Archinect - News

Researchers debut mycelium glamping cabin prototype

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

A new experimental demonstration glamping concept that represents likely the first building project made using mycelium in the Czech Republic has debuted from the home reconstruction financier Buřinka with a cross-disciplinary team from Mykilio and the Czech Technical University called MYMO.

Rendering courtesy Buřinka and MYMO

The SAMOROST concept is the latest example of sustainable construction using mushroom-based compounds as an alternative material to insulate external walls, roofs, and floors, as well as other non-load-bearing components. The cabins were designed using special proprietary mycocomposite, which they claim has been proven in lab testing over the past two years to have suitable qualities for residential structures. The experiment sought to improve usability for campers and is being pursued with support from the country’s Minister of the Environment, Petr Hladík.

Rendering courtesy Buřinka and MYMO

Design author Tomasz Kloza, a final year Master's in architecture and...

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.

Dirk Lohan proposes domed Soldier Field renovation as Bears new stadium talks take off

2024-05-06T13:01:00-04:00

A proposed redesign of Chicago’s soon-to-close Soldier Field stadium from architect Dirk Lohan gained some press recently after the Bears NFL franchise debuted Manica Architecture’s $4.7 billion design for its new lakefront home. Lohan is the architect of its modern 2003 renovation (in association with Wood & Zapata), a project that ultimately cost Soldier Field its landmark status. He says the design alternative is at once cheaper and more sustainable than the current proposal that’s been targeted by critics but still backed by team owners and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Image: Lohan Architecture via LinkedIn

The proposed plan calls for a lightweight domed roof to be constructed over the structure, with 20,000 new seats added underneath and upheld by cables connecting to four exterior columns. Lohan, who also designed the master plan for the surrounding Museum Campus, says it "remains] true to the values reflected in the Burnham and Bennett Plans and the Chicago Lakefront Ordinan...

10 living room designs we liked this week

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

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Living Spaces.

Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles.

↑ Villa Messenia in Messeni, Greece; Interior architecture, design and styling: block722; Photo: Gaelle Le Boulicaut

↑ The Glass Cabin in Polubný, Czech Republic, by Mjölk architekti; Photo: BoysPlayNice

↑ Walters Cassar Residence in Palm Springs, CA, by Studio AR&D Architects; Photo: Lance Gerber

↑ Rustic Canyon in Los Angeles, CA, by Walker Workshop; Photo: Joe Fletcher

↑ Reclaimed Barn in Center Harbor, NH, by Murdough Design; Photo: Chuck Choi

↑ Blodgett-Calvin Residential Compound in San Marino, CA, by Fung + Blatt Architects; Original Architect: Calvin Straub; Photo: Mark Mahaney

↑ Low Energy House in London, UK,...

Paris Olympics Athlete's Village to cool without AC during summer games

2024-05-03T17:30:00-04:00

To combat the intense summer heat in France, a geothermal energy system will cool the athlete apartments in the Seine-Saint-Denis suburb. This technology utilizes natural resources and is expected to reduce carbon impact by 45 percent compared to traditional air conditioning systems. The system will maintain a temperature below 79 degrees Fahrenheit during the night, even in the event of a heatwave, according to Laurent Michaud, the director of the Olympic and Paralympic Villages.

The planned alternative system will distribute cold water from underground to cool through the floors of the apartments, which will later become home to more than 6,000 permanent residents after the more than 15,000 Olympic and Paralympics athletes vacate in September. The buildings all have green roofs and will reportedly be powered completely by renewable energy in line with Paris' 2050 principles. Their construction achieved a 30% reduction in its carbon footprint compared to other modern projects.

Other countries, meanwhile, have promised to bring their own portable systems as a backup as experts have forecasted another unusually hot summer for the continent.

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.

In rural Ontario, a timber cabin by Dubbeldam Architecture + Design creates a ‘quiet haven in the trees’

2024-05-03T15:03:00-04:00

Toronto-based Dubbeldam Architecture + Design has offered an insight into their completed cabin in rural Ontario, Canada. Named Bunkie on the Hill and described as a “quiet haven in the trees for family members to retreat and re-connect with nature,” the cabin sits at the top of a steep slope overlooking a collection of family cottages below.

