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.

Phase-three construction of Bahrain’s artificial, 20-sq-kilometer Durrat island will start next year following a recent design contract award to the local office of U.K.-based W.S. Atkins PLC by owner Durrat Khaleej al Bahrain. Work, covering 800,000 sq m, includes 570 homes and associated facilities on the last four of 13 planned islands. The first two phases are in construction following the start of design in 2004. Related Links: ASHRAE Developing Manuals for New 'Green' Standards Brisbane's Unique Long-Span Pedestrian Crossing Opens Jacobs Gets Long-Term Amtrak Infrastructure Improvement Job Corps Reorganizes Mideast Operations AP1000 Reactor Design Issues Concern NRC

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

In the three years leading up to the current recession, gross billings at U.S. architecture firms increased nearly $16 billion from 2005 and totaled $44.3 billion in 2008. That equates to 54% growth over three years with annual growth of about 16%. These findings come from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Business of Architecture: AIA Survey Report on Firm Characteristics, which is conducted every three years to examine issues related to the business practices of AIA member-owned architecture firms. The study also revealed sizeable gains in the number of firms doing green design projects, as well as using Building

A federal report released on Oct. 6 concludes that a Dallas Cowboys football practice facility collapsed last May under wind loads that were significantly less than those required to be resisted under applicable design standards. The report was released for public comment by the U.S. Commerce Dept.’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The Irvine, Texas, facility failed during a severe thunderstorm, injuring 12. Based on national standards for determining loads and for designing structural-steel buildings, NIST found the wind load on the facility’s series of identical, rib-like steel frames, which supported a tensioned fabric covering, were greater than

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

The U.S. General Services Administration on Aug. 14 let its largest stimulus-funded project so far, a $435.4-million design-build contract for the new U.S. Coast Guard headquarters building in Washington, D.C. Clark Construction Group of Bethesda, Md., led the winning team, joined by St. Louis-based HOK, which will provide interior designs, landscape architecture, construction documents and administration. The Washington office of WDG Architecture is architect-of-record. Chicago-based Perkins+Will created preliminary designs and bridging documents for the 1.2 million-sq-ft building, which will aim for a LEED Silver rating. The headquarters, along with a 1,000-car parking garage, will be built on the new 4.5

A 40-second test in Japan on the world’s largest shake table demonstrated for the first time that wood-framed mid-rise buildings can be built to withstand major earthquakes, say researchers. The simulation of a magnitude-7.5 quake on a six-story residential building caps a $1.4-million research project that is elevating performance-based seismic design of wood frames. The work is expected to result in new standards for mid-rise wood buildings, which rarely are allowed in quake zones. Photo: Neeswood and Simpson Strong-Tie World’s largest shake table helped demonstrate the viability of performance-based seismic design for wood frames. During the July 14 test, the

A magnitude-7.5 quake, simulated by a shake table on July 14, proved performance-based seismic design is valid for a six-story, wood-frame residential building on a one-story steel frame. Damage was negligible, say investigators from Colorado State University and Simpson Strong-Tie. Photo: Simpson Strong-Tie Company Inc. Related Links: Jumbo Quake Test Validates Design: Magnitude 7.5 Tembler Jolts Connections

Zaha Hadid Architects, London, has unveiled its plan for a 525,000-sq-meter office and retail development in New Cairo, Egypt, a satellite district east of Cairo. The Stone Towers development will include 18 office buildings containing 28,000 employees and 1,400 luxury apartments within a 45-acre site surrounding sunken gardens. The project owner is the Rooya Group. New Cairo is already home to 350,000 residents and is targeted as a hub for multinationals living in Egypt. New Cairo’s population is projected to reach 2 million by 2020. Photo: Zaha Hadid Architects