Archinect - News

$1 billion Gensler plan could give ancient Houston Astrodome a brighter future

2024-11-21T16:55:00-05:00

The historic Houston Astrodome could soon receive a $1 billion revival courtesy of Gensler.

Plans for Vision: Astrodome from the Astrodome Conservancy called for the erection of four new smaller structures inside the stadium. An arching internal pedestrian boulevard comparable to the New York High Line then interjects itself as an elevated connector to the adjoining NRG Stadium and NRG Center venues.

Image courtesy Astrodome Conservancy

Officially a 450,000-square-foot plan that will rejuvenate the facility (at one point known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World") into a retail and entertainment destination for Houstonians, the endeavor is being supported by favorable results from the Conservancy's 2020 public engagement survey.

Image courtesy Astrodome Conservancy

If approved, the 86% majority of Harris County residents will get their wish in the form of the retail, office, cultural, hospitality, other commercial, and food/beverage offerings lining the selection of redeveloped spaces...

SCAPE teams with BIG for Manresa Island power plant redevelopment on Long Island Sound

2024-10-02T11:27:00-04:00

Landscape and planning studio SCAPE has announced the addition of architects BIG to a new adaptive reuse project in southern Fairfield County, Connecticut, called Manresa Island.

The project, which is set to reimagine a decommissioned coal-fired power plant into a new 125-acre public park in the city of Norwalk, intends to elevate the site’s endemic wetlands and biodiversity while creating a range of opportunities for dining and recreation.

Image courtesy SCAPE and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)

Three buildings — the two 22,000-square-foot boiler and turbine towers and a 8,200-square-foot office component — will be redeveloped through the effort, added to by SCAPE’s master planning and landscape contribution, and connected via a newly unearthed scenic waterway.

Image courtesy SCAPE and Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG)

The project's features include an expansive green lawn and meadow with a public beach. A 1.75-mile tract of waterfront access will be created, offering residents an alternative t...

Field Operations announces new The Bentway Islands project in Toronto

2024-09-30T12:00:00-04:00

Field Operations has announced they are working with Canadian partners Brook McIlroy on a new public realm rehabilitation project dubbed The Bentway Islands in Toronto.

The plan calls for the redevelopment of three traffic islands into a new space that totals 125,000 square feet. Design concepts for the project will be revealed next year. It will serve as the "sister site" to a previously completed Phase I development. Field Operations also recently completed the final piece of the award-winning Domino Park in Williamsburg. Brooklyn.

Image courtesy The Bentway

Phase I of The Bentway development. Image courtesy Nic Lehoux

Phase I of The Bentway development. Image courtesy Brandon Ferguson

Domino Square opens, completing Field Operations' Domino Park contribution in Williamsburg

2024-09-23T20:20:00-04:00

The completed and final piece of Domino Park at the redeveloped Domino Sugar Factory site in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has been unveiled after developer Two Trees Management opened the one-acre Domino Square to the public for the first time on Monday.

Image: Daniel Levin for Two Trees Management

The square extends the larger six-acre Domino Park design from Field Operations, establishing a 33,300 square foot public area between the completed One Domino Square residences and The Refinery at Domino office component to be used for public gatherings as a retail-lined extension of the urban realm.

Image: Daniel Levin for Two Trees Management

Brooklyn's Studio Cadena collaborated with Field Operations in order to create a distinct and alluring space that can be operated in all seasons. A lifted edge interior bowl fitted with corten steel enclosures is framed by tiered amphitheater-like seating and large planters in between the two buildings. On the other side, a retail arcade addresses the ...

SOM, Weiss/Manfredi, and Future Green's $336 million NJPAC redevelopment breaks ground in Newark

2024-09-20T11:05:00-04:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merril (SOM) have broken ground on a new $336 million campus redevelopment at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in downtown Newark. The state’s largest city will receive a new 350-unit SOM-designed ArtSide apartment complex through the plan. Other key elements include new headquarters for legendary WBGO radio, Future Green Studio’s reimagined Chambers Plaza park area, and the 58,000-square-foot Cooperman Family Arts Education and Community Center from Weiss/Manfredi.

ArtSide. Image: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, courtesy of NJPAC.

