Lafayette Tower in Washington, D.C., designed by Roche-Dinkeloo, has received Platinum certification under LEED-CS. Photo: Clark Construction Group Extra Large Image

Portland · 2009.0527
The Courtyard by Marriott–Portland City Center hotel has opened in the former Toronto National Building in downtown Portland, Oregon. SERA Architects of Portland designed the renovation for developer Sage Hospitality.

The project included the addition of three floors above the existing 13-story structure, redesign and replacement of the building skin, renovation of the internal structure, and demolition and replacement of the three-story adjacent structure with a new three-story back-of-house support structure. The interior design features large photographic murals in each guest room.

Expected to receive LEED Gold certification, the 16-story hotel contains 256 guest rooms and 5,300 square feet (490 square meters) of flexible meeting and event space. The building is designed to lower overall energy consumption by 28 percent and reduce water consumption by 26 percent. Over 75 percent of the construction waste was recycled and reused.

A restaurant, The Original, has opened on site. Designer David Ashen of New York City firm D-ASH Design and Denise Korn of Boston, Massachusetts-based firm Korn Design collaborated with restaurateur Peter Karpinski on the diner, inspired by midcentury Googie architecture.

Providence · 2009.0522
Brown University has broken ground for its new $40 million Creative Arts Center in Providence, Rhode Island, designed by New York City architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro. The 35,000-square-foot (3,300-square-meter) facility will feature a 200-seat recital hall and screening facility, an outdoor amphitheater, three flexible production spaces, and an art gallery, as well as studios, media labs, and classrooms. Construction is scheduled to begin in June 2009, and the building is slated to open in spring 2011.

Lithonia · 2009.0522
The new Arabia Mountain High School in Lithonia, Georgia, was recently completed. The Atlanta office of Perkins + Will designed the 230,000-square-foot (21,000-square-meter) school, located on the edge of the Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve, part of a federally designated heritage area. LEED Silver certification is pending.

The school is divided into three smaller "learning communities" connected by a spine that contains shared science labs. The building is oriented so that classrooms face north and south, with large expanses of glass for daylighting and views. Brick and metal panels clad the exterior, and high-performance glass and overhangs help minimize energy consumption. Other sustainable features include bioswales for onsite filtration of runoff, native landscaping, and low-flow plumbing fixtures and waterless urinals.

Perkins + Will principal Barbara Crum served as lead architect on the school, which will open to students in August 2009.

Washington, D.C. · 2009.0521
Lafayette Tower (pictured above) in Washington, D.C., has received Platinum certification under the USGBC's LEED for Core & Shell rating system. Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates LLC of Hamden, Connecticut, designed the $48 million commercial office building.

The 11-story, 327,500 square-foot (30,400-square-meter) tower is located on the site of the former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Headquarters. The project team recycled 92 percent of demolition waste from the FDIC building, including concrete, rebar, and aluminum, and salvaged the existing foundation walls.

Clear, low-e glass panels span uninterrupted from floor to floor, and the building's structural columns are set back 15 feet (4.6 meters) from the perimeter to allow for unobstructed views and maximum daylighting. Green roofs surround outdoor decks constructed with FSC-certified ipe lumber.

The Bethesda, Maryland, office of Clark Construction Group, LLC completed construction of the building earlier in 2009.

Vancouver · 2009.0520
Prominent Canadian modernist architect Arthur Erickson died in Vancouver, British Columbia, on May 20, 2009, at age 84.

Erickson was born in Vancouver in 1924. He served in the Canadian Army during World War II, then studied at the University of British Columbia and at McGill University in Montreal. Fame came first with the design of Simon Fraser University in a suburb of Vancouver, for which he and then-partner Geoffrey Massey won a design competition. Other high-profile projects followed, including the Canadian pavilion for Expo '67.

Other works include the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia; Robson Square, the three-block-long office and courthouse complex for the provincial government of British Columbia; the Canadian embassy in Washington, D.C.; the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington; and the Waterfall Building live/work development in Vancouver, as well as an assortment of innovative buildings around the world. His autobiography is The Architecture of Arthur Erickson (1988).

Jidd Haffs · 2009.0518
The second in a series of sports clubs has officially opened near Jidd Haffs, Bahrain. Hong Kong-based international architecture and interior design firm Leigh & Orange designed the Al Shabab Model Club as part of the Bahrain government's drive to provide four regional venues for recreation, sports training, and interclub league competitions for the people of Bahrain. The first one, West Riffa Sports Club, also designed by the firm, opened earlier in 2009, and work is underway on a third. Each club includes a gymnasium, indoor swimming pool, outdoor pitches, and support facilities. The overall project is estimated to cost over US$58 million.

People and Places Last Week

People and Places Archive

ArchitectureWeek Professional Directory
ArchitectureWeek Web Directory