Archinect - News

BIG’s new LA office tops out science center at Claremont McKenna College

2024-05-30T11:45:00-04:00

A topping-out ceremony was held recently for the new BIG-designed 135,000-square-foot Robert Day Sciences Center at Claremont McKenna College in California. The new campus gateway — one of the first projects of BIG's new Los Angeles office — seeks to enhance the college's research aims into neurology, genealogical studies, and climate change in preparation for an institutional turn towards its "next chapter."

Classrooms, lab spaces, and an open, column-free auditorium space are contained in each rotated rectangular block volume, complemented on the outside by rooftop terraces and public plaza areas "The Mall," "Art Square," and "Sciences Garden." BIG expects their design to be completed in 2025. It offers a worthy comparison to their previous Business Innovation Hub design at UMass Amherst and is on track for a LEED Gold certification.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group (@big_builds)

Zaha Hadid Architects' XRL Topside Development construction reaches roof level in Hong Kong

2024-05-28T18:25:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has posted a new construction update on its forthcoming XRL Topside Development at the Hong Kong High-Speed Rail West Kowloon Terminus.

The project, which adds 3.2 million square feet of civic, office, and retail spaces above the existing train station, includes two pairs of towers connecting with a large landscaped central plaza area and a sculptural pavilion, each designed to resemble flower pedals and located at either end of the site.

Rendering: Superview, image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects

Rendering: Atchain, image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects

Construction has now progressed to the roof level of the new structures. The firm says they are targeting a LEED Platinum certification as well as other industry credentials for sustainability on the development, which also yields a total of 100,000 square feet of garden terraces.

Rendering: Atchain, image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects

Rendering: Hayes Davidson, image courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects

UBS is said to...

MAD updates construction progress on Hainan Science Museum before 2025 debut

2024-05-28T16:56:00-04:00

Ma Yansong/MAD Architects has posted a construction update for the Hainan Science Museum in China ahead of its anticipated 2025 opening. The vertically spiraling design works to combat the phenomenon of museum fatigue, appearing as though an emerging cloud bank while distributing spaces efficiently across five floors and a total of 46,530 square meters (500,800 square feet).

This will form a key part of the site's cultural component, contrasting the many sports stadium designs that surround it in coastal Haikou National Wetland Park. It mirrors MAD's previous efforts on the Wormhole Library located nearby on Haikou Bay. Another eye-catching design, the firm's ripped-facade One River North development in Denver (MAD's second completed residential project in the U.S.), also passed a major milestone recently as it nears its realization.

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SO – IL shares facade details of forthcoming Nine Chapel residences in Brooklyn

2024-05-28T15:37:00-04:00

SO – IL’s next NYC residential project is wrapping up for client Tankhouse. Their design for the 14-story, 53,820-square-foot Nine Chapel residences features a perforated metallic facade system that reflects both seasons and the sun’s position while creating a permeable veil for the loggias and front porch entrances for each home on Chapel Street in Downtown Brooklyn.

Image credit: Jonathan Hokklo

“The drama of the building’s exterior is apparent even from far away. The opportunity here was less about how we fit into an existing fabric, and more about how we define this little spot in the city,” Tankhouse’s co-founder Sam Alison-Mayne says of the design.

Image credit: Valeria Flores

“The undulated metal facade is designed, configured, and textured to allow for different experiences, depending on from which angle it’s viewed, and the time of day. When walking behind it, you can feel the air coming through. If you see it from the street, it reflects in various ways — all thanks to the q...

Zaha Hadid Architects updates progress on Navi Mumbai Airport delivery

2024-05-27T08:00:00-04:00

Work is progressing on the Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) design for the Navi Mumbai International Airport in India six years after construction began on the $2.1 billion project, which is the firm’s second ongoing aviation project with the Western Sydney International Airport outside Australia’s largest city.

ZHA says construction is now 60% complete and on track for passenger operations to begin in 2025. Three new terminals will be added, serving an eventual capacity of 90 million travelers per year.

“Our ambition is for the design to speak to India’s future, while celebrating its present and honoring its past,” ZHA's Project Director Cristiano Ceccato said at its announcement in February of 2018.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zaha Hadid Architects (@zahahadidarchitects)

Houston's Rothko Chapel breaks ground on 2026 expansion

2024-05-24T11:50:00-04:00

Houston’s iconic Rothko Chapel is expanding for 2026 and recently broke ground on Phase 2 of its $42 million campus plan. The initiative will yield two new buildings designed by Brooklyn-based Architectural Research Office (ARO) and an outdoor garden from Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. The new buildings will stand at 6,600 and 3,800 square feet, respectively, and the entire project will be targeting LEED v4.0 certification.