SOM had created the NJPAC’s original master plan in 1988. Newark’s Mayor Ras Baraka commented: "The streets of Newark have always been steeped in the arts. This is a city where jazz and hip hop are in the breeze, and every wall without a mural is just a canvas no one’s yet claimed. The new neighborhood around NJPAC will fully embrace that dynamic spirit, bringing more housing, stores and gathering places to our already lively do...

Foster + Partners' revised Television City modernization plans gets go-ahead from L.A. City Planning

2024-09-16T17:19:00-04:00

The large-scale modernization of CBS Television City in Fairfax, Los Angeles led by Foster + Partners is moving forward with an endorsement from the Los Angeles City Planning Commission. The revised version of the $1 billion project, which preserves existing William Pereira-designed heritage structures, is now less its originally proposed 15-story office tower component. The new plan results in shorter commercial buildings along Fairfax Avenue and a maximum of 500,000 square feet for general office space with another 712,000 square feet used for productions.

RIOS and Adamson Associates are included as part of the design team. Opponents had been claiming the project violated local zoning mandates. It has been in operation since 1952. Multiple outlets have said construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2028.

San Francisco's Transamerica Pyramid Center reopens with a flourish following Foster + Partners makeover

2024-09-12T19:26:00-04:00

Today marks the grand reopening of the Transamerica Pyramid Center in San Francisco, California, following a $400 million redevelopment project from developer SHVO in partnership with Foster + Partners.

The 853-foot masterpiece William Pereira first bequeathed to the city in the summer of 1972 is now revitalized with modern-day amenities and a new lobby that once again matches his design’s original intentions while better integrating the building with civic life along the ground level.

Image: David Lipman

Outside the lobby, a revitalized Redwood Park with 49 replanted trees was enacted between Two Transamerica and Three Transamerica at Sansome Street to bind the site and program and serve as a new oasis-like destination in the heart of a busy pedestrian/commercial area.

Image: David Lipman

Another exterior component of the project entailed rejuvenating Mark Twain Alley, which is now a more vibrant civic space replete with plum blossom trees that ...

Heatherwick details reimagined Sunset Place retail center in Miami

2024-08-23T11:58:00-04:00

A hyperlocal strategy and refinement of the site’s relationship with the street-level and corresponding parts of Midtown will be the defining features of Heatherwick Studios’ planned Sunset Place retail regeneration project in Miami.

The plan was put forth in detail via a 5-minute Instagram video this week. Heatherwick says: “Our idea is to get rid of the sterile atmosphere of the previous shopping mall and bring back streets influenced by the scale and charm of Sunset Drive. The plan is to extend the existing grid into the site and create continuous routes and a village of smaller, intimate spaces, framed in an extraordinary way by the apartments above.”

His newest humanizing design joins other newly announced mixed-use and retail projects from Kengo Kuma and David Chipperfield. No construction timelines for the project have been made available at this time.

Massachusetts changes direction for reuse of Paul Rudolph's brutalist Government Service Center

2024-07-29T12:34:00-04:00

The planned reuse of Paul Rudolph’s oft-reviled Boston Government Service Center has taken on a new direction with a housing-focused proposal from the administration of Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. The updated plan replaced a previously announced NBBJ overhaul that would have remade both the Erich Lindemann and Charles F. Hurley buildings into an office block with labs for scientific research. Now, with the demand for each shrinking, the state is poised to reroute the redevelopment to match its previous benchmarked demand for over 69,000 new homes by 2030.

The newly released press statement noted: “The site remains architecturally significant due to its unique mid-century design, and the Administration will prioritize historic preservation in the renewed redevelopment process.” A formal RFP for the new plan could come as soon as this year.

Denver inches forward on downtown KSE-Ball Arena Redevelopment

2024-07-24T12:12:00-04:00

Things appear to be moving forward for Denver’s proposed KSE-Ball Arena Redevelopment following the approval of a rezoning application from Shears Adkins Rockmore Architects (SAR+). The plan connects 75 acres around the 25-year-old sports venue to the future River Mile Development and other constituent parts of downtown, replacing surface parking lots with a 12 million-square-foot mixed-use program and 10 acres of landscaped open space.

