Archinect - News

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...

Your next job could be designing federal government buildings at SOM

2024-04-10T11:07:00-04:00

Following last week’s look at an opening for Visiting Faculty Fellowships in Design for Spatial Justice at the University of Oregon, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for a Technical Architect - US Government Work at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

The role, based in Washington, D.C., calls for an individual “responsible for the technical innovation, integration, documentation, and execution of the architectural and engineering design intent.” Among the responsibilities for the role will be contributing technical innovations to aid the design process, reviewing applicable codes, and tracking metrics such as energy, water, and carbon use in projects.

Related on Archinect: SOM shares photos of new John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge. Image: © Dave Burk/SOM

Why the role interests us

The open role at SOM offers us the opportunity to highlight some of the significant recent developments reporte...

SOM, Mithun sign on to deliver seven-building Munger Hall replacement at UCSB

2024-03-22T18:55:00-04:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and Mithun have announced they are collaborating on a new student housing project for the University of California, Santa Barbara (USCB).

The two-phase project will deliver accommodations for 4,000 students by 2029, led by the new 2,140-bed San Benito complex that will be completed in time for Fall 2027 after a two-year construction.

News of what appears to be the replacement for the infamous Munger Hall comes five months after the passing of its namesake Charles Munger in November at the age of 99. (SOM has previously completed the school's San Joaquin Villages and Tenaya Towers residences in 2019.)

UCSB has been embroiled in a student housing crisis that mirrors other public university campuses in the state and has been largely exacerbated by the exclusivity of real estate and dearth of affordable developments in the surrounding community of Goleta.

This led to the controversial self-design proposal for a mostly windowless 3,500-bed dorm building ...

SOM's tapering Star River Headquarters project completes in Guangzhou

2024-03-20T17:49:00-04:00

SOM has unveiled the newly completed Star River Headquarters project in Guangzhou, China, which it says is emblematic of the city’s late transformation into a national destination for trade and cultural tourism.

The 918-foot-tall office tower was realized at Pazhou Island and anchors a new block-size development that is helping to revitalize the city’s traditional hub for commerce and financial services.

Image: © Seth Powers/SOM

SOM says its design "represents a new class of office buildings" that are currently reshaping Guangzhou, joining the new Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce and Sany IROOTECH Headquarters from 2020 and 2025, respectively.

Image: © Seth Powers/SOM

From a distance, the tower's tapered parabolic silhouette stands prominently above a landscaped public plaza area and retail establishments below, utilizing a pleated effect that enables unique possibilities for the interplay of light and shadow on its facade.

Image: © Seth Powers/SOM

Vertical mullions running the length...

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 ...

Take an inside look at the form-making process for LACMA's new David Geffen Galleries

2024-02-06T12:15:00-05:00

LACMA’s Unframed blog recently profiled the work of contractor Clark Construction to build the concrete structure for the Peter Zumthor-designed $750 million new David Geffen Galleries extension. The concrete will be left untreated to match its architect’s long-established aesthetic and elevate the "hand of the craftsman."

Work will now commence on the installation of the 347,500-square-foot gallery’s interior walls, plus its exterior facade glazing, MEP systems, and roof-level horizontal decks.

"The building has no columns!," Chris Bell, the project executive for Clark Construction, shared with Unframed. "Instead, there are seven 30-foot-tall park-level pavilions that support the entire exhibition space. That's three football fields long with supporting cantilevers that hold people, glass, artwork — cantilevers that are 60 feet long. Being able to achieve and balance the structural and architectural requirements, it's a feat unto itself."

The update comes after LACMA celebrated t...

SOM completes Two Manhattan West, marking a major milestone for corporate office design in NYC

2024-01-31T15:18:00-05:00

SOM has completed work on their Two Manhattan West tower project to culminate the shorter second half of its $4.5 billion mixed-use Manhattan West development in New York City.

