Uploaded: Thursday, February 2, 2012, 4:10 PM                                             

Architects hired to brainstorm about Cubberley
Future of Palo Alto community center will be subject of community meetings in 2012

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City and school leaders have engaged architects to do informal, preliminary work on ideas for the Cubberley Community Center, Palo Alto school district Superintendent Kevin Skelly said Tuesday, Jan. 31.

In a report to the Board of Education on the progress of talks about the future of Cubberley, located at 4000 Middlefield Road, administrators said the architects -- Gelfand Partners and Group 4 Architecture, both of San Francisco -- are "coming up with some very rough and preliminary notions of how that site would be used."

Group 4 has worked on the city's libraries, and Gelfand has designed renovations of many campuses in the current facilities-bond program, including the new, two-story classroom building at Ohlone Elementary School.

City and school staff members were to have a conference call with the two architectural firms Thursday, school facilities and bond program manager Bob Golton said.

"It's just to kind of warm them up, get a notion of ideas for what might go on that site," Golton said.

Skelly said he's been meeting monthly with City Manager Jim Keene and Assistant City Manager Steve Emslie on the city's and district's joint interest in the former Cubberley High School, currently leased by the city for use as a community center.

They plans to convene a "community advisory committee," probably in mid-March, with broad representation of interested parties, including neighborhood associations, recreational users, PTAs, sports leagues and the senior citizen community, Skelly told the school board.

— Chris Kenrick

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Comments

Posted by Not-Happy-With-Group-4, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, 19 hours ago

There is something wrong with the City's continued association with Group 4. It's time to use another architect. The library that is being constructed on Middlefield is certainly looking like it will be more ugly, and vastly too large, than not.

It's time that someone take a long, hard, look at the cronyism that seems to be well developed between the City Manager's officer, and Group 4.

Posted by Paul Losch, a resident of the Community Center neighborhood, 19 hours ago

I am on the City of Palo Alto Parks and Recreation Commission. While this matter is still in relatively early stages, it is clear that it will be a proverbial elephant in the room. Our Commission talked about it briefly at a recent meeting, and the surface was hardly scratched.

The school district is largely in the driver's seat on this issue, since most of the property is PAUSD owned. The use of the campus as a school site again has not been thought through, and there are alternatives that can potentially serve the need for a 3rd high school and conccurrently provide community services would be a great outcome.

Posted by Resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, 19 hours ago

I don't understand how architects can decide how Cubberley could be used. I thought architects were given instructions on how to design a building with a list of what facilities were required. Have they been given a list of requirements? This sounds like the cart leading the horse to me.

Posted by JA3+, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, 18 hours ago

Perhaps it's wise to demolish any and all existing structures and start anew on a small scale, with two story structures suitable to PAUSD's current use.

I'd likely suggest selling all remaining land -- that is, all land other than that needed to satisfy the siting of the buildings discussed in my preceding sentence -- and using the proceeds to construct additional two-story buildings on existing PAUSD school sites, including, but not limited to, Cubberly.

Posted by Doesnt pass smell test, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, 17 hours ago

Not-Happy says it clearly, something doesn't smell right in the City Manager's office connection with Group 4.

They just rehired a company that had a FOUR MILLION DOLLAR COST OVERRUN on Mitchell Park Library.

Something really really is not right. Newspapers should investigate this.

Posted by Mark, a resident of the University South neighborhood, 17 hours ago

Could they explore the possibility of using the new site (whatever they build on it) as an alternate Emergency Operations Center in case of disaster? (i.e. Essentially, if there is a conference room, they make sure to wire it up and have a backup generator.) Might help to build some redundancy for preparedness.

Posted by another resident, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, 3 hours ago

Resident, No, it was the cart leading the horse on the high school construction, school board officials have said as much -- trust the professionals to tell us what to do. That whole interaction was far more suspicious than the library, I think. This s a different architect. Seems to me they did a pretty good job on the library. And there's nothing wrong with getting ideas. I thought this architect was far better at taking ideas and incorporating them in a good design. I think the cost overruns are the contractor's issue, or is it that much overrun on the design? (Of course the contractor is going to try to blame the architect, but a contractor at that level should have enough experience to question a serious omission from the start.)