ZGF Architects is also involved in the project as a design partner. Wenk Associates is the landscape architect. The plan addresses Denver's need for housing near the downtown core with 6,000 new units, 18% of which are considered affordable.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by SAR+ Architects (@shears_adkins_rockmore)

The Ball Arena scheme is similar in scope to the proposed 55-acre The 1901 Project redevelopment of the neighborhood surrounding the United Center in Chicago from RIOS and Field Operations, which we detailed ...

RIOS, Field Operations behind proposed $7B redevelopment of Chicago's United Center area

2024-07-23T19:39:00-04:00

The bigger picture of RIOS’s massive The 1901 Project proposal on Chicago’s West Side came into focus today as part of a planned $7 billion redevelopment of areas surrounding the United Center.

The 55-acre site is set to be transformed into a mix of retail, entertainment, and residential spaces over a period of ten years in a new privately funded venture that will join RIOS with Field Operations beginning in the spring of 2025.

The first phase of construction, which kicks off next year at what is now a surface parking area adjacent to the arena, will deliver a 6,000-seat music venue, a 10-acre elevated public park, new parking facilities, and a mix of retail and hospitality aimed at encouraging local businesses with a hefty sense of increased pedestrianism included.

Proposed The 1901 Project redevelopment. Image courtesy RIOS

Current situation. Image courtesy RIOS

Once that phase is complete, the plan's housing component will come into focus. The architects say this will include a mi...

First renderings of KPF's major 8 Canada Square overhaul

2024-07-18T16:53:00-04:00

The plan from Kohn Pedersen Fox for a major redevelopment of the 42-story Norman Foster-designed 8 Canada Square tower in London (opened in 2003 and currently leased by HSBC) has gone public for the first time.

The project, which commences in 2027, is expected to be realized at 1.1 million square feet and showcase the most up-to-date workspaces along with a suite of amenities for workers, including leisure, entertainment, education, and cultural attractions.

Image copyright Kiasm, courtesy of KPF

KPF Design Principal Elie Gamburg said her team views this as an opportunity to “reimagine the single-use office building as a blueprint for the highly sustainable, mixed-use building of the future.” Plans are to have it serve as a connection between the nearby Elizabeth Line station and Canada Square Park. Some of the changes proposed (as noted below) are a complete retrofitting of the building envelope, plus the addition of two large setbacks and outdoor terraces leading to a rooftop vie...

Grimshaw's new pedestrian bridge opens in Toulouse

2024-07-09T15:35:00-04:00

The Grimshaw-designed Robert Poujade pedestrian bridge in Toulouse has officially opened.

Developed alongside ppa.architecture as part of a consortium led by French civil engineering construction company Eiffage, which included Ingérop, ATP, and Quartiers Lumières, the bridge is one of four that will connect the Île du Ramier and the city. It will provide accessible routes through Toulouse’s new “green lung” on the Garonne River.

Photo: Marc Mondange

The footbridge will serve as a catalyst for the development of the northern end of the Île du Ramier. This will include the redevelopment of the former Parc des Expositions site, along with car-free pedestrian access to the Art Deco Nakache swimming pool and stadium.

Photo: Marc Mondange

The approximately 525-foot-long bridge will link the city’s Fer à Cheval district to the north of the island. On the city side, it is connected to the riverbank, with access to the river promenade and cycle path. It is also connected to the Avenue du Mu...

Legal challenge to block Toronto's controversial Ontario Place redevelopment fails in court

2024-06-24T17:06:00-04:00

The Art Newspaper is reporting on the failure of a legal challenge that would have blocked Toronto’s controversial plans to realize a massive spa complex on the site of Ontario Place after the provincial Superior Court of Justice’s June 11th decision.

The project is contentious on both heritage and environmental grounds and has likewise drawn ire from its reported costs north of $650 million CAD ($476 million USD) to taxpayers. Therme, the company behind the plan, had previously signed a 95-year lease with the city government.

The removal of Raymond Moriyama's Ontario Science Centre, which is at the heart of the issue, is also stirring debate after it closed abruptly last week over fears of collapse stemming from the flawed RAAC concrete materials used in its roof. All this is "based on a faulty business case" says a closer analysis from Elsa Lam.