The four-year construction effort yielded a total two million square feet of new office space that was built above active railroad tracks in what the firm describes as an "extraordinary" advancement of the methods used in urban design, structural engineering, and architecture.

Photo: Dave Burk © SOM

It joins SOM's already-completed One Manhattan West office tower and five other buildings at the eight-acre mixed-use site, which is being developed to over seven million square feet by Brookfield Properties. Design Principal Kim Van Holsbeke says it offers a "thriving new urban destination."

Photo: Dave Burk © SOM

By extending the urban fabric of the development west to its new boundary at Ninth Avenue and 31st Street, Two Manhattan West creates a new gateway to the neighborhood backed by the four smaller buildin...

SOM begins $550 million Gray 30th Street Station redevelopment in Philadelphia

2024-01-29T13:57:00-05:00

The groundbreaking on SOM’s $550 million William H. Gray III 30th Street Station redevelopment was held in Philadelphia this month in advance of the next 50-year leg of the historic building’s journey in service to commuters who first began making use of it in 1933.

Gilbane will be directing the design-build for the project, which will last at the station through the end of 2027. By that time, its passenger capacity will have doubled to 25 million per year. The project covers approximately 500,000 square feet overall and is part of a larger $10 billion District Plan that will add retail amenities and other improvements to the Market Street Plaza outside.

Image courtesy Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)

According to Amtrak, the scope of the redevelopment includes:

modernizing and expanding station food & beverage and retail offerings
improving station operations and enhancing the customer experience
upgrading The Porch landscaping and commun...

SOM shares photos of new Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge

2023-12-28T18:15:00-05:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) have shared photos of their new U.S. DOT Volpe National Transportation Systems Center project in Cambridge, Massachusetts following the building’s formal public inauguration in September.

The 13-story, 410,000-square-foot building reclaims an existing 14-acre lot in Kendall Square that has been used by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) since 1970. Added outdoor public spaces replete with an undulating Maya Lin land art piece and further landscaping designed by Reed Hilderbrand surround the new design, which houses formerly separate laboratory facilities, data centers, and administrative offices into a singular “vertical campus” concept for the first time.

Image: © Dave Burk/SOM

The building is oriented to maximize the sun’s position throughout the year while also working to minimize glare and solar radiation at the east and west elevations. The Center's footprint has been reduced to 4 acres as part of a land-use agreement signed with MIT’s...

Clayco and SOM to design major EV manufacturing plant for Rivian in Georgia

2023-12-27T11:17:00-05:00

Clayco and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill have been selected by electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian to construct a “state-of-the-art EV manufacturing plant” in Stanton Springs, Georgia. The 1,800-acre complex is expected to “contribute significantly to the continued growth and adoption of electric vehicles,” according to Clayco.

Image credit: Clayco

“We have an ambitious goal to develop an eco-conscious facility that illustrates our mission of keeping the world adventurous forever,” said Tony Sanger, Vice President of Facilities at Rivian, in a statement. “With Clayco’s dedication to developing innovative ideas and solutions, we are confident they are the right partner to ensure the Rivian plant is a shining example of sustainable manufacturing.”

The plant is expected to begin vehicle production in 2026.

Image credit: Clayco

The electric car manufacturer had previously been planning a $5 billion factory in Fort Worth, Texas, as we reported in 2021. However, later that year, it was announ...

Chicago issues caisson permit for 400 Lake Shore Drive

2023-12-14T12:41:00-05:00

An important milestone has been reached in the construction of 400 Lake Shore Drive in Chicago. According to Urbanize Chicago, a caisson permit has been issued, and below-grade work is scheduled to kick off early next year.

The blog reports that once that work is done, "above-grade work will start in Q1 2025 and continue through Q2 2027. Landscaping and the final completion of the tower is expected for Q3 2027."

The project had previously set a date for around December 1st for its construction to start. SOM's chairman emeritus David Childs is the designer of the two-tower scheme, which quotes the masonry and terra cotta traditions that are synonymous with the Windy City.