Image credit: Riley Snelling

The 1,000-square-foot cabin by the Dubbeldam team, who was recently honored at the 2024 RAIC Annual Awards as the Architectural Practice winner, sees a contemporary interpretation of the traditional A-frame shape. Inspired by overlapping layers of shale rock in the surrounding landscape, the split roof features two intersecting gables that allow for window openings where the roof volumes split.

Image credit: Riley Snelling

“These geometric windows allow for curated views of the treetops on one side and lake below on the other and invite natural light to flood the...

Rafael Viñoly Architects reveals first Canadian project in Toronto

2024-05-03T11:59:00-04:00

Rafael Viñoly Architects' debut work in Canada has been announced as a two-million-square-foot mixed-use development in Midtown Toronto. The four-tower, 2,364-unit scheme previewed by the firm last week was designed by its late founder before his passing and will stand as his sole Canadian project at the culmination of an undetermined construction phase that begins next year.

Rendering courtesy Binyan and Madison Group

Two 58-story structures will connect with another pair equaling 61 stories via a six-story skybridge between 90-110 and 150-164 Eglinton Avenue in the popular commercial neighborhood. A public plaza area will engage the site further with its civic context with a new amphitheater, retail spaces, and a children’s play area.

Rendering courtesy Binyan and Madison Group

MPFP Landscape Architecture will complete the landscape design for the program. Turner Fleischer Architects is listed as a collaborator. Overall, this is the third new project announced by the firm since Viñ...

Brookings research gives Los Angeles communities guidance for future ADU implementation

2024-05-02T18:02:00-04:00

New research published recently by the Brookings Institution has provided details of how local government in Los Angeles can galvanize a newfound abundance of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) through policy changes in order to combat an ongoing housing crisis currently affecting more than one million Angelenos.

Authors Jenny Schuetz and Eve Devens state: “The Los Angeles region offers a useful setting to explore the prospects of affordable ADUs. Four jurisdictions within the region have developed affordable ADU pilot programs. One program, the city of Los Angeles’ LA ADU Accelerator Program, offers operating subsidies for existing ADUs, while the other three offer development subsidies as well as vouchers to cover operating costs.”

This research can be used to bolster architects’ so-called “toolkit” of affordable housing solutions in conjunction with the recent Harvard Center for Housing joint study that compared the strengths and failures of California’s policies with those in othe...

Plans scrapped for $1 billion Hollywood Center towers development

2024-05-02T17:31:00-04:00

New York-based developer Millennium Partners has withdrawn their proposal for the $1 billion Handel Architects-designed Hollywood Center in Los Angeles. The two-tower scheme that was planned for parking lots adjacent to Welton Becket’s iconic Capitol Records building would have been the tallest in Hollywood, standing at 46 and 36 stories each and containing a total of 1,005 residences, but will now be scrapped in favor of a potential new hotel development as per Urbanize LA’s reporting this morning.

The decade-old scheme had been progressing despite a negative Environmental Impact Report and the late discovery of concerning fault lines beneath the property. Millennium Partners said: "While we have made the decision for now not to move ahead with our vision to build housing on the surrounding surface parking lots, we remain committed to working to make the Hollywood community a better place to live and work and to help Hollywood realize its full potential as the entertainment capital...

Inspired by Japanese architecture, Pelli Clarke & Partners opens adaptive reuse sake brewery in Hyde Park, New York

2024-05-02T13:54:00-04:00

Pelli Clarke & Partners and Jun Mitsui & Associates have shared photos of the recently completed Asahi Shuzo’s Dassai Blue Brewery project in Hyde Park, New York. The adaptive reuse of a former grocery store into the first American home for the popular Japanese brand pays homage to the naturalism of its native country while mirroring the “dance” of fermentation.

Image courtesy Pelli Clarke & Partners

Inside, 55,000 square feet of space for rice washing, Koji-making, drying, steaming, and other parts of the fermentation process are enabled without any major alterations being made to the building’s footprint. Production flows counterclockwise to accommodate a volume of approximately 140,000 cases annually.

Image courtesy Pelli Clarke & Partners

Elements from traditional Japanese architecture feature throughout, and the exterior is also rendered in the same character, beset by a materials palette led by Yakisugi...

