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...

The Line names Gensler, DMAA, and Mott MacDonald to its project team

2024-11-12T18:57:00-05:00

NEOM has announced three new architectural partners who will participate in its ongoing planning and design development process for The Line megacity component. The press release names Delugan Meissl Associated Architects (DMAA), Gensler, and Mott MacDonald as additions.

DMAA (the Phase One master planners) and Mott MacDonald will each be responsible for engineering and infrastructure project management, with the city asset design architect Gensler being tapped to lead "city design coordination and city planning, providing leadership and governance across the project on crucial areas, including planning policies and frameworks, land use and design compliance."

The announcement mentions the start of planning for individually-designed neighborhoods in Phase One, which will be created by a different "suite of architects" beginning in early 2025. A British ITV documentary film crew recently reported on the growth of human rights concerns at The Line site after construction began.

...

Gensler works on new hybrid timber data centers for Microsoft

2024-11-04T18:48:00-05:00

A Gensler and Thornton Tomasetti-led data center project that highlights the enormous potential for similar environmentally-minded hybrid mass timber designs in the booming typology is on its way toward completion in the suburbs of Northern Virginia.

The firm is working with Microsoft to deliver a pair of new centers made using CLT materials. Microsoft says their presence will reduce the buildings’ overall carbon footprint by 35% compared to conventional steel construction, and another 65% compared to those made from precast concrete—an important step as such projects gain priority in the new data-driven economy.

Video courtesy of Microsoft

Microsoft has previously committed to becoming fully 'carbon-negative' in its construction footprint by decade’s end, developing a plan that has since seen setbacks due to the volume and pace of expansion and a subsequently high rate of 'indirect emissions' skyrocketing by 30.9% over just three years.

Another innovation meant to combat this i...

Gensler study proposes reimagined North Michigan Avenue in Chicago

2024-07-17T11:43:00-04:00

The main artery along Chicago’s iconic Lakefront area — North Michigan Avenue — is the subject of a new proposal from Gensler that would revitalize a major segment of the street into a major hub of pedestrianization, retail, and hospitality.

The proposal targets a stretch between Chicago Avenue and Oak Street Beach for a series of interventions and innovations that will remake it into the Avenue's northern 'anchor' opposing the existing Chicago Architecture Center, Apple Store, Wrigley Building, and the recently renovated Tribune Tower at its southern edge.

Image courtesy Gensler

Local developers Bob Wislow and Camille Julmy are said to have worked with Gensler’s team to produce a study for the redevelopment, which puts Chicago squarely on par with many other global high streets in an attempt to recover the staggering economic losses created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Image courtesy Gensler

"This study demonstrates that design truly has the power to transform experience in our cities,...

The top 300 performing firms of 2023 thrived with data centers and sports facilities

2024-06-18T08:15:00-04:00

Data centers, data centers, and more data centers (and sports facilities). Those are the industry's leading commercial projects, according to a CoStar.com analysis of the financial data included in the Architectural Record’s new accounting of the 300 top-performing firms globally.

The agility of firms to quickly pivot towards new market demands was documented as being congruent with the rise in AI, IoT, and other technologies such as cloud computing.

Nationwide, the market share for data centers is expected to reach $418 billion by 2030, according to LinkedIn's late-February report. As such, the firms that performed best in 2023 did so thanks to a large influx of them in their design portfolios. One salient was Gensler, which reports a total of $1.83 billion in revenues. The third-ranked firm, HKS, saw a 14% growth thanks to such designs in 31 different states. Sports-minded Populous (a former HOK studio) "vaulted" into the list's top 10 with a 74% increase to $390.4 million.

Relat...

Gensler and SHAPE unveil next phase of Atlanta’s Centennial Yards development

2024-03-27T11:05:00-04:00

The next phase of Atlanta’s major Centennial Yards development has been unveiled. Designed by Gensler and SHAPE (Studio H Architecture Planning Environments), the sports-entertainment district will span 470,000 square feet, holding entertainment, retail, restaurant, and hotel functions on a 7.5-acre site.

The urban form of the district takes inspiration from Downtown Atlanta’s industrial past, designed to “reflect the site’s railroad history with clean lines and flat pedestrian pathways throughout.” In contrast to the area’s surrounding high-rise buildings, the district will comprise lower-tiered buildings with green terraces along various elevations.

