Archinect - News

NYC announces $7 billion design and construction contracts for two borough-based jails

2024-05-21T15:54:00-04:00

The New York City Department of Design and Construction has issued two new contracts for what will become the first two facilities in the city's progressive borough-based jails system. The bids from Leon D. DeMatteis Construction Corp. for the $3.9 billion new Queens jail and Transformative Reform Group for the $2.9 billion Bronx project were announced along with an intention to use a design-build approach to "speed up" construction along an accelerated track.

The completion of the jails is expected in 2031. In the Bronx, the jail is scheduled for delivery at 745 E. 141st St. in Mott Haven. In Queens, where activists have led a local fight that mirrors the effort to halt the new 'superjail' in Chinatown/Lower Manhattan, the new facility will take shape at 26-02 82nd Avenue in Kew Gardens, requiring a preliminary demolition. The total cost of replacing Rikers Island, which has turned into a human rights eyesore, is estimated at under $15.5 billion. Its mandated shutdown still looms f...

Cosmic set to produce prefabricated ADUs in California with water recycling and solar energy

2024-04-23T13:58:00-04:00

San Francisco-based Cosmic has raised $1.5 million in funding for their micro-home product designs aimed at bringing “self-sustainable homes in California and beyond.” The company’s leading product, Cosmic ONE, is described as a “limited-edition high-quality micro-home” that can serve as an ADU, a primary single-family home, or a component in a wider residential community.

Showroom model. Image courtesy: Cosmic

Cosmic ONE has been designed as an all-electric, prefabricated unit that can use recycled water for non-potable needs, as well as being equipped with a solar and battery system. The first 100 CosmicOne units will be available for sale in California.

Showroom model. Image courtesy: Cosmic

“Building a new home and expanding an existing one today can be very challenging due to the intricate permitting process, labor scarcity, and complexities of site infrastructure works,” the company says about their prop...

Airbnb co-founder's ADU company Samara begins production in Mexico factory

2024-03-07T12:35:00-05:00

California-based Samara has opened a factory in Mexicali, Mexico, to scale up manufacturing of their backyard ADU units. As we reported in late 2022, the startup is led by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia alongside former Flex chief executive Mike McNamara.

Image credit: Samara

The 150,000-square-foot factory will host the construction of Samara’s modular units, including interior and exterior finishes. Following production in the factory, each unit will be loaded onto a truck for delivery to the customer’s property.

Image credit: Samara

The company’s first unit, Backyard, is being manufactured in studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom layouts, with a larger two-bedroom expected to launch soon. Samara notes that the unit can be installed in “as few as seven months,” including permitting, with 30 days of on-site labor. The unit is currently available for purchase in California.

Image credit: Samara

“Our homes are central to our lives,” said McNamara in a statement. “On average, most people in...

Airbnb co-founder's startup Samara unveils 'Backyard,' its first ADU model for California

2022-11-16T11:29:00-05:00

California-based housing startup Samara has unveiled further details of their factory-produced studio and one-bedroom units. The company, led by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia and former Flex chief executive Mike McNamara, will now roll out a selection of customizable ADU units, collectively known as the Backyard range, across Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Image credit: Samara

Backyard studio units start at $289,000 and one-bedroom units start at $329,000, including installation costs. While the pricing of the units remains the same throughout California, the cost of installation differs based on regional factors. Customers can also choose between five colors, two roof designs, and customizable windows, doors, and decks.

Image credit: Samara

“Built out of durable, cutting-edge materials, precision engineered and assembled in a factory, Backyard is designed to last a lifetime,” Samara said. “It harvests enough solar energy to power itself, and we’ve made it incredib...

A remote job opportunity for an emerging cabin and ADU design platform

2022-11-09T12:52:00-05:00

Following last week’s look at an opening for a Designer / Project Coordinator at Cliff Garten Studio, we are using our Job Highlights series this week to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for a Design Lead at Den Outdoors.

The successful applicant will join Den’s small, fully-remote team in designing and delivering Den’s catalog of homes, cabins, and ADUs. Among the responsibilities will be the launching and maintenance of plan sets, the specification development for home designs on Den’s homebuilding platform and helping steer Den's architectural aesthetic. The role calls for residential architecture experience as a must, and preferred experience working with Revit and in startups.

The Outpost by Den Outdoors. Image via Instagram

Why the role interests us

The role at Den offers the latest insight into a new generation of architecture firms seeking to craft a more customer-friendly construction process. Similar to the workflow we previously explored at HOKO Design, the team at...

This studio creates rural getaways, from land sourcing to construction — and they are hiring

2022-07-20T13:57:00-04:00

In late 2021, we covered the emergence of HOKO Design, a UK-based startup that seeks to become “the first household name for residential architecture.”

Part of HOKO’s thesis to become “the homeowner’s architect” is to streamline the client experience of residential design and construction as much as possible. For the company, this means becoming a ‘one stop shop’ for clients, generating VR flythroughs, cost analyses, construction drawings, contract administration, project management, snagging, completion documentation, and catalogs of interior products.

Honesdale Bar House by HUTS

HOKO is not alone in its attempt to build a business model based on client convenience. For this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series, we are shining a spotlight on Brooklyn-based HUTS, who share HOKO’s approach to simplifying the customer experience for residential architecture.

Aimed at prospective clients seeking to build a rural country getaway in the New York state area, HUTS offers a comprehe...