New 'Zillow Gone Wild' HGTV show to launch inspired by popular Instagram account

2024-05-02T12:00:00-04:00

Friday, May 3rd, will see the launch of a new show on HGTV inspired by the popular Instagram account Zillow Gone Wild. The show, which bears the same name as the social media account, will offer insights into “exceptionally weird, wacky, and wild properties that sellers put on the market every day.”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zillow Gone Wild (@zillowgonewild)

Hosted by actor and comedian Jack McBrayer, the series will feature characters from non-traditional homes with distinctive decor and imaginative architecture. The history of each will be explored, alongside backstories from buyers and sellers. Among the homes set to be featured are a house in Berkeley, California, designed by a jazz musician, and a home in New Orleans with an eclectic parlor lounge.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zillow Gone Wild (@zillowgonewild)

The run of nine weekly episodes will conclude with HGTV awarding one home the accolade of “wild...

In Japan, abandoned and vacant homes are on the rise

2024-05-02T11:42:00-04:00

New government figures show that 5.9% of all Japanese homes are abandoned, while 13.88% of homes are vacant (a total of 9 million homes). The issue is predominantly impacting the country's rural areas, while the number of vacant and abandoned apartments and condo units is also increasing.

Several measures have been undertaken by local and national governments to address the increased cases, which can have consequences for building upkeep and maintenance. In 2022, the city of Nagoya began requiring condo building management to update authorities on the state of their complexes, while, in 2018, Yokohama city asked architects to assess undermanaged condo buildings and set up management associations.

Related on Archinect: Minimalist concrete apartments fill a narrow site in Tokyo, designed by Ryuichi Sasaki Architecture. Image credit: Sherpa

More broadly, Japan passed a law in 2015 allowing local authorities to issue warnings about vacant homes at risk of collapse, including powers to de...

List of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places for 2024 shows expanded 'collective idea of American history'

2024-05-01T18:31:00-04:00

The newly released list of the country’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2024 has been announced to include LA’s Little Tokyo district and the Walden Pond Reservation area in Massachusetts. The pair was joined by nine other sites in eight states, Morocco, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The full list of America's Most Endangered Historic Places, compiled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, includes:

Cindy Walker House, Mexia, Texas
Eatonville, Florida
Estate Whim Museum, Frederiksted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, Athens, New York
Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California
Minute Man National Historical Park, Walden, and nearby landmarks, Massachusetts
New Salem Baptist Church, Tams, West Virginia
Roosevelt High School, Gary, Indiana
Sitka Tlingit Clan Houses, Sitka, Alaska
Tangier American Legation, Tangier, Morocco
Wilderness Battlefield Area, Orange County, Virginia

Manica Architecture debuts new NFL stadium proposal for potential Kansas City Chiefs relocation

2024-05-01T17:17:00-04:00

Manica Architecture has released renderings related to a late bid to lure the Kansas City Chiefs NFL franchise across the state border to Wyandotte County, Kansas. The design has been made public for the first time a week after the firm’s plans for a new Bears lakefront stadium in Chicago were panned by critics.

Rendering courtesy Manica Architecture

The proposed new dome-enclosed stadium was presented to Kansas lawmakers this week as part of a pitch to bring its first-ever major American sports franchise to the Jayhawk state in addition to potentially hosting the NCAA Final Four and concert tours, according to architect David Manica's recent statements to local outlets.

Rendering courtesy Manica Architecture

The repeat Super Bowl champions released a separate proposal for an $800 million renovation in Kansas City led by Populous in February. Its neighbor Kauffman Field (home to the Royals MLB franchise) is also weighing the costs of renovating its classic midcentury design over buil...

SOM's new Schwarzman College of Computing opens at MIT

2024-05-01T14:02:00-04:00

The new home for the recently established MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been completed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

What will be a research hub for AI and other disciplines in the computing sciences offers 185,000 square feet of labs, collaborative spaces, classrooms, and faculty areas inside a shingled profile that defines two eight-story pavilions.

Image credit: Dave Burk © SOM

The structure's design was limited by an existing railroad track running along the site’s north axis, creating the need for a 44-foot bridge that connects to either volume across three levels. After entering its oak-finished triple-height lobby from a central plaza area, engineers and researchers have space to explore flexible arrangements in the offices along its perimeter on Vassar Street.

Image credit: Dave Burk © SOM

The building includes social kitchens, a large 250-seat lecture ...

Marcel Breuer's 1950 Marshad House is on the market for $1.8 million

2024-05-01T12:23:00-04:00

Marcel Breuer’s restored 1950 Marshad House in the Hudson Valley has been listed with an asking price of $1.8 million. The residence at 204 Cleveland Street in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, is a three-bedroom design with 1.5 bathrooms and has an interesting history from the original owner's affiliation with Look magazine and relation to the influential sculpture garden installation that was exhibited 75 years ago at MoMA.

