Artists impression of the eco villa which will built in Qatar designed by LSI architects

By annabelle dickson Sunday, July 22, 2012 9:00 AM

Norwich-based LSI Architects has broken into the Qatar market winning a major contract for an eco villa after years of research and training.

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The company has won a competition to design the countrys first eco villa.

It has been working with UKTI and the British Embassy in Qatar and also completed training in Qatars sustainability assessment system, which is considered to be the most comprehensive in the world.

LSI Architects partner Trevor Price, who is leading the Qatar project, said: We began researching The Gulf as a new market in response to the recession. I went on a UKTI trade mission to Abu Dhabi and Qatar in early 2010 and talked to packed meetings about LSIs expertise in sustainable design. The trade mission was followed by a series of one-to-one meetings in Qatar to establish our credentials and explore partnerships.

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Research pays off for Norwich-based LSI Architects as it clinches Qatar contract

The Irish Times - Monday, July 23, 2012

FRANK McDONALD, Environment Editor

A FIRM of Scottish architects has picked up the top prize in a competition for the design of a new 1,000-student post-primary school in Dublin, beating some of Irelands leading architects.

The contest, organised by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, attracted the highest number of entries for a design competition here, with 154 submissions including 43 international entries from 14 countries.

The winning scheme by Ayr-based ARPL Architects is to be developed on a site owned by the Department of Education in Kingswood, Tallaght.

The Scottish firm will manage its construction with a view to the school opening in late August 2017.

Minister for Education Ruair Quinn said the wide interest in the competition is a reflection of the importance of quality design of schools. But the high number of entries also reflects the desperate need of Irish architects for new work to keep going.

Joint second place was shared by Dublin-based de Blacam and Meagher Architects and the Coady Partnership.

It is expected that they will be commissioned to design other schools for sites owned by the department as funding becomes available.

Others shortlisted to take part in the second and final stage of the competition were all Dublin-based: Grafton Architects, Michael Kelly Architect and BDP.

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Scottish firm's design chosen for 1,000-pupil Tallaght school

The graceful, undulating design of London's Aquatic Center has a backbone of steel weighing more than 3,000 tons.

Zaha Hadid Architects

Inside, is a pool. *The* pool, really, the London Aquatic Center, where, beginning next Saturday, the best swimmers in the world will compete for those life-defining demarcations: gold, silver, and bronze.

Outside, it's an undulating wave of aluminum, supported by a structure of Red Lauro timber and more than 3,000 tons of steel. The shape -- "inspired by the fluid geometry of water in motion," according to Zaha Hadid Architects -- arches over three pools (one for diving, one for racing, and one for training) and some 2,500 seats. Two structural appendages will provide an additional 15,000 seats for the summer's games, and will then be dismantled, leaving behind the "legacy building" -- the permanent structure whose un-Olympic size should prove easier for London to maintain. It is the highest-capacity of the venues during the Olympics; it will reduce to the lowest.

The Olympic set-up:

Legacy mode:

The building's construction required the demolition of 11 industrial building and the removal of 160,000 metric tons of soil. (Also, strange but awesome factlet: According to ZHA, four skeletons from a pre-historical settlement were discovered during the excavation for the building's foundation.)

But what makes the building iconic is the roof, whose graceful, swooping curves belies the rugged interior, the massive frame of steel, held together with some 70,000 bolts. The whole thing is supported on only three points -- a wall at the south end and two concrete pillars at the north, and shaped by 10 north-south steel trusses. "The steelwork itself describes the architectural geometry -- loosely," Glenn Moorley, Zaha Hadid's project leader for the center explained to me.

Zaha Hadid Architects

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Smooth as Water, Strong as Steel: The Undulating Roof of London's Olympic Pool

For the architects working on Braseltons proposed town green, the possibilities of mixing leisure with business in a new downtown park will come at the guidance of public comments.

Wed like to know the things and types of improvements that you would like to see and let us figure out how to make those things work because thats what we do best, said Steve Provost of the planning and landscape architectural firm jB+a.