Image credit: Gensler

“Our approach to revitalization is to catalyze and anchor the urban core by creating a pedestrian-oriented crossroads of East and West Atlanta,” said Gensler Atlanta Co-Managing Director Kevin Songer about the scheme. “Centennial Yards Entertainment District will engage locals and visitors alike by enhancing walkab...

China will build replacement for Gensler soccer stadium design in Guangzhou following Evergrande debt scramble

2024-03-19T11:51:00-04:00

Chinese state-owned construction contractor will build China’s largest soccer park in Guangzhou on the site where struggling Chinese property developer China Evergrande Group was supposed to build its soccer stadium. China Construction Fourth Engineering Division won the engineering procurement construction contract to build the Guangzhou Football Park with a CNY2.4 billion (USD328 million) bid, the unit of China State Construction Engineering announced on its official WeChat account yesterday.

The site was originally meant for a 100,000-seat stadium designed by Gensler. Evergrande, the developer now embroiled in a Lehman Brothers-like freefall, had already begun construction before the project was halted and eventually taken over by the government in 2021. The new design from the Guangdong Architectural Design and Research Institute has a reduced capacity of 73.000, making it still the largest soccer-only stadium in China.

Previously on Archinect: One of China's largest property developers is roiled in a Lehman-esque debt spiral

The estimated cost of the original design it replaces was $1.7 billion. Gensler, meanwhile, has begun preliminary work assessing the potential for a new stadium on the site of a disused Westfield shopping center in its hometown of San Francisco.

Gensler will overhaul JPMorgan Chase's aging Chicago headquarters in the South Loop

2024-02-27T18:36:00-05:00

Gensler has unveiled plans for a major renovation of JPMorgan Chase’s 55-year-old Chicago headquarters in the South Loop that will transform the building into a new state-of-the-art workplace aimed at fostering collaboration and ushering the bank’s over 14,500 local employees into what the company calls the “future of work.”

The 60-story tower was originally designed by C.F. Murphy Associates and Perkins&Will and currently is home to 7,200 workers.

Image: © Gensler/courtesy of JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase says they want an environment for the bank's employees that is centered around health and wellness considerations. According to their press announcement, the project's scope includes:

Refreshed and interconnected, plaza, lobby and mezzanine with updated food hall, enhanced dining seating and collaboration spaces, modernized lobby entry experience, and mezzanine level common space with robust café experience.
Refurbished work floors with state-of-the-art technology and furniture, up...

Google NYC's new adaptive-reuse HQ design by Gensler and COOKFOX opens at Hudson Square

2024-02-27T12:52:00-05:00

Google’s brand new New York City headquarters inside St. John’s Terminal at Hudson Square has opened following the completion of a five-year and $2.1 billion project designed by COOKFOX Architects and Gensler.

The renovation of the two-block-long former rail terminus yields a total of 1.3 million square feet of new offices. Another nine stories were added above the existing structure. The building will house some 3,000 employees of the tech giant, who said in a blog post that its design is responsive to a research-driven office strategy and supports a new workplace model that’s meant to foster greater collaboration, creativity, and growth.

Image: courtesy of Google

After restoring the original three floors remaining from its peak usage in the 1930s, the design team created a welcoming space defined by an exterior cut facade detailed on its northern side with reused rail beds that had been leftovers and are kept semi-exposed to create a visible linkage between past and present.

Image...

Gensler, PGAL, Muller2 to design new Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Terminal F expansion

2024-02-23T12:58:00-05:00

The team behind the new $1.6 billion Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Terminal F expansion has been announced to include the architecture firms PGAL, Muller2, and Gensler. The three join an eight-member design-build consortium for the delivery of the sixth terminal of the nation’s second-busiest airport that will add a total of 400,000 square feet and 15 new gates with docking spaces located on either side of a rectangular concourse.

Construction will begin in June of this year. The project team says expectations are for completion no later than the second quarter of 2027. The new Terminal F coincides with a “major” redesign and expansion of Terminal C that’s set to finish in 2028, with up to 24 new gates being added to the airport facility in total.

