Architect Frank Gehry, internationally recognized for his swashbuckling designs, has turned his talents on a comparatively demure new office building under construction in El Segundo.

The designer of Walt Disney Concert Hall has conceived a one-story office structure reminiscent of former industrial buildings common in El Segundo that are increasingly being repurposed as offices for businesses in creative fields.

So-called creative office buildings, usually created by upgrading old structures that have outlived their original purpose such as manufacturing, are the darlings of todays real estate market and often command higher rents than glitzy skyscrapers do.

The $50-million building in El Segundo with one big floor containing 80,000 square feet is intentionally unassuming, the architect said in a videotaped interview.

Its not architectural in the sense that you are making an architectural statement, Gehry said. It is really creating an environment that energizes and promotes interactivity in a less formal way.

Ascend, as the building is known, is the first that Gehry has designed for his longtime friend Larry Field, the founder of Beverly Hills real estate development company NSB Associates Inc.

The men have been close for more than 40 years, when both were starting their careers in Venice and Santa Monica, said Anthony OCarroll, vice president of NSB.

NSB is erecting Ascend at the intersection of Utah and Douglas avenues, where it will be the sixth building in a creative office complex NSB fashioned among former Xerox research and development facilities.

NSB considered trying to renovate two old buildings on the site, but knocked them down when the famous architect entered the picture.

When we had the opportunity to work with Frank Gehry, we decided to pursue ground-up construction, OCarroll said.

While Ascend will share some traits such as high ceilings with other open-plan offices in the neighborhood, it will have some striking differences.

Commonly such buildings are like islands surrounded by parking lots. Ascend will effectively be on stilts, standing over 280 ground-level parking spaces and nearly filling the boundaries of its lot.

It will open onto 16,000 square feet of outdoor balcony patios and be illuminated by multiple windows and skylights.

We had the freedom to break from a traditional warehouse in the sense that theyre pretty much boxes with no windows, said Gehrys son Sam Gehry, an architect who is also working on the project. He spoke in a videotaped interview.

The firm Gehry Partners is based in what used to be such a traditional warehouse, a former industrial BMW facility in Playa Vista that Frank Gehry and Field bought together about 15 years ago.

Gehry redesigned the building and created a wide-open workplace under a cavernous ceiling that would become a model for creative offices. He said he got the idea for open offices from artist friends who made studios out of former industrial buildings.

Of course they were only one or two people but, when you bring a group of 20 or 30 people in, it changes the equation, Frank Gehry said. It does create some new ideas that just happen serendipitously.

Gehry also designed the Facebook campus in Menlo Park, Calif., that was heralded as having the the largest open-floor-plan office in the world when it opened in 2015.

He has two major projects for different developers yet to start construction in Los Angeles: the massive Grand Avenue Project of condominiums, apartments, shops, restaurants and a hotel on Bunker Hill downtown, and a residential and retail complex called 8150 Sunset at the corner of Crescent Heights and Sunset boulevards in Hollywood.

El Segundo, which suffered from high office vacancies when the aerospace-defense industries concentrated there contracted after the end of the Cold War, has emerged as a creative hub in recent years.

The city is also home to numerous corporate headquarters such as Mattel, DirecTV and media company Internet Brands, said real estate broker Mike McRoskey of JLL, who will lease Ascend for NSB.

Rent has yet to be determined, he said, but recently renovated creative buildings in El Segundo typically lease for about $3.25 per square foot a month. Ascend is to be completed by the end of the year.

NSB owns or manages about 2.5 million square feet of commercial space, mostly on the Westside, OCarroll said. Among its tenants is Google, which rents four NSB buildings in Venice.

El Segundo now stands to attract more high-profile firms, he said. This project is a kind of a vote of confidence in that town.

roger.vincent@latimes.com

Twitter: @rogervincent

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There's another Frank Gehry building going up in town. It's under the radar in El Segundo - Los Angeles Times

However, New York NY Settles Back After Robust 2015

NEW YORK February 8, 2017 Most of the leading U.S. metropolitan areas for commercial and multifamily construction starts showed substantial gains in 2016 compared to the previous year, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. However, New York NY, the top metropolitan market by dollar amount, pulled back 15% to $29.8 billion following its 67% surge to $35.2 billion in 2015. Eight of the next nine metropolitan areas in the top 10 were able to register double-digit gains during 2016. For the top 20 metropolitan areas, 16 were able to show double-digit gains compared to 2015. At the U.S. level, commercial and multifamily construction starts in 2016 were reported at $186.3 billion, up 7% from 2015.

