Archinect - News

Chicago O’Hare $300 million airport terminal renovation breaks ground

2024-04-25T12:03:00-04:00

Construction has begun on a $300 million renovation of Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s Terminal 3. The upgrades are expected to take three years and will overhaul the terminal’s infrastructure from security checkpoints to baggage claim, as well as adding amenities and improving accessibility.

Named ElevateT3, the project will include the reconfiguration of two TSA checkpoints into a single screening area, an expanded passenger corridor between concourses K and L, and the development of approximately 10,000 square feet of new concessions and amenity spaces. The terminal’s interior and exterior are also to be renovated to improve overall energy efficiency.

Previously on Archinect: FAA gives the final go-ahead to multibillion-dollar Chicago O'Hare expansion. Image render courtesy of Studio ORD.

Construction of the new terminal is expected to be completed by the summer of 2027 and will take a phased approach to allow continuous operations throughout Terminal 3 during construction....

Take a look inside Allied Works' Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State ahead of June opening

2024-04-11T12:15:00-04:00

Allied Works’ collaboration with Reed Hilderbrand for the new Palmer Museum of Art at Pennsylvania State University is closing in on its June 1st opening. The firm has shared new photos previewing its work ahead of the inauguration, which will culminate a two-year construction period for a cost of $85 million.

The 73,000-square-foot building is defined by interlocking sandstone-clad pavilions contained within double-height volumes. These allow for unique spatial variations in each of the 20 new galleries, highlighting the diversity of its collection to visitors.

Image: Jeremy Bittermann/JSBA

An overhead skybridge — the new Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Gateway — links both wings while establishing panoramic vistas of the university's Arboretum and H.O. Smith Botanic Garden outside. —

Image: Jeremy Bittermann/JSBA

Small exterior courtyards are created by the design, which is similar in concept to Allied Works' 2008 Dutchess County Guest House in upstate New York and the firm's shortlisted compet...

Safdie Architects will expand Marina Bay Sands for 2029

2024-04-08T13:02:00-04:00

Safdie Architects has announced plans for a programmatic expansion of their previous Marina Bay Sands design in Singapore.

The scheme calls for the addition of a new luxury hotel tower with a sky roof, a 15,000-seat entertainment venue, and further spaces reserved for work, retail, and dining.

The project is being undertaken to provide a boost to Singapore’s tourism sector, which is considered lagging behind other destinations in the Asia-Pacific region in spite of strong post-pandemic numbers. (The resort has drawn more than 470 million visitors since its opening, according to a press release from its Las Vegas-based management group.)

Rendering of the new entertainment arena. Image courtesy Marina Bay Sands

"The all-suite hotel tower will set new standards of hospitality, the state-of-the-art arena will help attract the highest-caliber global entertainment events and artists, and the additional convention and exhibition space will extend the success of Singapore as a leading MICE d...

Safdie Architects shares construction update for Crystal Bridges Museum expansion

2024-04-04T12:41:00-04:00

The multi-year expansion of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is moving forward with an anticipated completion in 2025. Safdie Architects has shared photos of its construction progress via an Instagram post published Wednesday, April 3rd, from the site in Bentonville, Arkansas.

The project adds two new galleries worth a total of 100,000 square feet to the campus, increasing the size of its existing exhibition spaces by 65% while adding another 50% to its overall footprint. Safdie has been working on a master plan for the site, which includes the original pavilions he completed in 2011, for over 25 years.

Watch him speak with the museum's founder, Alice Walton, about its design here.

The project will culminate as his second American museum expansion following his work for the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts in 2003.

Next up, the firm is working on a new ski resort/residential concept in Vermont with PWP Landscape Architecture.

View this post on Instagram ...

The Broad taps Diller Scofidio + Renfro again for major expansion

2024-03-27T18:33:00-04:00

Big news for architecture and art fans alike coming out of Los Angeles today, where The Broad just announced plans for a major expansion project to the tune of $100 million.

The reveal of the new proposal, which will reportedly increase the available gallery space by 70%, comes nearly ten years after the existing building opened to much fanfare on Downtown LA's Grand Avenue arts and culture corridor in 2015 to allow free public access to the vast art collection of philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad.

For the design of the expansion, the museum has commissioned the original architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) again, whose initial renderings hint at a continuation of their "veil and vault" concept.

"The exterior of the expansion echoes the surface appearance of the vault — as if this core had been exposed and 'unveiled' — symbolically expressing The Broad’s commitment to access while playfully inverting the visual vocabulary of the current building," the architects describe...

