Archinect - News

SmithGroup files suit over copyright violations for Michigan hospital design

2024-03-19T18:24:00-04:00

An argument concerning a new pediatric hospital design in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has spurred a lawsuit from SmithGroup against the local firm Pure Architects over an alleged violation of the copyright of an earlier unrealized project. Crain’s business journal is reporting on the disputed Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital project after SmithGroup filed a suit in federal court last week.

In the suit, SmithGroup alleges that the termination of their contract for the new Joan Secchia Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital never resulted in the required payment of licensing and other fees on the part of the hospital. They say that, in the aftermath, the hospital “improperly copied, reproduced, prepared derivative works” before sharing the plans with other architects, “willfully” infringing the copyright to generate new renderings.

Both the firm and the hospital are denying these claims publically. The $60 million project is expected to get underway this spring and be completed in 2026...

Meet national powerhouse SmithGroup: Your Next Employer?

2022-08-29T11:36:00-04:00

Following last week’s visit to New York City-based Rice+Lipka, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series west to California, where we find the nationwide powerhouse SmithGroup.

The firm, whose history traces back to 1818, has since expanded to encompass 19 offices across the United States, covering a wide variety of sectors including health, higher education, science and technology, and residential typologies.

The company is currently looking to add to its 1,300+ network by recruiting over on Archinect Jobs for roles in their San Diego and Los Angeles offices.

University of Pennsylvania - Stephen A. Levin Building in Philadelphia by SmithGroup. Photo: Alan Karchmer.

SmithGroup’s genesis stretches back to its founder Sheldon Smith in 1818, and grew from its Detroit origins into a multidisciplinary enterprise which would play a role in several defining moments in U.S. history, including the design of Henry Ford’s first manufacturing plants, and NASA’s Lunary Sample Receiving L...

Gilcrease Museum begins demolition ahead of two-year expansion effort

2022-01-27T13:00:00-05:00

An expected temporary closure for the oldest art museum in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area has many vying for the not-too-distant debut of what promises to be an instant architectural icon.

The Gilcrease Museum began demolition of its existing building Tuesday in order to make room for a new 91,300-square-foot facility designed by SmithGroup. The museum closed to the public on July 5th and will reopen again sometime in late 2024.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Philbrook Museum of Art (@philbrookmuseum)

The Gilcrease is undergoing a major expansion project funded by a publicly-supported $65 million capital project called Vision Test. The 73-year-old institution also received an additional gift from a private donor that brought the total to $75 million for the ambitious multi-year effort.

Previously on Archinect: Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum unveils upcoming expansion plans that will connect visitors to the natural world

Tulsa as a city is in the process of addin...

Tulsa's Gilcrease Museum unveils upcoming expansion plans that will connect visitors to the natural world

2021-06-24T19:18:00-04:00

The Gilcrease Museum has unveiled designs for an expansion of the 72-year-old Tulsa institution as part of a redevelopment plan meant to give its 350 years of collected history an upgraded 21st-century relevance.

The plan will add improved exhibition space for the city-owned museum founded by collector Thomas Gilcrease, a member of the Muscogee tribe who amassed a fortune in Oklahoma's early oil boom.

Aerial view overlooking the new Gilcrease Museum toward downtown Tulsa. Courtesy of Gallagher & Associates and Gilcrease Museum

“We need a space that provides a visitor experience to match the strength of the collection” explained Gilcrease Executive Director Susan Neal.

The soon-to-be razed museum holds a number of Indigenous artifacts and boasts the world’s largest collection of art of the American West in addition to a collection of over 100,000 manuscripts, photographs, and rare books housed by the Helmerich Center for American Research.

SmithGroup is responsible for the design th...

Morphosis, SOM, and Renzo Piano make short-list for new office tower slated for former L.A. police headquarters site

2019-09-04T14:30:00-04:00

The City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering has announced a trio of finalist teams competing to redevelop the site of the former Parker Center police headquarters in the city's Civic Center district.

Each of the teams, according to Urbanize.la, is each made up of designers, contractors, operations providers, and community "equity" members. The project RFP calls for a 750,000-square-foot office tower, ground floor retail spaces, pedestrian passages to the surrounding neighborhood, and a requirement for including public displays highlighting the history of the former Parker Center complex. The project can rise up to 27-stories and would, according to Urbanize.la, rival City Hall in terms of height. A breakdown of the teams follows below.

DTLA Civic Partners

The DTLA Civic Partners team is headed by SOM and includes Clark Construction, Meridiam and Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate as equity partners, and ENGIE Services providing operations and management services.

LAC 3 Partn...

SmithGroup prototypes sleek pod that doubles as public toilet, retail space, and more

2019-08-31T15:00:00-04:00

The firm's entry to the San Francisco Department of Public Works' (DPW) design competition calling for "the conceptualization of industrial art that would double as toilets," was selected as the winner.

Courtesy of SmithGroup

The design, called AmeniTREES, is a multi-functional kit of parts capable of transforming based on its needed use. They can be used for advertising, restrooms, and even retail space.

Image courtesy of SmithGroup

After delays, the pizza-slice-shaped windows on the Little Caesars headquarters in Detroit are almost complete

2019-08-15T19:00:00-04:00

After a year's delay, construction crews Monday were installing the final glass panels in on the upper floors of the new Little Caesars headquarters on Woodward Avenue near the Fox Theatre. Originally expected to be opened last summer, the building was delayed over an apparent problem with the unique pizza-slice wedges of glass that form the facade.

The SmithGroup-designed Little Caesar's headquarters in Detroit is finally continuing its construction progress, nearly a year after hiccups with the tower's pizza-shaped window installation delayed the project's completion.

Museum of the Bible is DC's latest spectacle

2017-12-01T19:44:00-05:00

The Museum of the Bible recently opened in Washington, D.C. packed with screens and interactive exhibits. The 430,000-square-foot building was designed by SmithGroup JJR and cost a total of $500 million. Formerly a refrigerated warehouse, this space has been turned into quite an extravaganza. The museum, hailed by some as a religious indoor amusement park, boasts 12 different movie theaters, one 140-foot-long LED screen, and several immersive exhibits simulating historic, biblical environments.

Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Photo: Alan Karchmer.

Visitors will also experience Morgan Freeman's voice reading scripture, a computer animated film recounting the New Testament, and the parting of the Red Sea via a walkthrough light installation (pictured above). While this space is branded for social media, the museum also houses some quieter galleries focused on the Bible’s influence on the United States.

The World of Jesus of Nazareth in the Museum of the Bible. Photo: Alan Ka...

Watch: First Look at the Museum of African American History and Culture

2012-02-22T19:27:00-05:00

When the Museum of African American History and Culture opens on the National Mall in 2015, it will be "not just a record of tragedy, but a celebration of life," as President Obama said during the ground breaking ceremony on the site today.

Cranbrook Art Museum Reopens

2011-11-11T11:50:14-05:00

As the collection grew over the years, gallery space was lost to storage. Moreover, the building, designed by Eliel Saarinen, hadn’t been updated since it opened, in 1942, leaving it “no longer adequate to create a proper conservation or display environment,” said Reed Kroloff, the academy’s director.