The local NBC affiliate reported the American Airlines-led effort as being a replacement for a larger 24-gate $3.5 billion Terminal F expansion scheme that had been planned for 2025 before a pandemic-caused cancellation.

Related ...

RIOS and Foster + Partners-led One Beverly Hills breaks ground in Los Angeles

2024-02-11T11:10:00-05:00

The RIOS and Foster + Partners-led One Beverly Hills development in Los Angeles has broken ground on a 50-month construction phase that will result in one of the country’s most expensive residential developments upon its opening in 2028.

The 17.5-acre development will connect the Beverly Hilton and Waldorf Astoria with two 28- and 31-story condo towers and an 8.5-acre botanical garden designed by RIOS. It had been plagued by criticism over its lack of an affordable housing component. The program allows for up to 255 residential units, 78 hotel suites, and approximately 30,000 square feet of commercial space, along with subterranean parking for up to 1,900 vehicles.

Image: Foster & Partners

Beset by biophilia-lined terraces featuring over 200 unique species of native plants are the focal point and connective tissue of the design, demonstrating that “drought-quality planting doesn’t mean cactus,” according to RIOS’ founder Mark Rios.

“I am really interested in pursuing what a botanic...

New York City’s busiest architecture firms of 2023 ranked by The Real Deal

2024-01-08T12:10:00-05:00

Real estate website The Real Deal has compiled a list of the busiest architecture firms in New York City across 2023. The ranking sees architects listed based on their role as architects of record for permit applications filed for new buildings and renovations measuring more than 5,000 square feet across 2023.

“Despite the office market’s bleak outlook, some of the city’s busiest architecture firms were those that specialize in workplace design,” The Real Deal noted.

Under the rankings, both Gensler and RAND Engineering & Architecture are found to be the busiest in the city, with 60 projects filed each. TPG Architecture occupies the third spot with 44 projects, followed by NY Restoration Technology Corp with 41 projects.

The list is rounded out by Arquitectura Valera, Rogers Calvanico Group, Gerald Caliendo Architects, Loffredo Brooks Architects, Curtis + Ginsberg Architects...

Site preparations begin for Norman Foster’s One Beverly Hills

2024-01-03T14:49:00-05:00

Site preparations are underway in Los Angeles in advance of the 50-month construction phase that will bring the Foster + Partners-designed One Beverly Hills residential towers to a plot adjacent to the Beverly Hilton and other area hospitality icons.

Gensler is serving as the project’s executive architect while RIOS has been contracted to deliver the landscaped portion of the design, which occupies the total 17.5-acre site that includes another 8.5-acre botanical garden in compliment of each tower’s biophilic terraces.

The project will be realized at 28- and 31-stories, respectively, making them the tallest design in Beverly Hills since the Bank of America building at 9454 Wilshire Boulevard opened in 1968. According to Urbanize LA, the scheme calls for 255 condominiums, 79 hotel suites, and approximately 30,000-square-feet of commercial space, along with subterranean parking spaces for up to 1,900 vehicles.

Image rendering courtesy DBOX for Alagem Capital.

The project will cost ap...

UCLA buys into Westside Pavilion conversion space formerly reserved for Google campus

2023-12-29T12:15:00-05:00

UCLA has purchased the former Westside Pavilion shopping mall near its campus, reports The Real Deal. The 580,000-square-foot office known as One Westside was formerly been leased to Google for a 14-year term, but was left vacant as the company’s staff reductions began in January of this year ended the deal.

The Gensler project was partially completed in 2022 at a cost of $475 million. The other 240,000-square-foot half of the mall has been redone by a developer called GPI and includes a mixed-use residential component enacted at what used to be the mall’s parking lot. Google had invested in a spate of other office conversions highlighted by the $280 million Thompson Center project in Chicago, earning it praise as one of corporate America’s leading proponents of adaptive reuse strategies.

According to The Real Deal: “UCLA has not said what it wants to do with the three-story indoor mall, wh...

Gensler and Gilbane will revamp M&T Bank Stadium for the Baltimore Ravens

2023-12-18T13:27:00-05:00

Gensler and Gilbane Building Company have announced the design for a major renovation of the 25-year-old M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. The home of the Baltimore Ravens NFL franchise is set to undergo a list of stadium enhancements that will bring the fan experience in line with other professional sports entities, including the addition of social spaces, club experiences, dining, and expansion of its concourse and plaza areas near Camden Yards.

