Visual Architects x Street Dreams Mag
Visual Architects: A Social Photography Exhibit showcasing the work of over 20 talented visionary artists from the best of mobile photography. Thanks to all those that came out and special...
By: iZZi GADGETS
See the article here:
Visual Architects x Street Dreams Mag - Video
Washington, DC (PRWEB) December 09, 2014
Demonstrating the creativity and forward-thinking of OTJ Architects, the architecture and interior design firm received the Award of Excellence for a confidential technology company office at the Best of NAIOP Northern Virginia Awards banquet held at the Ritz-Carlton in Tysons Corner, VA. According to NAIOP, the ceremony was an opportunity to celebrate significant new and renovated contributions to Northern Virginia by the commercial, industrial and mixed-use real estate community.
Brett Hartle, OTJs Senior Project Manager/Architect on the technology companys project, accepted the award on OTJ Architects behalf. Additional team members included Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. and DPR Construction.
The tech firm, comprised of 22,173 SF, had a design concept aimed at creating an invigorating, open-plan space to inspire collaboration, fostering an enriching employee experience and embodying the clients ethos of creativity and innovation. Special attention was paid to meshing the companys culture into the design to allow for recruitment and retention of the best and brightest employees.
The most enjoyable part about this project was working with our client to explore new ways to think about collaborative work space that fosters bold, creative and innovative thinking in the digital arena, Hartle said. Our client entrusted us with a clear vision, and we worked hard to articulate that into a design that captured the essence of who they aspire to be.
Through various types and sizes of scrum gathering areas, meeting spaces and huddle rooms, employees have the flexibility to choose where and how to work. A hot house was created where three teams could expand and contract to support different meeting sizes and the desired collaborative environment. Mobile benching stations and expanded floor outlets allow for maximum growth and occupancy.
Since the company conducts product research and development, incorporating technology was a key design driver. Appropriate security and anonymity were required for visitors invited to the space to test products.
The open plan also required deliberate visual and acoustical privacy solutions by integrating quiet pods and hard walled phone rooms. Each pod features video teleconferencing, custom barn doors and writeable surfaces integrated into the wood slats. They are also fully enclosed above for acoustical privacy. Additionally, ceiling clouds absorb noise pollution while ambient music plays as opposed to white noise. Directly adjacent to each pod is a scrum area with integrated technology in the table and monitors mounted outside the pod.
Bringing the outdoors inside, a dual-side green wall is featured in reception and adjacent to the designers studio. The designers studio doubles as a workspace and display area with movable millwork, collapsible glass partitions and integrated technology, once again reinforcing the flexibility of the office.
We specifically blurred the lines between work space and social gathering space that provide a workplace comfortable to a new generation of digital workers, Hartle said. The success of this departments renovation has now become the design paradigm of innovative and collaborative workspace within the organizations digital group as it is constantly evolving to stay ahead of the curve.
Read more from the original source:
OTJ Architects Tech Company Project Presented NAIOP Northern Virginia Award of Excellence
In 2015, Serpentine Galleries will celebrate its 15th anniversary of the world-renowned Pavilion commission. The Serpentine Pavilion has become an international site for architectural experimentation, and it has housed temporary structures by some of the most well-known architects.
Serpentine Galleries recently announced that Spanish architects SelgasCano will design the 2015 Serpentine Pavilion, which is located on the Serpentines lawn in Londons Kensington Gardens. Founded by Jos Selgas and Luca Cano, SelgasCano is the first Spanish architecture firm to be asked to design the temporary Pavilion, which will feature a flexible, multipurpose space with a cafe that will be open throughout the summer of 2015. This will be the firms first new structure in the UK, and plans for the Pavilion will be released in February 2015.
SelgasCano are architects for our time who offer a tantalizing vision of the future, says Julia Peyton-Jones, director, and Hans Ulrich Obrist, co-director of Serpentine Galleries. Their innovative use of materials and bold application of color, informed by playfulness and a passion for nature, ensures that next summers Pavilion will be very exciting. They are the perfect choice to celebrate the Pavilions 15th anniversary.
