Cincinnati Gets Ohio’s Third Platinum School
The North College HIll High School / Middle School recently became Ohio’s third LEED Platinum public school. (Courtesy SFA Architects)
As part of an ongoing relationship with the North College Hill school district in Cincinnati, fellow Cincinnatians SFA Architects helped the district consolidate its many facilities into the space of one city block. The combined Middle-High School building, completed in 2010, last week received LEED Platinum certification, making it the third public education facility in Ohio to earn the green building ranking system’s top honor.
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The self-tensioning system has 52 percent open area (Cambridge)
LEED Gold-certified building protects old documents with a modern mesh design
The new Taylor Family Digital Library houses some of the University of Calgary’s prized documents—more than 800,000 architectural drawings, one million maps and aerial photographs, and thousands of print monographs are among the nine million items in the collection. The university built the library as part of its mission to become one of Canada’s top five research libraries by 2016, the year of its 50th anniversary. But the library also serves the practical goal of protecting the special documents and art collections that were relocated there from other facilities. To that end, architect Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning envisioned the 265,000-square-foot building enshrouded in a veil of mesh that would provide solar protection while creating a semi-transparent facade and day-lit interiors to be enjoyed by students and community members.
If you still think green building is a primarily coastal pursuit, you would be wrong. According to the USGBC, Illinois ranks third in square footage of certified green building per capita in 2011 (2.69 square feet a person) behind the District of Columbia (31.50!) and the state of Colorado (2.74). The leading states are scattered far and wide, with Texas (#8 with 1.99) outranking crunchy California (1.92). New York is even further behind (1.89), just edging out Minnesota’s 1.81 square feet per person.
LEED Leaves Land: Floating Building Seeks Certification
Cottonwood Cove Marina (courtesy Carlton Studio Architecture)
At Lake Mohave, Nevada, the Cottonwood Cove Marina & Resort takes one step further toward ecological sustainability as the first-ever floating building to seek LEED certification. Designed by Carlson Studio Architecture, the structure’s custom fabricated dock will support a houseboat rental business and an engine repair shop. The marina will house the Lake Mead National Recreation Area resort’s office of operations and provide dry storage for its clientele’s boats.
The Florida-based architecture firm hopes that the marina will receive Gold level LEED certification. Committed to ecological sustainability and innovation, Carlson Studio Architecture implemented an energy-efficient design. The structure’s SIPS walls and roof protects the interior from direct sunlight and are lined with Photovoltaic panels. The building’s insulated shell and general orientation optimize its energy consumption and costs. Its stucco exterior is composed of reused tires; the decking of rice hulls and recycled plastic. The marina celebrated its LEED registration status at a public event on Monday, June 6th.
Quick Clicks> Archi-Photos, Julius Shulman, Birds, and Solar Trash
Photos of Ben Van Berkel's New Amsterdam Pavillion can't do it justice. (AN/Stoelker)
Don’t Shoot! The New Republic‘s Sarah Goldhagen takes on architectural photography. Her piece doesn’t exactly add much new material to a debate that’s as old as photography itself. Much of the piece reads like sage advice from the art history professor who tells students to get their butts down to The Met because the slides don’t come close to the real thing. Still, she’s no-holds-barred on much maligned medium: “They lie” and “photographs and the photographers who take them unwittingly and willfully misrepresent”, etc.
Shoot! Once you get through Goldhagen’s piece, then segue on to Architect for advice from PR maven Elizabeth Kubany on how to hire an architectural photographer. Mixed in with standard practice procedures (have a preproduction meeting) Kubany dips into current trends, which she refers to as “point of view” photography, i.e.-”chilly modernist perfection” is out “less tidy perspective” is in. Even Goldhagen will love it.
Shulman! Enough talking about architectural photography, it’s time to take a look at some classics. AN‘s own Sam Lubell just published a book with Douglas Woods, Julius Shulman Los Angeles: Birth of a Modern Metropolis. (If you’re in New York this evening, stop by the Rizzoli Bookstore — 31 W 57th St. — at 5:30 for a book signing with Sam!) Architizer has a preview.
Killer buildings. LEED certification may have to go the way of the birds. At least that’s the way some conservation groups see it. With millions of migrating birds crashing into tall buildings, The Chicago Tribune reports that an extra layer of netting may help LEED buildings stay sensitive to their environmental mission.