Previously on Archinect: Chicago's 400 Lake Shore Drive developers finally set a construction start date

The project will culminate in a total of 1,100 residential units. The first phase of its development calls for the construction of the 3.44-acre DuSable Park and the 72-story Tower One, which stands as a half-size...

SOM completes Rice University’s new engineering and science building behind a patterned brick facade

2023-12-08T13:24:00-05:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has completed a new engineering and science building for Rice University in Houston, Texas. Named the Ralph S. O’Connor Building for Engineering and Science, the 250,000-square-foot facility seeks to “provide students and researchers with technology-rich facilities that align with the University’s goal to stay at the forefront of scientific discovery.”

Image credit: Dave Burk © SOM

The new building contains laboratories, classrooms, offices, a cafe, and gathering spaces. At the top level, meanwhile, a multi-purpose event space contains an outdoor terrace set against the backdrop of the Houston skyline.

The building is anchored by a five-story central atrium, imagined by the team as “a hub of activity” connecting the wider facilities. A glazed facade at the ground level visually connects the building with the Engineering Quad outside, while a cantilevered sculptural stair is framed by brick walls and a fritted glass wall on the upper levels.

Image cred...

SOM completes restoration of Lever House, a midcentury Manhattan office icon

2023-11-17T15:14:00-05:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has announced the completion of a recent restoration project that’s meant to breathe new life into their historic Lever House design in Manhattan.

The scope of their work entailed the creation of a new lobby, ground-level public plaza, installation of an entirely new modernized building system, and 15,000-square-foot Lever Club hospitality suite in addition to redesigned interior spaces from Marmol Radziner.

Image: Lucas Blair Simpson © SOM

The brief called for repairs affecting the material character of the building (terrazzo flooring, refinished exterior columns, and a glass mosaic tile wall) and fixes to water-damaged ceilings. Reed Hilderbrand has also contributed a comprehensive new landscape program for the building that connects the plaza area to third-floor terraces. Costs for the project were around $100 million.

Image: Lucas Blair Simpson © SOM

“This renovation brings Lever House into the 21st century,” SOM Partner Chris Cooper said in a statement...

Chicago's 400 Lake Shore Drive developers finally set a construction start date

2023-10-19T12:25:00-04:00

In 45 days, the construction team will be on site to begin site clearing and mobilization. Crews will begin below-grade work, including caissons, sheeting, and the cofferdam. Work below-grade is expected to begin in Q1 of 2024 and run through Q2 2025. Once underground work is done, crews will transition to vertical construction, including concrete pours, the building enclosure, and interiors. Above-grade work will start in Q1 2025 and continue through Q2 2027.

Developers Related Midwest had initially promised a start of the project by the end of last year. Construction now will begin with the 72-story Tower One and work towards an eventual 2027 completion, ending a saga that began with the cancellation of Santiago Calatrava’s ambitious 150-floor Chicago Spire proposal in 2008.

Writing after the revised SOM plan’s approval in 2020, critic Blair Kamin said it offered a “watering-down of the project’s previously arresting skyline presence and a weakening of its contribution to a network of public spaces that was envisioned in the 1980s.”

SOM unveils new algae-based Bio-Blocks technology at the Chicago Architecture Biennial

2023-09-29T14:01:00-04:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has debuted a new concrete alternative material as part of its participation in the fifth Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB 5), which is taking place now through February 11th at multiple locations citywide.

The firm’s Bio-Blocks technology is being presented as a replacement for traditional Concrete Masonry Units (or CMUs) and can reduce emissions on a project by up to 8% if used at scale. The blocks were fabricated with help from Prometheus Materials using microalgae that were then subject to the company’s patent-pending photosynthetic biocementation process. The results seen therein offer a one-metric-ton total offset, according to the product team.

Image © Dave Burk | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)

Displayed in a spiral construction courtesy of the International Masonry Institute and J&E Duff, Inc., in The Mews space at their 167 Green development in the city’s Fulton Market District, the product demonstrates its future potential as a building...