Braselton plans to build a new park called its town green in the heart of downtown in front of the Braselton Brothers Store. The town green will be located in the former roadbed of Ga. Hwy. 124 (Davis Street), which was recently shifted to the rear of the town-owned store.

At this point, there is no design for the town green and architects told the Braselton Downtown Development Authority on Thursday that it isnt presenting any plans yet. Instead, the two firms are seeking public comments on what folks want in the space before design work starts.

We want this to become a central point, a gathering point (and) a nice focal point for the community to gather and to have festivals and meet in small groups or big groups, Provost said. But also, its critical that it be a place that Braselton can do business.

In the near decade since the town green concept was initially proposed, Braselton officials have generally looked to Suwanee Town Center Park as a model. That park features an interactive water fountain that has been a big draw for families, along with an amphitheater and nearby shops.

The Atlanta-based firm jB+a designed the Suwanee Town Center Park and its interactive water fountain.

Provost said in his experience, he has learned that the most successful public places allow people to stroll, play, sit, dine, shop and play games. They may also feature facilities for public showings of movies, concerts and festivals.

If we can provide 10 different things to do for people in that space, then youre going to have a variety people who are coming in and out of the space all of the time, he said. And the more people you have in and out, the safer your space is because youve got eyes out seeing whats going on.

However, the challenge for the architects will be designing a town green that not only draws visitors to its park, but also allows the surrounding businesses to function.

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Architects start initial work on town green

LONDON & NEW YORK--(BUSINESSWIRE)--

Empowers architects to create greener, higher performing buildings in conceptual design

Sefaira, a leader in energy efficiency software for building design, construction and management, today announced the public launch of Sefaira Concept - a new web application built to revolutionize the design of low and zero energy buildings.

Architects are challenged to design beautiful and refined buildings, while also meeting ambitious performance goals and tight budgets. They cannot effectively explore sustainable design options with current software, and the use of rules of thumb do not allow architects to uncover the best combination of energy efficient design strategies. When energy analysis happens only after major design choices have been made, the options are fewer and the costs of change higher. The result is lost opportunities for sustainability, energy efficiency and lower operational cost, and ultimately a compromised building design.

Sefaira Concept provides an intuitive, web-based sustainability analysis platform built specifically for conceptual design. The product enables architects and project teams to rapidly and iteratively explore design options, which leads to better performing buildings at a lower cost. The key features of Sefaira Concept include:

Sefaira Concept empowers designers to make better decisions from the earliest stages of design, said Mads Jensen, CEO of Sefaira. The building design and construction sectors have an important mission to reduce the energy consumption of buildings. Sefaira Concept supports true data driven design in the green building space and puts more analysis at a designers fingertips than ever before. This helps our users create high performing, economical and sustainable buildings, even given the current budget constraints within our industry.

Over the past few months, Sefaira has been on-boarding more than 40 global customers through the Early Adopter Program (EAP). The customers span small, medium and large architectural and engineering firms, educational institutions, construction companies, building materials manufacturers and utility companies.

I have been frustrated with existing green building software tools as they do not allow us to quickly iterate through multiple sustainable design options, said Larry Barr, AIA, President at Quinn Evans Architects. Sefairas visionary solution enables us to gain a competitive advantage, by allowing us to focus on those solutions that provide the most value to our clients.

Asif Din, Director at ZEDfactory Ltd., added, It is now practical to incorporate sustainability into conceptual design, reducing the complexity of producing zero fossil energy and zero carbon buildings.

Sefaira will host a 30-minute webinar on Thursday, July 26th, 2012 at 11:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time to introduce Concept. To register for this webinar, visit the following link: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/319487742 .

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Sefaira Launches Web Application for Early Stage Sustainable and Energy Efficient Building Design

CORPUS CHRISTI It may be hard for taxpaying non-architects to understand how bad a thing an architect group and school officials did when they discussed fees before the architect group won the contract. Aren't cost savings in the taxpayers' best interest?

The answer: Yes, but.

Perhaps the easiest way to gauge the gravity of the offense is to consider that the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners is seeking six-month suspensions of the licenses for the four architects hired for the Adkins Middle School project, instead of mere fines.