Image: Dot Record Media/Julia B. for Sotheby’s International Realty

Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing. Galerie noted it includes a 290-square-foot converted art studio in the former garage.

Image: Dot Record Media/Julia B. for Sotheby’s International Realty

Sotheby’s (the art auctioneers) recently bought Breuer’s brutalist landmark Whitney Museum of American Art building in Manhattan for $100 million.

Image: Dot Record Media/Julia B. for Sotheby’s International Realty

Rivian puts construction of major Georgia EV plant on hold

2024-05-01T11:36:00-04:00

Electric vehicle maker Rivian has pressed pause on the construction of a major manufacturing plant in Stanton Springs, Georgia. As we reported late last year, the company selected Clayco and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to deliver the 1,800-acre complex.

Previously on Archinect: Clayco and SOM to design major EV manufacturing plant for Rivian in Georgia. Image credit: Clayco

In March, however, the company announced a pause in construction of the $5 billion facility, saying that while the plant “remains an extremely important part of its strategy to scale production of R2 and R3 [car models],” the “timing for resuming construction is expected to be later to focus its teams on the capital-efficient launch of R2 in Normal, Illinois.”

In new developments, an email sent from the company in April underscored a commitment to the project. “During the pause period, Rivian anticipates performing some limited site development activities, but the depth and breadth of this work has not yet been det...

WXY opens beachfront community center for Rockaway, Queens

2024-04-30T17:28:00-04:00

WXY Architecture + Urban Design has opened its new Arverne East Nature Preserve and Welcome Center in the Rockaway neighborhood of Queens.

The project forms the first phase of New York City’s first net-zero residential community with 1,650 new units. It was realized at 6,000 square feet and includes a community meeting room and space for the Parks and Recreation Department's Urban Park Rangers program and The Campaign Against Hunger.

Image: courtesy of WXY, Ⓒ Albert Vecerka/Esto

WXY Founding Principal Claire Weisz describes: "Arverne East represents a unique and innovative path forward for the Rockaways — one rooted in honoring local knowledge, collective power, and an ongoing practice of community stewardship. The sustainable and resilient architecture creates an inviting, accessible space to connect with nature — a promontory for everyone from beachgoers to community organizers to Parks Department staff."

Image: courtesy of WXY, Ⓒ Albert Vecerka/Esto

Image: courtesy of WXY, Ⓒ Albe...

Diller Scofidio + Renfro/Sheppard Robson's London Centre for Music replacement inches closer after planners grant local approval

2024-04-30T13:45:00-04:00

The revised Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Sheppard Robson-led scheme at the Barbican in Central London reportedly gained planning approvals from the City of London’s planning body. The news came last week (April 17th) after UK Housing and Communities Secretary Michael Gove remanded an Article 31 order calling on the local committee to pause its process in light of pushbacks against the planned demolition of the existing Bastion House and the former Museum of London that is an integral part of the scheme.

Previously on Archinect: Diller Scofidio + Renfro unveil designs for London Centre for Music replacement

Yahoo! Finance UK quoted a spokesperson from the group Barbican Quarter Actiorn as saying the demolition would be “injurious to the future of people and the planet,” adding, “We continue to believe that this great City can and should do better and that it should retain and adapt these fine buildings in line with its own policies on sustainable development.”

If approved by Gove’s o...

Oliver Wainwright on the 'elegant white steel and glass pavilion' crowned 2024 EU Mies van der Rohe Award winner

2024-04-30T11:48:00-04:00

A lightweight university study centre designed to be easily disassembled has won the prize for the best building in Europe. Longevity, permanence and a sense of immutability might be the ambition of most architects, but Gustav Düsing and Max Hacke would be delighted to see their building adapted and reconfigured, or ultimately dismantled and moved somewhere else altogether.

Wainwright reflects on the "impossibly slender" pavilion which was revealed as the winner of the 2024 EU Mies van der Rohe Award last week in an article that also includes the perspectives of the pavilion's architects, Gustav Düsing and Max Hacke.

Related on Archinect: University study pavilion wins the 2024 EU Mies van der Rohe Award with a reconfigurable design. Photo by Iwan Baan.

