Following last week’s visit to New York City-based SKOLNICK, we are using this week’s edition of our Meet Your Next Employer series to explore the work of California and Switzerland-based practice Montalba Architects. Founded in 2004 by David Montalba, the Santa Monica / Lausanne firm operates... View full entry
England's housing developers have been given an ultimatum - commit to repairing unsafe buildings or be banned from operating in the market.
Developers now have six weeks to sign a government contract to fix their unsafe buildings from the past 30 years.
According to the government's new plan, homeowners living in buildings whose construction poses a potential fire risk will be reimbursed, and building companies who installed the unsafe cladding must pay to replace it with a safer material.
— BBC
Speaking to the press on Sunday, UK Housing Secretary Michael Gove admitted “faulty” guidance was to blame for the Grenfell Tower tragedy, stating his opinion that the building industry had gone underregulated for years. Cladding manufacturers like Celotex and Kingspan were not included in the... View full entry
The new building codes make 49 amendments to the International Building Code...will be the first time Aspen has set energy limits for every building in the city...The new regulations are not about affordable housing...Axelman does not expect the new regs will reduce the rumbling thrum of construction that is the soundtrack to Aspen. — The Colorado Sun
Jason Blevins covers the recent news out Aspen regarding passing of Ordinance NO .01 (Series of 2023), pitched as key to achieving the city’s Climate Action Plan. View full entry
For much of its recent history in mitigating climate change, Denver has concentrated on buildings’ operational energy — the energy needed to run basics like heating, air conditioning, lighting and hot water. That will shift in May, when Denver’s newly adopted green code takes effect, said Christy Collins, green communities specialist with the local government. — Smart Cities Dive
Denver’s new green code will make it so a building’s embodied carbon is considered. It will provide minimum requirements for the siting, design, construction, and plans for the operation of projects. Commercial projects in Denver are now required by law to choose around 10% of the green code... View full entry
First announced in 2019, the project spans a block of Fulton Street between Brooklyn Avenue to the east and New York Avenue to the west. Plans call for the construction of three buildings featuring approximately 840,000 square feet of offices, educational, cultural, and commercial space.
While the project would roughly double the size of the existing 1970s structures at Restoration Plaza, the property's namesake open space would be retained by building up, rather than out.
— Urbanize NYC
According to Urbanize NYC, the Restoration Plaza development will include two 13- and 16-story mixed-use structures separated by a 4-story community building to house art galleries, a dance studio, and other cultural spaces. This will be Adjaye Associates’ next New York project, after... View full entry
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles. Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Shopping Spaces. Tip: use the handy FOLLOW... View full entry
The first phase of preparation work for the rebuild of the Glasgow School of Art Mackintosh Building has been completed. More than 5,500 tons of fire-damaged material was removed from the site, and a thorough evaluation of the building was undertaken. Shortly following a devastating fire... View full entry
Snøhetta has unveiled details of their proposed new building and associated landscape for Versterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk Art School. Titled 'The Commons,' and situated in Decorah, Iowa, the 8,000-square-foot building will serve as a “dynamic new entry point and... View full entry
The next major cultural project from Zaha Hadid Architects has been revealed after the firm published the first images of its under-construction Chengdu Science Fiction Museum to coincide with the announcement that it will play host to the Hugo Awards later this year. In the form of a solar... View full entry
Foster + Partners has completed a new office complex in Belval, Luxembourg that promotes flexible and collaborative working environments. Called ICÔNE, the 202,362-square-foot structure is filled with light and greenery, cultivating a safe, spacious atmosphere while referencing the rich... View full entry
Santiago Calatrava has unveiled a design proposal for a luxury mixed-use complex in Düsseldorf, Germany. Named Calatrava Boulevard and situated on Düsseldorf’s swanky Königsallee, the 375,000-square-foot development includes workplace, luxury retail, and upmarket restaurant spaces. Image... View full entry
Welcome to Super Nintendo World, the closest thing you can get to diving head-first inside a video game and experiencing the likely effects of swallowing one of Mario’s magic mushrooms.
For Universal, it represents the first expansion beyond film- and TV-themed rides, and a step up in designing a total environment – with the opening timed to capitalise on the release of an animated Super Mario Bros movie this spring.
— The Guardian
The park expansion officially opens on February 17th. Visitors will find attractions like the overpriced Toadstool Cafe, a “sedate crawl” signature race experience (sans shortcuts), cuter small details, and Bowser’s Castle, which apparently includes a self-help library and bomb-making... View full entry
[The] MSG Sphere, a new concert hall planned for Stratford in east London – which would be as wide as the London Eye and as tall as Big Ben – could soon move a step closer to reality.
On Tuesday evening, the planning committee of the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) will meet to consider its developer’s plans for managing the advertising display and its impact.
— The Guardian
Efforts to halt the development of the Populous-designed entertainment venue date back to late 2020, when the public consultation phase for the project was extended for a third time over concerns about light pollution. Plans were approved by the LLDC in March of last year contingent on an... View full entry
The new developments look startlingly alike, often in the form of boxy, mid-rise buildings with a ground-floor retail space, sans-serif fonts and vivid slabs of bright paneling. The bulky design is conspicuous, jutting out of downtown streets and overpowering its surroundings. Over time, it attracts a certain ecosystem — the craft breweries, the boutique coffee shops, the out-of-town young professionals.
It’s anytown architecture, and it’s hard to know where you are from one city to the next.
— The New York Times
The disappearance of America’s vernacular architecture and subsequent rise of what some call developer modernism is the product of necessity, reluctance towards artistry, and the monopolization of residential development across the country, according to the Times’ real estate reporter Anna... View full entry
Following last week’s visit to entertainment venue specialists Populous, we are using this week’s edition of our Meet Your Next Employer series to explore the work of Sag Harbor and New York City-based SKOLNICK Architecture + Design Partnership. Operating across their New York and Hamptons... View full entry