Rounding out the top five metropolitan areas in 2016, with their percent change from 2015, were the following Los Angeles CA, $9.8 billion, up 44%; Chicago IL, $8.3 billion, up 34%; Washington DC, $8.1 billion, up 35%; and Dallas-Ft. Worth TX, $8.0 billion, up 16%. Metropolitan areas ranked 6 through 10 were Miami FL, $7.5 billion, up 14%; Boston MA, $7.1 billion, up 50%; San Francisco CA, $5.0 billion, up 96%; Atlanta GA, $4.8 billion, up 60%; and Seattle WA, $4.3 billion, down 4%.

The commercial and multifamily total is comprised of office buildings, stores, hotels, warehouses, commercial garages, and multifamily housing. At the U.S. level, the 7% increase for the commercial and multifamily total in 2016 was the result of an 11% advance for commercial building and a 3% gain for multifamily housing. Compared to its 7% rise in 2015, commercial building at the U.S. level was able to pick up the pace in 2016, while multifamily housing witnessed substantially slower growth compared to its 22% jump in 2015. A primary reason for the smaller 2016 increase for multifamily housing at the U.S. level was a downturn by multifamily construction starts in the New York NY metropolitan area, which retreated 28% following its exceptionally strong amount in 2015. Excluding the New York NY metropolitan area, multifamily housing for the nation in 2016 would be up 13%, about the same as the corresponding 14% increase in 2015.

What stands out about 2016 is that growth for commercial and multifamily construction starts became broader geographically, stated Robert A. Murray, chief economist for Dodge Data & Analytics. Back in 2015, the New York NY metropolitan area led the upturn by soaring 67%, while the next 9 markets combined grew 8%. In 2016, the 15% downturn in the New York NY market was countered by a 33% hike for the next 9 markets. As a result, the New York NY share of the U.S. total for commercial and multifamily construction starts settled back from 20% in 2015 to 16% in 2016, which was still relatively high compared to the 13% share during the 2010-2014 period.

Both commercial building and multifamily housing have benefitted from a number of positive factors in recent years, Murray continued. These included declining vacancies, rising rents, low interest rates, and some easing of bank lending standards for commercial real estate loans. That supportive environment began to shift during 2016, with vacancies leveling off, interest rates edging up at years end, and bank lending standards for commercial real estate loans beginning to tighten, especially for multifamily projects. Yet, aside from multifamily housing, the levels of construction remain generally low given the hesitant nature of the upturn to date, meaning theres yet to be any widespread signs of overbuilding that typically show up five years into an expansion. While market fundamentals may not be quite as supportive in 2017, its still expected that commercial building will be able to register moderate growth, led by offices and warehouses. As for multifamily housing, the geographically broader participation by metropolitan area that emerged during 2016 is expected to continue this year, which should help the national total stay close to the elevated activity reported during 2015 and 2016. Other factors that could affect commercial and multifamily construction starts in 2017 would be two items proposed by the Trump Administration the reduction in business tax rates to spur investment and the easing of the Dodd-Frank regulations on the banking sector.

The 15% commercial and multifamily decline for the New York NY metropolitan area in 2016 was due to the 28% slide by multifamily housing after its 53% hike in 2015. At the same time, the commercial building categories as a group grew an additional 4% in 2016, which followed a 95% surge in 2015. Multifamily housing in New York City had been supported by the 421-a program, which provided tax incentives to developers who included affordable housing in their developments. During 2015, the pending expiration of the 421-a program contributed to developers moving up the start date for projects, while the expiration of the program in January 2016 removed the incentives. (In late 2016, an agreement was reached to renew the 421-a program, which still awaits the approval by the New York State legislature.) The New York NY metropolitan area in 2015 had featured 44 multifamily projects valued each at $100 million or more, including five at $500 million or more, led by the $575 million 15 Hudson Yards apartment building. In 2016, the number of multifamily projects valued at $100 million or more was 38, still substantial yet smaller than what took place 2015, and there were no projects in the $500 million plus range. The top three multifamily projects in 2016 were the following the $453 multifamily portion of a $475 million high-rise in Jersey City NJ, a $407 million multifamily high-rise on Manhattans East Side, and the $345 million multifamily portion of a $500 million high-rise near the Hudson River in lower Manhattan.

