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It's a 'Go' for ZGF's Space Shuttle Endeavour installation at the California Science Center

2024-01-31T12:12:00-05:00

ZGF Architects has completed the installation of the decommissioned Space Shuttle Endeavour and orbiter system as a part of their Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center expansion at the California Science Center museum in Los Angeles.

The unique project will culminate in a three-level level scheme that includes 150 different exhibitions, the largest of which, a 200-foot-tall central gallery space, is set to be used as a new permanent display for the 122-foot-long retired NASA orbiter.

Video courtesy California Science Center

Since July, the construction team at Exposition Park has been busy at work on the “Soft mate” phase of the “Go for Stack” installation process for the space shuttle apparatus. The same painstaking process that decades ago prepared the shuttle for its 25 launches into outer space was once again enacted at the site for the record first time in civilian history. Work to install the solid rocket boosters and external tank preceded the shuttle’s move into place before ...

Pittsburgh's Institute for Contemporary Art reveals ZGF-designed expansion at Carnegie Mellon University

2023-11-13T14:13:00-05:00

ZGF Architects has announced plans for an expansion of the Miller Institute for Contemporary Art at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

As part of the design, the soon-to-be-renamed Institute for Contemporary Art Pittsburgh will increase in size by three times its current operating capacity. Located near other important cultural institutions inside of the new Richard King Mellon Hall of Sciences at the edge of Carnegie Mellon’s campus on Forbes Avenue, the 29,000-square-foot space serves as an interdisciplinary “advocate for new ideas and an aggregator of communities” in dialogue with the neighboring Carnegie Museum of Art and a growing audience of scholars, students, and faculty.

Image: Atchain, courtesy Carnegie Mellon University

The program calls for a 338,000-square-foot complex of buildings to be divided into two components: a looping wing that contains the ICA and other university spaces, and a set-back tower that will be the new home of the CMU Mellon College of Science ...

California Science Center begins construction on Space Shuttle Endeavour exhibition facility, designed by ZGF

2023-07-10T12:23:00-04:00

The California Science Center has offered an update on the construction of the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center. When completed, the center will be home to the Space Shuttle Endeavour, which will be configured in a ‘ready-to-launch’ system complete with the orbiter Endeavour, solid rocket boosters, and external tank.

Image credit: California Science Center

As we reported in June 2022, the ZGF Architects-designed scheme will house 150 exhibits across three multi-level galleries, and will more than double the California Science Center’s educational exhibit area. The central gallery containing the Space Shuttle Endeavour will rise 20 stories to a maximum height of 200 feet.

Image credit: California Science Center

On July 20th, 2023, the center will commence ‘Go for Stack,’ a complex process of moving and lifting each of the space shuttle components into place. The six-month process will begin with the installation of the aft skirts, on top of which the solid rocket motors will be stack...

Construction underway of major timber roof for ZGF’s Portland airport expansion

2023-06-29T11:26:00-04:00

Construction is underway for the expansion of Portland International Airport. As we reported last year, the ZGF-designed expansion will include a roof formed of 2.5 million feet of timber. New images of the scheme by roof installers Mammoet show components for the timber roof being moved into place on the construction site.

Image credit: Mammoet

The roof was fully prefabricated between the airport’s active runways over the course of a year and comprises twenty roof panels in five distinct shapes. Prior to being moved into their final position, the panels were disconnected into approximately football-field-sized pieces in order to minimize disruption to airport operations. At midnight on the day of each move, the runways closed for the one-mile transport of the panel from the fabrication site to the construction site.

Image credit: Mammoet

Each panel was installed using stationary skidding propelled by strand jacks and lowered with the skidding jacks onto column isolators. The next set...

First phase of Amazon HQ2 has been completed in Arlington, VA

2023-06-21T11:51:00-04:00

Phase 1 of the Amazon HQ2 has been completed in Arlington, VA, which includes the newly-created Met Park and rooftop terraces designed by James Corner Field Operations. The park is part of a broader $2.5 billion headquarters featuring buildings by NBBJ and ZGF Architects.

Image credit: Michael Zhao

According to the design team, the new Met Park “draws inspiration from the area’s natural context and reinforces the trend reshaping our cities with green infrastructure and pedestrian networks.” Over 50,000 plants and 160 native species are contained in the park, alongside public art commissions by Nekisha Durrett, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, and Aurora Robson.

Image credit: Michael Zhao

In addition to the park, over two acres of landscaped roof terraces have been created within the Phase 1 buildings of Amazon’s headquarters, which were designed by ZGF. Features within the rooftop terraces include rocky outcrops, gardens, an urban farm, and “p...

Women-led project team breaks ground on the Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance

2023-04-03T14:47:00-04:00

Seattle welcomes a new basketball performance center that won't just be a "world-class facility" but a space to support, foster, and train female professional athletes. Four-time WNBA champions, the Seattle Storm, celebrated an important milestone as their 50,000-square-foot Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance broke ground on Monday, March 27.

While it's said to "be the first facility of its kind in the United States," what makes this endeavor even more notable is that its project team is 85% female-led, across five firms and practices specializing in architecture, landscape architecture, construction, and real estate.