Foster + Partners' CBS Television City redevelopment plan clears major planning hurdle in LA

2024-06-11T12:08:00-04:00

The proposal from Foster + Partners to author a major redevelopment of the CBS Television City campus in Los Angeles' Fairfax District has cleared a vital hurdle after local planning officials certified an EIR last month for the $1 billion project. Once it is completed, the project will yield more than 1.7 million square feet of state-of-the-art facilities, including new sound stages, office suites, a retail component meant for the 25-acre campus perimeter, and the first all-electric production studios in the city.

William Pereira's original 1952 buildings will also be preserved through the effort. Beverlypress.com, which first reported the news last week, says: "The project will next be heard on Sept. 12 by the Los Angeles Planning Commission." RIOS and Adamson Associates are also included in the project team. Other outlets have said work is expected to wrap up by the end of 2028.

Theaster Gates partners with Philadelphia arts initiative on revitalization project

2024-06-04T14:29:00-04:00

Philadelphia’s Forman Arts Initiative (FAI) announced that it has bought and is developing almost a whole block in the city’s West Kensington neighbourhood as a museum and community centre—with help from the artist Theaster Gates and local architects Digsau and Ian Smith Design Group. The campus will open in stages over the next two years, starting later this summer with a public outdoor space.

Gates is also currently, among many other things, involved in a community revitalization effort for the new St. Laurence Arts Incubator in Chicago and National Museums Liverpool's waterfront development in partnership with Asif Khan.

Listen back to our Archinect Sessions podcast conversation with him here.

UK Housing Secretary issues final go-ahead for Museum of London and Bastion House demolition

2024-05-21T16:05:00-04:00

The UK's Housing and Communities Secretary Michael Gove has approved the planned demolition of the Museum of London building and Bastion House near the Barbican. The go-ahead makes way for the revised Sheppard Robson and Diller Scofidio + Renfro-led scheme that would deliver a new office block to the site following the culmination of demolition work in 2033.

The decision marks the end of a tumultuous back-and-forth between preservationists and the planning authority. Many have criticized the demolition's carbon footprint, despite the design team's promise to reuse 90% of the materials on-site in the construction of the new building, prompting Gove to issue an Article 31 order last month before casting his final approval on May 17th.

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

Barbican Quarter Action (or BQA), the main group leading its opposition, has said to Londonist that t...

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.

Mecanoo revives Scotland’s past into a new source of community pride

2024-04-08T17:26:00-04:00

Mecanoo has shared the news of its completed transformation of the Perth Museum in central Scotland.

The three-year construction yields 37,700 square feet worth of new public space inside of the Edwardian-style former City Hall that serviced the community from 1914 on. A specially carved Vennels-inspired intervention connects the two separate halls, framed by two new portals made from Black Isle timber and finished with a bronze casing.

Image credit: Greg Holmes Photography

Visitors will be welcomed into the brightly-lit new Main Hall archives space by a dramatic oak box container for the mythical returned Scottish Stone of Destiny. The adjacent Lesser Hall is thereafter recreated as a new communal space with larger windows and replete with a café and events venue.

Image credit: Greg Holmes Photography

This creates new panoramic views of the St. Johns Kirk church outside. Artifacts taken from the Jacobite period are on display within, including the silver broadsword used by Bonnie Pr...

Proposal to bring New York City its first dedicated professional soccer stadium is approaching approval

2024-03-23T08:00:00-04:00

New York City’s first dedicated soccer stadium is becoming closer to a reality. As reported by Gothamist, the City Council is expected to approve the final phase of an ambitious project to revitalize the long-neglected Willets Point neighborhood in Queens through a mixed-use redevelopment.

In addition to the stadium, the scheme promises to deliver 2,500 units of affordable housing, including 133 homes for homeless New Yorkers, a 250-room hotel, a public school, retail, space, and public space. Designed by HOK, the $780 million, 25,000-seat stadium will host the MLS’ New York City Football Club. It is also expected to be the first-ever fully electric soccer stadium in the MLS.

Rendering courtesy of New York City Football Club

Phase I of the project, which includes 1,100 residential units, has been approved, with construction commencing in December of last year. Approval of Phase II, which includes the stadium and more housing units, is expected to follow through the support of city ...