Rendering courtesy of ARO

“On the heels of our recent 50th anniversary, the work also gives us a welcome opportunity to lift up and celebrate those who have contributed to the design, building, and stewardship of the Rothko Chapel, including the de Menils, Philip Johnson, Howard Barnstone, Gene Aubrey, Barnett Newman, and so many others. All of them shared a vision that brought together modern art and sacred space to promote human unity, solidarity, and justice. This vision is still as relevant today as it was 50 years ago, and I believe it will remain so...

BIG marks progress on Habitat 67-inspired KING Toronto development

2024-05-23T18:52:00-04:00

BIG Partner Kai-Uwe Bergmann has posted an update to the firm's new contribution to the Toronto skyline, KING Toronto. The scheme is being developed at over 600,000 square feet alongside Diamond Schmitt Architects for clients Westbank Corp and Allied Properties. The project, which began construction in mid-2020, is inspired by Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67 design and will culminate at 16 stories while adding an “experimental” touch to the nightlife-rich King Street West corridor.

This is the firm’s third project for Westbank, following the new Vancouver House and Telus Sky development in Calgary.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kai-Uwe Bergmann (@kaiuwebergmann)

Herzog & de Meuron's FORUM UZH design moves forward in Zurich

2024-05-16T18:36:00-04:00

Herzog & de Meuron is advancing on the construction of its new FORUM UZH design at the University of Zurich following a permit issuance for the project whose bid was born out of a 2018 international competition.

Preparatory site work will begin in August for the new building, which replaces former gymnasium structures with a facility for research and education at a capacity of 6,000 people. Included in its program are over 700 individual workspaces, a central library, seminar rooms, and sports halls.

This is their first design for the university. The firm also recently broke ground on another academic building project, the new UCSF Health Helen Diller Hospital at the University of San Francisco, a 15-story hybrid healthcare facility and academic medical complex that is expected to be completed in 2030.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Herzog & de Meuron (@herzogdemeuron)

Sou Fujimoto's wooden Grand Ring for Expo 2025 Osaka is taking shape

2024-05-15T12:42:00-04:00

The Sou Fujimoto-designed wooden Grand Ring roof for the upcoming Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, is coming together just under a year before the fair officially opens to the public on April 13th, 2025.

As detailed in an earlier construction update, the structure will be realized at 1,969 feet (600 meters) in diameter and serve as the main circulatory route for visitors to access the exhibition’s 161 total participating countries and locations.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Expo2025 大阪・関西万博 (@expo2025japan)

A recent press announcement mentions: “With one year to go until Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai Japan welcomes the world to Osaka on 13 April 2025, Japan is ready to bring the international community together for six months of collaboration, creativity, innovation, wisdom, dialogue, and action. In an age where humanity is facing a myriad of unprecedented challenges, the need to unite and cooperate, to make genuine, positive, and sustainable change has never...

David Chipperfield’s K-Project corporate headquarters breaks ground in Seoul

2024-05-14T12:53:00-04:00

David Chipperfield Architects has just broken ground on a new corporate headquarters project for a South Korean IT company in Seoul. Construction for the new K-Project will advance toward a late 2027 completion and culminate in a new highly adaptable design that doubles as a piece of “social infrastructure” for the city’s Seongsu district.

Chipperfield says: “The energy and culture of the company occupying the building, and that of the diverse neighbourhood in which it is located are used to define a strong identity for the headquarters both visually through its dynamic façades and programmatically through a multi-use atrium.”

Rendering: Artefactory Lab, DCA, Brick

Programmatically, the concept works by traversing ‘Hardware’ and ‘Software’ layers vertically supported by eight vertical cylindrical cores, which lift the office component above a two-level ‘multiplex’ for retail and culture. This is the firm’s second corporate commission in Seoul after the completed Amorepacific Headqua...

