Editor’s note: You may read the news digest below or listen to it, plus other news headlines from ArchitecturalRecord.com, as a podcast by clicking this link. Click the play button to begin | Click here to download The British Museum has tapped Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, the practice that was until this spring known as the Richard Rogers Partnership, to design a new $200 million building, The Guardian reported on July 5. The venerable institution apparently has Tutankhamun envy—its lack of sufficient space prompted the organizers of a blockbuster Egyptology and mummy exhibition, expected to be “the most popular
If the fate of its mid-century bank buildings is any indication, Phoenix is withdrawing valuable architectural assets from its skyline to make way for growth in the nation’s sixth-largest city. Photo: Courtesy DWL Designed by Weaver & Drover, now called DWL, in the 1960s, this Chase Bank in Phoenix's upscale Arcadia neighborhood, pays homage to Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture. Photo: Courtesy City of Phoenix. Frank M. Henry, the lead designer, hand-selected rocks for the bank’s walls. Photo: Courtesy Roger Brevoort. The bank’s 5-acre site also contains a public greenway, but developer Opus West is eyeing the site for a mixed-use
Time’s almost up for submitting comment on Standard 189P—it will be accepted until July 9 at www.ashrae.org/publicreviews. Officially called the “Standard for the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings,” it will provide a baseline for sustainable design, construction, and operations—and ultimately could be incorporated into building codes. Addressing both new commercial buildings and major renovations, it encompasses energy and water efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable site selection, and materials. The American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, and the U.S. Green Building Council developed it. Standard 189P is expected
Editor’s note: You may read the news digest below or listen to it, plus other news headlines from ArchitecturalRecord.com, as a podcast by clicking this link. Click the play button to begin | Click here to download Jorn Utzon’s 1973 masterpiece, the Sydney Opera House, is among the sites that UNESCO the added to its World Heritage List on Thursday. Also added was the Red Fort Complex, a 17th century garrison in New Delhi, whose accreted architecture recalls Indian history from the Mughal period to independence, Bloomberg reported on June 29. Appearing on the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural
A delay in the start of construction on Foster & Partners’ Rossiya skyscraper in Moscow this month seems to have barely dented the firm’s far-reaching plans in the rest of Russia. Construction on another major project began moving forward and it has just signed on to design a skyscraper in the Siberian oil boomtown of Khanty Mansiysk. Foster + Partner’s 919-foot-tall Yugra tower will be the tallest thing in the surrounding city of Khanty Mansiysk, located in Russia’s Siberia region. Images Courtesy Foster + Partners The proposed skyscraper will contain a mix of retail, office, residential, and hotel space. STT
Editor’s note: You may read the news digest below or listen to it, plus other news headlines from ArchitecturalRecord.com, as a podcast by clicking this link. Click the play button to begin | Click here to download New Orleans still faces a significant risk of flooding, according to an Army Corps of Engineers analysis released this week. While central neighborhoods have benefited from $1 billion in levee improvements since Hurricane Katrina, the study found that the Lower 9th Ward, Gentilly, St. Bernard Parish, and other areas would likely be flooded during a 100-year storm, according to an Associated Press story
This April’s Architectural Billings Index, prepared by the American Institute of Architects, held steady for the third month in a row with a score of 52.7; any showing above 50 indicates growth. But many of the mostly commercial firms surveyed said that inquiries for new business are rising, suggesting that billings might increase later this year.
Editor’s note: You may listen to excerpts from James Murdock’s interview with Robert Hillier and Peter Morrison by clicking the link below. Click the play button to begin | Click here to download Although the official announcement was embargoed until today, both RMJM and Hillier Architecture had difficultly keeping a lid on their big news: they’re getting hitched. To the tune of $30 million, it turns out. The papers were signed yesterday at Hillier’s office in Princeton, New Jersey, and the firm’s management, along with leaders from its new Edinburgh-based parent company, will celebrate with a champagne toast at the
JM: Having done this project, do you think you’d pursue another one like it? AM: We were drawn to this project because of the particularities: it was a very brave client who would be willing to experiment and try things that hadn’t been done before and they wanted to make a place that was unlike any other. I don’t know that we’re necessarily interested in redoing this project over and over again because I don’t think we could. This is a one of a kind place and experience for kids and families. But there are other types of projects that