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In the last two years, apartment conversions jumped by 25% compared to two years prior. More precisely, this increasingly popular real estate niche brought a total of 28,000 new rentals in 2020-2021, well above the pre-pandemic years of 2018-2019 when 22,300 apartments were brought to life through adaptive reuse. — RentCafe.com
The new data set from real estate researchers Yardi Matrix gives some additional context to the information in yesterday’s 2022 AIA Firm Survey, which said that almost half (48%) of all projects currently being pursued by U.S. firms involve the renovation, rehabilitation, extension, or... View full entry
Design projects involving the renovation, rehabilitation, extension, or preservation of existing buildings account for 48% of billings at U.S. architecture firms according to an AIA survey. The findings, which form part of the 2022 AIA Firm Survey: The Business of Architecture, continues a trend... View full entry
MVRDV has shared details on its just-completed Gaîté Montparnasse block renovation in the French capital. The project transformed Pierre Dufau’s once iconic 1974 Ilôt Vandamme design into a more welcoming mixed-use site just south of the Tour Montparnasse facing Avenue du Maine. “This piece... View full entry
The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts is nearing completion ahead of a predicted April 2023 opening. Designed by Studio Gang and Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects following their selection for the commission in 2016, the project has seen the unification of several existing structures on the museum grounds... View full entry
Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects (EYRC) has completed their adaptive re-use of an abandoned Los Angeles Times print facility in Costa Mesa, Orange County. The 430,000-square-foot scheme titled ‘The Press’ saw the three-story complex converted into flexible office spaces. Photo credit... View full entry
Historic England is taking action as preservation advocates in the country prepare for what could be a seminal decision that might alter the face of building conservation in the UK for years to come. More than 50% of the country's historic department stores have reportedly closed since... View full entry
A group of 49 arts institutions has been awarded a total of $3 million in clean energy grants as part of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation’s Frankenthaler Climate Initiative (FCI), now in its second year. The Initiative is part of a larger $10 million effort being developed along with RMI and... View full entry
Foster + Partners has completed work on Ombú, an adaptive reuse project in Madrid, Spain. The scheme, designed for Spanish infrastructure and energy company ACCIONA, sees the retrofit of a 1905 gas plant into an office building. Over 10,000 square meters (108,000 square feet) of office space are... View full entry
Architecture firms are billing more from reconstruction and renovation projects than they are from new builds for the first time; a milestone driven by soaring demand for office renovations. In the 20 years that the AIA has been collecting data on billings for renovations versus new build... View full entry
In an effort to bring the organization closer to its own self-stated goals on sustainability, equity, and collaboration, the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has today unveiled plans for a comprehensive new upgrade to its aging Washington, D.C. National... View full entry
There’s ever-growing panoply of efficiency measures — better insulation, improved heating and air-conditioning, less-polluting appliances — that could help the building sector rapidly decarbonize. By 2030, almost all new buildings could consume zero net energy — net meaning there’s some give and take from the grid to equal zero use. That’s a big deal, especially with a corollary switch to electrified forms of transportation. — Bloomberg
The list of new green technologies is long and includes innovations like low-carbon concrete, cross-laminated timber, and living wall systems that have all developed into scalable products over the past ten years. So far, big-name firms like Gensler, Lake|Flato, and KieranTimberlake have... View full entry
Foster + Partners has shared an update to its recently announced retrofit of William Pereira’s iconic Transamerica Pyramid Center in San Francisco. New renderings appear to show fresh and open office spaces upgraded for workers’ comfort and workplace flexibility in addition to an on-site... View full entry
Owner Michael Shvo and his partners have hired world-renowned architect Norman Foster to redesign the iconic tower’s interiors and plan to invest $250 million to renovate the 1972 building and expand its Redwood Park. The owners also plan to roughly double the size of neighboring 545 Sansome St. and add a new facade to create a modern office building at the cost of around $150 million. — The San Francisco Chronicle
Work is expected to begin within the week and take around a year to be completed. The project will include the expansion of Redwood Park and, potentially, the adjacent 545 Sansome Street, which will be rebranded as 3 Transamerica pending approval by the city. Previously on Archinect: San... View full entry
It’s doing it (again). San Francisco’s Millennium Tower is on the move once more, this time in an entirely different dimension as the 13-year-old building is sliding while it sinks and tilts. Now the tower is said to be moving to the east, specifically. The firm in charge of stabilizing the... View full entry
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has calculated that insulation, double- or triple-glazing and gas boiler replacement in 3.3m interwar homes that sprawl around England’s towns and cities could cut the country’s carbon emissions by 4%, helping it towards the net zero target by 2050. RIBA is calling for policies to incentivise private owners, who own more than 70% of interwar homes, and social landlords to fund the works. — The Guardian
The octogenarian houses are the target of a new £38 billion ($51.5 billion) proposal which, when taken to scale, could save around $500 billion in utility costs. Homeowners in the commonwealth have been getting bled dry by high energy costs of late as the public grapples with the... View full entry