Herzog & de Meuron breaks ground on new $4.3 billion UCSF Health Helen Diller Hospital project in San Francisco

2024-05-06T17:04:00-04:00

A groundbreaking was held recently for Herzog & de Meuron's new UCSF Health Helen Diller Hospital in San Francisco. The $4.3 billion project that will tie together two existing buildings with a new 15-story facility is expected to culminate in 2030 at 880,000 square feet and serves as a new connector to the campus as the lynchpin for the university’s 30-year Parnassus Heights master plan.

UCSF says this is necessary to maintain its presence in various fields of biomedical research, patient care, and medical teaching. The design includes 682 total beds and features a “holistic focus” on the needs of patients bolstered by the latest medical technologies and the ability to increase collaboration between scientists, staff, and students of the highly competitive UCSF School of Medicine. HDR and Field Operations are contributing to the project as collaborators.

Chicago's Thompson Center begins demolition ahead of $280 million Google takeover

2024-05-03T17:12:00-04:00

NBC Chicago is reporting on the start of planned demolition work for the Thompson Center in advance of a $280 million makeover that will turn the famed Helmut Jahn-designed building into a new office space for Google for 2026. Work will cover the exterior glass curtain facade and interior atrium. The 39-year-old former state office building had become a $17 million-a-year liability for Governor JB Pritzker before the property was offloaded for $105 million in July of 2022.

“These types of improvements take several years to complete; we’re excited about what this project symbolizes for the greater Chicago community and will share more about our plans in the future,” Karen Sauder, Google's Chicago Site Lead, said in a December update.

Jean Dubuffet's 29-foot 'Monument with Standing Beast' sculpture is also being evacuated to the Art Institute of Chicago.

Chicago O’Hare $300 million airport terminal renovation breaks ground

2024-04-25T12:03:00-04:00

Construction has begun on a $300 million renovation of Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 3. The upgrades are expected to take three years and will overhaul the terminal’s infrastructure from security checkpoints to baggage claim, as well as adding amenities and improving accessibility.

Named ElevateT3, the project will include the reconfiguration of two TSA checkpoints into a single screening area, an expanded passenger corridor between concourses K and L, and the development of approximately 10,000 square feet of new concessions and amenity spaces. The terminal’s interior and exterior are also to be renovated to improve overall energy efficiency.

Previously on Archinect: FAA gives the final go-ahead to multibillion-dollar Chicago O'Hare expansion. Image render courtesy of Studio ORD.

Construction of the new terminal is expected to be completed by the summer of 2027 and will take a phased approach to allow continuous operations throughout Terminal 3 during construction....

Heatherwick Studio tops out UK pharma hub with curving timber structure

2024-04-25T11:56:00-04:00

Heatherwick Studio has offered a construction update on its design for the UCB Windlesham Surrey Science Research Hub in the United Kingdom. When completed, the building will serve as a hub for the Belgian biopharmaceutical company UCB.

In new photos released by the firm, the project's cross-laminated timber structure can be seen following its recent topping out. The CLT structure, described by Heatherwick Studio as “possibly one of the most complicated CLT structures in Europe,” took two years of design and eight months of construction to deliver. The novelty of the structure comes from its curved form, which serves not only as the main structure but the feature finish for the building.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Heatherwick Studio (@officialheatherwickstudio)

Designed in collaboration with executive architect Veretec, the three-story timber extension will be partially submerged into the site’s existing campus, connecting various wings of UCB’s R...

Zaha Hadid Architects and Cox Architecture's new Western Sydney International Airport reaches 75% completion

2024-04-23T19:00:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid Architects has updated its progress on the Western Sydney International Airport project with Cox Architecture. Construction is now 75% complete on the approximately 4,200-acre design, which is located in the expanding Parkland City region. The project cost is equal to $4 billion USD, resulting in ZHA's third major airport design after the Beijing Daxing International Airport and Navi Mumbai International Airport in India.

Previously on Archinect: Halfway through for ZHA & Cox Architecture's Western Sydney International Airport project

In the drone video below, the design's terminal structures appear in the first-phase terminal precinct. The project is expected to open in 2026 and serve 10 million travelers per year.

The firm says: "The design incorporates sustainable principles across its architecture & construction, integrating extensive use of daylight, natural ventilation and water recycling in a modular, energy-efficient design."

View this post on Instagram ...