Last August, those architects discussed cost savings that could occur if Corpus Christi Independent School District chose them. Which CCISD did.

The architects knew and school trustees should have known or should have been advised promptly by administrators and legal staff that architects are supposed to be chosen according to their qualifications and that contract negotiations, including the price, are supposed to come next.

The architects, who initially thought they only would incur fines, are fighting the proposed suspensions. A licensing board enforcer told the Caller-Times that the state agency would seek a penalty sufficient to deter the offense. That meant something stronger than a fine that other architects might be tempted to risk as a cost of doing business, offset handsomely by fat contracts. We commend the agency for seeking an effective, sufficient deterrent.

The school district also faces consequences, though they appear significantly lighter. The Texas Education Agency found that the CCISD violated state law and has ordered the district to submit a plan showing how it will manage its bidding process to prevent such problems.

"I believe our board was operating in such a way that they felt they were making the best decision for the district and the taxpayers," Superintendent Scott Elliff told Elaine Marsilio of the Caller-Times. To our dog ears, that sounds like: We only were trying to save you money. And again that's a noble pursuit that we taxpaying non-architects can understand and appreciate.

But the rules weren't made just for rules' sake and certainly they weren't made to be broken. Highly respected local architect David Richter, who was among the many who signed complaints to both the architectural board and the education agency, explained it in terms we non-architects can understand. Don't assume that the rules are set up to protect architects, he said.

"It's really supposed to protect the public and help them get the best quality in a fair and honest selection process. Because of that," Richter told Marsilio, "it's very important for the public interest to have a law that's upheld."

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Corpus Christi ISD architects' infraction was no small matter

ORLANDO, July 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Information Architects Corporation (IACH) announced today that it has named industry veteran Michael Ostrow as its new President.

Michael Ostrow is the founder of American Health Plans, Inc. (currently, MeadowStar Enterprises, LTD) a Medical Discount Provider listed on NASDAQ under the symbol MELD. Mr Ostrow was instrumental in designing the concept and implementation of "The Medical Health Discount" product from the inception of this industry and continues to provide day-to-day management of the company. Additionally, Mr Ostrow is a principal in the financial services firm of Senior Life Planning Group, LTD., specializing in the design and implementation of life insurance policies as funding vehicles for business continuation, tax-advantaged executive benefits, and estate preservation. The company is also active in the Senior Settlement Market as funding assets for pension plans and investment funds. Mr. Ostrow also has served on the Board of Directors of Mariculture Technologies, Inc., an innovative company in the field of fish farming and as President of Peconic Bay Seafood Co. He has completed degree programs from The American College obtaining the designations of both Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) and Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), and from the University of West Virginia with a BSBA in Marketing/Management.

"Mr Ostrow brings an abundance of experience and knowledge to the IACH management team. Our continuing development of IACH senior management is providing the infrastructure and support needed to carry out and execute our aggressive new business initiatives," stated Thomas Jaspers IACH CFO.

CORPORATE PROFILE Information Architects Corp. (IACH) is a worldwide Marketing and Distribution company.

"Forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 may be included in this news release. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. These statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. Information Architects Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. There are important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to risks associated with changes in general economic and business conditions (including in the information technology and financial information industry), actions of our competitors, the extent to which we are able to develop new services and markets for our services, the time and expense involved in such development activities, the level of demand and market acceptance of our services, changes in our business strategies, and the purchasing activity or lack thereof by registered web mall members.

Chris Johndrow 954 925 4177

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Information Architects Corporation Continues to Build Strong Management Team with the Addition of Michael Ostrow as ...

Hilton-VanderHorn Architects, owned by Darien residents Charles Hilton and Douglas VanderHorn, has been selected as the winner of the 2012 National Brick in Architecture award competition in two categories: "Residential Single Family" and "Paving & Landscape Architecture."