Three new membership clubs will be delivered at the field level on the west, north, and south corners of the stadium, with another suite area added above the West End Zone Club by 2025.

Image: © Baltimore Ravens Photos

Other upgrades include an upper-level concourse expansion that will add an additional 12,000 square feet of space in three locations, the construction of a new two-level “Baltimore Style” fan area called the Gatehouse totaling 5,000 square feet, and enhancements to the North and South plazas to c...

An updated study led by Gensler tracks progress of office-to-residential conversion data

2023-12-04T10:15:00-05:00

Gensler Principal Steven Paynter shares an update announcing important statistical findings related to his firm’s work surrounding the adaptive reuse and conversion of office buildings worldwide.

The data report has been updated to reflect changes in office conversions. The firm shares that an estimate of only 25% of buildings (from Gensler's original assessment) are suitable for conversion. This is a decrease from the 33% figure that was reported in January as Gensler began marketing its proprietary metric of office conversions.

The new study was expanded to cover some 1,000 buildings, an increase from their previous analysis of 300 buildings. Paynter and his team now report that conversion is "an unprecedented opportunity to create new residential stock quickly, sustainably, and at a 30% lower cost than new construction."

Previously on Archinect: Gensler Principal Steven Paynter further details office conversion algorithm in podcast sit-down

The assessment also provided some intere...

Gensler and Moody Nolan debut terminal design for Columbus International Airport

2023-08-25T15:28:00-04:00

Gensler has revealed plans for a new terminal design for John Glenn Columbus International Airport (CMH) in Columbus, Ohio. The project replaces an existing terminal from 1958 and is aimed at enhancing the regional economy of the state’s capital in the interest of “Connecting Ohio with the World.”

Columbus-based architects Moody Nolan will join the project as a design partner. The construction is necessary to meet the demands placed on the airport by Columbus’ expected demographic change, which will see the population of what is now the Midwest’s fastest-growing city expand to over 3 million by the year 2050.

Image courtesy Columbus Regional Airport Authority

The ‘Y’ form of the design is meant to mirror the confluence of nearby Olentangy and Scioto River while “symbolizing the fluid pathways taken by travelers and the connectivity.” Visitors will move from a ground-level entrance lobby through ticketing and security and into the main concourse’s retail plaza framed by a central gran...

Gensler Principal Steven Paynter further details office conversion algorithm in podcast sit-down

2023-08-17T14:37:00-04:00

Gensler Principal and Studio Director Steven Paynter sat down recently with financial news service Marketplace.org to detail his firm’s year-old proprietary office conversion metric, a unique tool that has become indispensable as the industry looks to position itself for the mass-scale nationwide surge in the conversion market expected for the coming decade.

Paynter had previously revealed the metric’s surprising findings that only about 30% of commercial buildings have the ideal structural prerequisites (e.g., window depth, floor plates, and ceiling heights), essentially doubling down on his original claims with added details as to the so-called “Goldilocks” zones architects look for when looking at structures for a residential conversion.

“[If] you took a typical floor plate, for example, in those the average unit size for your location or your city, it would divide that unit size by the quarter window depth, so very quickly say, OK, your unit ends up being 25 feet wide and 30 fe...

Gensler survey reveals the ways Gen Z workers are being drawn back to the office

2023-06-23T18:03:00-04:00

Remote work is second nature for Generation Z, many of whom graduated college and started careers during the pandemic. And yet, many are now transitioning to in-person work as they look for more workplace connections, learning opportunities and socialization with coworkers. That means figuring out what kind of workspace environment will keep Gen Z workers interested, is becoming a higher priority.

According to the 2023 Global Workplace Survey Comparison by Gensler, there has been a sudden split, spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic, in the workplace preferences for Gen Z workers compared to older generations.

To start, the findings reveal that Gen Z workers place more value on learning and socializing at work, along with flexibility. Essentially this means that younger workers value having a variety of experiences in the workplace. These experiences include having both private and collaborative spaces, made possible by open, changeable layouts, access to more amenities, and having more in-person, social interactions.

The survey has found that younger workers are being drawn towards offices and away from remote work due to the accessibility of leadership and continued education that could help drive career growth. Some companies looking to adapt to meet these evo...