SOM reveals plans for 100,000-person Sultan Haitham smart city in Oman

2023-08-23T14:53:00-04:00

A new plan for a proposed smart city in Oman has been released by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in advance of the project’s anticipated construction start next year.

The 14.8 million-square-meter Sultan Haitham City is located west of the country’s capital, Muscat, and will accommodate 100,000 people with a total of 20,000 units of housing and climate-resilient naturalistic elements developed around twelve core aims of creating an experience that is "affordable, safe, compact, accessible, comfortable, robust, efficient, circular, healthy, smart, and lovable."

The project is part of the larger Vision 2040 initiative, which has, to date, seen the construction of the world’s largest 3D printed building made with real concrete. The development will begin with the construction of six neighborhoods around a 1.9-square-mile central core and later spread out along a 4.6-mile stretch until completion in 2045. SOM’s Managing Director Thomas Behr says it "provides a new model for sustainabl...

SOM's two-tower office complex in Guangzhou has topped out

2023-08-04T15:36:00-04:00

SOM’s striking two-tower project, the Sany IROOTECH Headquarters in Guangzhou, China, has officially topped out at 669 feet. Situated in the city’s rapidly developing Pazhou business district, the structure was built for construction equipment company Sany’s new cloud technology arm.

Photo: SOM and Mo Peihua

The 1.9 million-square-foot complex is comprised of two Class A office towers. One will serve as the company’s headquarters, with the other being a leasable tenant space. Both structures are united by an external system of five-story steel columns that rise in a diamond grid pattern, which creates a self-shading façade. The diagrid system also contributes to the building’s resilience against seismic activity and strong winds.

Rendering courtesy of SOM

The design allows the floors to be suspended from the structure, ridding the need for interior columns. Landscaped terraces are also featured at five-floor intervals across the façade.

The towers sit atop an elevated podium, which br...

Skanska, AECOM, and SOM announce the completion of Penn Station's Long Island Rail Road concourse renovation

2023-07-10T17:47:00-04:00

Skanska, AECOM, and SOM have announced the completion of Penn Station’s $414 million Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) concourse renovation. The project, which began in January 2021, set out to modernize and widen LIRR’s 33rd Street train hall corridor, all while maintaining the station’s daily operations and train service.

"In order to best accommodate and enhance the commuting experience for the 600,000 passengers that utilize LIRR’s 33rd Street corridor daily, deciphering a path to improving the station’s circulation and traffic flow without disrupting daily train service was paramount,” said executive vice president of Skanska’s East Coast civil operations, Michael Viggiano. “We’re thrilled to be celebrating the completion of this project and to have played a crucial role in reconstructing one of New York City’s most highly trafficked transit hubs.”

The design-build project included the design and construction of the concourse, with a widened corridor, raised ceiling heights, upgrade...

New York’s High Line opens two timber bridges by SOM and Field Operations

2023-06-23T08:00:00-04:00

The newest addition to New York City’s High Line has opened to the public. Named the Moynihan Connector, and designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with James Corner Field Operations, the timber bridges form a link between a series of civic spaces from Midtown West to the West Village.

The Connector is composed of two bridges running above Dyer Avenue and West 30th Street, creating what the team calls an “elevated, accessible, and episodic urban journey from the doorstep of Moynihan Train Hall to the contemporary public spaces of Brookfield’s Manhattan West and the verdant gardens and historic structure of the High Line.” The larger bridge, named the Woodland Bridge, comprises a 340-foot-long structure of exposed weathered columns and angle bracket arms. Meanwhile, the 260-foot-long Timber Bridge comprises a glulam Warren truss made from sustainably sourced wood.

Image credit: Andrew Frasz

“The High Line – Moynihan Connector knits the city’s open spaces together — bringing greater ac...