Posted by Mom, a resident of the Greenmeadow neighborhood, 3 hours ago

Please make the third high school, but a special one. A high school for STEM and/or Art at Cubberley. There are quite a few of that kind in other area in CA and in other states. Just not here yet.

Some PA teacher told me that PA parents would push their students even more if we had such a school, but I don't think PA parents are that foolish.

I just want my kids to have a real lab available in/after school with proper adult supervision. At this moment, due to all the regulations, they have to apply for competitive applications in order to get an intern position in far away universities. Science summer camps are so expensive. My kids are not disadvantaged enough or smart enough to get into the Stanford programs. We are not Stanford professors who can let their kids to work in their labs.

In "Cubberley high school for STEM" I hope they have a project based science class with capable and willing teachers for the purpose.

Posted by Not-Happy-With-Group-4, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, 1 hour ago

> I think the cost overruns are the contractor's issue, or is

> it that much overrun on the design?

Yes, and no. In the construction industry, there are always many players having input into decisions. The architect is supposed to provide a complete plan to the initiating party (a plan that can be constructed without OMGs [Oh My God] popping up). The party funding the construction project has an obligation to check the plans, because once they are "signed off", then the project is now the initiating party's problem. The contractor, of course, needs to do a comprehensive plan check, in order to estimate the project--expecting to make a profit when it is completed.

In the case of the library, the initiating party was the "City" (which is staffed with unaccountable individuals) who assume that all of their mistakes/errors/omissions will be ignored by the taxpayers, who will simply dig deeper into their pockets to put good money after bad.

Clearly the City of Palo Alto P/W officials failed to do adequate plan checking, prior to signing off when the Architect/Mechanical Engineers claimed that the "design is complete".

Most construction projects include a hefty "contingency" line item (15%-25%), which allows for cost overruns that do not end up being overly obvious. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to tack how often these contingency funds are used, since most construction projects are in the private sector, and the books closed to the prying eyes of the public.

Posted by Casey, a resident of another community, 1 hour ago

Don't forget the important campus bike connections!

Posted by Paul Losch, a resident of the Community Center neighborhood, 1 hour ago

My understanding from City Staff is that despite the change orders, the Mitchell project will be done under the original budgeted amount, and have improved traits environmentally. This is due to the lower costs of materials and construction as a result of our wonderful recession.

Until Main Library renovation is completed, it will not be clear what the final cost of the entire endeavor will be. At this point, despite cjange orders, we are getting for our money what we voted for. And if it turns out that the total bill is less than what the bond initiative called for, the difference will be returned to the taxpayers.

Posted by Deep Throat, a resident of another community, 1 hour ago

How much is each public agency paying for each of the contracts and how much would be paid for any work beyond the "informal, preliminary work" covered by the current contracts? Follow the money.

Posted by landuse, a resident of the Professorville neighborhood, 58 minutes ago

Supporters of more playing fields in Palo Alto had better keep a close watch on the design plans of the Cubberley site to ensure that those that are there now are not lost.

Posted by Doesnt pass the smell test, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, 52 minutes ago

Paul Losch seeks to cover the city's and contractor's mistakes:

"from City Staff is that despite the change orders, the Mitchell project will be done under the original budgeted amount"

Irrelevant. The Architects and the City made FOUR MILLION DOLLARS worth of mistakes.

Now the city is hiring them again. Collusion to cover up? Pretend it never happened by pointing to savings that should have been OURS.

Posted by Not-Happy-With-Group-4, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, 43 minutes ago

> the difference will be returned to the taxpayers.

This statement is not exactly true. Not spending money that was authorized is not the same thing as "returning money" to the taxpayers.

And .. there is always the possibility that someone on the City Council will suggest that since $XXXX were authorized and not spent, then the City has a right to spend those dollars. We have seem that, from time-to-time, in the past.

> Irrelevant. The Architects and the City made

> FOUR MILLION DOLLARS worth of mistakes.

This comment is spot-on.