For the commercial building categories in the New York NY metropolitan area, new office building starts retreated a slight 2% in 2016, staying very close to the robust dollar amount (up 138%) that was reported in 2015 which included the $1.9 billion office portion of the $2.5 billion 30 Hudson Yards office/retail project. The top office projects in 2016 were the $2.0 billion 3 Hudson Boulevard on Manhattans West Side, the $1.5 billion One Vanderbilt Tower near Grand Central Terminal, and the $682 million office portion of the $700 million Gotham Center in Long Island City. Hotel construction climbed 60%, helped by the start of the $205 million Marriott Moxy Hotel in Times Square, and warehouse construction advanced 55% with the lift coming from a $304 million warehouse on Staten Island and a $200 million warehouse in Cranbury NJ. Commercial garage starts increased 27% in 2016, but store construction starts dropped 28%.

The Los Angeles CA metropolitan area in 2016 registered a 44% increase, moving up to the nations second largest market for commercial and multifamily construction starts after ranking number three in 2015. Multifamily housing in 2016 soared 50% while commercial building advanced 36%. There were 14 multifamily projects valued at $100 million or more that reached groundbreaking in 2016, compared to 10 such projects in 2015. The three largest multifamily projects in 2016 were the $493 million multifamily portion of the $600 million Century Plaza mixed-use complex in Century City, the $344 million multifamily portion of the $375 million 1120 South Grand Avenue mixed-use building in Los Angeles, and the $275 million multifamily portion of the $300 million Omni mixed-use building in Los Angeles. Substantial percentage growth was reported for offices, up 67%, with the lift coming from the $178 million office portion of the $390 million Broadcom Research and Development Campus in Irvine. Hotel construction starts were also up considerably, rising 77%, with the lift coming from the $93 million hotel portion of the $135 million Edition hotel and condominiums in West Hollywood. Commercial garages increased 42% in 2016, while warehouses grew 9%. Store construction improved 7% on top of its 96% advance in 2015, boosted by the $500 million renovation of the Beverly Center in Los Angeles.

The 34% increase for Chicago IL in 2016 enabled this metropolitan area to move up to the nations third largest market for commercial and multifamily construction starts, after ranking number 5 in 2015. Multifamily housing jumped 82% in 2016 while commercial building held steady with its 2015 amount. The multifamily gain reflected two very large projects the $780 million multifamily portion of the $900 million Wanda Vista Tower and the $500 million One Bennett Park Tower. There were 10 multifamily projects valued at $100 million or more that reached groundbreaking in 2016, compared to 5 such projects in 2015. Office construction grew 22% in 2016, aided by the start of a $255 million data center in Aurora IL plus two Chicago projects the $250 million McDonalds headquarters and the $225 million CNA Financial headquarters. Warehouse construction increased 63%, boosted by the start of the $95 million M&M/Mars Wrigley Distribution Center in Joliet IL. On the negative side, declines in 2016 were reported for hotels, down 45%; commercial garages, down 34%; and stores, down 3%.

The Washington DC metropolitan area climbed 35% in 2016, with commercial building up 56% and multifamily housing up 20%. Much of the lift for commercial building came from an 87% jump for office construction, which featured 7 projects valued at $100 million or more, led by the $300 million 655 New York Avenue office building. the $220 million Four Constitution Square office building, and the $200 million addition to the Fannie Mae office building. The hotel category advanced 113%, helped by the $140 million CityCenter DC Conrad Hotel (phase 2) and the $106 million hotel portion of the $230 million Columbia Place hotel/multifamily complex. Garage construction rose 44% in 2016, but construction start declines were reported for stores, down 14%; and warehouses, down 41%. The 20% increase for multifamily housing featured 9 projects valued at $100 million or more, including $263 million for phase 1 of The Boro at Tysons in Tysons Corner VA and the $228 million Eisenhower East apartment development in Alexandria VA.