Disruptor design-build architecture firm raises almost $600K in crowdfunding

2021-12-13T12:39:00-05:00

HOKO Design, a UK-based startup seeking to use technology to transform the role of the architect, has raised $590,000 in a crowdfunding campaign. The company, which describes itself as “the homeowner’s architect,” focuses on integrating virtual reality, real-time client feedback, and a streamlined administrative process for clients, all with the aim of becoming “the first household name for residential architecture.”

Since its founding in 2019 in Glasgow, the company has grown to over 30 employees across the UK, which has worked with 246 clients to date. The company now holds a pre-money valuation of almost $20 million.

HOKO Design differentiates itself from the traditional architect role through a series of client features throughout design and construction stages. At concept stage, these include unlimited design revisions for the client, VR and video flythroughs, a cost analysis before planning stage, and a client dashboard with live updates on the project, including an abili...

Design-build is embraced in 48 U.S. states

2020-02-12T18:04:00-05:00

In the last 25 years, the design-build delivery method has caught on with not just contractors but also government officials, customers and jurisdictions across the country. The method is now allowed on at least some types of public projects in all but two states, Iowa and North Dakota.

According to Construction Dive, Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) studies have shown that design-build costs are about 6.1% less than traditional design-bid-build, with a delivery speed of around 33.5% faster. Cities like New York have introduced legislation that give design-build authority to some of the the city's public entities, such as the Department of Transportation (DOT). For example, New York's DOT said that allowing a design-build method to be used on the rehabilitation of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway could save $300,000, Construction Dive reports.

California-based construction start-up Katerra valued at more than $4bn with help from Japan's SoftBank

2019-01-16T14:38:00-05:00

In just four years, the Silicon Valley start-up Katerra has grown from a sizable construction firm to one of the industry's biggest disrupters. Now, with support from one of the tech industry's biggest investors, the California-based construction company has announced plans for another investment round that will have it valued at more than $4 billion.

SoftBank, the billion dollar venture capital firm helping to bankroll companies such as Uber, WeWork and the indoor farming start-up Plenty, is expected to lead the $700 million round of financing for Katerra. This comes less than a year after the Japanese holdings company invested a prior $865 million into the company.

In Katerra, SoftBank is backing a revolutionary approach that promises to redefine the $12 trillion construction industry. The company's aim is to make the building construction process cheaper and more efficient and while Katerra is not unique in this quest, it is remarkable for its end-to-end design-build process whi...

Startup Katerra wants to revolutionize the construction industry

2018-06-27T15:18:00-04:00

A Menlo Park company called Katerra announced that it had acquired Michael Green Architecture, a 25-person architecture firm in Vancouver, British Columbia. On June 12, the company revealed that it had bought another, larger architecture firm, Atlanta-based Lord Aeck Sargent. This comes five months after Katerra raised $865 million in venture capital from funders led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund, which has also invested heavily in the co-working startup WeWork.

Startup Katerra looks to revolutionize the construction industry through streamlining the entire process with their design-build model. The company has acquired Michael Green Architecture, known for designing tall wood buildings, and Lord Aeck Sargent.

With these two firms obtained, Katerra will now consolidate by designing and building its products in house. Michael Green Architecture's influence can be seen as Katerra is developing a catalog of mass timber products for residential and commercial building projects. Uniquely Katerra has also created a system to guarantee price early on, a rarity in the industry.

These Nka Foundation-winning ideas will be built in Ghana's Abetenim Arts Village

2017-05-11T19:47:00-04:00

The Nka Foundation recently revealed the winners of the 2017 Land Art Competition for Ghana...architects, landscape architects, engineers, and students alike were invited to submit their most inventive ideas for large-scale and site-specific public art installations in rural Ghana. Entrants had to emphasize creating a unique arts village experience and how their design functions as a place.

Here's a glimpse of the prize-winning entries:

1st place: Earth Archive Project by Yusuke Suzuki and Léo Allègre of Yusuke Suzuki Design Office in Japan

2nd place: Nonnegligible Village by the Urban Active Space Research Studio at Dalian Polytechnic University in China
Team: Ruixuan Li, Jiazi Zhang, Qiuming Dong, Rui Xu, Ying Zheng, Xiaoming Wang, Ziyi Zhao, Yanying Zhao, Yuxiang Zhang, Na Li, Henan Wang, Pengzhe He

3rd place: Ashanti Domino by Sara Arfaian, Junko Yamamoto and Jenny Zhan in USA

Images courtesy of Nka Foundation Land Art Competition.

Find more of the top-winning entries on Bustler.

Student-led Rural Studio continues to prove the value of socially engaged architecture

2014-12-12T19:29:00-05:00

Rural Studio, Auburn University's off-campus undergraduate program in Newbern, Alabama, continues to gain recognition for their student-led design/build projects that assist the communities in one of the South's most under-served regions. Rural Studio has won several awards from 1995 until most recently as the 2015 recipient of the AIA's Whitney M. Young Jr. Award. Named after the civil rights-era Urban League leader, the annual Whitney M. Young Jr. Award is given to an architect or architecturally related organization whose work greatly contributes toward progressive social advocacy and responsibility.

Established in 1993 by D.K. Ruth and Samuel Mockbee, the student-led Rural Studio has completed parks, museums, a fire station, Boys and Girls Clubs, parks, and homes throughout western Alabama -- a region where 40 percent of the population lives under the poverty line. One of Rural Studio's projects that has attracted attention in recent years is the 20K House Product Line, which is ...