The first phase of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation’s effort to transform Taliesin West into a net-zero energy-use facility has been completed, while construction on energy efficiency improvements continue. A new 250-KW solar photovoltaic power system, donated by Tempe, Ariz.-based First Solar Inc., was commissioned this week on the 75-year-old National Historic Landmark architectural campus. The endeavour, dubbed Energizing Taliesin West, was sparked during an energy audit of the 500-acre property in early 2011 by Phoenix-based consultant Big Green Zero. It found that Taliesin West’s energy bills could be reduced by 51% via relatively inexpensive energy efficiency improvements to lighting,

The Colonel Smith Middle School in southern Arizona intends to preach what it practices. Built on Fort Huachuca, the U.S. Army's leading intelligence-training post about 90 miles southeast of Tucson, the $22-million school will demonstrate sustainability to students and the surrounding community. It will also likely become Arizona's first—and the nation's 12th—net-zero energy use school. Related Links: Arizona's Other Net-Zero Project ENR Southwest Projects Page The Phoenix office of construction manager-at-risk Turner Construction Co. expects to deliver the one-level, 88,700-sq-ft building on schedule by the first week of August. Approximately 375 sixth- to eighth-grade students within the Fort Huachuca Accommodation

Five straight years of revenue declines for the Southwest's top design firms have taken a toll. Design revenue from projects located in Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico for the top 70 survey respondents fell another 19% to $817.7 million in 2011, compared with the previous year. But many firms began laying the groundwork to jump out of the gate once design work picks up—and in some market sectors, it already has. Related Links: ENR Southwest's Top 70 Design Firms Ranking Design Firms Ranked by State & Market Sector The year "2011 was another ... where our revenues were lower than

The City of Mesa and Chicago Cubs this week announced plans to break ground on their new spring training baseball facility on July 11. The stadium will become the western headquarters for the Chicago Cubs. In addition, the City and Cubs are in final stages of an agreement that will make the complex the new home for the Arizona State University baseball program. Image courtesy City of Mesa The new spring training facility for the Chicago Cubs in Mesa, Ariz. will provide space for 15,000 fans. Image courtesy City of Mesa The stadium design features shaded seating. Arizona State University is in

The team behind several successful adaptive reuse projects will partner once again to create a new restaurant in an iconic piece of Phoenix architecture history. Located along North Central Avenue in downtown Phoenix, the former First Federal Savings & Loan Bank, designed by the regional mid-century modernist architect Alfred Newman Beadle, will be converted from offices to dining space by Phoenix-based developer Upward Projects, with the Phoenix office of Shepley Bulfinch as the design firm. The building has remained relatively intact over the years, and the design team plans on keeping it that way. "The bones of the structure are in excellent condition," says Ryan

A major interchange is undergoing a role reversal in Arizona's second-largest metropolitan area. Designed to solve traffic headaches and a dire safety problem, the Interstate-10, Prince to Ruthrauff roads project in Tucson is "flipping" the grade of Prince Road so that it will pass over, instead of under, I-10. Related Links: View a video on the I-10 Prince to Ruthrauff project The revamp is part of a $76.4-million effort to widen I-10 along a two-mile stretch to eight lanes from six. Crews have to contend with six lanes of traffic at all times, a major railroad route and multiple utilities—all

The $210 million, 500-ft-tall SkyVue observation wheel broke ground on the Las Vegas Strip, directly across from Mandalay Bay Resort. On Thursday, March 1, about 130 mixer-trucks delivered and placed 1,300 cu yards of concrete needed for the western hemisphere’s largest observation wheel. Las Vegas-based Nevada Ready Mix Inc. was the supplier. The attraction at 3951 Las Vegas Blvd. S. is being built by developers Howard Bulloch and David Gaffin. Vancouver-based Ledcor is the general contractor, with Norcross Construction, Las Vegas, as owner’s representative. The 18-in-dia tubular steel wheel has 16 spokes that connect to a custom spindle and hub

Phoenix-based contractor Kitchell completed construction of The Sonntag Academic Pavilion at Barrow Neurological Institute. Located at the St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, the facility is part of nearly $150 million worth of work performed by Kitchell at the hospital, including construction of the 438,000 sq-ft Barrow Patient Care Tower, renovation of a children’s rehab unit and modifications to house high-tech medical scanning equipment. Photo by Kevin Korczyk The pavilion is named for neurosurgeon Volker K.H Sonntag, MD, former director of Barrow's neurosurgery program. Designed by Phoenix-based Orcutt I Winslow architects, the 3,000-sq-ft Pavilion—named for a well-known neurosurgeon

Educare Arizona, an early-childhood preschool designed to give a leg up to at-risk children, opened on the campus of the Brunson Lee Elementary School in Phoenix. Photo by Tom Spitz Four buildings cluster around a large central courtyard play environment, serving 191 children from low-income families. Image courtesy Urban Earth Design The project's unique landscaping includes both edible gardens, shade trees, hummingbird and butterfly habitat and children's play fields. Located on 48th and Culver streets, just south of McDowell Road, the $9-million, science-based school serves approximately 191 mostly at-risk infants, toddlers and preschoolers from the low- to moderate-income community served

McCarran International Airport's new $99-million air traffic control is readying for lift-off. Archer Western Contractors, a unit of Chicago-based The Walsh Group, has been constructing the 352-ft-tall structure for the Federal Aviation Administration since June 2011. Image courtesy McCarran Intl. Airport McCarran's new air traffic control tower will be almost twice the height of the existing tower. Designed by WHPacific out of its Albuquerque, N.M. office, the project includes a four-story, 52,800-sq-ft base building for radar approach control, air traffic control training simulators, administrative offices and other navigational equipment. The 22-level concrete tower is topped by a two-level 850-sq-ft cab—or controller work area—with 14-ft-tall angled