Peterson Rich Office transforms former church into an inviting new cultural center in Detroit's East Village

2024-03-12T18:18:00-04:00

The adaptive reuse design for the Shepherd Gallery and Art Center inside the new Little Village in Detroit has been revealed ahead of its public opening on May 18th.

The project from Peterson Rich Office (PRO) transformed a 110-year-old former church into a new cultural center for the local Library Street Collective, a nonprofit dedicated to presenting art in the city's revitalized heritage spaces. It was executed at 16,000 square feet and culminates in two new galleries with a small library, classrooms, and workshop included for local community endeavors.

View of the Charles McGee Legacy Park and the Shepherd. Photo by Jason Keen. Courtesy of Library Street Collective.

In terms of its interior redesign, the architects chose to place an exhibition area in the transept mezzanine while making the altar below into another gallery open for performance and public gatherings. The church's other transept now houses a curated Little Village Arts Library space from Asmaa Walton. A landscaped...

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...

MVRDV plans a new 'Green Heart' in the center of Düsseldorf

2024-01-10T20:30:00-05:00

MVRDV has released updated renderings and other details about its forthcoming Grüne Mitte (or “Green Heart”) plan that calls for a redesigned new green district in the culturally rich German city of Düsseldorf.

The firm’s plan, which entails the construction of a colorful residential component totaling 500 units (half of which are considered social housing) around a small landscaped public space from fellow Dutch designers LOLA, was the product of an intensive community input process that included members of the diverse Flingern-Süd community.

The area has been considered a "hot spot" for squatting since the end of the 1980s and features equally popular shopping spaces and a parking structure that was built only 11 years ago before the land was acquired by the developers Cube Real Estate.

Image © MVDRV

As part of that process, residents selected the Green Heart proposal from a trio of outline primers. Their solution calls for a 36% reduction in paved areas, with a new...

Sasaki will oversee redevelopment of Santa Monica Airport into park space for LA County

2024-01-02T17:46:00-05:00

Plans for the redevelopment of the soon-to-close Santa Monica Airport have become clearer after the City Council approved an agreement with Sasaki Associates in December that would deliver a “Great Park” concept to the 227-acre site after 2028.

The new *Airport Conversion Planning Project agreement calls for a five-phase public consultation and research effort to be conducted by the firm before the end of 2025. A framework will come first in Phase One and precedes a draft of the project’s guiding principles in Phase Two, with the eventual naming of a study-informed ‘preferred scenario’ and alternative suggestions being produced by the end of Phase Three.

Phases Four and Five will round out the plan with a proposed implementation strategy for the alternative and eventual publication of a ‘Preferred Scenario Vision Book’ that coalesces the previous four phases into one written framework. Considerations for the immediate on-site activations after ‘Day One’ (e.g. January 1, 2029) are al...

Foster + Partners' Three Transamerica redesign wins approval in San Francisco

2023-12-21T15:18:00-05:00

New details about the planned redevelopment of the San Francisco Transamerica Center from Foster + Partners have been released following the unanimous approval of the Three Transamerica expansion plans by the city’s Parks Department and Planning Commission.

Renderings included in an Instagram announcement of the approvals from developer SHVO released yesterday show plans for a 220-foot horizontal expansion of the mixed-use former 545 Sansome St. property that results in a distinctive glass curtain wall at the base of the building’s north and west orientations. The building dates from 1930 and was originally designed by Willis Polk & Company.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by SHVO (@shvo)

Per SF YIMBY, city planners acknowledged the distinctiveness of the character of their intervention’s scope, saying it was “recognizable as a modern intervention consistent with other newer buildings in the area” but that the demolition would not result in the removal of...

Google unveils updated renderings for Thompson Center rejuvenation

2023-12-13T17:11:00-05:00

New renderings for Google’s $280 million redevelopment of the Helmut Jahn-designed James R. Thompson Center in Chicago have been released by the company ahead of the start of construction activities early next year.

The announcement was made via Google’s The Keyword blog and appears to show improvements to the ground-level plaza area, facades, and HVAC system, minus the significant alterations to the atrium that were first detailed by Chicago Sun-Times columnist Lee Bey back in October.