Disneyland’s $1.9 billion campus expansion moves toward approval

2024-03-14T11:54:00-04:00

The LA Times and other local outlets are reporting on the progress made by Disney towards eventually realizing an expansion of the existing plot of Disneyland, a move billed as generating multiple community benefits for the city of Anaheim.

The $1.9 billion DisneylandForward project does not call specifically for any new construction and will be executed within the resort's existing 500-acre campus. According to an assessment of the plan from the Disney Tourist Blog, “DisneylandForward is the company’s pitch to the public and City of Anaheim for more flexibility in the master plans from the 1990s in order to give the company greater autonomy over what to build and where.”

In line with founder Walt Disney's vision for a constant expansion of the resort, the plan presents the potential for both an "immersive new theme park" and a "new kind" of entertainment district possibly containing a hotel and cluster of retail, dining, and entertainment plots to be created in the east and west co...

Art and science come together as a comprehensive whole in EskewDumezRipple's new Bruce Museum expansion

2024-03-07T13:00:00-05:00

The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Connecticut, has shared photos of its recent expansion project that was completed by EskewDumezRipple in April of 2023 at a cost of $67 million.

Drawing inspiration from coastal New England granite quarries, the project added a total of 42,000 square feet via the new William L. Richter Art Wing. The expansion was undertaken to allow the museum’s art and science holdings to expand and be better interpreted as a coherent whole.

The design also created an easier access point to its grounds, replete with an additional landscape component from Reed Hilderbrand.

Photo: Tim Hursley

"We can host the community in a way we’ve never been able to before," the Bruce Museum's Executive Director, Robert Wolterstorff, who is also trained as an architectural historian, explains. "In the past, we had no permanent collections galleries. By adding these spaces, the museum is able to showcase works that local collectors have generously donated, providing...

Royal Ontario Museum unveils renovation design by Hariri Pontarini Architects

2024-02-14T19:50:00-05:00

Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum has unveiled plans for a renovation of its Daniel Libeskind-designed Michael Lee-Chin Crystal expansion, which opened in 2008. Led by Canadian firm Hariri Pontarini Architects, the OpenROM project is being enacted to expand its public offerings to an anticipated 1.4 million visitors annually.

The brief calls for a reconfiguration of its main floor, plus the addition of upper-level gallery spaces and the reimagining of an existing entrance on Bloor Street. A new water feature will be added to the heritage facade surrounding the building on Bloor Street and Queen’s Park, punctuated by a cantilevered bronze canopy. A total of 4,000 square feet of programmable public spaces will be added through the overall design.

Image courtesy Hariri Pontarini Architects

Also part of the project is the addition of a four-story atrium called The Hennick Commons. The atrium will be serviced by a multi-level adjacent lily pad feature staircase replete with viewing platform...

DLR Group acquires two Bay Area specialty firms

2024-01-25T14:16:00-05:00

The San Francisco office of DLR Group has announced its acquisition of two smaller local specialty design practices in a move that will expand services to clients in the areas of civic and public safety design as well as high-end hospitality and residential interiors.

Thirty-five-year-old BraytonHughes Design Studios and Sonoma-based RossDrulisCusenbery (RDC) were the two firms acquired in separate deals. Both are well-known in the Bay Area market, having developed nationally recognized designs in their respective practice areas for the last three decades.

The boutique interiors specialist BraytonHughes Design Studios will add their expertise in high-end hospitality, resort, corporate office design, and residential projects to the DLR portfolio. Its addition helps DLR to accelerate growth in these segments and is strengthened by the firm’s longtime clients like the Four Seasons, Waldorf Astoria, and Grand Hyatt hotel brands, according to DLR.

In a statement, BraytonHughes Presiden...

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...

Allied Works' Palmer Museum of Art is set for a 2024 opening at Penn State

2023-12-14T14:21:00-05:00

The Allied Works-designed Palmer Museum of Art expansion project at Pennsylvania State University has shared new photos of its construction progress to go along with an announced opening date of June 1 next year.

Reed Hilderbrand is coordinating with the firm to deliver the landscaped portion of the LEED Silver-certified design. The project doubles the museum’s existing footprint by adding a new 73,000-square-foot building with 20 new galleries, a café, education, research, and events spaces situated amongst the 370-acre university Arboretum and serviced by a sculpture path and outdoor terraces.