The Willis Tower turns 50

2023-05-05T12:24:00-04:00

Now called Willis Tower, the building has been a trendsetter since its debut. After starting life as a headquarters for Sears, Roebuck & Co., the building saw its namesake tenant relocate to the suburbs. Along with the rest of downtown, it suffered other blows, including fears raised by the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the Great Recession. It’s always bounced back. But the tower now faces what might be its biggest test.

SOM won the commission from the Sears corporation in 1970 at a time when office parks and the desire to project a stronger image of America against the backdrop of the Vietnam War were separately prevailing forces in the AEC industry. Sears eventually sold the 110-story building, which was the world’s tallest for 22 years, for more than $1 billion in 1988. More recently it has turned into a focal point of the city’s office vacancy crisis, and new owners Blackstone are now looking forward to returns from a $500 million-plus renovation led by Gensler with optimism.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH)'s CEO Javier Quintana de Uña agrees. As he said, "It always keeps ahead of everything else."

The Tribune has historic photos of the tower under construction here.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (@skidmoreowingsmerrill)

Chicago announces next phase of $6 billion Lincoln Yards development

2023-05-03T16:54:00-04:00

The next phase of Chicago’s sprawling $6 billion Lincoln Yards development is set to break ground by the end of the year, according to an update from developer Sterling Bay recently published by Urbanize Chicago.

As of now, the project’s 280,000-square-foot 1229 W. Concord life sciences building designed by Gensler is complete, along with the slate of site improvements and riverwalk extension that surround it.

Image courtesy Sterling Bay

Progress is now moving forward on The Steelyard, a two-building plot located to the north of 1229 W. Concord. It will eventually include Gensler’s 15-story 1665 N. Throop office structure and the 19-story mixed-use 1687 N. Throop from Hartshorne Plunkard. Site Design Group will complete the segment with a new park, which will itself be constructed in multiple phases.

1687 N. Throop from Hartshorne Plunkard. Image courtesy Hartshorne Plunkard

SOM and CBT Architects are responsible for the master plan of Lincoln Yards, which was finally approved in Marc...

SOM will deliver new $700 million climate center to NYC’s Governors Island

2023-04-24T15:18:00-04:00

A new 400,000-square-foot climate campus scheme for New York City’s Governors Island has been unveiled by SOM and Mayor Eric Adams at the close of a two-year competitive bids process for a project that is expected to support cutting-edge environmental research while creating green jobs and educational opportunities for future generations.

Image: SOM/Brick Visual, courtesy New York Mayor's Office.

Image: SOM/Miysis, courtesy New York Mayor's Office.

Stony Brook University is leading the New York City Exchange development, which will also add $1 billion in economic benefits to the city. The university will partner with a list of 15 schools and organizations, including IBM, Georgia Tech, and Oxford University, and offer space to 30 other entities from the non-profit sector, all with expertise that touches on the development’s core program areas of environmental justice, water rights, workforce development, education, and labor.

Image: SOM/Brick Visual, courtesy New York Mayor's Office.

I...

SOM's all-inclusive Kansas City terminal brings air transport design 'far into the future'

2023-02-28T17:04:00-05:00

This week, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is debuting a new civic landmark for the Kansas City area they claim will also set a new benchmark for inclusive design in transportation architecture while bringing its 51-year-old airport “far into the future.”

The new, 39-gate terminal comes with an adjacent 6,000-space parking garage designed by BNIM and importantly consolidates three smaller terminals into a single two-story structure. With room to expand by another 11 gates in the coming years, its layout keys on user circulation and comes with a series of design features in line with the city’s resolution to make it the “most accessible in the world.”

Under a hemlock-clad ceiling overhang, both levels of the light-filled, 1.1 million-square-foot I-shaped structure come with a series of locally-designed mosaics made from materials preserved from its predecessor building in order to preserve its memory. The products of an intensive commun...

SOM presents 'ready-to-build' Urban Sequoia NOW design at COP27

2022-11-08T17:53:00-05:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has revealed an update to its Urban Sequoia project it says can be built right now, during a presentation that took place today at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

SOM Partner Chris Cooper was on hand to make the presentation of his firm’s refined design for a carbon-sequestering building that can be used as a weapon in the fight against carbon emissions globally, three-quarters of which are generated from urban areas alone.