After soaring 56% in 2015, the Dallas-Ft. Worth TX metropolitan area registered an additional 16% gain for commercial and multifamily construction starts in 2016, with commercial building up 13% and multifamily housing up 22%. Office construction increased 31%, reflecting $293 million for the office portion of the $500 million Toyota Corporate Campus project in Plano, $194 million for the office portion of the $300 million JP Morgan Chase operations center in Plano, and $133 million for the office portion of a $300 million mixed-use development in Dallas. Hotel construction climbed 33%, helped by the $85 million Texas Live! convention center hotel, while garage construction advanced 37% with $106 million for the garage portion of the JP Morgan Chase operations center and $87 million for the garage portion of the Toyota Corporate Campus project. Store construction starts grew a moderate 6% in 2016, but warehouse starts fell 34%. As for multifamily housing, there were 5 projects valued at $100 million or more that reached groundbreaking in 2016, including the $160 million multifamily portion of the $240 million Drever mixed-use project in Dallas.

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Commercial and Multifamily Construction Starts in 2016 Rise in Most of the Top US Metropolitan Areas - Construction.com

Low interest rates, strong job growth and a dearth of construction have combined to create a prolific market for office building investments in South Florida over the past five years.

But some real estate analysts predict the frenzy will fade in 2017, derailed by economics and a sense of inevitability.

Since the commercial sector started to rebound in 2012, institutional investors have made close to 300 deals for Class A office buildings in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, according to figures from Real Capital Analytics compiled by Colliers International South Florida.

The firm tracked buildings worth more than $2.5 million and bigger than 75,000 square feet.

In 2016, investors spent $1.9 billion on 23 towers in Miami-Dade, while 19 Broward buildings sold for $984 million, the data show. Both dollar amounts are the highest of any year during the recovery, and some of the regions most prestigious towers have traded hands in the period.

The 1.1 million-square-foot Southeast Financial Center in Miami sold in November for $516.6 million, while the 408,079-square-foot Las Olas City Centre in downtown Fort Lauderdale fetched $220 million in September.

Palm Beach Countys signature sale happened in 2015 when the 423,323-square-foot Phillips Point complex commanded a $245.5 million price tag.

Tom Capocefalo, senior managing director for the Savills Studley brokerage in Miami, said the economic bounce-back led to business expansions that required more office space.

Broward ended 2016 with office vacancies at 11.1 percent, the lowest in eight years, according to Colliers. Among the newly signed leases: Liberty Power Corp. and State Farm Insurance combined for 56,000 square feet at the 185,000-square-foot Hotwire Technology Center in Fort Lauderdale.

Shrinking vacancies eventually pushed rents higher -- along with building values.

As real estate and the economy have improved, theres been a demand for office space, and theres very little of it being developed, Capocefalo said. Landlords are saying, This is an attractive time to sell and take my profits.

No significant office construction occurred in South Florida during the recession. What little available land is left will go toward housing, Capocefalo said, making it unlikely that the region will see many new office buildings in the coming years.

While that scenario bodes well for existing landlords, other factors threaten to undermine the office sales sector, market observers say.

Alex Zylberglait, a managing director for Marcus & Millichap, said rising interest rates in recent months will soften the market. Higher borrowing costs boost capitalization rates, putting a damper on pricing, he said.

Scott ODonnell, an executive director for investment sales at Cushman & Wakefield, said hes already noticed a change in the buying landscape.

As the market becomes stronger, and the absorption fills up the vacant spaces, there are fewer buyers across the spectrum, he said. Its a more difficult marketing process.

As the end of the first quarter of 2017 approaches, the Colliers data show all three South Florida counties are on pace to fall short of last years sales prices.

Miami-Dades two sales so far have totaled just $39.6 million, while four buildings in Palm Beach County have sold for $65.1 million. Broward has one sale for $86.75 million.

You cant have this run-up forever, said Jonathan Kingsley, an executive vice president at Colliers. At some point, it has to slow.

Still, Christian Lee, of the CBRE firm, said he remains bullish on the investment sales market because few major metropolitan areas nationwide have so little office construction compared to projected absorption as South Florida.

Lee said he has more listings now than he did a year ago, and higher interest rates have made the cost of borrowing only marginally higher.

He said major institutional investors surveyed at a recent capital markets symposium in Phoenix indicated that acquisitions remain a major part of their strategy.