The problem here has to do with a failure to both plan and estimate the materials necessary for building this building safely. Hiring the same outfit again certainly does not pass the "smell test". Unfortunately, people like Paul Losch are more interested in spending other people's money, than operating a well-managed, honest, and cost-effective government.

It's clear that the City Manager is more interested in moving construction projects along, than dealing with the best design/construction outfits.

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Architects hired to brainstorm about Cubberley

Bangalore: Enterprise architects undoubtedly are the key palyers in business transformations and adding value to data analyics but considering today’s revolutinizing trends they need to act fast recommend the open group speakers as reported by Dana Gardner in zdnet.com.

The open group conference which took place in calafornia featured some of the industry experts and eminent speakers  who disscussed about how enterprsie architechture(EA) can powerfully impact the transformation of an enterprise through analytics, good data management and by helping shape the goals of the business.

Jaenne Ross, Director and Principal Research Sientist at MIT’s Center for Information System and Research in her opening session told that the stakes are high for EA and the enterprise architechts need to help their organizations better use new services and instill a “value cycle.”  Ross said that IT companies need to recognize the forces around consumption of business service and not just the implementation.

Explainig further Ross said that working towards making good data management is a priority also a way to make EA valuable, enterprise architects can rise in their performance by ensuring the quality of data and the speed of data refresh

Companies typically under-utilize applications and new systems hence IT-enablement isn’t enough companies aren’t using the system to their potential therefore architects need to consider this and then market and evangelize solutions said Ross.

EAs need to be more concerned on making Quality data center stage in companies. “You don’t get good analytics with bad data,” Ross said, “The secret to good EA is to put information in every person’s hands so they can use data better.” This will eventually lead to transformation of the business and encourage innovation utilizing IT systems systems and good architecture principles.

Architechts can play a key role in helping their bosses deliver increased business value as most of senior executives are bad at combining business and technology strategies. The following points outline an Enterprise architecht’s role:

1)Pin down architectural capabilities that can be readily exploited

2)Help senior executives clarify business goals

3)Present options and their implications for business goals

4)Build capabilities incrementally

Excerpt from:
Enterprise Architects Need to Act Fast

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IA Interior Architects (IA) is pleased to announce that Kirk Stewart has joined the firm as Project Director. He will be based in Los Angeles.

Kirk has over 20 years of architectural and interior design experience across a variety of markets including Broadcast and Entertainment, K-12 Education, Higher Education, Civic, Corporate, Hospitality, and Retail. His experience ranges from client development and programming to design, project management, and post-construction evaluation. Prior to joining IA, Kirk was the Design Director at WWCOT (currently DLR Group) where he oversaw 160 professionals. He was also a Senior Associate and Project Designer at HLW International's offices in China and the United Kingdom.

"The addition of Kirk Stewart as Project Director to the IA Los Angeles team supports our objective to recruit the best and brightest in our industry to service our clients.  Kirk is an award winning architectural designer with a diverse portfolio in media, entertainment and technology as well as higher education. He offers us an opportunity to further strengthen our bench," said Helen Watts, Managing Principal, Los Angeles.

"I am extremely happy to be working with a firm that has a stellar reputation locally and beyond.  IA attracts high profile clients and produces work at the highest caliber in a congenial environment. I believe the essence of every firm boils down to its people, and upon meeting the leaders and staff at IA, I was convinced that this would be an ideal place for me to grow and to make a contribution," said Kirk Stewart.

Kirk is a Registered Architect in California and New York. His work has been recognized with awards from the Los Angeles Business Council, the American Institute of Architects, and the Society for Environmental Graphic Design.

About IA Interior Architects
Founded in 1984, IA Interior Architects is the first and largest global architectural firm focused exclusively on interior architecture and workplace strategies. IA helps clients in diverse markets worldwide align their business strategies and core values with the dynamic use of space. IA has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, London, Los Angeles, New York, Orange County, Raleigh, San Francisco, Seattle, Silicon Valley, and Washington, DC and has partner affiliates in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia and Australia, Canada, and Latin America through the IA Global Alliance. For more information, visit http://www.interiorarchitects.com.