Dale Chihuly’s site-specific sculptural commission, “Lupine Blue Persian Wall,” will be debuted as an anchor that welcomes visitors to the main access point and is framed by the museum’s feature staircase.

Photo by Jeremy Bittermann/JSBA, courtesy of Allied Works.

Locally quarried sandstone cladding produces a naturalistic effect on the exterior of each of the building’s interlocking pavilio...

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects to deliver $122M Detroit Music Hall expansion

2023-10-24T12:26:00-04:00

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA) has been attached to a major new expansion of the historic Detroit Music Hall, the firm announced on Monday. The project aims to connect an important part of downtown to a burgeoning economic revitalization while providing Detroiters with a “canvas to express the energy and creativity for which the city is globally recognized.”

At seven stories and a total of 100,000 square feet, the new Detroit Music Hall Center will sit next to the existing 95-year-old Wilson Theater and offers the public a 1,900-seat main concert hall, 200-seat recital hall, offices, rooftop restaurant, music academy educational component, and a 4,000-square-foot activated public outdoor area.

In terms of its design, the building utilizes an LED-lit perforated metal rain screen facade to cast itself and its twin as the vibrant cultural anchors for new development in the neighborhood. The duality between industrial daytime activities and the city’s nightlife scene is f...

Populous to design Beaver Stadium renovation for Penn State

2023-10-18T17:09:00-04:00

Populous has been named as the lead architect for a major renovation of the historic Beaver Stadium on the flagship campus of The Pennsylvania State University.

Barton Malow, AECOM Hunt, and Alexander Building Construction will join the project as construction managers, expanding on over 20 years of collaboration with Populous. The scope of the renovation entails winterizing the entire stadium for year-round use as an entertainment venue or the potential host of a college football playoff game. The western side of the stadium will also be reconstructed to include new executive suites and loge seating areas. Other renovations will be enacted in order to keep up with code upgrades and accessibility concerns. The reported cost of the project is $700 million.

The school emphasized its funding would be provided for entirely by the Athletics department, circumventing the need for tuition hikes. Construction is expected to begin in January of 2025 and conclude in time for the start of the ...

WHY Architecture faces lawsuit over San Francisco Asian Art Museum expansion project

2023-09-27T17:47:00-04:00

WHY Architecture has been named as a defendant in a new lawsuit by the Asian Art Museum Foundation of San Francisco after allegedly failing to meet the institution’s design goals for a $38 million expansion project that was completed in March of 2020.

The suit was first entered in the County Superior Court in 2021. News of the action was made public via a museum press release this week, wherein the Foundation provided further details on what they said was a breach of contract related to its plan for the project that went over budget due to subsequent repairs.

“[The Pavilion] was delivered late, and as originally constructed, it failed to meet even the minimum museum-quality standards: it leaked in multiple locations, its interior environment was of inadequate quality, and its rooftop terrace was unusable. It was only through substantial intervention by the Foundation, at its own significant cost, that these major issues were identified and corrected, and a first-class, museum-qualit...

PAU begins Rock & Roll Hall of Fame expansion in Cleveland

2023-09-13T14:00:00-04:00

PAU has shared details of its expansion project of the I.M. Pei-designed Rock & Roll Hall of Fame museum in Cleveland ahead of next month’s anticipated groundbreaking.

The initiative will add a triangular structure to Pei’s iconic original glass pyramid design, featuring a new entrance lobby, education center, offices, and a 6,000-square-foot multipurpose space that’s meant to increase its overall footprint by 33% while activating public space along a currently underutilized section of the city’s Lake Eerie waterfront.

Rendering courtesy of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)

The total 50,000-square-foot design evokes the museum’s architectural lineage within the new addition, where solid shapes pronounced as asymmetries serve as the visual markers of the building’s various programmatic elements combined under a tilted angular roof and façade composed of steel and granite in further reference to the region’s industrial character.

Rendering courtesy of Practice for Architect...

Studio Gang to design major expansion to the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock

2023-08-10T13:35:00-04:00

The Clinton Foundation has announced that Studio Gang will design a “major expansion” to the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas. The proposed expansion, details of which will be revealed next year, will seek to “help the Clinton Center fulfill its mission to engage and educate people about President Bill Clinton’s lifetime commitment to advancing opportunity for everybody.”

Existing Clinton Presidential Center. Image credit: Clinton Foundation

In addition to increasing the existing center’s capacity for exhibitions and conferences, the expansion will also include the new Hillary Rodham Clinton Institute which will hold the personal archives and papers of the former First Lady and Secretary of State.