I think the market is poised for a strong year on the investment side, he said.

Powers@Sun-Sentinel.com, 561-243-6529 or Twitter @PaulOwers

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Office market robust, but is a slowdown looming? - Sun Sentinel

Dive Brief:

Clark Construction started work on the 460,000-square-foot Frost Tower project earlier this month, and developer Weston Urban said it plans more future building in the downtown area.

San Antonio officials have previously said that they hope projects like Frost Tower will jumpstart development downtown, and they are not alone.Cities across the country are looking away from the suburbs and toward their cores, providing an incoming flow of residents with increasing live-work-play options.

This is particularly true for many baby boomers, whose children have left the nest and who are now ready to move downtown for a vibrant, urban retirement. Millennials, however, are the main draw for large companies who want to capitalize on that group's skills and their desire to live in a walkable city environment close to where they work.

San Antonio can certainly look to Chicago for inspiration. That city's affordability, along with cultural activities and opportunities for socialization, have drawn corporations like Caterpillar, McDonald's, Kraft Heinz and ConAgra, all ready to capitalize on the millennials graduating from area universities and colleges and O'Hare International Airport, which provides global access to clients.

The office building segment is expected to stand out this year, as Dodge Data & Analytics predicted the office sector will see the strongest surge in starts of any other segment of commercial construction this year.

Continued here:
San Antonio to add 1M square feet of office space with 3 new projects - Construction Dive

In an effort to compete with modern office buildings, which are packed with luxury amenities, many older properties have had to undergo significant renovations to maintain occupancy and attract new companies. As employees unchain themselves from their desks and cubicles, demanding an improved work/life balance and room to roam, properties have already spent or plan to spend $71M on capital improvements.

New office construction deliveries will spike in 2017, to matchDenver's 25% employmentgrowth. The city also ranks No. 11 fortotal office inventory in the U.S. In the Denver central business district, JLLreported 1.45M SF of new, Class-A construction in Q4 2016. The remaining supply is dated.

Which types of upgrades make the biggest impact on tenants? JLL senior vice president Andy Ross has identified five key improvements that buildings are making to stay competitive.

Courtesy of JLL

First impressions are important. Offices that invest in brighter, more open and more accommodating entry areas can help prospective tenants fully imagine occupying the building. In LoDo, 17th Street Plaza updatedits two-story lobby with bright walls, lighting, high-tech security and high-speed elevators. The plaza matched the cosmetic changes with an award-winning concierge on the ground floor, keeping tenants up to date with the latest building events or helping them plan a company gathering in the plaza's numerous shared spaces. Buildings also have taken advantage of rooftop space, creating landscaped terraces for the entire building and providing another area for tenants duringthe workday. Shared office space promotes spontaneous interaction, a popular goal for work productivity.

Larger companies often have to rent space in nearby hotels to accommodate all of their employees for a meeting. Others look for space to break into smaller groups. Newer office buildings tout roomsthat can seat upward of 100 people or be broken into smaller, more intimate work areas. New conference rooms are also equipped with amenities like flat-screen TVs, conference phones and built-in audiovisual technology.

The influx of younger professionals in the workforce has brought a renewed interest in fitness. As the typical 9-to-5 business becomes outdated, it has become harder to havedaily workouts. Office fitness centers provide a convenient way to stay healthy without traveling out of the way or paying a steep membership fee. Building owners have incorporated showers and lockers into these facilities, making it easier to maintain work/life balance.

In 2016, Denver began its B-cycle bike sharing program, offering residents a cheaper, healthier commute. It has been successful, with 47% of the B-cycle rides last year replacing vehicle trips, according to the Denver Post. While many Class-A office buildings offer covered parking spaces for cars, an increasing number have secure, climate-controlled bike storage rooms to accommodate this new type of commuter.

Consistent, high-speed WiFi can make or break an office building. Tenants want to be able to read anemail on their phone going into an elevator and have it sent to the recipient by the time they get out, all without a dip in service. Ever-present WiFi keeps tenants mobile, letting them get their work done in communal spaces without being confined to their desks.