The existing colonnade and plaza at street level will be redesigned to allow for more food, beverage, and retail opportunities, along with seasonal activations for the public. JAHN, its original architect, will lead the overhaul in line with Google’s pledge to deliver a LEED Platinum and all-electric building. The “postmodern legacy” of their late founder's design will reportedly also be “honored” by retaining its 17-story atrium space — an area that became a point of contention for preservationists ...

Foster + Partners finishes work on revamped Penn Station entrance

2023-11-20T16:49:00-05:00

A dramatic new makeover of Penn Station’s entrance at 7th Avenue and 32nd Street in Manhattan has been completed by Foster + Partners and AECOM for clients Amtrak and the Vornado Realty Trust.

The rebuilding project expands the entrance’s width by 50 percent while making it safer and fully ADA-accessible for 600,000 daily users of what is considered the nation’s busiest train station.

Image: Fernando Sandoval/MW

A new canopy and LED display were constructed at the entryway, which now features a wider staircase, new interior lighting feature, improved elevator access, and an added third escalator for enhanced circulation. Outside sidewalks and the surrounding plaza were also expanded. The project complements part of Vornado and MdeAS Architects’ redevelopment of the adjacent PENN 2 Tower while creating what Amtrak describes as a “sense of place and civic monumentality.”

Image: Fernando Sandoval/MW

In a press statement, Foster + Partners’ Head of Studio, Nigel Dancey, commented: “We h...

Major demolition plans announced for Thompson Center facade and atrium

2023-10-18T12:04:00-04:00

Significant alterations to the exterior of Helmut Jahn’s aging James R. Thompson Center have been revealed inside of planning documents submitted for Google’s forthcoming $280 million renovation of the landmark former government office building in Chicago.

The building’s glass facade and atrium will now be demolished in its entirety at a cost of $6 million, according to permitting documents issued by the city’s Department of Buildings on October 13th. Lee Bey was first to report the news in the Chicago Sun-Times Tuesday when a spokesperson for the tech giant promised a formal announcement could come “within weeks” as the planning process moves along.

Landmarks Illinois’ President and CEO Bonnie McDonald told Bey the demolition would “add to the waste stream” of the building’s carbon lifecycle, though did admit the reuse plan was a “big win” over previous fears it would either be razed or topped by a new supertall construction.

Added McDonald: “While we realize losing the existing ...

Construction begins on Japan’s tallest building, Torch Tower

2023-10-09T15:00:00-04:00

Construction has begun on the Torch Tower, set to be the new tallest building in Japan. The 1,280-foot-tall skyscraper is expected to be completed in March 2028 according to new reporting by The Japan Times.

The Torch Tower is one of four buildings to be constructed as part of a major redevelopment of Tokyo’s historic Tokiwabashi district. Led by developers Mitsubishi Estate, the design team involved in the master plan’s delivery includes Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei, Koji Matsuda, Sou Fujimoto, Yuko Nagayama, and Takanori Fukouka.

Hotel entrance. Image credit: Dorchester Collection

When completed, the Torch Tower will hold a luxury hotel operated by the Dorchester Collection, as well as a 2,000-capacity entertainment hall, offices, and an observation deck. While the hotel, offices, and rooftop observatory will be housed in the tower form, the entertainment hall and retail spaces will be located within a base plinth rising from a single below-ground floor to a sixth above-ground floor.

Ho...

Frank Gehry will design a new Gladstones restaurant replacement for Wolfgang Puck in LA

2023-08-23T13:21:00-04:00

After more than 50 years in service, iconic oceanfront restaurant Gladstone’s is slated to close within the next year, making way for a long-anticipated restaurant from some of L.A.’s most recognizable names. In 2024, celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck expects to break ground on a new, Frank Gehry-designed, two-pronged project that will rise in its place. The new operators plan to break ground in early to mid 2024 and expect at least 18 months of construction before a 2025 debut.

The Pacific Palisades site sits on a total 2.8-acre parcel abutting the Pacific Coast Highway and Will Rogers State Beach approximately three miles north of Gehry's now underway Ocean Avenue project in Santa Monica.

Puck promised to deliver an "approachable, high-quality cuisine in a distinct architectural setting" when the redevelopment was first announced in 2018.

Also in Los Angeles, Gehry’s 800,000-square-foot Warner Bros. Second Century studios expansion recently opened, while a buyer is still being sought for the planned mixed-use project at 8150 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.