Press Contact:
Sofia Zimmerman
917.579.5702
s.zimmerman@interiorarchitects.com

Read the rest here:
Kirk Stewart Joins IA Interior Architects in Los Angeles

BEIJING - The latest demolition of a siheyuan, the traditional
Chinese courtyard home, in the capital's Dongcheng district,
has triggered a huge public outcry, as it once belonged to two
architects famed for protecting the country's ancient
buildings.

Residents at the Beizongbu Hutong in Beijing's Dongcheng
district on Saturday talk about the demolition of Liang
Sicheng's former residence to a reporter with China Central
Television. 

Between 1931 and 1937, Liang Sicheng (1901-72) and his wife Lin
Huiyin (1904-55), both regarded as among the most distinguished
modern Chinese architects, lived in the courtyard house located
at 24 Beizongbu Hutong, Dongcheng district. It was here they
finished their groundbreaking study on traditional Chinese
architecture.

Liang and Lin probably never imagined that one day their home
would meet the same fate as many other ancient buildings in the
country had faced - being demolished to make way for real
estate development.

Over the past decades, high-rising office buildings, apartment
blocks, and sprawling shopping malls have mushroomed in the
heart of Beijing, replacing the maze of siheyuans and hutongs -
the narrow lanes that used to characterize the city.

In 2009, some parts of the courtyard were demolished to make
way for a commercial development project, but the cultural
authority stopped the demolition in response to public anger.
Since then, the site has been designated as a cultural relic,
though a low-level one, requiring approval from the cultural
heritage authorities for any redevelopment.

However, what remained was "furtively torn down" during the
recent Spring Festival.

"When I was at home on Thursday, I read a post on a heritage
protection forum, which said Liang and Lin's former home had
already been destroyed," said Zeng Yizhi, a cultural relics
protection activist.

Zeng, who lives in Heilongjiang province, asked a friend in
Beijing to visit the site to confirm the news.

"When I found the news was true, it broke my heart," Zeng said.
"Liang and Lin made such a great contribution to the protection
of Chinese ancient buildings; if their home can be torn down,
then developers can do the same thing to hundreds other ancient
houses in the country."

Zeng reported the situation to the Beijing municipal
administration of cultural heritage and the Dongcheng district
cultural heritage committee submitted a report to the municipal
cultural heritage bureau on Saturday. In the report the
committee quoted an unidentified developer saying that the
demolition was "in preparation for maintaining the heritage
site".

"The developer should have consolidated the ancient buildings
instead of pulling them down." Zeng said. "According to the
law, even if the courtyard was a dangerous building that needs
repair, the project should have been carried out by a
certificated construction company, which wasn't the case."

Media reports named the developer as Fuheng Realty, a
subsidiary of China Resources.

The municipal government has said that Liang's residence will
be rebuilt and that it has ordered the developer not to remove
anything from the rubble.

"But if we replace every ancient building with a new replica,
we will end up with a pile of meaningless fake antiques," Zeng
said.

"Protected relics cannot be rebuilt once demolished, according
to international cultural heritage protection principles," Chen
Zhihua, professor with the School of Architecture at Tsinghua
University, and a former student of Liang and Lin, told
reporters.

"Building a replica only makes things worse. So I suggest that
the government build a monument or a park on the original site
in memory of Liang and Lin," Chen said.

As of 5 pm on Sunday, an online survey by the popular
micro-blogging site Sina Weibo showed that 90 percent of the
8,360 participants said Liang's siheyuanshould not be
demolished because it is of great historical value.

An unidentified executive with China Resources' Beijing branch
told Xinhua on Sunday that his company "could not agree" that
the demolition was against related regulations.

Liang is considered "the father of modern Chinese architecture"
for his pioneering role in advocating the preservation of the
country's ancient architecture.

Liang was particularly known for his proposal with another
architect Chen Zhanxiang to preserve the ancient city of
Beijing and build a complete new city to the west of it after
the Communist Party of China made Beijing the capital of the
new republic.