Existing Choctaw Office Building at the Clinton Presidential Center. Image credit: Nelson Chenault, courtesy of Clinton Foundation

“The Clinton Presidential Center was built to set a new standard for environmental performance,” said Studio Gang Founding Partner Jeanne Gan...

Explore photos of OMA and Cooper Robertson's newly opened Buffalo AKG Art Museum expansion

2023-06-23T13:58:00-04:00

OMA has shared photos of the newly-reopened Buffalo AKG ARt Museum (formerly the Albright-Knox Gallery) following a special ribbon-cutting ceremony that was held on June 12 in Buffalo, New York.

The culmination of more than three years of construction yielded the renovation of two existing structures and the addition of a new glass-canopied Jeffrey E. Gundlach Building and Ralph Wilson Town Square designed by Shohei Shigematsu in collaboration with Cooper Robertson.

The Buffalo AKG campus looking east along Elmwood Avenue. Image © Marco Cappelletti.

Overall, the renovations add an additional 50,000-square-feet of exhibition space, five studio classrooms, a restaurant, and 350-seat auditorium. The project was funded by a $230 million capital campaign said to be the largest in the region’s history. New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul, who was born and raised in Buffalo, said "The new building and campus are a dramatic work of art that will attract visitors and support the regional touri...

Michael Graves Architecture acquires Texas' Parallax Team as expansion continues

2023-06-21T16:58:00-04:00

Michael Graves Architecture has once again expanded its operation after announcing the acquisition of the Texas-based AEC technology consultants Parallax Team.

The firm’s fifth such expansion in the past 15 months follows the acquisitions of PGN Architects, Walter Robbs Callahan & Pierce, Waldon Studio, and Jose Carballo Architectural Group (each located in the mid-Atlantic market) and will buy the firm stakes in a new sector.

“We have been working closely with Parallax for some time, and have remained impressed with the way their team is able to seamlessly integrate these important technologies into day-to-day practice,” the firm’s President and CEO Joe Furey said. “When evaluating this acquisition, we were not only excited at the prospect of joining their team with ours but at the proposition of being involved with a company that has such unifying potential — both internally for our staff, and externally from an industry standpoint. Collaboration has been an essential part of our...

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County's $75 million NHM Commons expansion tops out in Exposition Park

2023-05-30T13:05:00-04:00

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has just celebrated its topping out for the new 75,000-square-foot NHM Commons expansion led by LA mainstays Studio-MLA and Frederick Fisher and Partners.

The project creates a new wing and community hub on the southwest side of the museum’s campus in Exposition Park and will be open to the public by the end of next year following a multi-year construction phase.

The museum describes: “The indoor/outdoor NHM Commons spaces will enable NHM to expand its community-centered, co-created programming, thereby further connecting the public with science, nature, culture, heritage, and community, while creating opportunities for people to come together to experience NHM, with or without a ticket.”

NHMLAC President and Director Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga. Photo by Wade Hammond, courtesy of NHMLAC.

At last week’s special beam signing ceremony, NHMLAC President and Director Dr. Lori Bettison-Varga added: “This transformative expansion will be a dynam...

OMA completes renovation of Tiffany & Co. Manhattan flagship with rooftop extension

2023-05-19T17:02:00-04:00

OMA has completed its transformation of Tiffany & Co.’s 5th Avenue flagship in New York City. The updated store now features a three-story rooftop addition designed by OMA and interiors by Peter Marino.

Image credit: floto+warner

The project marks the first significant renovation of the store since its opening in 1940. Now known as ‘The Landmark,’ the store “invites visitors to discover the history and range of Tiffany & Co. goods in a redefined flagship environment of displays and shared experiences,” according to OMA.

Image credit: floto+warner

The interior of the existing limestone building sees a central core reorganized to create a clear elevator lobby and improved visitor flow. Atop the building, a new three-story volume houses a dedicated gallery, exhibition, and event space.

Image credit: floto+warner

The first two floors of the volume are stacked into a clear box for exhibitions and events, with a double-height, column-free s...

Gehry-designed Warner Bros. Second Century expansion is now complete

2023-05-17T13:01:00-04:00

The Gehry Partners-designed Second Century expansion project for Warner Bros. is now complete, Urbanize LA reports. This news comes a year after the exterior finishes of the office complex were said to be nearly done.

