Article toolbar The builders of a super-green expansion and renovation of Clemson University's school of architecture, a project featuring geothermal wells, operable windows and daylighting, are finding that connecting with the environment is easier said than done, especially when Mother Nature intervenes. Photo by Dmitri Jajich for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Unusual Structure The new Rudolph E. Lee Hall building features an open interior, with skylights above each structural column. The building�s structure is supported by slender column �trees� that are 10 3/4 in. in diameter and made of steel plate that is 1 in. thick. At left, the second-floor
Article toolbar The ongoing Southeast retrenchment for architectural and engineering services continued unabated in 2010, as evidenced by a further decline in the collective revenue represented by ENR Southeast's most recent Top Design Firms ranking. This year's ranking includes slightly more than $2.65 billion in collective 2010 revenue from projects located in the four-state region of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, down from last year's total of approximately $2.9 billion. Image courtesy SchenkelShultz Architecture Down On Education? Funding for school projects, such as the $78-million Venice High School in Florida, may prove scarce for 2011. Related Links: Southeast Top Design
Article toolbar Power giant Duke Energy is getting down and dirty as it spends more than $2 billion to upgrade its Cliffside Steam Station, in rural North Carolina, with advanced clean-coal technology. The builders attribute much of the job’s success to date to a collaborative team approach and a strategy that involves site preassembly of powerplant components. Photo Courtesy Duke Energy Investment Charlotte, N.C.-based Duke Energy is investing more than $2 billion in clean-coal technology at its Cliffside Steam Station plant in Cleveland and Rutherford counties in North Carolina. “The fabrication and preassembly performed onsite are a significant element of
Article toolbar The Top Starts ranking of the Southeast’s largest projects under way is a yearly glimpse into the heart of a regional market. From owners and contractors, to sectors and geographic hot spots, Top Starts inevitably showcases the forces and players driving work for the Southeast’s construction and design firms. Image Of The Wolfson Children’s Hospital Courtesy Of Batson-cook Co. Public Sector This Veterans Administration Medical Center project in Orlando, Fla., illustrates the influences of the public sector and health care on this year’s ranking. For a few years now, major private-sector projects have been few and far between
Article toolbar Last year, an estimated 350 people representing specialty contractors flocked to a pre-bid meeting regarding construction of a 145-acre Legoland Florida theme park on the site of the former Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in Winter Haven, 45 miles from Orlando. The development, which will be the world's largest Legoland, is the only theme park under construction in Florida. The gaggle of contractors gathered was a sign of the nearly starved construction economy—tantamount to vultures circling. Rendering courtesy of Legoland Florida TOY TOWN Giant, nonstructural LEGO pieces will adorn both new and renovated buildings at what is planned as
The Southeast’s construction and design industries may have taken a hit during the recent economic downturn, but construction and design excellence is still in abundant supply throughout the region, judging by the winners of Southeast Construction’s “Best Of 2010” competition. In fact, this year’s awards competition received another robust group of entries. More than 180 projects from the states of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas were submitted for consideration and competed within 22 different categories, based on construction type. An independent jury of industry experts reviewed the entries, and met in September to finalize this year’s winners. Eligible projects had
The $855-million North Terminal Phase 1 represents one portion of the $2.95-billion Miami North Terminal Expansion program, created to handle the ever-increasing passenger traffic demands at Miami International Airport. Photo Parsons-Odebrecht Joint Venture Related Links: Best Of 2010 Phase one consisted of 1.3 million sq ft of new construction and 1.1 million sq ft of renovation and involved the opening of 30 gates, more than 115 ticket counters, three Skytrain stations and approximately 5,000 ft of train guideway. Parsons-Odebrecht Joint Venture began the fast-track project in March 2007. About half of the construction took place atop a 50-year-old terminal. Perhaps
The two-story Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics’ new Quality Control Laboratory and Administration Building is located at the company’s newly developed 167-acre campus in Holly Springs, N.C. Photo Courtesy BE&K Building Group Photo Courtesy BE&K Building Group Related Links: Best Of 2010 The building is a part of the nation’s first ever cell culture-derived influenza vaccines manufacturing complex, which will enable domestic production of cell culture-derived influenza vaccines. Production is anticipated to begin in 2012. Influenza cell culture vaccine production increases flexibility and provides for faster start-up of vaccine manufacturing than the traditional egg-based vaccine production. General contractor BE&K Building Group
The new $125-million, multidisciplinary Parker H. Petit Science Center in the heart of downtown Atlanta augments laboratory and classroom space to accommodate an expanding and changing curriculum. It also enhances the east side “science zone” of Georgia State University’s urban campus. Photo Courtesy Mccarthy Building Cos. Photo Courtesy Mccarthy Building Cos. Related Links: Best Of 2010 In addition to basic science teaching and research labs for the College of Arts and Sciences and Health and Human Services, the new science center is home to GSU’s research and education programs in biology, chemistry, nursing, nutrition and physical and respiratory therapies. The
Willson Hospice House, a new $13-million, 34,000-sq-ft facility designed by Perkins+Will, serves terminally ill patients in Albany, Ga., and the 210-acre campus provides an ecological oasis for the local community. Photo Courtesy Perkins + Will Related Links: Best Of 2010 The 15,000-sq-ft administrative component houses 50 home-care staff who travel to patients in the surrounding 11 counties, as well as educational and meeting space for volunteers. The rest of the facility contains three six-bed units and associated support areas for inpatients grouped around a family living/dining room, chapel, music room, playroom for active children, family kitchenette and sunroom. Construction began
RSS