But the country's leaders back then opted to build a political,
economic, and cultural center within Beijing's historical core.
Traffic jams, air pollution, and disappearing ancient
architecture linked to poor urban planning in recent years have
led more and more people to feel nostalgic for Liang's
ill-fated plan.

The rest is here:
Eastday-Anger at demolition of renowned architects' home

January 30, 2012 by Rochel Leah
Goldblatt 

Constructing building models with materials from Rebel
Recycling saves green in two ways

Architecture students plan to use 25,000 recycled boxes this
semester to build models — and construct a full-size house.

Rebel Recycling donated hundreds of cardboard boxes to the UNLV
School of Architecture and the students are using the boxes to
build all their models throughout this semester.

At the end of the semester, the class hopes to submit a
life-size living space built out of recycled cardboard to
RecycleMania, a competition among universities in the United
States.

The project will be completed by Earth Day and the final model
will be displayed in the Student Union courtyard.

“I don’t know how far we are going to go with this project,”
said graduate assistant Nathalia Ellis, “but we do have
furniture designs made out of cardboard.”

Using old boxes shrinks the students’ carbon footprint, but it
increases their workload because the cardboard is more
difficult to work with than the modeling board they are used to
using.

However, that doesn’t stop the students from trying their
hardest.

“It’s like a challenge,” said junior David Magdaluyo. “If we
can do this, we can do whatever we put our mind to.”

He said that the partnership between the architecture school
and Rebel Recycling benefits students in that it lets them
“deal with recycled goods hands-on.”

And in a field where sustainability is a major focus, that
means a lot.

“This will assist our architectural careers by being
environmentally friendly and responsible,” Magdaluyo said.

The first project the students undertook was to build
four-by-four cubes out of the cardboard. The task was made more
difficult by inevitable inconsistencies in the material that do
not exist in the typical modeling board.

Despite difficulties with using the material, students have a
positive outlook on the project.

“I was a little bummed out at first,” said freshman Josue
Arevealo. “[But] if anything, I am glad to be using some kind
of material instead of using a book.”

The cardboard also saves the students money, because they are
not responsible for buying their own material to use in the
models.

Any unused cardboard will be re-recycled through Rebel
Recycling.

Contact Rochel Leah Goldblatt at
rochelleah.goldblatt.ry@gmail.com.

See the rest here:
Student architects to build residence from of recycled boxes

Monday, January 30 10:24:38

The first in a series of surveys of members of the Royal
Institute of Architects of Ireland (RIAI) shows that a majority
(52.8pc) say they are expecting work levels to increase or
remain the same during 2012.

Architects are considered lead indicators for the construction
sector as they are involved in the drawing up of plans and
applying for planning permissions before the commencement of
construction.

The Q1 2012 survey of RIAI practices, which was carried out by
the RIAI in the 2nd week of January 2012, was answered by 242
practices across the country - around half of all practices.
15.2pc of practices are expecting an increase in work. 37.6pc
are expecting activity to remain the same - an aggregate of
52.8pc - while 47.2pc are expecting a decrease in work.

The biggest increase in work is expected in domestic
renovations and extensions (27.3pc) while the biggest fall is
forecast to be in broader housing (43.9pc). Many architectural
practices have re-focussed on sustainability and conservation
and 46.5pc of practices that answered the anonymous online
survey said they expect to see an increase in work in these
areas during the coming year. This increase in advice on
'green' issues is reflected in the responses given when asked
whether 'practices have changed or expanded their services in
response to the current climate in the construction industry'.
57pc of practices say they have expanded their services as a
direct response to the downturn.

Commenting on the results John Graby, Director of the RIAI,
said, "This is the first such survey that we have carried out.
In other jurisdictions, particularly in the US, this type of
survey of architect practices has become a very important lead
indicator for economic commentators reviewing construction
activity in the economy. In an industry that has been
absolutely decimated we are taking some small comfort in that a
small majority, but a majority all the same, are saying that
things don't look like they're going to get worse for them and
just over 15pc say things are on the up. This will be a key
figure to watch in future surveys.