“We recognize the need to alter the trajectory of climate change by going beyond net zero,” Cooper said during the presentation. “We need to take carbon out of the atmosphere through the built environment, and we have developed a design to do just that.”

Despite some considerably less-marketable obstacles to its effective implementation, the technology for carbon sequestering has come a long way in its development to offer itself as a plausible answer to the challenge posed by the need to a...

SOM reveals design for Singapore’s tallest building

2022-11-08T13:16:00-05:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has unveiled the design for 8 Shenton Way, set to be the tallest building in Singapore. Designed in collaboration with local firm DCA Architects, the 1,000-foot-tall, 63-story mixed-use tower is described as an “indoor-outdoor vertical community with public spaces, offices, retail, a hotel, and luxury residences.”

The building’s predominately glazed façade is clad with a blend of terracotta and bamboo, while the building form is fragmented by setbacks holding roof terraces and curving bay windows on most floors. Seven terraces are included in the scheme, with one serving a hotel and three serving residential floors.

Inside, the tower’s “live, work, and play” offering includes offices, retail, a hotel, and luxury residential units. At ground level, the project addresses the street through retail units and a public performance and events space, while on the second floor, an open-air green space accommodates r...

Selldorf will join SOM for the Hirshhorn Museum's vital third revitalization phase

2022-10-31T18:03:00-04:00

Washington, D.C.’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden has announced that a joint team of SOM and Selldorf Architects will lead a major modernization of its now 48-year-old Gordon Bunshaft-designed facility in the last of a three-phase campus revitalization that will begin in 2025, according to the Washington Post.

The upgrades will cover the interior and plaza area and are being undertaken in order to help the museum adjust to a 40% rise in attendance that has been recorded since 2017.

The project will address important areas such as storage, stormwater management, accessibility, vertical transportation, and other upgrades to its galleries and public areas to correspond with the museum’s needs. In a press statement, Selldorf co-principal Chris Cooper said: “Ensuring that the building is better able to accommodate the museum’s ambitious programs, while serving a larger and more diverse audience, is of critical importance. And we need to be able to do so while making the building ...

Arup and SOM selected to lead modernization and expansion of Newark Liberty Airport

2022-10-25T17:17:00-04:00

Arup has been selected for a multibillion-dollar expansion project for Newark Liberty International Airport following an announcement from the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey on Monday. SOM will also provide its expertise on the project.

The two will oversee the development of the Port Authority’s Vision Plan, which aims to “future-proof” the over 2,000-acre airport via a comprehensive framework that will take shape through the year 2065.

According to a press release, “the plan will accommodate future growth and demand, improve the travel experience, and identify opportunities for enhancing the sustainability and resiliency of the facility.”

Newark’s airport is one of the oldest in the United States and currently faces an 81.6% increase in travelers as it looks to upgrade its facilities with three ongoing projects that total $5.3 billion — including the delayed 33-gate new Terminal A from Grimshaw and $2 billion AirTrain upgrade, which has been called “critical component of ...

NYC announces $1.6 billion life sciences campus development in Manhattan

2022-10-18T17:29:00-04:00

New York City has announced its plans for a new $1.6 billion life sciences campus to be located on the east side of Manhattan and administered in partnership with the City University of New York (CUNY).

SOM has been attached as the project lead for the SPARC Kips Bay development, which will transform the Brookdale Campus of Hunter College into a 1.5-million-square foot center for research, entrepreneurship, and education geared at local economic benefits and training young New Yorkers for careers in tech and the health sciences.

According to a press release, the project’s scope includes:

NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue ambulatory care center.
NYC Health + Hospitals simulation training center.
DOE high school with a special focus on preparations for healthcare and other STEM careers.
A new Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) Forensic Pathology Center that will be a "nation-leading training facility for forensic pathologists."
Commercial office and laboratory space for the life scienc...