Breaking ground in early 2020, the 800,000-square-foot structure, resembling staggered icebergs through its glass façade, now rises in full view above the 134 freeway in Burbank, California. It comprises two buildings, one seven stories high and the other nine, atop a large underground parking space.

Previously on Archinect: Exterior finishes of Gehry's Warner Bros. Second Century expansion nearly complete

The project was built through a joint venture between Worthe Real Estate Group and Stockbridge Real Estate Fund. It forms part of a major expansion of Warner Bros.’ headquarters, which includes the acquisition of the surrounding Burbank Studios.

The complex will house around 4,500 Warner Bros. employees. The completion of this endeavor coincides with the 100th anniv...

Adjaye-led expansion announced at Vermont’s historic Shelburne Museum

2023-05-09T16:50:00-04:00

Adjaye Associates has just been announced to lead the design of the newly-commissioned Perry Center for Native American Art at the Shelburne Museum in northern Vermont.

The project’s brief calls for a “sustainable building with integrated landscape created in collaboration with Indigenous voices whose cultures and people are represented in the works to be stewarded in the space.”

The extension will be 9,750 square feet in total and created at a projected cost of $12.6 million. Once completed it will join the Shelburne’s stock of 39 other structures, the most recent of which, the Pizzagalli Center for Art and Education, was designed by Annum (formerly Ana Beha Architects) in 2011.

Previously on Archinect: Several museum expansions and design research projects among National Endowment for the Humanities grant recipients

“Our team is inspired by the potential of the Perry Center to not only enhance Shelburne Museum as a destination for education but also to amplify and empower the Indi...

Populous attached to proposed Etihad Stadium expansion for Manchester City FC

2023-04-18T18:16:00-04:00

Manchester City Football Club has just released renderings for a proposed expansion of their 24-year-old Etihad Stadium led by Populous.

The submission to the Manchester City Council calls for a “best-in-class” fan experience and year-round live entertainment venue to be integrated into the stadium complex. The scheme was proposed following the results of a monthlong consultation process with fans and members of the local community and will help expand seating capacity during performances to over 60,000.

A 3,000-capacity covered exterior City Square fan zone is also included in the design, along with plans for a 400-room hotel, team store, and museum.

Image courtesy Manchester City FC

A new tier will be added above the stadium’s North Stand section to provide space for the new accommodations. The plan also calls for the inclusion of startup spaces in the development, supported by City Football Group and Etihad Campus. Manchester City is promising investments in excess of £300 millio...

Frida Escobedo speaks to Vogue on her plans for The Met expansion

2023-03-24T12:24:00-04:00

One year after acclaimed Mexican architect Frida Escobedo replaced David Chipperfield as the designer for the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art's $500 million modern and contemporary wing extension, Escobedo has spoken to Vogue about her vision fo the scheme. When completed, the project is expected to comprise 80,000 square feet of more accessible galleries and public spaces.

“My first thoughts were that this wing is quite isolated,” Escobedo told Vogue’s Dodie Kazanjian on a tour of the existing museum. “It feels like a separate part of the museum, and the question is, how can we integrate it more?”

While Escobedo is not due to present a design concept until June, she revealed to Vogue that her vision for the scheme will include some form of alteration to the building’s orientation. “Right now, the building is facing just one way, Fifth Avenue — the grand staircase, the Great Hall, and you can go in three directions to Egypt, to Greece, and to Europe,” Escobedo told the magazine....

Foster + Partners selected to design San Diego Museum of Art expansion

2023-03-08T17:32:00-05:00

Foster + Partners has been announced as the Design Architect of a new renovation of the 97-year-old San Diego Museum of Art following a comprehensive search.

Located in Balboa Park, the museum will add a new education center and welcome pavilion through the delivery of the project, which focuses on its west wing. Renovations will make it more sustainable and better suited to serve San Diego’s increasingly diverse population while enhancing the museum’s facilities and visitor experience overall. LPA Design Studio, which has an office in San Diego, has signed on as the Architect of Record.

“I have always admired San Diego’s rich cultural diversity and deep sense of community. We are delighted to be working with The San Diego Museum of Art to strengthen its roots in the area, reinvigorating a much-loved landmark with the ultimate aim of making art more accessible to the community.”

Deference for the historical importance of Balboa Park was reportedly a main factor in the firm’s unanimo...