Brightline West breaks ground on $12 billion Vegas to California high-speed rail project

2024-04-23T17:28:00-04:00

The $12 billion high-speed rail infrastructure project that will connect Las Vegas with various hubs in the Southern California region is off and running. Brightline West’s 218-mile loop is now under construction with a $3 billion push from the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the 2028 finish line in sight to coincide with LA's turn as host of that year's Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

Las Vegas Station aerial view. Image courtesy Brightline West

Las Vegas Station interior view. Image courtesy Brightline West

The trains will be operated at a maximal speed of 200 miles per hour, setting the North American record. (Another project between Raleigh, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia, will commence soon.) Wes Edens, Brightline's founder, said: “Today is long overdue, but the blueprint we’ve created with Brightline will allow us to repeat this model in other city pairs around the country.”

Rancho Cucamonga Station exterior view. Image courtesy Brightline West...

LAX Midfield Satellite Concourse South project has topped out in Los Angeles

2024-04-22T17:46:00-04:00

LAX's new Midfield Satellite Concourse South (or MSC South) recently topped out as the project's construction progresses in nine segments toward its 2025 completion date. The offsite construction will eventually yield eight new gates and a total of 150,000 square feet of space following a first-of-its-kind integrated design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA).

Buro Happold, structural engineer, sustainability consultant, lighting and acoustical designer on the project, in partnership with architects Woods Bagot and RAW International, says: "Each segment was designed with an independent lateral system consisting of buckling restrained braced frames in the east-west direction and Simspon Yield Link moment frames in the north-south direction to allow for access to gates along the terminal length. Additional analysis was then undertaken to determine the lifting points of each segment ...

LACMA shares custom-built glass facade details in new spring construction update

2024-04-16T13:39:00-04:00

New updates have been shared recently by the Los Angeles Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), charting progress on the $750 million new David Geffen Galleries from Peter Zumthor that is expected to finish construction by the end of this year.

According to the museum's most recent April 5th update, interior walls and exterior glazing are being installed on the site’s western side, facing north to Wilshire Boulevard. Work on the building’s MEPs is now underway, and the concrete pour for the roof decks has been completed to the east side of the site. Formwork, rebar installation, and concrete pours for the roof decks are also advancing on the Spaulding Lot.

This follows the March 8th update that detailed the removal of the site’s prominent tower crane. LACMA has yet to release a public opening date. (A recent look inside the project with its contractor Clark Construction can be found here.)

Image courtesy LACMA

Also of interest are the 243 individual custom-made glass facade components...

Foster + Partners tops out Shenzhen skyscraper inspired by rock formations and paper folding

2024-04-15T13:50:00-04:00

The Foster + Partners-designed China Merchants Bank Headquarters in Shenzhen has topped out. The office tower forms part of a wider mixed-use development, which, when completed, will form a “new city quarter” in Shenzhen.

Image credit: zhangchao via Foster + Partners

Externally, the tower is clad in glass and stainless steel, the result of an “iterative modeling process to minimize the energy consumption of active systems by carefully balancing solar shading, daylight and thermal loads,” according to the team. The tower’s north facade is inspired by rock formations in China with stacked bays varying in height, while the south-facing facade is inspired by the geometries of traditional paper folding.

Image credit: zhangchao via Foster + Partners

“The new tower is a unique addition to Shenzhen’s urban fabric and will be an enduring symbol of China Merchants Bank,” Foster + Partners Head of Studio Grant Brooker said about the scheme. “The building’s wide curved windows offer spectacular v...

Take a look inside Allied Works' Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State ahead of June opening

2024-04-11T12:15:00-04:00

Allied Works’ collaboration with Reed Hilderbrand for the new Palmer Museum of Art at Pennsylvania State University is closing in on its June 1st opening. The firm has shared new photos previewing its work ahead of the inauguration, which will culminate a two-year construction period for a cost of $85 million.

The 73,000-square-foot building is defined by interlocking sandstone-clad pavilions contained within double-height volumes. These allow for unique spatial variations in each of the 20 new galleries, highlighting the diversity of its collection to visitors.

Image: Jeremy Bittermann/JSBA

An overhead skybridge — the new Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Gateway — links both wings while establishing panoramic vistas of the university's Arboretum and H.O. Smith Botanic Garden outside. —

Image: Jeremy Bittermann/JSBA

Small exterior courtyards are created by the design, which is similar in concept to Allied Works' 2008 Dutchess County Guest House in upstate New York and the firm's shortlisted compet...