Known for its use of synthetic materials, SelgasCanos design will follow Smiljan Radis 2014 Pavilion. Other architects who have previously designed pavilions include Sou Fujimoto, 2013; Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei, 2012; Frank Gehry, 2008; Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond, with Arup, 2006; Oscar Niemeyer, 2003; Daniel Libeskind with Arup, 2001; and Zaha Hadid, 2000.
Here is the original post:
Spanish Architects SelgasCano to Design 15th Serpentine Pavilion
Architects and Fort Morgan school district officials are in the midst of discussions that will define what the new middle school will look like.
With funds available, there is a lot to discuss and several details to go over. But as the meetings commence, we take a look at what these groups are thinking about.
Two architecture firms hired to design the new middle school, Wold Architects and Engineers and Larson Incitti Architects, accompanied the small Design Advisory Committee (DAG) on three tours of Colorado middle schools to generate ideas. Based on those tours, DAG members made notes of what they would like to see. The two most talked about elements were a "pod" school design and a "cafetorium".
Job Gutierrez with Wold said a "pod" middle school concept looks to divide classes by team, placing them in distinct parts of the building. Gutierrez said middle school classes are generally sixth, seventh and eighth grades, and each class is divided in two teams. A new pod middle school would have space to accommodate each group, Gutierrez said.
DAG members also discussed a cafetorium, space that could be utilized as a cafeteria and an auditorium. Gutierrez said the benefit of the cafetorium is that it diversifies the building, making it a place the community can use as well. Although DAG members generally liked the cafetorium concept, they discussed pros and cons of specific layouts, like whether or not there should be fixed seating. Notes also revealed DAG members thought a clear distinct stage should be in the cafetorium.
Gutierrez said the DAG took note of "unified arts" programs, which would require designated space for individualized learning experiences.
"It's a flexible classroom with small group individual learning," he said.
The space wouldn't affect the shop program, but would allow space for students to study special interests, like music production, robotics, etc.
DAG members and the architects continue having discussions of middle school designs on entryways, locker layout and much more. The school district plans to hold community meetings in the future for community members to provide feedback to the design of a new middle school.
Zachary Laux: 970-867-5651, zlaux@fmtimes.com or Twitter @FTMorganEditor
View post:
Design committee talks middle school
It's not Abercrombie & Fitch, but it's a start.
Downtown Allentown developer City Center Investment Corp. announced Monday that it has signed business services and printing company Minuteman Press to occupy 2,000 square feet of retail space in its 11-story Two City Center office tower at Seventh and Hamilton streets.
The office services store is unlikely to rival the late Hess's as a Christmas shopping destination any time soon, but it is the first non-restaurant retail tenant City Center or any other downtown developer has announced for any of the downtown properties being developed or rehabbed along Hamilton Street.
"We always knew retailers, just by their nature, are kind of followers," said J.B. Reilly, City Center CEO. "They want to see the development in place before they commit."
The city's Neighborhood Improvement Zone tax incentive zone has added hundreds of new office workers and several new restaurants to Allentown's central business district, but so far, other forms of retail, especially national brand name stores, have been slow to follow.
That's about to change, Reilly promised.
"The interest in our retail is exploding, in that 2015 my expectation is that downtown Allentown will become a retail destination," he said.
The downtown will never return to its department store heyday, he said, but it will become a place that draws shoppers looking for "authentic shopping experiences."
"You're not going to have a department store downtown, nobody is building department stores anywhere anymore," he said.
City Center, which controls 60,000 square feet of retail space in its various properties both open and under construction, is in final discussions with a number of "unique quality retailers" Reilly said he expects to announce as tenants within the next two to three months.
Continued here:
Allentown's City Center inks first retail tenant
A GREEN space which form the centrepiece to a multi-million pound housing plan in west Rhyl is taking shape.
After months clearing and levelling the site, turf is now being laid down for green space in the heart of the Gerddi Heulwen regeneration area in West Rhyl this week.
Homes on Gronant Street, Aquarium Street, John Street and Abbey Street are being demolished to make way for housing as well as leisure and office or retail space.