Art Gallery of Ontario reveals Selldorf, Diamond Schmitt, and Two Row-led expansion design

2023-03-02T16:52:00-05:00

The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) has just revealed the initial plans for its new Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery project led by Selldorf Architects, Diamond Schmitt, and Two Row Architect.

The 40,000-square-foot addition will add 13 galleries in order to expand its total exhibition space by 30%. The project is being funded by a $35 million donation from Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss and, led by Two Row, has sought expensive input from Ontario’s Indigenous community in addition to the other two architect-advisors that were announced by the gallery last year.

The AGO says: “These conversations and others are instrumental in leading the team to adopt adaptability, accessibility, relevancy, zero carbon operating, and inclusivity as their guiding principles.”

Rendering courtesy of Art Gallery of Ontario, Diamond Schmitt, Selldorf Architects, and Two Row Architect

The project will accomplish a zero carbon emissions output for all its operations and otherwise be designed along int...

Terminal 5 expansion at O'Hare International Airport opens to the public

2023-02-09T17:45:00-05:00

Chicago’s $1.3 billion O’Hare International Airport Terminal 5 expansion and renovation has been completed, marking the end of four years of work to modernize the terminal.

The project broke ground in 2019, with construction led by Austin Power Partners. The terminal’s capacity was increased by 25% to improve efficiency and reduce delays. Passenger amenity space was increased by 75%, and the existing building was expanded by around 350,000 square feet. Additional renovations were made to 750,000 square feet of the existing structure.

HOK and Muller & Muller Ltd. led the redesign of the facilities, maintaining the original 1993 design while modernizing them for today's demands. Vaulted ceilings invite natural light and provide views across the airfield toward the Chicago skyline. The project also incorporated new sustainable technology throughout the terminal, including 40,000 square feet of high-performance glass, water efficiency measures that exceed Sustainable Airport Manual re...

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles shares updates on new community-focused NHM Commons and collaboration with Native American community leaders

2022-12-09T17:09:00-05:00

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County has announced updated plans for a Studio-MLA and Frederick Fisher and Partners-led expansion that is now taking shape for the year 2024.

New renderings of the 60,000-square-foot project appear to add interior details to the previous announcement, which showcased a unique transparent "curated facade" meant to exhibit pieces from the museum similar to a giant display case or vitrine.

As part of the effort, the museum has formed two new advisory groups, the NHM Commons Native American Advisory Council and the NHM Commons Advisory Coalition. The groups will advise the design team (which now also includes New York-based Studio Joseph) as to how best to determine "ways to build a sense of welcome, acknowledgment, and respect for Native people who enter this space and opportunities to remind, express to and educate visitors that Los Angeles is on Native land."

Renderings by Frederick Fisher and Partners, Studio MLA, and Studio Joseph. Courte...

OMA and Cooper Robertson's Buffalo AKG Museum will officially reopen in May 2023

2022-11-24T12:00:00-05:00

An opening date has been set for the restored Buffalo AKG Art Museum following the announcement of the additional $20 million in funding to complete the three-year OMA and Cooper Robertson-led project.

Since Archinect's reporting of the museum's design was shared back in June 2018, the formerly named Albright-Knox Art Gallery will officially open its doors on May 25, 2023. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul signed off on the remaining monies made necessary by pandemic-related overruns to what she called a “transformative project that will provide a significant boost to Buffalo’s future.”

When it opens, visitors will be enthralled by Shohei Shigematsu’s glass curtain design for the new Jeffrey E. Gundlach building that connects via a transparent pedestrian bridge to the refurbished 117-year-old Elisabeth Wilmers Building, designed in the neoclassical style by influential local architect...

FAA gives the final go-ahead to multibillion-dollar Chicago O'Hare expansion

2022-11-23T12:10:00-05:00

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued approval to the proposed O’Hare 21 Expansion plan following the results of an environmental review that was announced by the agency on Tuesday.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was on hand in the Windy City to join Mayor Lori Lightfoot for the announcement, which allows for construction to begin in the spring on two satellite concourses and a new Global Terminal that will replace O’Hare’s existing Terminal 2. The FAA says “no significant impact” will be made by the Terminal Area Plan (TAP) and that it will immediately lead to a decrease in emissions thanks to reduced taxi times and more flexible gate capacity. The total budget for the TAP project is around $7.1 billion.

Image render courtesy of Studio ORD.

SOM will lead the construction of both concourses, which add about 1.3 million square feet of space and are expected to be delivered between 2027 and 2028, respectively. The new Global Terminal designed by Studio ...