The Whitney Hotel in Boston’s Beacon Hill
The Whitney Hotel is a new, 65-room boutique hotel in Boston’s Beacon Hill. Named after prominent industrialist and former owner Henry Melville Whitney, the project comprises the historic John Jeffries House, originally constructed in 1908 as nurses’ housing for Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. The building was reconfigured, renovated, and expanded with a four-story addition on an adjacent parking lot that includes an additional 21 hotel rooms, the main entrance, and lobby. It also houses Peregrine, a Mediterranean restaurant/bar by an award-winning owner duo.
PSU’S Karl Miller Center in Portland, Oregon
The Karl Miller Center, the LEED Platinum new home of the School of Business at Portland State University (PSU), establishes a powerful identity for this business program, reflecting its aspirations and international prominence in sustainability while providing students, faculty, and the community with a much-needed place to hang out, study, and collaborate.
California middle school showcases indoor/outdoor learning spaces with EXTECH’s skylight system
The Spring Hill School’s new campus in southern Sonoma County, Petaluma, California welcomed its first middle school class for the 2019-20 academic year. EXTECH/Exterior Technologies, Inc.’s skylight systems expand the school’s learning spaces beyond the building’s walls, making the most of the fresh air and sunshine. Designed by DMARC Studio and constructed by Advanced Building Solutions, the new middle school showcases a contemporary exterior and a flexible interior with capacity for up to 120 students.
State Theatre in Austin, Texas
State Theatre is a renovation project currently in progress that was designed by the Austin/San Antonio-based firm Clayton Korte. Built on Congress Avenue next to the Paramount, Austin’s original performing arts venue, State Theatre opened as a movie palace in 1935. Today, the theatre produces a range of drama, comedy, music, dance, and spoken-word events. The development of a hotel project next door prompted a renovation to reposition the theatre as an incubator for future Paramount performers and an entry point for new audiences with Austin Theatre Alliance.
Edmonton’s new Stanley A. Milner Library elevates a community focal point
The Edmonton Public Library (EPL) celebrated the grand opening of its renewed Stanley A. Milner Library on Sept. 17, 2020. The new Milner Library not only reinvented its former box-shaped structure into a flowing, angular, modern icon, but also reimagined its interior as a brighter, quieter, more inviting, innovative, public space. Supporting the EPL’s and Milner Library’s design goals, Teeple Architects selected Rockfon’s acoustic stone wool ceiling panels to contribute to the welcoming, comfortable, energy-efficient space.
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art reveals plans for major expansion designed by Safdie Architects
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art today revealed plans for an expansion that will increase the size of the current facilities by 50 percent. Ten years after completing the original design for the museum, Safdie Architects has returned to create a seamlessly integrated expansion that resonates with the existing pavilions and outdoor spaces. New structures will house additional galleries, educational facilities, event spaces, a café, and new indoor and outdoor gathering spaces.
Thaden School’s building designs inspired by agriculture, aviation and a classic sports car
Thaden School in Bentonville, Arkansas, celebrates the class of 2021 – the first to graduate from this new independent middle and high school. As the next academic year begins, returning students will be welcomed back to an expanded offering on its 30-acre campus. The three of the newest school buildings – “Reels,” “Wheels” and the performing arts center – were designed by Marlon Blackwell Architects and feature architectural coil coatings by Sherwin-Williams.
LA Garage at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon
As the place in which the transition from driver to pedestrian occurs, the 409,000-square-foot LA Garage at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, is a nexus of activity for people arriving on campus. The design by SRG Partnership breaks up the typical parking structure mass, providing opportunities for daylight and creating a “wow” space in between: a public covered courtyard carved into the center of the building that encourages chance encounters, casual gatherings and collaboration.
Historic motorcycle factory converted into new, affordable housing features high-performance windows
The Mason Square Apartments II at Indian Motorcycle project offers low-income residents affordable rental housing without compromising aesthetics, performance or comfort. Vacant for decades, the 55,000-square-foot, five-story, brick building’s tall, arched windows had been boarded up for years. Today, these 4-by-8-foot openings feature Diamond Windows & Doors’ high-performance, double-hung windows with Technoform’s warm-edge insulating glass spacers.