The competition has been sponsored by the Brick Industry Association since 1989. The BIA has honored Hilton-VanderHorn Architects for its outstanding design incorporating clay brick for both aesthetics and sustainability. The award-winning project in the "Residence Single Family" category was a renovation of a French manor estate in Greenwich. Hilton-VanderHorn Architects sought to improve its appearance by giving it a more authentic French look with better proportions and authentic period detailing. Although the use of limestone was an option, brick was chosen due to its color options, scale and visual interest. The versatility and workability of the brick made many of the details possible; brick quoins along the corners of the house, jack arches above the doors and windows, the stringcourse between the first and second floors, and the massive chimneys, with their inset panels, that anchor the various parts of the composition.

The winning project in the "Paving and Landscape Architecture" category involved renovating two cabanas situated at the end of a pool, on the grounds of the same property. The cabanas were completely remodeled using brick to match that of the main house and designed in a French style, with whimsically designed slate roofs. Rosy salmon-colored brick was chosen for its relation to the main house and for its durability, character and for its natural fit into the landscape.

Hilton-VanderHorn Architects is a 21-year-old Greenwich firm that specializes in traditional residential design. The firm has completed projects across the country, with the majority of their work being located in Fairfield and Westchester counties. The firm is the recipient of American Institute of Architects, Connecticut Home Builders Association and various periodicals and trade association design awards. Its projects have been featured in national and regional shelter publications, as well as in books, such as "Shingle Style Houses - Past and Present," "Dream Homes of New England," "The Classicist" and "A Decade of Art and Architecture 1992-2002." The firm has been featured this year in two new TV series: a pilot for "The Architects of Modern Living" and "Homes and Estates -- Today & Tomorrow."

Originally posted here:
Darien residents' architectural firm receives accolades

Tuesday, July 17, 2012 - 11:59

CANUTILLO, TX Architects and school officials are asking the public for feedback in choosing a design for a brand newelementary-and-middle combo school.

Carl Daniel Architects, the firm hired by the District to design the school, will present three potential designs for the campus during a community meeting that starts at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the CISD Administrative Office, 7965 Artcraft Rd. Artist renderings of each design are attached to this press release.

During the meeting, school officials will ask parents, students, employees and taxpayers to select their favorite option for recommendation to the Board of Trustees as the final look of the new school. Participants also will have one last chance to give input on specific aspects of the aesthetic, educational and extra-curricular design of the school before the Board adopts the final drawings later this summer.

"We are excited to be getting closer and closer to the actual construction of the school," said Jennifer Matthews, CISD's Executive Director of Facilities and Transportation. "It is very important to present our constituents with opportunities to give input on every aspect of school construction. I'm looking forward to hearing from them as we unveil the three innovative designs from our talented architects."

The $21-million school will be located at the intersection of Paseo del Norte and Northern Pass drives, and be funded through bonds that were approved by voters in 2006 and 2011. The campus will serve grades pre-kindergarten through eighth and accommodate fast growth in the eastern part of the District.

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School Officials Seek Public's Creativity in Campus Design

Mirror staff reports:

Architects from SRG Partnership, the firm helping Federal Way Public Schools with the preliminary design stages for a possible rebuild/remodel of Federal Way High School, will be available for discussion with the community from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 18 at the districts Support Services Facility, 1211 S. 332nd St., Federal Way.

The architects from SRG will conduct their work, and both SRG and FWPS invite community members to stop by at any time to offer input and ask questions. If theres a large enough response toward the end of the day, FWPS indicates it will keep the doors open longer and allow community members to come in after 5 p.m.

NOVEMBER ELECTION

A capital levy to rebuild Federal Way High Schoolwill be on the ballot again in November.

If approved by voters, the levy will raise $60 million to rebuild the aging Federal Way High School. The money will also renovate and update 19 playgrounds at the city's elementary schools, and bring the districts security camera systems up to par.

In the Feb. 14 special election, the levy failed with about 47.5 percent of voters saying yes. The district has one more opportunity to present the levy to voters in 2012.

The remodeling of Federal Way High School is the district's top priority as far as construction projects. The district has already saved $50 million for the project, which has a total estimated cost of $110 million.

Leading up the November election, Federal Way Public Schools will hold forums and conversations with various sectors of the community.

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Public invited to meet architects for FWHS remodel