Archinect - News

Watch the world's largest wildlife crossing taking shape across the 101 Freeway in California

2024-08-07T20:18:00-04:00

A new video depicts the world’s largest wildlife crossing taking shape in Los Angeles’ Santa Monica Mountains.

The long-awaited $92 million Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, which broke ground in 2022, can be seen sitting above eight lanes of traffic within the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills.

Video courtesy Caltrans D7/YouTube

As noted by the Los Angeles Times, the first stages of construction for sound walls and concrete barriers on both sides of the bridge can be seen.

The installation of steel girders was reportedly completed in April. In addition, crews have been assembling wood forms and placing reinforcing rods to make way for concrete pouring.

Set for completion in early 2026, the 200-foot-long, 165-foot-wide bridge is expected to be the largest of its kind in the world.

Previously on Archinect: LA's 101 Freeway wildlife crossing now has a groundbreaking set for spring

The American Bird Conservancy and Yale University issue comprehensive study on the impact of bird-friendly architecture nationwide

2023-08-14T14:47:00-04:00

A comprehensive new study linking the implementation of bird-friendly glass technology to the improvement of wildlife safety has been released by the American Bird Conservancy, offering architects what they say is a first-of-its-kind primer on an issue that still lags in the design of buildings nationally despite its popular civic and environmental appeals.

The study was published in conjunction with the Law, Ethics and Animals Program (LEAP) at Yale University Law School. Yale had previously undertaken its own Bird-Friendly Building Initiative (the study’s commissioner) and now hopes to use its findings to promote a range of policy recommendations in addition to increasing awareness as to the benefits of using fritted glass, reducing the persistence of visually uninterrupted glass curtain walls, installing window screens, and cutting down light pollution, and other practical design changes.

New York City is used as one case study, leading a group of other American cities like Alexa...

PETA calls for bird-friendly glass to be included in the Smithsonian's new Bezos Learning Center

2022-09-19T17:23:00-04:00

Animal rights group PETA has issued a strong demand to the five anonymous architects in the running to design the new $130 million Bezos Learning Center at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM) in Washington, D.C.

In response to the Smithsonian Institution’s recent unveiling of the final quintet of prospective designs, the group penned a letter in which it implored NASM Director Christopher Browne to require the use of bird-friendly glass in the final winning construction. PETA was alarmed by the use of reflective glass in the majority of the proposals and noted that the city lies along a major migratory route that could further endanger the lives of avian species who are killed by up to a billion annually as a result of similar buildings.

“Reflective glass windows lead to deadly crashes, while animal-friendly design elements such as masking films, frits, and ultraviolet patterns can save untold numbers of birds’ lives,” PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a separa...

LA's new 101 Freeway wildlife crossing to break ground on Earth Day

2022-04-21T14:49:00-04:00

The much-anticipated Wallis Annenberg Wildlife crossing will break ground on Friday, which is Earth Day. The bridge will ultimately be 210 feet long and 165 feet wide and will span all 10 lanes of the Ventura Freeway at Liberty Canyon in Agoura Hills. It is meant to promote biodiversity among Southern California mountain lions, which are isolated by the freeway, by connecting them with mountain lions in Northern California.

The groundbreaking ceremony of the much-anticipated, $90 million Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing project will be live-streamed on April 22 from 10 am Pacific Time at savelacougars.org.

Previously on Archinect:

LA's 101 Freeway wildlife crossing now has a groundbreaking set for spring

2022-01-20T11:37:00-05:00

A much-needed piece of infrastructure is about to start taking shape for wildlife in Los Angeles’ Santa Monica Mountains.

Curbed is reporting that construction for the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, which connects a stretch of protected land along California’s 101 freeway called Liberty Canyon will now officially begin this spring following an increase in the state’s funding for the project recently announced by Governor Gavin Newsom.

The bridge was originally announced in 2015 and has been amongst the most vocally-supported public works projects in Los Angeles in recent years. The county’s mountain lion population has been shown to be increasingly fragmented and diffuse since 2002 and will now be protected along with other groups of animals thanks to the new 210-foot crossing from architect Robert Rock.

Rock was selected by the joint National Wildlife Foundation-Caltrans development team to put an end to the high frequency of animal-related collisions that happen about 300,0...

An architect is helping cougars cross the 101 Freeway safely

2021-07-07T13:05:00-04:00

Architect Robert Rock is facing a Herculean task: Design a bridge that will allow mountain lions to cross safely over a stretch of the 101 Freeway that roars with the traffic of 300,000 vehicles each day.

A pedestrian bridge for animals in the region has been proposed for several years. Advocates will now face an uphill climb to raise an additional $27 million for the projected $65 million price tag before August after previously securing $38 million thanks to a #SaveLACougars social media campaign from the National Wildlife Foundation.

Previously on Archinect: Los Angeles is building an urban wildlife crossing

The bridge is necessary to protect gene flow between two small populations of wild cougars that live between Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains. With funding, the bridge could be installed in time for 2025. The LA Times has more on Rock's project here.

U.S. skyscrapers kill about 600 million migrating birds a year — and Chicago, Houston, and Dallas are the deadliest cities

2019-04-11T15:13:00-04:00

An estimated 600 million birds are killed by buildings every year. Especially during spring and fall migrations, birds are attracted to the glow of residential homes and skyscrapers alike. Sometimes the birds crash directly into their windows. Other times, it seems to throw off their internal compass, causing them to circle until exhausted.

The saddening statistic comes from a 2014 study led by Scott Loss, an assistant professor of global change ecology and management at Oklahoma State University. More recently, a new study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology found that Chicago, Houston, and Dallas are the top three U.S. cities that are especially deadly for birds, and artificial light at night is a contributing factor.

“Chicago, Houston, and Dallas are uniquely positioned in the heart of North America’s most trafficked aerial corridors. This, in combination with being some of the largest cities in the US, make them a serious threat to the passage of migrants, regardless of season,” said Kyle Horton, the lead author of the study, in a statement published by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

“Now that we know where and when the largest numbers of migratory birds pass heavily lit areas we can use this to help spur extra conservation efforts in these cities,” added study co-author Cecilia Nilsson.

Making changes like incorp...

How Better Glass Can Save Hundreds of Millions of Birds a Year

2014-11-18T13:58:00-05:00

In fact, as many as 600 million birds die in window collisions in the U.S. and Canada every year, scientists estimate. [...] A growing awareness of the threats to bird populations has prompted new laws and voluntary guidelines in cities from Toronto to San Francisco. Along with "green" building programs, these new rules are spurring demand for bird-friendly glass among architects, glass manufacturers, and their clients.

Making glass fly with birds

2011-10-31T16:35:55-04:00

Retrofitting their home to eliminate feathered fatalities has worked for Brophy and Lutz. But a growing chorus of bird enthusiasts are advocating avian-friendly architecture at the design stage as the best prevention. It's a national movement that started in Chicago and has spread to other major cities, including the Twin Cities.