Archinect - News

America's largest cities have seen a spike in commercial and multifamily construction starts during first half of 2022

2022-07-27T15:44:00-04:00

A new report from the Dodge Construction Network indicates the continued rebound of the building industry in 12 of America’s 20 largest metropolitan areas during the first two quarters of 2022, propelled by new starts in the commercial and multifamily residential sectors.

A survey at the year’s midway point revealed a 24% year-to-year increase in the value of all new starts within those two sectors, which were driven by demand for housing that is increasingly focused on more affordable apartment and condominium designs. The increases offer a strong indicator of continued performance of the industry through the rest of the year, according to Dodge Construction Network chief economist Richard Branch.

Previously on Archinect: Commercial and multifamily construction starts reflect nationwide recovery in 2021

Only three of the top 10 areas surveyed — Seattle, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia — were in decline as the starts in the rest of the country rose a total of 18% when compared to the ...

The UK's new Part O regulations are being implemented at the right time

2022-07-25T09:00:00-04:00

New regulations, called Part O, took effect in England in June, requiring that new homes are built with some measures to combat overheating. The regulations aim to reduce solar gain — the increase in room temperature caused by sunlight — ensuring the safety of occupants, even if it may remain uncomfortable.

Hundreds of UK residents died in this week’s “heat apocalypse” that posed particular challenges to those living in the country’s many recently-converted office buildings and council housing. Brick masonry remains the predominant residential construction material, though Low Energy Architectural Practice Principal Mark Siddall says the regulations will “help designers, architects and engineers make more informed decisions so that the risk of overheating can be reduced in new properties.”

Extreme summer temperatures seen this week are expected to occur more regularly by century's end. At the other end of the spectrum, certain antiquated home designs can’t be kept warm enough in winter, prompting RIBA to call for an expansive £38 billion ($51.5 billion) upgrade plan.

First came Putin’s War, then came the permanent changes to the architecture of one vital Ukrainian city

2022-06-21T17:46:00-04:00

The new construction is part of planning by Lviv’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, who said he envisioned a new, more resilient Ukraine after this war and is revamping his city’s infrastructure to prepare for an almost constant state of conflict […] for those displaced by war, Anton Kolomeytsev is envisioning something much less adorned, but no less graceful.

According to the New York Times, Lviv, Ukraine’s westernmost major city with a population of approximately 800,000, could face a war-fed refugee increase of around 50,000 persons if the process of internal displacement continues at its current pace. Recently updated building codes means the wave of new five- and seven-story apartment block developments must include mandated bomb shelters and reinforced concrete safety rooms (also called “Mamads”) in each unit. The first new developments are expected within two months.

Other designers have been able to expedite the housing process with a bit more alacrity, but Lviv's chief architect, Anton Kolomeytsev, says the protocol is always to plan buildings that can last for centuries. Kolomeytsev, the 35-year-old in charge of the rebuilding, said it also hinges on a concerted effort to preserve the city’s rich aesthetic character (including some of its Soviet-era examples) side-by-side with any new development in a plan that echoes key aspec...

June's NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI shows builder pessimism at an all-time high

2022-06-21T08:30:00-04:00

A new poll conducted by the National Association of Home Builders shows builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes is at its lowest level after six straight months of decline. The poll measures builder perceptions of current and future single-family home sales, and the traffic of prospective buyers. All three categories posted declines in the latest monthly data with buyer traffic falling most sharply, a sign that homebuyers — especially first-time ones — are giving up.

The now-familiar cocktail of increasingly higher interest rates and home prices is once again causing headaches for contractors looking to fill America’s shortage of 4 million homes. The NAHB has been pushing the Biden Administration to take action on the supply-side of the problem since last year, and now says that a 19% increase in the average cost of construction materials will require even further measures be taken in the form of jobs training, tariff rollbacks, and a ban on Russian timber in the hopes of combatting the nationwide problem.

The group's new poll indicates an atmosphere of waned confidence in an industry beset by labor shortages and a string of business failures for the past two years. All three categories of measure reported percentage point decreases of 1 (sales conditions), 2 (expectations), and 5, a record for buyer traffic, which has fallen belo...

Is carbon offsetting a misleading tool of the building industry?

2022-05-16T15:16:00-04:00

Six months after the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, columnist Kunle Barker wrote in the UK Architects' Journal to take a stand against the industry’s oneiric focus on “lofty ideals of zero-carbon and on soundbites” and towards a more considered system of new project evaluation, advocating for the “need to develop a viability methodology that is independent, objective and focused on carbon impact versus social need.”

“Let’s rid ourselves of these conceited phrases and instead focus on the real issues,” he wrote, arguing that need will always push architects into costly demolition efforts and away from restoring structures that may, in many cases, be better suited for adaptive reuse. “Offsetting is not sustainable. In fact, it's not even close to being sustainable, and most worrying of all, it is allowing lazy, ego-driven designs to be accepted by us all. We must find an objective and fair way to assess if (and how) a building should be constructed. This is the only way the built en...

San Francisco architect completes "Three Chimney House" in Virginia

2020-05-06T13:05:00-04:00

San Francisco-based TW Ryan Architecture (TWRA) completes its first ground-up project in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Three Chimney House sits on a large 45-acre site with a small pond and views westward towards the Shenandoah Mountains. The property was originally part of a larger Homestead used in the Civil War as a hospital for wounded soldiers and is only a mile from where Lewis and Clark began their quest of discovery across America after being commission by Thomas Jefferson.

Designed for a family of four, the design of the home takes inspiration from traditional Southern colonial houses through its form and use of materials. Brick, copper, stone, and wood are utilized throughout the structure and were selected for their historical use in the local area. Longevity and the ability for the materials to patina over time were crucial to their selection.

The defining feature of the home are its three chimneys, which stand 30 feet in height and help anchor key moments within the dw...