The Gauge, an office building in Melbourne, Australia, recently received a 6-Star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia. Image: Bovis Lend Lease Extra Large Image

New York · 2008.0507
An interior renovation project is complete at The Child Center of New York. Architecture firm Cetra/Ruddy of New York City designed the project, which combined four separate facilities into one central location for the nonprofit organization.

The detailed design included bright colors, vinyl polka-dot wall coverings, plastic laminates with nonlinear patterns, child-sized furniture, and noninstitutional lighting fixtures. The facility includes two large conference rooms for group sessions and 40 soundproof counseling rooms. A large reception area features a curved millwork-and-glass desk and wall coverings in vibrant colors.

A second phase of the project, also by CetraRuddy, will add 5,000 square feet (465 square meters) to the space by fall 2008.

Palo Alto · 2008.0430
The Stanford University School of Medicine has broken ground for the new Li Ka Shing Center for Learning and Knowledge on the Stanford campus in Palo Alto, California. The San Francisco office of NBBJ designed the five-story limestone-and-glass building, which will serve as the nexus for the school's education and training programs.

The 120,000-square-foot (11,000-square-meter) structure will give the school an identifiable entry point for the first time, with a front door that faces the main campus. The building will feature flexible classrooms; three lecture halls, including one for team-based learning; a 350-seat conference center; and administrative offices. Technology will include a virtual reality facility and large, high-resolution display walls in classrooms. The top floor will house a fitness center, "nap pods" for students, and a student commons. Completion is expected by spring 2010.

Lubbock · 2008.0430
A $13.6 million addition has opened at Texas Tech University's School of Law in Lubbock, Texas. Dallas-based SHW Group designed the 34,600-square-foot (3,200-square-meter) project, named the Mark and Becky Lanier Professional Development Center.

The addition includes a 130-seat courtroom, practice courtroom, 300-seat auditorium-classroom, and conference room, as well as office space for other university programs and student organizations. The main courtroom provides students with a real-world model equipped with current technology.

Houston-based Vaughn Construction served as the project’s general contractor.

Melbourne · 2008.0429
The Gauge commercial development (rendered above) in Melbourne, Australia, has received a 6-Star Green Star rating for office design from the Green Building Council of Australia — the highest rating in the Green Star program. The project, which includes ground-floor public space, cafe, and foyer areas, was developed by Lend Lease Development, with architecture by Lend Lease Design, and project and construction management by Bovis Lend Lease.

The narrow floorplate allows extensive daylighting and views. External shading and internal motorized blinds reduce glare and minimize solar gain. A natural-gas cogeneration turbine provides electricity and heat for the building, which also includes a heat recovery system and passive chilled-beam cooling system. A full-height atrium acts as a chimney for return air.

Rainwater is collected from the roof for use in irrigating an adjacent park, and building waste water is treated and reused in the building for nonpotable uses. Building occupancy is expected to start in June 2008.

Chicago · 2008.0428
Richard Smith, LEED AP, has joined the Chicago, Illinois, office of HOK as director of the science and technology practice. Smith has over 20 years of professional experience. He was previously a principal in the higher education group at Loebl Schlossman & Hackl.

Also new to HOK Chicago is Meghan Wunderlich, director of business development. Wunderlich was previously manager of architecture and design partnerships at Business Office Systems in Chicago. She has also worked in sales for Designtex, and in the procurement department of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation.

New York · 2008.0428
Construction continues on Soho Mews, a two-building residential development in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City. Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects of New York designed the building's facade as a contemporary response to the fenestration patterns of surrounding 19th-century cast-iron industrial buildings. The firm also studied tartan patterns to develop the composition.

The curtain wall consists of a stone base with metal panels and recessed glass, with horizontal and vertical channels expressing floor slabs and columns. Vertical mullions shift from bay to bay and floor to floor, giving additional articulation and rhythm to the facade. The combination of stone, metal, and three types of glass (clear, frosted, and fritted) allows extensive daylighting while also providing privacy.

"The intent of the facade," says firm principal Charles Gwathmey, "aside from the literal articulation, was to render a constantly changing dynamic 'light quilt' that would animate the street as an illusive mural, read differently at different times of day and night."

The complex will house 59 lofts, five townhouses, and four penthouses, as well as onsite parking, a fitness center, and a public art gallery. It will also include a 6,000-square-foot (560-square-meter) private park designed by Peter Walker, principal of Peter Walker and Partners Landscape Architecture of Berkeley, California. Occupancy is planned for late 2008.

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