SOM completes new Wellesley College Science Complex, an 'interplay between old and new'

2022-10-13T14:48:00-04:00

SOM just completed a major design project for the Wellesley College Science Complex after a five-year construction period.

The redesigned 97,000-square-foot structure is comprised of mass timber with recycled zinc elements and involved the consolidation of several smaller academic buildings that were originally constructed on the Science Hill portion of the campus between the 1920s and late1970s.

“We reimagined the science center as a village for teaching, learning, and research,” SOM Design Partner Colin Koop said in a press release. “The project is a careful mix of removal, renovation, and addition that will give students and faculty a more inviting and engaging experience.”

For the renovation portion of the project, SOM focused on the L-wing, a Perry, Dean, Stahl, and Rogers-designed addition to the older Neo-Gothic Sage Hall that was first enacted in 1977 and provided an ideal space for transformation.

SOM’s team converted the structu...

SOM's latest corporate design will yield an expanded new Alibaba campus in Shanghai

2022-07-25T15:49:00-04:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) has unveiled its design for Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba’s new 75,000-square-meter (807,209-square-foot) campus expansion in Shanghai.

The building is designed to recall a cloud in reference to the computing technology that has propelled its 23-year ascension into the upper echelon of corporate multinationals under the stewardship of founder Jack Ma.

Image © SOM

SOM will help the now $300 billion company accommodate its expanding workforce with a modular design beset by biophilic elements and a network of indoor-outdoor “collaboration bridges” designed to increase productivity and induce healthier work habits in line with Norman Foster’s gridlike headquarters building to be located next door.

“‘The only constant is change’ is one of Alibaba’s guiding principles,” SOM’s Scott Duncan said in a press statement. “We took this ethos to heart, designing a workplace capable of evolving and adapting to new needs, teams, and technologies over time. The hea...

Archinect - News

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

Your next job could be designing federal government buildings at SOM

SOM, Mithun sign on to deliver seven-building Munger Hall replacement at UCSB

SOM's tapering Star River Headquarters project completes in Guangzhou

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

Take an inside look at the form-making process for LACMA's new David Geffen Galleries

SOM completes Two Manhattan West, marking a major milestone for corporate office design in NYC

SOM begins $550 million Gray 30th Street Station redevelopment in Philadelphia

SOM shares photos of new Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge

Clayco and SOM to design major EV manufacturing plant for Rivian in Georgia

Chicago issues caisson permit for 400 Lake Shore Drive

SOM completes Rice University’s new engineering and science building behind a patterned brick facade

SOM completes restoration of Lever House, a midcentury Manhattan office icon

Chicago's 400 Lake Shore Drive developers finally set a construction start date

SOM unveils new algae-based Bio-Blocks technology at the Chicago Architecture Biennial

SOM reveals plans for 100,000-person Sultan Haitham smart city in Oman

SOM's two-tower office complex in Guangzhou has topped out

Skanska, AECOM, and SOM announce the completion of Penn Station's Long Island Rail Road concourse renovation

New York’s High Line opens two timber bridges by SOM and Field Operations

The Willis Tower turns 50

Chicago announces next phase of $6 billion Lincoln Yards development

SOM will deliver new $700 million climate center to NYC’s Governors Island

SOM's all-inclusive Kansas City terminal brings air transport design 'far into the future'

SOM presents 'ready-to-build' Urban Sequoia​ NOW design at COP27

SOM reveals design for Singapore’s tallest building

Selldorf will join SOM for the Hirshhorn Museum's vital third revitalization phase

Arup and SOM selected to lead modernization and expansion of Newark Liberty Airport

NYC announces $1.6 billion life sciences campus development in Manhattan

SOM completes new Wellesley College Science Complex, an 'interplay between old and new'

SOM's latest corporate design will yield an expanded new Alibaba campus in Shanghai

SOM presents 'ready-to-build' Urban Sequoia NOW design at COP27