Located on the campus of the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, the pavilion has been designed to allow for variations of student activities within a flexible layout, described by the award organizers as a "counter-model to spaces of hierarchical knowledge transfer."

Another winning aspect is the hybrid structure's ability to be disassembled and remounted. Individual components are capable of reuse in line with a principle called the "future material depot," which contributes to its role in the circular economy.

SO – IL and OSD to overhaul Detroit marina for new waterfront district

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

SO – IL and OSD have designed a new waterfront district for Detroit’s Little Village. The marina overhaul, named Stanton Yards, will see the existing storage and service-based site transformed into a 13-acre cultural destination with 80,000 square feet of commercial and creative space, 85 boat slips, and waterfront parks.

Image credit: bloomimages

SO – IL will lead the adaptive reuse of four existing pre-war industrial buildings, which historically housed a former theater, marina showrooms, service ships, and a navy shipyard used during World War II. Select demolition and the addition of “unifying elements and upgrades to accessibility” will create a campus for arts organizations, retail, artist studios, and hospitality.

Image credit: bloomimages

“The ethos that 'new ideas must use old buildings' guides our transformation of Stanton Yards into a thriving, multifaceted community,” said Florian Idenburg, Co-founding Principal of SO – IL, about the scheme. “Our design ingrains four histo...

Thailand is in talks to build the world's tallest tower

2024-04-30T11:42:00-04:00

A group of investors led by a Dubai-based real estate developer is in talks to build a mixed-use tower in Thailand that may vie for the title of the world’s tallest building, according to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.

Thailand's prime minister met with a group of Middle Eastern and Chinese companies to discuss the plan. Among the groups consulted was Emaar, developers of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, currently the world's tallest tower.

Screenshot of the X/Tweet by PR Thai Government @prdthailand announcing the plan

As of 2024, the tallest building in Thailand is the Magnolias Waterfront Residences Iconsiam in Bangkok, measuring 70 stories and 1,043 feet tall. Meanwhile, it was reported last month by the UK's Architect's Journal that Foster + Partners was designing another scheme which would become the world's tallest building: a 1.2-mile-high skyscraper in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Foster + Partners debuts Changfeng mixed-use development in Shanghai

2024-04-29T14:30:00-04:00

A new mixed-use design from Foster + Partners has been revealed for Shanghai’s Science and Technology Finance hub as part of the larger Shanghai 2035 master plan. Located in the city’s Putuo District, the new Changfeng development will boast an affordable housing component, retail offerings, offices, and public facilities, all centered around a 54,000-square-foot new cultural destination called Jia Art they say is inspired by the "spring blessing" flower that's endemic to the local park.

Image: Foster + Partners

A central greenway stitches the program together from the entry points on its north-south axis. Inside the arts center, which repeats the petal-like form and surrounds a central plaza, users can enjoy public areas illuminated by a crowning glass roof.

Image: Foster + Partners

Offices are located north of the central axis and include a range of collaborative amenity spaces. Multi-level terraces, double-height sky atriums, and roo...

Christopher Hawthorne previews the restoration of Philip Johnson's Brick House ahead of May reopening

2024-04-29T11:49:00-04:00

The reopening returns a certain architectural equilibrium to Johnson’s estate. The original paired structures, said Kirsten Reoch, who was named executive director of the Glass House campus last summer, “are two parts of a whole. Neither was conceived without the other. So the idea that we’ve been showing and interpreting half the story, it kind of blows your mind.”

The Glass House is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year with a special Paper Log House installation from Shigeru Ban and other public programs through the end of December. Yale’s senior critic Christopher Hawthorne visits the New Canaan, Connecticut, campus for a preview and says, “Bringing visitors back to the Brick House, with its resolute insistence on privacy, is an opportunity to explore the relationship of its architecture to Johnson’s homosexuality,” as well as an opportunity to reexamine its designer’s fraught politics.

The restored Brick House (whose work was overseen by the National Trust’s Mark Stoner) reopens to the public this Thursday, May 2nd.

Five idyllic Hawaiian homes by Walker Warner: Your Next Employer?

2024-04-29T11:13:00-04:00

Following our previous visit to New York-based Oza Sabbeth Architects, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to California this week to explore the work of Walker Warner.

Founded in 1989, and based in San Francisco, the firm has built an extensive portfolio of bespoke homes and hospitality venues across the United States. “Enduring architecture gains beauty as it passes from one generation to the next. It is timeless,” the firm says about its ethos. “Thoughtful design heightens your way of life. It invites you to feel at ease, at peace, at home.”