EXTECH’s LIGHTWALL system transforms old power plant into Beloit College’s new Powerhouse for student recreation
Opened in Aug. 2020, Beloit College transformed a decommissioned coal-burning power station located along Wisconsin’s Rock River into a new field house focused on student recreation and wellness. The former Blackhawk Generating Station was composed of three buildings constructed mostly of brick and concrete from 1908 to 1949. Studio Gang re-imagined the structure as a unified, 120,000-square-foot student union and recreation center. Now known as the Powerhouse, the $38 million renovated building is targeting LEED® Silver certification through the U.S. Green Building Council.
Edward J. Ray Hall on the Cascades Campus of Oregon State University
Edward J. Ray Hall, designed by SRG Partnership, will provide a new learning environment for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math on the Cascades Campus of the Oregon State University while creating a vibrant student hub with active interior and exterior spaces. Its design will elevate the University’s identity in Bend while exemplifying its commitment to sustainability with a Net Zero Energy target and a structure of regionally sourced mass timber.
Central Roofing re-roofs top of historic Itasca building
In the trendy North Loop section of Minneapolis, the Warehouse District is anchored by Itasca Lofts condominiums. More than 100 years old, the converted warehouse is home to 71 units plus a restaurant, comedy club and commercial space on the first floor. Six stories tall, the structure’s old roof was failing until Encompass Inc. and Central Roofing Company stepped in to help.
Pease Park in Austin, Texas
To establish a comprehensive approach for the park’s rehabilitation, preservation, and the enhancement of its cultural, recreational, and natural features, Pease Park Conservancy hired Clayton Korte in 2014 to design a Master Plan for the park with urban planning and landscape architecture firm Wallace, Roberts & Todd.
Intrinsic School’s new downtown campus in Chicago
Wheeler Kearns Architects-designed Intrinsic School’s new downtown campus, located in the heart of Chicago, spans across five floors in one of the city’s oldest high-rise buildings. Converting a former office building into a school involved a complex process. The interior buildout was designed and constructed in three-phases, carefully coordinated around existing tenants and school opening deadlines. Significant fire-rating, egress, and building issues have been corrected and brought up to school codes, and historic features—such as the existing clay tile ceilings—are revealed and celebrated.
Oklahoma City’s National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum’s new event center
Oklahoma City’s National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum recently opened its new 100,000-square-foot outdoor educational expansion and Annie Oakley Society Event Center. Supporting the Event Center’s acoustic and design goals, Rockfon® Planar® Macroplus® linear metal ceiling system are acoustically improved with perforations and an Acoutex™ backer. The ceiling’s high acoustic performance provides exceptional sound absorption as demonstrated by its 0.90 Noise Reduction Coefficient (NRC).
Alaska Airlines Flagship Lounge at SeaTac International Airport North Satellite
At the Alaska Airlines Flagship Lounge in SeaTac International Airport designed by Graham Baba Architects, the door is always open. Alaska Airlines sought to transform the lounge typology by providing a warm, welcoming space where all guests could find refuge – to relax, work, refuel, and connect – a home-away-from-home with a sense of place deeply rooted in the Pacific Northwest.
Columbia Building in Portland, Oregon
The Columbia Building designed by Skylab supports the City of Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services. The project accomplished three unique objectives in one single campus site: the creation of a vibrant and efficient workspace; clean on-site stormwater filtration; and a dynamic building that stimulates conversation about the health of the region’s watershed and rivers.
Net-zero-ready Colorado office showcases modern design and high performance with thermal curtainwall and window wall
Vaisala, a Finnish company and global leader in weather, environmental and industrial measurements, recently opened its new North American headquarters in Louisville, Colorado. Designed by OZ Architecture of Denver, the office building blends Scandinavian style and sustainable, net-zero-ready functionality. Tubelite Inc.’s curtainwall and window wall systems contribute to the building’s crisp, modern, minimalist, high-performance design. Thermally broken aluminum framing, low-e insulated glass and Tubelite’s PTB120 Thermal Pressure Plate supplied by Deceuninck further support the building envelope’s sustainability and energy-efficiency goals.