The green space project is being led by Denbighshire Council and the work is being carried out by Brenig Construction.
Cllr Hugh Evans, leader of Denbighshire Council, said: "The green open space, along with the surrounding Gerddi Heulwen Housing Improvement Scheme, is one of the most significant housing-led regeneration schemes in Wales.
"Once completed, it will create a vibrant community where families and businesses wish to settle and grow and will benefit from new energy efficient homes, green open space and new shops.
"It will be integral to the regeneration of Rhyl as a town."
Clwyd Alyn Housing Association, part of the Pennaf Housing Group, has now received planning permission for demolition and to create new-build affordable homes for sale and rent along Gronant Street and Abbey Street.
North Wales Housing Association is also working in partnership with the West Rhyl Community Land Trust to offer an urban rental opportunity for two and three-bed family homes which are due to go before the council's planning committee on Wednesday.
The Welsh Government is also in discussion with private developers to also create additional homes for sale in the area.
Link:
Green space at heart of Rhyl housing development is taking shape
OLEAN The long-awaited return of economic activity to dormant industrial land in north Olean inched forward Monday.
The Olean Planning Board took little action that evening on plans for an approximate $17 million redevelopment project submitted by Krog Corp. through its limited liability company, Olean Gateway, for 1404-1406 Buffalo St.
During the boards two-hour meeting, Krog Corp. representatives made a brief presentation the project. Their presentation was followed by board members going through the project application line-by-line for about an hour-and-a-half. At the end of their review, the board began a process to serve as the lead agency completing an environmental review of the project. A SEQR (state environmental quality review) is required for all major construction projects in New York.
Krog Corp., an Orchard Park-based development firm, plans a five-phase project for the almost 60-acre lot. Major elements of the project include the construction of a four-story hotel and neighboring retail complex comprising five buildings. HK Olean Hotel LLC is overseeing the hotels construction and development, while Olean Gateway LLC is overseeing retail complex component of the project. Both limited liability companies fall under Krog Corp.s umbrella.
Krog Corp. representatives focused their presentation on the projects first phase building the hotel and some of the retail spaces, as well as a restaurant. In addition they discussed their planned construction of a new city street leading into the property at the intersection of Buffalo Street and Constitution Avenue, and the installation of new water and sewer utility lines. Other aspects of the project include putting in new sidewalks and a driveway for the neighboring Verizon building.
We dont have any specific tenants yet for the spaces and its premature to discuss any (hotel chains) looking at the hotel, Chris Wood, an engineer from Carmina-Wood-Morris, the Buffalo-based architectural firm designing the project.
Arnie Cubins, a senior project manager from Krog Corp., told the Times Herald after the meeting that his company is currently taking with several retailers interested in leasing space.
Construction is targeted for a May start and would take most of the next year, should the project garner all the approvals it needs from local and state authorities. The remaining four phases would be completed by 2020.
During actual construction, Krog Corp. would put the new city road in and eventually, deed it back to the city, Mr. Wood said.
The hotel and retail complex is the first major project at the site, which has sat unused for decades. The Buffalo Street property is part of the citys brownfields, a 500-acre former industrial area abutting Interstate 86 in North Olean where contamination has impeded redevelopment.
See the rest here:
Board hears plans for hotel, retail plaza in citys brownfields
December 8, 2014, 11:24 PM Last updated: Monday, December 8, 2014, 11:41 PM
After years of staying behind the scenes, the developer of the mega-entertainment and shopping complex American Dream stepped onto the big stage Monday in New York. As a list of major, committed tenants and other details of the project surfaced over the weekend, Triple Five Group made sales pitches to other potential tenants for the untried retail concept at the International Council of Shopping Centers annual retail convention.
Triple Five, based in Edmonton, Alberta, paid to have the American Dream logo pasted on the entrances of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, and signed on as a corporate sponsor of the convention. Its booth at the event features flat-screen televisions that flash artists renderings of the Meadowlands project as well as promotional materials. Triple Five also took an ad in the convention program with the words Shop American Dream. Opening Holiday 2016.