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Five Capital Improvements Denver Office Buildings Can Make To Stay Competitive With New Construction - Bisnow

San Francisco Examiner

30 Van Ness sale returns to help fund new city-owned office building San Francisco Examiner San Francisco moved closer to building a new $440 million office building at Mission and 11th streets Thursday with the approvals for the sales of other city-owned parcels that would fund the project. Most notably, the sale of 30 Van Ness Ave., which ...

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30 Van Ness sale returns to help fund new city-owned office building - San Francisco Examiner

Thursday night, a fire broke out in an under-construction apartment building at the site of the former Greyhound Terminal in downtown Raleigh. The building that caught fire, Metropolitan Apartments, is owned and developed by Chicago-based Banner Apartments and was designed by JDavis Architects, an architectural firm in Raleigh.*

Raleigh Fire and Police Department personnel responded to the 400 block of W. North Street in connection with a multi-alarm fire, said Laura Hourigan of the Raleigh Police Departments Public Affairs office.The main building that is engulfed is currently under construction. Preliminary information is that there are no injuries.

The fire spread to two neighboring buildings. A construction crane has also fallen as result of the fire.

We had a little fire on the roof that was burning, said Steven Holloman from the Raleigh Fire Department as he pointed at the First Baptist Church. [The fire] started due to insulation from the fire.

The building is owned by Banner Apartments, which owns another apartment complex downtown. Metropolitan Apartments was a $52 million development, according to the Triangle Business Journal.

We saw it on Twitter so we decided to come out here, said Jonathan Glover, a junior studying accounting. It looked a lot bigger on Twitter, in the pictures.

I agree, said Morgan Truesdale, a witness on the scene.

The Raleigh Police Department is on the scene and have the surrounding streets blocked off. Nearby buildings have been evacuated.

Do you hear those explosions? said Officer Brian Scioli of the Raleigh Police Department, as he attempted to push the crowd away from the scene. There are power lines coming down.

The intersection between Hillsborough and McDowell Streets two blocks from State Capitol is closed and covered in ash and soot. The intersection of Editon and Dawson streets is also closed. In the area around the corner of McDowell and Jones Streets there is no power.

I overheard an officer say its low, its not out yet, but its a whole lot better than it was, said Cody Justus, a sophomore studying plant and soil sciences. When I asked the officers, they didnt elaborate further.

According to Steve Newton of the Wake County Emergency Management Shelter, shelter for those evacuated due to the fire has been opened at the Church of the Good Shepherd at 125 Hillsborough Street.

A few of our members are with emergency management, thats how we found out about this, said Cameron Clement of Raleigh Off Road, a local club. The club is currently taking donations for those affected by the fire, as well as handing out blankets and water.

A livestream from WRAL can be found here.

This story will be updated as information becomes available.

*Editor's Note: This article originally inaccurately identified JDavis Architects as the constructors of MetropolitanApartments.

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Multi-alarm fire burns through construction site in downtown Raleigh - N.C. State University Technician Online

DURHAM -- The office campuses in Durhams Research Triangle Park are often monolithic and uninviting, but nonprofit research giant RTI International is aiming to make its campus more accessible to the public with its newest office building.

Already under construction, the new office building will be the largest on RTIs campus, standing six stories tall with 190,000 square feet of space. The organization officially completed the steel framing of the building Wednesday and used the occasion to detail its plans for the building, which will provide workspace for around 670 of its 2,200 employees based in RTP.

The building will cost $60 million.

RTI President and Chief Executive Officer Wayne Holden described the new building as the organizations public face.

This building is going to help us not just bring our staff together on this campus, but also interface with the public and other organizations, he said. ... There is going to be a heritage area that allows the public to come interact with what RTI is and learn more about it.

We are also going to change the way you get into campus, so that there is a public access road that people can come in on and have that experience of interacting with us, so we can be part of a facilitator and a magnet for the park.

The first two floors of the building will be used as interactive space, including areas for meetings and collaborations as well as a coffee bar and a 300-person cafeteria. A four-story parking deck is also being built with 650 spaces.

The sprawling campus, which will have 22 buildings upon the completion of the newest construction, has not had a centrally-located area for employees to collaborate previously and a goal of the building is to create more creative interactions between RTI employees.

Duda Paine Architects is designing the building and interiors, and DPR Construction is constructing the building. Stewart Inc. is providing the civil engineering and landscape designs.