Frank Gehry's Colburn Center expansion breaks ground in LA

2024-04-10T17:06:00-04:00

Work on Frank Gehry’s new Colburn School expansion has commenced in downtown Los Angeles toward its eventual completion after Q1 2027. His firm Gehry Partners celebrated the groundbreaking with school officials last Friday, April 5th, in sight of his previous Walt Disney Concert Hall and The Grand designs at the intersection of Hill and 2nd Streets.

Nagata Acoustics and TheaterDNA are leading the interior fit-outs for the extension, which will yield a total of 100,000 square feet of new spaces for performance and rehearsals. A 1,000-seat concert hall, 100-seat theater, and four new dance studios will be added through the construction, along with a new public garden that serves as a gateway to the rest of downtown. Costs for the project are reported to be $335 million.

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Gehry said in a previous statement: “I hope that it will be well-used and well-loved by the students of the Colburn School ...

Safdie Architects shares construction update for Crystal Bridges Museum expansion

2024-04-04T12:41:00-04:00

The multi-year expansion of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is moving forward with an anticipated completion in 2025. Safdie Architects has shared photos of its construction progress via an Instagram post published Wednesday, April 3rd, from the site in Bentonville, Arkansas.

The project adds two new galleries worth a total of 100,000 square feet to the campus, increasing the size of its existing exhibition spaces by 65% while adding another 50% to its overall footprint. Safdie has been working on a master plan for the site, which includes the original pavilions he completed in 2011, for over 25 years.

Watch him speak with the museum's founder, Alice Walton, about its design here.

The project will culminate as his second American museum expansion following his work for the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts in 2003.

Next up, the firm is working on a new ski resort/residential concept in Vermont with PWP Landscape Architecture.

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Snøhetta's 'whimsical children's museum' takes shape in El Paso

2024-04-02T11:52:00-04:00

New construction photographs published by Snøhetta via social media show substantial progress on the El Paso Children's Museum, designed with Exigo Architecture.

We first reported on the scheme in 2018 when Snøhetta won the competition for the project. In 2020, the firm unveiled a completed design for the 70,000-square-foot museum, which will sit in El Paso's Downtown Arts district.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Snøhetta (@snohetta)

Through an unorthodox use of geometries, the building seeks to distinguish itself from the rest of the local skyline. The rectilinear base is wrapped in glass, allowing for natural light and interior views for the public on the outside. A succession of barrel vaults, visible in the construction photographs, add a rhythmic quality to the structure.

Sou Fujimoto shares new photos of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai master plan under construction

2024-04-01T15:46:00-04:00

Sou Fujimoto’s studio has shared new construction images of the forthcoming Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai's The Grand Roof circular wooden container structure, a year ahead of the start of the six-month fair, which begins on April 13th, 2025.

The enormous structure is 1,969 feet (600 meters) in diameter and will serve as the main circulatory route for the exhibition, which includes 161 total participating countries/locations.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sou Fujimoto (@sou_fujimoto)

Fujimoto’s team says their design is meant to evoke a sense of "Unity in Diversity" and takes the Stage of Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto and other historic examples of Japanese timber architecture as its inspiration.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sou Fujimoto (@sou_fujimoto)

It will support an aerial walkway that affords visitors sightlines into the arena-like layout encased on the manmade Yumeshima island below and divided into three zones (Pavi...

LAX Automated People Mover construction won't be completed until 2025

2024-04-01T11:45:00-04:00

KTLA is reporting that construction setbacks on the long-awaited Automated People Mover transit system at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) have delayed the project until at least the end of 2025.

According to the local outlet’s analysis of a new Fitch Ratings report, “The Automated People Mover system is 96% complete but increasing construction delays and a ‘strained relationship’ between the contractor and Los Angeles World Airports, which owns and operates LAX, have kept it from being completed.”

The news comes after five years of construction on the $5.5 billion transportation component of the airport’s larger $14.5 billion first phase of upgrades. Completion was originally expected last year. Once it is finished, the 1.2-million-square-foot station will connect the rest of the 2.25-mile-long tract to Terminals 3, 4, and 5 and form the bookend of a system that will serve approximately 30 million people a year.

Related on Archinect: Final LAX Automated People Mover statio...