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...

Gensler and CIVILIAN team reimagines abandoned Detroit book depository as startup hub for mobility innovation

2023-04-28T11:55:00-04:00

A team including Gensler and CIVILIAN has completed the adaptive reuse of an old book depository in Detroit. The new center will serve as the headquarters for Newlab, a technology collective hosting startups in the field of decarbonization, energy, mobility, and materials.

Image credit: Jason Keen

Newlab’s headquarters sits within the wider Michigan Central campus; a 30-acre center advancing mobility-focused technologies and the vision of Ford executive chairman Bill Ford. On the campus, Newlab will create what the organization calls a “center of gravity for startups, entrepreneurs, engineers, and scientists to build breakthrough companies in Detroit.”

Image credit: Jason Keen

Image credit: Brian Ferry

The 1936 Albert Kahn-designed building housing Newlab was originally built as a post office and mail-sorting facility, before being used as the Detroit Public School’s Book Depository. The art deco building will now serve as a 270,000-square-foot center with purpos...

Gensler will lead the design of a new 80-acre New York Red Bulls training complex

2023-02-09T11:32:00-05:00

Gensler has been selected to lead the design of a new training facility for the New York Red Bulls in Morris Township, New Jersey.

The 80-acre site will feature a total of 8 soccer fields and related facilities meant to house the club’s two professional-level teams and world-renowned Youth Training program in place of a former manufacturing center for the American corporation Honeywell.

Gensler says: “The holistic environment, expressed in the fluidity from indoor to outdoor spaces, not only provides athletes a place to practice and play, but promotes rest, recovery, and education. Integrating a culture of wellbeing, nutrition programs teach the benefits of healthy eating and are experienced in the communal dining rooms. Unlike any other facility in the U.S., the youth soccer training academy and on-site dormitory provide the organization an opportunity to scout young talent, while young players can see themselves on a path to becoming a professional member of the Red Bulls team.”

I...

Gensler sets the record as the first-ever architecture firm to reach 3,000 employees globally

2023-01-23T14:45:00-05:00

Gensler has set a new record for firm size after the 2023 Building Design WA100 survey listed its total design staff at just over 3,000 for the first time in history.

After losing its founder in May of 2021, Gensler grew by 14% over the last year to breach the 3,000-employee threshold. The company now employs some 3,069 architects globally, according to the UK-based publication.

That figure makes the international giant more than twice the size of HDR, whose architectural staff was listed at 1,404 globally. Aecom, Sweco, and Japan’s Nikken Sekkei were the only other companies with totals numbering over 1,000. Perkins Eastman, which has acquired three smaller firms since the beginning of 2021, ranked behind them with 832 architects.

The survey also noted firms’ reluctance to commit to downsizing efforts in spite of the assumed recession. Overall, half of...

Former Walt Disney Imagineering head Bob Weis joins Gensler

2023-01-13T13:06:00-05:00

The former President of Walt Disney Imagineering Bob Weis is joining Gensler as a Global Immersive Experience Design Leader, according to a statement released by the firm. Before the move, Weis spent more than 30 years at Disney.

Having joined Walt Disney Imagineering in 1980, Weis became president of the studio in 2016. He led more than 200 major projects in his time at the studio, encompassing theme parks, attractions, resorts, and cruise ships in the U.S., Shanghai, Tokyo, and Paris. He has also consulted with Disney clients such as the Smithsonian, National Geographic, NASA, and the United States Navy.

“At Disney, we often collaborated with Gensler, and I was able to see firsthand its culture of design innovation that transforms the quality of life in our world,” said Bob Weis as the news was announced. “This is what visionary companies are seeking, a...

Gensler Principal Steven Paynter details new proprietary office conversion metric

2023-01-09T11:56:00-05:00

Now the algorithm he spearheaded collapses the survey process — which must be conducted to determine whether a commercial building can be turned into apartments — from months to hours. His work will help these conversions to be enacted on a mass scale. which is important given the urgency created by America's rising office-vacancy rates due to the pandemic's reshuffling of where and how we work. It could help bring people back to downtowns across North America as renters or homeowners

Gensler estimates that only 3 out of 10 office buildings are eligible for conversion. The pitfalls of mass-scale conversions remain impediments even as architecture firms are earning more from renovations than new buildings for the first time. In the last two years alone, office conversions have jumped by 25%, with an estimated 77,000 apartments currently under construction, according to November data from RentCafe.