Female design and engineering team photographed at Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance's groundbreaking. Image courtesy of ZGF Architects/Shive-Hattery Architects

Participating design team ZGF Architects shared: "The goal was to build a world-class facility for world-class female athletes — with women-led teams who are experts in their field."...

2.5 million feet of timber used to construct roof on ZGF’s Portland airport expansion

2022-07-22T14:14:00-04:00

Construction has commenced on the ZGF-designed expansion of Portland International (PDX) Airport. The defining feature of the main terminal project, set to be completed in 2025, is a new lattice roof formed by 2.5 million feet of timber.

Image courtesy of ZGF Architects

The scheme was conceived from a desire by the airport to create a more cohesive passenger experience and to bring a sense of unity to the airport after 70 years of expansions and additions. ZGF’s answer was a singular terminal building housed under one undulating, mass timber roof, accompanied by an interior strategy which prioritized biophilic design, interior landscaping, daylighting, and natural materials.

“Upon entering the new terminal core, visitors are invited to take a walk in the forest,” the architects say. “Views to the airfield, daylight, interior landscape, and art recalling the region’s natural beauty are present throughout the passenger journey.”

Image courtesy of ZGF Architects

The roof is inspired by ...

ZGF designs new home for Space Shuttle Endeavour in Los Angeles

2022-06-03T12:04:00-04:00

ZGF Architects has unveiled details of its Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center, which has just broken ground in Los Angeles. The 200,000-square-foot facility will house 150 exhibits across three multi-level galleries and will serve as the permanent home of Space Shuttle Endeavour, one of three remaining flown space shuttle orbiters.

Image by ZGF Architects LLP

The scheme, designed by ZGF with engineering by ARUP, is arranged around three thematic galleries, named Air, Space, and Shuttle. The Air Gallery will explore the four physical forces behind flight: lift, thrust, drag, and weight. Approximately 20 aircraft will be on display in the gallery, including a segment of a real Boeing 747. The Air Gallery will also feature a wind tunnel exhibit to allow visitors to better understand the forces under which planes fly.

Image by ZGF Architects LLP

The Space Gallery centers on the various machines and inventions created to understand and explore space, including telescopes, robots, and spac...

AIA|LA awards Gold Medal to Michael B. Lehrer

2020-07-24T13:23:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects Los Angeles (AIA|LA) has announced its 2020 AIA|LA Presidential Honorees, bestowing its prestigious 2020 AIA|LA Gold Medal on architect Michael B. Lehrer of Lehrer Architects.

The AIALA Gold Medal is the "highest honor the organization bestows on an individual" and was awarded this year to Lehrer, who, according to AIA|LA "embodies the high level of achievement loosely covering four areas that characterize this year’s AIALA Presidential Honorees class: design excellence, service to the region and country, the fostering of next generation designers, and support of the field."

Previously on Archinect: "Studio Visits: Lehrer Architects." Image courtesy of Archinect.

2020 AIALA President Greg Verabian, AIA. explained in a statement that “To Michael B. Lehrer, FAIA, the practice of architecture includes the rigorous investigation of strategies that deliver the benefits of design excellence to some of the region’s most vulnerable: individuals with menta...

ZGF's Aggie Square development at UC Davis takes a step forward

2020-07-09T17:46:00-04:00

The first phase of a new ZGF-designed innovation district slated for the University of California, Davis campus has taken a step forward.

The 1.2 million-square-foot development will span 8.25 acres and is set to include 200 housing units, 500,000 square feet of science, technology and engineering spaces, 250,000 square feet of classroom and coworking facilities, and 30,000 square feet of commercial uses, all spread out across four buildings.

View of the new buildings surrounding Aggie Square.

For the private-public partnership project, coordinated between the university and developers Wexford Science & Technology, ZGF has designed a series modulated glass-wrapped mid-rise towers surrounding the development's namesake plaza. The buildings offer porous connections to the tree-filled plaza space, and feature arcades and ground floor commercial spaces.

The district is designed specifically to "co-locate private industry investment, robust 'innovation infrastructure' for startups, as w...

Bob Frasca, prominent Portland architect and ZGF founding design partner, dies at 84

2018-01-08T16:02:00-05:00

Architect Robert Frasca, FAIA, founding design partner of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects (ZGF) and an influential figure on Portland and Oregon's architectural scene for several decades, has died on January 3 at the age of 84.

ZGF has released the following obituary:

It is with great sadness that the partners of Zimmer Gunsul Frasca (ZGF) announce the passing of Founding Design Partner, Robert Frasca, FAIA, on January 3 in Portland, Oregon at the age of 84 from complications of CLL (chronic lymphocytic leukemia).

Since its beginnings as a regional office, ZGF has grown to be one of the premier architectural firms in the world with 600 design professionals across six offices in the US and Canada, sustaining a reputation for design excellence. Based on a portfolio of work under Bob’s direction, ZGF was honored with the prestigious AIA Architecture Firm Award in 1991.

Portland International Airport. Image courtesy of ZGF.

Encouraged by his mentor, Pietro Belluschi, Bob arrived in ...