WEISS/MANFREDI’s Longwood Gardens overhaul in Pennsylvania to open November

2024-03-28T10:57:00-04:00

Pennsylvania’s Longwood Gardens has released an update of an overhaul of its horticultural campus by WEISS/MANFREDI which will open in November 2024. Titled 'Longwood Reimagined: A New Garden Experience,' and designed in collaboration with Reed Hilderbrand, the project is described by the venue as “the most ambitious revitalization in a century of America’s greatest center for horticultural display.”

West Conservatory. Image credit: WEISS/MANFREDI with Reed Hilderbrand for Longwood Gardens

Currently under construction, the project sees 17 acres on the Longwood Gardens site transformed into a visitor experience to host exhibitions, programs, and events. At the core of the scheme is a 32,000-square-foot conservatory designed by WEISS/MANFREDI as a “living and breathing glass house” with walls and roofs that open and close in response to the weather. The conservatory contains gardens, pools, and fountains designed by Reed Hilderbrand.

Aerial view of construction. Image credit: Bancroft ...

Sagrada Família to be completed in 2026, officials say

2024-03-25T16:48:00-04:00

The completed construction of the Sagrada Família is now expected for 2026, multiple international outlets are reporting. The announcement made recently by the group responsible for managing its construction ends years of speculation as to the exact opening date for Antoni Gaudí’s monumental affirmation of religious life in his native Spain that began 142 years ago this month in Barcelona.

The new completion date coincides with the centennial anniversary of the architect's death at the age of 73 from injuries he sustained in a tram accident on his way home from the site.

Work will culminate first with the Chapel of the Assumption in 2025 and be followed by a crowning tower of Jesus Christ the next year. This comes after the temple's four canonical towers were debuted in December. A source also told The Guardian that its controversial grand staircase, an element some dispute was not Gaudí’s intention, could be added by 2034.

Related on Archinect: Gaudí's Sagrada Família acquires prop...

Construction starts on MVRDV's new Berlin mixed-use development

2024-03-17T08:00:00-04:00

Construction has begun on the MVRDV-designed LXK Office and Residential Campus in Berlin. The mixed-use complex will add needed office and residential space to a rapidly developing part of the city.

The project is located in the Friedrichshain district. It spans approximately 658,751 square feet and features abundant office, commercial, and residential space. The complex consists of two L-shaped volumes, with the residential component consolidated into a single block. The corners of each volume open up to create an accessible green, public square. This divide allows the project to integrate itself sensitively into the scale of the surroundings.

Image © MVRDV

One of the most distinguishing features of the development is its single continuous luminous band that wraps horizontally around each structure. The band unifies the fragmented structure into a single form. This component is further activated by green, accessible terraces that offer views into the surrounding city. It also hosts ...

Facade installation underway on MAD Architects’ first North American residential rental tower

2024-03-06T15:38:00-05:00

Construction is progressing at Denver’s One River North, designed by MAD Architects.

The sixteen-story tower broke ground in late 2021 and represents MAD’s first residential rental building in the United States, expected to contain 187 units.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by One River North (@onerivernorth)

The scheme’s defining exterior element is a sharp carved opening midway up the tower, cutting through the upper section of the tower towards the roof. The opening will contain a network of footpaths and planting. A rooftop pool, spa, and garden areas complete the 216-foot-tall structure.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by One River North (@onerivernorth)

“If we regard modern cities as man-made landscapes on the earth, we need to design canyons, woods, creeks, and waterfalls, transforming concrete forests into second nature,” MAD founder Ma Yansong said about the development in 2021.

View this post on Instagram ...

Construction starts at SOM-designed 400 Lake Shore Drive replacement in Chicago

2024-03-05T14:24:00-05:00

The much-publicized void left behind in the wake of Santiago Calatrava’s failed Chicago Spire proposal is finally being attended to, as now the Chicago Sun-Times and other outlets are reporting on developer Related Midwest’s start of construction for the SOM-designed replacement at 400 Lake Shore Drive.

The 76-foot hole was partially filled by the 12-hour concrete pour required for the mat foundation for the two-tower scheme that will yield 1,100 apartments and the new DuSable Park at the three-acre site by Q3 2027.

Video showing the 12-hour mat foundation pour, which included 250 concrete trucks delivering 9 million pounds of concrete. Video courtesy Related Midwest

This update comes after caisson permits for the project were granted in December. David Childs is responsible for the design, which references Chicago's vernacular masonry and terra cotta architecture in two faceted 765- and 875-foot forms. Urbanize Chicago reports there to be a total of nine million tons of concrete ...