"If we can find the perfect buildings for conversion, you start to be able to correct the market, you start to be able to bring people back to neighborhoods," Paynter said to Business Insider. "And then, actually, the demand for the remaining office buildings goes up, because you're creating scarcity by taking some out of the market."

Gensler’s Culver Crossings Apple campus proposal goes under the planning microscope in Culver City

2022-11-09T16:05:00-05:00

Apple, currently the world's most valuable company based on market capitalization, faces a key test in its bid to construct a new office campus in Southern California, when the project goes before the Culver City Planning Commission this week for consideration.

Gensler’s plans for the new 536,000-square-foot campus were first revealed last October and will reportedly entail office spaces, production suites, and a 1,200-spot parking structure spread across three subterranean levels beneath the 4.5-acre site at Venice and National Boulevards. The project will be constructed in two phases culminating in Q4 of 2024 and 2025, respectively. An environmental study from the city mentioned Apple’s intention to assign 2,400 employees to the site by the time the project opens in 2026.

Gensler has also previously completed designs for TikTok’s new headquarters in Culver City, the speculative C3 office development, and the transformation of the historic Culver Studios for Amazon. The firm’s late founder was considered instrumental in developing some of the initial brick-and-mortar retail strategy for Apple after meeting Steve Jobs at a design conference in the early 1990s.

Gensler and Amazon among $4.7 million donors to California College of the Arts supporting diversity and innovation

2022-10-28T11:22:00-04:00

Gensler and Amazon are among the donors who have gifted $4.7 million to the California College of the Arts (CCA). The funds will be used to support diversity, equity, and innovation in the arts and design field.

CCA received a $1 million gift from the Gensler family and an additional $1 million gift from Gensler as a practice; donations which will establish the M. Arthur Gensler Jr. Center for Design Excellence. According to the college, the newly-established center will “support and enrich learning, teaching, and research in CCA’s Architecture Division” with a focus on supporting students from diverse backgrounds through “tuition scholarships, mentoring, and career development support.”

The donation will extend over ten years, with the first cohort of Gensler Center scholarship recipients set to receive awards this year.

The remaining $2.7 million in donations to the CCA was received from Amazon ...

JFK's New Terminal One project officially breaks ground

2022-09-19T18:31:00-04:00

First announced in December 2021, the privately-funded, $9.5 billion New Terminal One project at JFK International Airport officially broke ground earlier this month.

The 2.4-million-square-foot international terminal will become JFK’s largest upon completion. Construction will occur in phases on the sites of the current Terminals 1 and 2 as well as the former Terminal 3.

A group of firms, including Carlyle, JLC Infrastructure, and Ullico, are among the private partners behind the undertaking, which bills Gensler in charge of design and AECOM Tishman as the general contractor.

Previously on Archinect: New York Governor Hochul announces $9.5 billion project for new Terminal 1 at JFK

"We're doing it better, because right now you go through a place like Penn Station and the former LaGuardia and the former airports, you just wanted to look down. You shuffled along, you know, just kind of in the masses. You didn't have any reason to feel optimistic, to put a smile on your face," New Yo...

Related Companies expands into Austin with a pair of new office projects from Gensler and KPF

2022-09-19T12:39:00-04:00

The ever-changing skyline of Texas’ eccentric state capital is getting another pair of new additions after Hudson Yards developer Related Companies announced plans this month for two new separate Austin office buildings designed by Gensler and KPF.

Related says both projects will be located in South Austin and are slated to be completed in 2024 and 2025 respectively. The larger 15-story One Ladybird Lake tower is designed by KPF for a 3.3-acre plot located along the waterfront at the city’s Lady Bird Lake reservoir. Its total 475,000-square-foot construction will include a mixed program of ground-level retail spaces topped by office amenities with four wraparound terraces, a bar, green spaces, and an activated rooftop area created by the local landscaping concern TBG.

One Ladybird Lake by KPF. Image courtesy Related Companies

This is to be joined by a shorter 5-story development located half a mile to the south on 901 South Co...