its 2007 budget, they are touting the success of a collaborative contractual model that relies heavily on project management and involves sharing risk and reward among the main building team members. “For us, planning the Olympic Park was about legacy first,” says Dan Epstein, who
Photo: Courtesy Of General Secretary For The Olympic Games Related Links: 2012 Games Are Stepping Stones in Grand Scheme MIXED EFFORTS, MIXED RESULTS Lavish spending and intentions of impressing the world drove preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Delays, political indifference, and legal and bureaucratic obstacles plagued construction for the 2004 Athens Games. The 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics marked the first “greening” of the games. Atlanta 1996 was a break-even effort, largely privatized, with only eight new venues. The Los Angeles 1984 project, with only two new, corporate-sponsored venues, was debt-free, unlike the earlier Montreal and Moscow Games.
As the 2012 Olympic Games’ gateway venue, the $405-million Aquatic Centre is the 250-acre park's most flamboyant building, adorned by an aluminum-clad roof with a sweeping profile. But many agree the center will not look its best until workers clip its temporary wings, after the July 27 to Aug. 12 games. During the events, nearly two thirds of the 17,500 Olympic spectators will sit in two temporary wings, rising steeply from either side of the center. The curvaceous building is running 20% over its 2007 budget. Officials at the U.K. Dept. of Culture Media and Sport attribute the rise to
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & Air-Conditioning Engineers Inc., Atlanta, is making available copies of its energy conservation standard in PDF form at www.ashrae.org/standard901-2007-free. The download, which is free until April 2012, is made possible through a funding contract with the U.S. Dept. of Energy. ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2007, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, has become the basis for building codes as well as the standard for building design and construction throughout the U.S. The standard was developed in response to the energy crisis in the 1970s.
Texas developers unveiled an ambitious plan for a $2-billion combined green-technology business park and regional airport project near Austin. Supported by a generous tax rebate scheme, the project is aimed at attracting international anchor tenants and designed to demonstrate the best way to build a commercial development based on green principles. Rendering: Courtesy of Eco-Merge Green Corporate Centers Eco-Merge Green Corporate Centers project already has signed four international tenants, says the developer. Rendering: Courtesy of Eco-Merge Green Corporate Centers Complex covers 1,500 acres east of Austin. Developers of the planned Eco-Merge Green Corporate Centers, a 1,500-plus-acre project about 15 minutes
Foreclosure lawsuits mounting atop the $2-billion Chicago Spire project come at a time when the Windy City’s glut of condominium inventory has forced developers to make other deals. Rendering: Courtesy of Shelbourne Development Chicago Spire’s foreclosure lawsuits heat up as condo market remains frozen. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" In the near term, “I think any high-rise residential developments will be rentals,” says Gail Lissner, vice president of Appraisal Research Counselors, Chicago. A dozen rental high-rises are planned downtown, she says, including a 49-story tower that is being floated by luxury apartment developer AMLI Residential, Chicago. As for condos,
After several years of languishing, the performing-arts center at Ground Zero, part of the master plan for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center, is getting a boost, thanks to an agreement to create a $100-million fund to finance the project. Under the pact announced earlier this month, the center and several other projects would benefit from federal funds designated for Lower Manhattan.
Photo: Courtesy of City of Orlando Fans at Orlando Magic basketball games can have fun playing with their iPhone apps, thanks to state-of-the-art technology in the arena, which opened on Oct. 1. Amway Center is also the first National Basketball Association venue to incorporate all-digital signage. It has more than 1,000 digital television monitors and the tallest high-definition videoboard in an NBA venue. Populous designed the 875,000-sq-ft arena, which was built by Hunt Construction Group under a $380-million contract.
Las Vegas Strip resorts vie to be the hottest place in town, but Vdara, a recently opened hotel, literally can scorch those visiting the pool deck during certain times of the day. The 57-story, 1,495-room hotel is one of six towers at the $8.5-billion, 67-acre CityCenter complex, which opened last December. Photo: Courtesy of Citycenter Land LIC Scorcher Hotel owner says it is trying again to fix the alleged ‘death ray’ problem after a 2008 attempt. On Sept. 16, Vdara condominium owner and personal injury lawyer William G. Pintas complained to local media that the hotel’s south facade concentrated noon
Rhode Island has become the first state to adopt the new International Green Construction Code. The state has identified the IGCC as an “equivalent standard” to meet requirements that all new major facility projects by state agencies be constructed as green buildings. Sponsors of the IGCC standards include the American Institute of Architects, ASTM International, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, the Green Building Council and the Illuminating Engineers Society. The new standards will take effect in Rhode Island this month.
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