Related: Retail giants lining up, American Dream says
In a status update on the project, Triple Five listed by name 50 retailers such as Victorias Secret and Gap as committed to American Dream, and said it had letters of intent to lease from 155 retailers and 93 completed leases from unspecified retailers. Yet despite the raised profile, a spokeswoman at the Triple Five booth Monday said the developer was not doing any press interviews about the project.
Even as Triple Five rolled out its tenant list for American Dream, there are lingering doubts that the project will get off the ground, given the history of failed retail ventures at the Meadowlands. Commitments to the project are not necessarily signed contracts. Opinions among the real estate executives interviewed at the convention Monday were evenly divided about whether the complex rising next to MetLife Stadium is a sure thing or a tough sell.
However, North Jersey real estate brokers agreed that American Dream is different enough to not affect deals they have in the works, even though the project is looking to sign several hundred retailers.
North Jersey brokers said they are seeing high demand, and even bidding wars, for prime locations in retail categories, from downtowns to freestanding stores, to shopping centers. This years convention drew 9,500 attendees, a record number, and almost 2,000 more than last year, a sign, brokers said, of the strength of the retail sector.
But even in a booming market, American Dream could be a tough sell, some brokers said. One particular problem is that retailers have heard a sales pitch before for a mall in the Meadowlands.
Now they have to be resold, said New York broker Faith Hope Consolo, who does deals with the types of luxury and fashion retailers Triple Five is hoping to land. She noted that Triple Five is the third developer to pitch the project in the past 11 years. Reselling is harder than selling, she said. Retailers have heard the pitches but have also seen the shell of the former Xanadu version of the mall sit empty, Consolo said.
Read more from the original source:
American Dream pushes its vision at retail convention
Brand awareness is key for the companies that bring products to market for the commercial interiors industry. In the 2014 Contract Brand Report Awareness Survey, conducted by Aspen Media & Market Research, Contract readers were asked: Tell us your top three favorite brands in each of 32 categories.
This online survey utilized a random sample of Contract magazine subscribers, and 410 respondents participated. Due to the breadth of the survey, not all respondents answered every category. As a quality control, respondents were double screened (by list identification and self-reported occupation/company affiliation) to restrict participants to either an architectural or design function in one of four types of companies: architectural firm, design firm, firm providing both architectural and design services, or corporate architectural or design function not affiliated with an industry manufacturing or distribution company.
Respondents were instructed to respond only to categories with which they have familiarity. All responses were unaided. To ensure responses were unbiased, no brand name prompts or lists were provided. Responses were tabulated and reported by each category as a total, and by architect, designer, both, or other.
This survey provides a statistically valid comparison of results for the 2014 Contract Brand Report Awareness Survey with an overall margin of error of +/- 5.0 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.
Go here to read the rest:
2014 Contract Brand Report
The application deadline for the city of Auroras Single Family Home Restoration Program has been extended to Jan. 16.
The program, which reduces housing density of older neighborhoods by encouraging residents to restore their homes to their original intended use, provides forgivable loans of up to $30,000 to remove additional apartment units created in structures which were originally built as single-family residences. It covers hundreds of older Aurora homes that were subdivided after World War II.
Since 1994, the program has funded approximately 140 projects and removed over 200 units. The program is an incentive that will subsidize 90 percent of costs specific to returning a subdivided house back to single-family usage.
A maximum of three units are allowed for subsidy at $10,000 maximum subsidy per unit. Program funds can be used for engineering/architecture, building and planning fees, and construction costs related to a unit reconversion project.
Homes that receive program benefits can never again be divided or rented. The city is currently accepting program applications through 5 p.m. Jan. 16. Application packages are available on the city of Aurora website at: http://www.aurora-il.org under Quick Links. An application package and supporting materials are required.
Applications will be competitively ranked, and awards will be made in February.
recent articles
Hart to head Will County Forest Preserve District Board
New audiologist at Dreyer
Kaneland seeks public input on new superintendent
Go here to read the rest:
Aurora extends deadline for home restoration program