The building is expected to be finished in early 2018, a year that coincides with the 60th anniversary of the founding of the organization. RTI was started in 1958 with support from the North Carolina government as well as education and business leaders, and the research nonprofit still maintains close ties with N.C. State University, Duke University, N.C. Central University and UNC-Chapel Hill.

Its been an active year for RTI, which started off 2017 by acquiring two different firms: Washington, D.C.-based International Resources Group (IRG) and Colorado-based Riverside Technology Inc.

Holden told The Herald-Sun in January that RTI was likely to make more moves in 2017 a testament to the organizations steady growth over the past few years.

Over the last five years, in comparison to some of our competitors across the country, we have continued to grow at a pretty good rate, Holden said. We have done pretty well despite some of the challenges that we have had to deal with. ... We've got resources and we are able to use those resource pools to do acquisitions (and) to bring in other groups.

Part of those challenges stemmed from decreases in federal funding that occurred during the U.S. budget sequestration in 2013. RTI gets a large majority of its funding from research contracts with the U.S. government though it has been working to diversify its revenue flows, especially as more cuts are expected under President Donald Trumps administration.

I think it is starting to become clearer which parts of the federal government are going to have more significant cuts across time, Holden said. What helped us over the last several years is we have a very diversified federal portfolio across lots of different parts of the government.

We are figuring out what parts of (the federal government) are going to prosper and also how we can continue to diversify our partnerships and resources outside of the federal government in the commercial sector, in foreign government funding ... and the foundation and (non-governmental organization) sector as well.

RTI employs around 4,700 employees around the world and had $885 million in revenue in 2016, which was up 6.4 percent from 2015.

Zachery Eanes: 919-419-6684, @zeanes

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RTI International's new six-story office tower will be the 'public face' of the company - Durham Herald Sun

The Architectural Leagues Emerging Voices award and lecture series spotlight individuals and firms with distinct design voices thathave the potential to influence the discipline of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. The jury, composed of SunilBald, Mario Gooden, Lisa Gray, Paul Lewis, Jing Liu, Thomas Phifer, Bradley Samuels, Billie Tsien, and Ian Volner, selected architectsand designers who have significant bodies of realized work that creatively address larger issues in the built environment.

The Architects Newspaper featured theEmerging Voices firms in our February issue;stay tuned as we upload those articles to our website over the coming weeks.The firm featured below (Portland, Oregonbased LEVER Architecture)will deliver its lecture on March 16, 2017, at The Architecture League in New York City. Click here to learn more!

Architect Thomas Robinson kick-started his career with Joseph Esherick, the architect best known for designing the Hedgerow Houses at Sea Ranch, California, followed by stints leading institutional and cultural projects at Herzog & de Meuron in Switzerland and Allied Works in Oregon. In 2009, Robinson, a graduate of UC Berkeley and later Harvard (studying under Peter Zumthor), decided to branch out on his own, launching LEVER Architecture from his Portland basement.

Over the past eight years, his firm has grown to 18 employees. A winner of the USDAs U.S. Tall Wood Building Prize, LEVER Architecture has found a niche working with cross-laminated timber (CLT). Timber is often hidden away, Robinson said. Wewant [timber] to be part of a greater architectural experience. While mass timber construction isnt newaccording to Robinson it has been around since the 1930sthere is a rediscovering and understanding of the technology coupled with modern advances in fire safety, seismic engineering, and acoustics that has made it more feasible.

Framework is a 12-story mixed-use building that is expected to be one of the first tall timber structures in the world. (Courtesy LEVER Architecture)

LEVER Architecture is currently working on a 90,000-square-foot, 12-story CLT high-rise in Portland. The project, Framework, incorporates a wood-core structure. When completed in 2018, it is expected to be the first mass-timber high-rise in the United States. The design relies on a post-tension CLT rocking wall, which, as Robinson explained, is aresilient low-damage design that takes advantage of the lightness and strength of wood. Wood moves and can re-center itself, he said.

Other recent LEVER projects also feature mass timber: There is Albina Yard, the first office buildingin the U.S. built with domestically manufactured CLT (LEVER Architecture recently moved its offices to this four-story, 16,000-square-foot building), and LAngolo Estate, a winery tasting room in Newberg, Oregon.