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring for several positions to join their San Francisco office. For candidates interested in applying for a position, or anybody interested in learning more about the firm’s output, we have rounded up five Hawaiian residential retreats by Walker Warner that exemplify the firm’s ethos.

Makena. Image credit: Matthew Millman

Makena, Maui, Hawaii

The Makena residence on Maui was designed ...

Federal 2007 ban on fossil fuels in government-owned buildings finally kicks in

2024-04-28T08:00:00-04:00

Fossil fuels will be banned from new and remodeled federal buildings under a rule finalized by the Department of Energy this week. The rule stems from the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). Section 433 of that law says new federal buildings and those undergoing major renovations have to phase out "fossil fuel-generated energy consumption" by 2030. But that provision never went into effect because the Energy Department failed to finalize regulations, until now.

All buildings (and vehicles) owned by the U.S. Government are currently under mandate to run on renewable energy by 2050. The EISA mandate was not fully effected until now because the DoE never finalized its regulations, NPR reported a year ago.

Now, the enactment will save an estimated 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions and another 16,000 tons of methane emissions within three decades. That's equal to 4.92 billion kWh of electricity (enough to power a city the size of San Diego for a year) according to standard conversions.

Snøhetta's high-tech Vertikal Nydalen mixed-use project opens in Oslo

2024-04-27T10:00:00-04:00

A new mixed-use project in Oslo from Snøhetta has been completed following a nine-year design and development phase that culminated in 118,400 square feet and 18 floors with restaurants, an office component, and 40 apartment units all built in.

Vertikal Nydalen is the focal point of a new town square in the Norwegian capital and features a self-sufficient climate system bolstered by PV panels, geo-wells, heat pumps, and an advanced building monitoring system that allows user feedback to inform its controls.

Image credit: Lars Petter Pettersen/Snøhetta

The project was born out of a pilot program that combined two research efforts supported by the Research Council of Norway. It focused on enhancing the building’s ventilation strategy and helping its heating/cooling systems run with little added energy at an efficiency rate of up to 2.5 times the industry’s current leading standard.

Image credit: Lars Petter Pettersen/Snøhetta

Snøhetta's Kjetil Trædal Thorsen says: "We are proud to f...

Plans for world’s tallest residential tower unveiled in Dubai

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

Hospitality brand Six Senses has unveiled plans for a new residential tower in Dubai Marina, set to be the world’s tallest. Sprouting up in Dubai Marina, the Six Senses Residences will be the second Dubai location to come from Six Senses, joining the nearly-opened Six Senses The Palm Jumeirah hotel. The tower is said to boast an impressive 122 floors, when it is eventually completed in 2028.

The height of the new Six Senses Residences Dubai Marina tower is equal to the under-construction Burj Azizi tower nearby, a $1.5 billion commercial project that was announced to have broken ground in January and will be completed the same year.

Image credit: Select Group

They will become two of the world’s six 120+ story structures. Reported amenities include a 109th-floor lap pool and cryotherapy chambers, crystal sound healing room, movie theater, and spa.

Image credit: Select Group

Despite the size, only 251 high-end residences are included. The current record-holder for tallest residential building, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture's Central Park Tower in New York City, has 179 units over 131 floors.

Image credit: Select Group

WSP Middle East and Woods Bagot are reportedly in charge of the architectural design.

Lee Bey reviews Chicago Bears' revised new lakefront stadium plans

2024-04-25T19:00:00-04:00

However, check out the stadium renderings accompanying this story. Look at how big that thing is. The size almost makes the Museum Campus buildings look like neo-classical LEGO blocks in comparison. Judging from the renderings, the stadium looks pretty good as far as professional sports facilities go. It’s the right building but the wrong spot.

Bey’s effective teardown includes a slideshow of Manica Architecture’s new renderings for the reported $2 billion stadium, which replaces a scrapped plan to relocate the team to suburban Arlington Heights from its hallowed Soldier Field home.

Bey said Mayor Brandon Johnson's team "stood by as a private entity took the lead and told how the public’s lakefront would be redeveloped." The stadium is expected to be built on a three-year timeline, with the completed design made ready in time to kick off the 2028 season.

The White Sox are also mulling an upgrade closer to the South Loop that could cost upwards of $9 billion.