 

See more here:
Chink of light for embattled architects

WSP and
PES-Architects have won a competition to design a ‘Dancing
Bridge’ for the central park of Huishan New City in
Wuxi,
China. The cable-stayed bridge will be suspended from
two inclined pylons resembling a pair of dancers.

(PRWEB UK) 30 January 2012

Following success in a design competition, WSP and
PES-Architects have been selected to
design a new pedestrian bridge in Wuxi, China. Entitled ‘The
Dancing Bridge’, the cable-stayed bridge will span a small lake
close to the new bullet train station in the central park of the
Huishan New City area.

Professor Pekka
Salminen of PES-Architects invited WSP Finland’s bridge
designers to join the design team for the competition, based on
WSP’s reputation for its design of iconic bridges.

The bridge is suspended by two independent and inclined pylons
located on a man-made island in the centre of the lake. “Our
design proposal merges minimalistic Finnish design with a
traditional Chinese story,” says Pekka Salminen. “We called our
design ‘the Dancing Bridge’ because the inclined pylons
resemble a pair of dancers.”

“The bridge design features a gentle S-bend which, according to
Chinese tradition, ensures that the traveler will face no
danger, as evil spirits will eventually lose their way in the
curved shape,” adds WSP’s Sami Niemelä. “The bridge deck is a
steel-concrete composite structure and the girder is covered
with stainless steel cladding.”

Construction of the bridge will begin at once and is expected
to open later this year.

In recent years, WSP Finland has won numerous design
competitions for bridges and urban planning projects in
Finland
and Asia. Bridge sites in Finland include Turku, Helsinki,
Tampere, Pori, Joensuu and Kajaani. In Asia, WSP has designed
bridges in Vietnam and India.

”Winning this competition is an important milestone for us in
China. The collaboration between PES-Architects and WSP Finland
is proof that top Finnish design firms can also succeed
in the world’s most important growth areas,” says Kirsi
Hautala, Managing Director of WSP Finland.

For more information:

Bridget Kennerley, Group PR Manager, WSP Group, tel. +44 207
314 4631

bridget.kennerley(at)wspgroup(dot)com

Sami Niemelä, Head of Unit, Bridges, WSP Finland, tel. +358 400
157 998, sami.niemela(at)wspgroup(dot)fi

Professor, Chairman of the Board Pekka Salminen, PES-Architects
Limited, tel. +358 40 545 6845

Notes to Editors:

WSP Finland is a multi-disciplinary consultancy company that
provides research, planning, consulting and design services to
Finnish and international companies operating in the
construction, urban development, transport, environment, energy
and industry sectors. The company employs 350 experts in
Helsinki, Oulu, Järvenpää, Tampere, Jyväskylä and Rovaniemi.

http://www.wspgroup.fi

WSP Finland belongs to the international WSP Group, with 9,000
experts working in 200 permanent offices in 35 countries.
Established in the 1970s, WSP Group is listed on London Stock
Exchange.

http://www.wspgroup.com

PES-Architects Limited is one of the leading and most
international architectural design firms in Finland. The firm’s
most recent projects include the design of underground railway
stations for the new Kehärata (Ring Rail Line) railway in
Finland, the enlargement of the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, and
the design of the Wuxi Grand Theatre and a 192m high skyscraper
in the Chengdu High-tech Zone. Professor and architect Pekka
Salminen founded the firm in 1968, and is currently the
chairman of the board of PES-Architects. The other partners in
the firm are architect Tuomas Silvennoinen and CEO Jarkko
Salminen (M.Sc.).

http://www.pesark.com

###

Bridget Kennerley
WSP Group Plc
+44(0)20 7314 4631
Email Information

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WSP and PES-Architects design Dancing Bridge in Wuxi

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Dream come true: Two architects add livability to their blah home

19-10-2009 11:30 Architects - "Follow The Water", official music video, from the album, 'Hollow Crown', in stores

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Architects - Follow The Water - Video

04-12-2011 13:58 2011 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Century Media 4.12.2011 Please Buy this Song on iTunes Uk store Available now on the US iTunes store

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Architects - Untitled New Song - Video