Albina Yard is the first office building in the U.S. built with domestically manufactured CLT. )(Courtesy Jeremy Bittermann)

At the core, Robinson explained that LEVERs design projects are about the transformative power of materials. Its almost akin to product design at the level of a building.

With funding from the National Science Foundation and a $1.8 million grant through the U.S. Tall WoodBuilding Prize, LEVER is implementing a performance-based design process throughout its projects. The grants help pay for additional research costs to demonstrate that CLT high-rise buildings are equivalent to traditional steel construction.

Treehouse is a six-story residential building clad in metal panels that fit into its wooded context. (Courtesy Lara Swimmer)

LEVER advocates mass timber as a more sustainable way of building while encouraging economic growth in the Pacific Northwest. We look to the farm-to-table model, where people are connected more directly to the producer, Robinson said. Translated from the culinary scene to the architecture world, the forest-to-frame approach is about building stronger relationships between architects, contractors, and the people growing the timber.

We focus on simple materials and how to put them together to form transformative experiences, Robinson said. Were interested in an economy of means. Its rare being both at the cutting edge and having a seat at the table.

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Two-and-a-half years ago, Columbia County Supervisor Andy Ross of Poynette let out a quiet whoop as Supervisor Susanna Bradley of the town of Caledonia cast the 21st and deciding yes vote on a $45.51 million building project the biggest in county history.

On Wednesday, Ross walked the hallways cluttered with construction materials of the two-story Health and Human Services Building, and reflected.

I always expected that Id be here someday, he said, and that these buildings would look as good as they do.

Most of the 28 county supervisors, and some of the countys department heads, got an inside look at the nearly completed three-story Administration Building and the HHS building, which is on the other side of the Portage Canal.

The structures are connected by an enclosed walkway that, on Wednesday, had more traffic than usual, though construction workers have been using it for months.

As County Board Chairman Vern Gove of Portage sat down at a table in the County Boards new meeting room in the Admin Building for a sub sandwich lunch provided by J.H. Findorff and Sons, the firm managing the buildings construction he declined to speculate as to whether the County Board might hold its first meeting in the space in June or July.

Theyd better, said Supervisor Kirk Konkel of Portage, because all of the countys departments, including the courts, need to be out of the courthouse at 400 DeWitt St. by July 10.

Non-court-related departments will start moving out of the Courthouse and the Annex at 120 W. Conant St. in May, and are expected to be settled in sometime in June.

The HHS Building wont be occupied by HHS (except for HHSs accounting and public health divisions) right away. It will be the temporary courthouse, while the courthouse undergoes renovations so it can be used for court-related purposes only.

County Clerk Susan Molls first-floor office in the Administration Building didnt look move-in ready yet. But its definitely taking shape.

Moll showed supervisors the counter and adjacent waiting area, where the public can go to obtain services from the clerks office, such as marriage licenses.

The clerks office itself will be for employees only, and Moll said she likes what she sees.

My staff will be along those windows, she said, and my office will be over there in the corner.

The Administration Building has plenty of windows, but not all the vistas are glorious.

The tall, vertical windows of the County Board room, for example, look out onto the backs of buildings on East Edgewater Street.

Boy, you cant say that the County Board set itself up in a room with a scenic view, Ross deadpanned.

But Supervisor Jo Ann Wingers of the town of Courtland saw only one thing when she walked into the new County Board room, and she liked it.

We have windows! Its fantastic! she exclaimed.

Thats not all there is to like about the space, Gove said.

It includes moveable walls, so that the room can be divided into smaller meeting rooms that are still more spacious and conveniently located than many of the rooms where County Board committees meet now.

And, he said, the County Board room will be furnished with the latest in technology, including video screens and a machine to tell how each supervisor voted on each issue.

All our votes will be roll-call votes, he said.

Steve Klaven, Findorff general project manager, said the buildings technological features will be among their many assets.

I think youre going to have counties (officials) coming from all over to see them, he said. This is going to be a landmark project, I think.

County Board Vice Chairwoman Mary Cupery of the town of Fort Winnebago observed that seeing the structures interior was, for her, an eye-opener.

With all the floor plans and blueprints, she said, you cant imagine it until you see it.

Follow Lyn Jerde on Twitter @LynJerde

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Supervisors get inside view of new Columbia County buildings - WiscNews