Solar Heap. The ever morphing PlaNYC has realized yet another initiative. Mayor Bloomberg announced the latest version today (the law requires the plan be updated every four years) and old city landfills get slated for new use. Not another park, not new bike lanes—we’re talking solar panel fields. DNA’s got the details.
Quick Clicks> Wren, Denver, Pike, & Livability
London Skyline with Wren's cathedral at right (Courtesy James Cridland/flickr)
Wren’s Dome. Some 300 years ago, Christopher Wren completed St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Now with today’s modern icons transforming the city’s skyline, the Telegraph pays homage to his lasting landmark amongst the new “Shards, Gherkins and distorted walkie-talkie-shaped skyscrapers.”
Green Mile High. The Editor-at-Large brings news that the USGBC has named Denver the “greenest” city in the United States with about 230 LEED registered or certified buildings. Two have earned LEED Platinum since 2010.
Pike Park. StreetsBlog reports that construction has begun on permanent Pike Street pedestrian improvements to be completed this fall in Manhattan. The project replaces temporary materials DOT installed in 2009 to calm traffic along Pike and Allen streets.
Shut Out. Reuter’s has the list of the world’s most (and least) livable cities ranked by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Vancouver topped the list (Harare, Zimbabwe came in last). No city in the United States managed to break into the top ten.
Quick Clicks> Drawing, Green, Aerial, Plans
Rivington Street, All the Buildings in New York, by James Gulliver Hancock
Block by Block. Brooklyn-based illustrator James Gulliver Hancock is attempting to draw All the Buildings in New York in quite beautiful pen and ink sketches like the one above. Watch a video of the artist explaining his inspirations, style, and how a chained up wheelchair is architecture after the jump. (via Gothamist.)
Leeders. Blair Kamin discusses the competitive race to build green among major cities today. Chicago is still number one for the most LEED-certified buildings, but the self-proclaimed “greenest city in America” faces some stiff competition.
Aerial. Building Design is running a new series of aerial photos showing progress at the 2012 Olympics site in London. 12,000 workers are reportedly on site working on the main stadium, aquatics center, and arena.
Master Plan. Now that South Sudan’s national independence has been approved, Sudan Votes reports that the government has revealed a model of a planned new capital city to replace the chaotic regional capital Juba, but not everyone is happy with the move. (via Planetizen.)
Quick Clicks> Green, Trolley, Bike, and Soane Booms
New York by Gehry neé 8 Spruce neé Beekman Tower (Courtesy dbox)
Green Boom. Blair Kamin takes a look at the sustainability of two billowing icons in Chicago and New York. Studio Gang’s Aqua Tower is going for LEED certification while Frank Gehry’s New York tower will not seek the USGBC’s approval but claims to be green nonetheless. Kamin notes the importance of such moves, saying of Gehry: “What he, in particular, does–or doesn’t do–can have enormous influence, not simply on architects but on developers.”
Trolley Boom. NPR has a piece on the explosion of streetcars across the country with planned or completed systems in over a dozen cities.
Bike Boom. Cycling advocate Elly Blue discusses a new study on Grist stating that bikes deserve their own infrastructure independent from autos. And not just a striped bike lane, Blue notes, but separated lanes called “cycle tracks” like one installed along Brooklyn’s Prospect Park West.
Soane Boom. The Independent reports on a planned renovation to the Sir John Soane Museum in London, that architect’s treasure trove of antiquities and architectural memorabilia from across the world. Plans include opening up a new floor that hasn’t been open to the public since Soane died in 1837.
The Green Building′s Platinum Lining
An interior view of The Green Building’s street-facing café. (Ted Wathen/Quadrant)
Since opening in 2008, The Green Building in Louisville, Kentucky has been quietly awaiting the verdict on just how sustainable the three-story adaptive reuse project really is. As expected, the 115-year-old former dry goods store designed by California-based (fer) studio announced that the project received LEED Platinum certification, becoming the city’s first Platinum building.
Find out just how green platinum can be and see a slideshow after the jump!
In Riverhouse Lawsuit, Not Easy Being Green
Riverhouse (Courtesy Steel Institute NY)
Despite its slow gestation, Battery Park City is widely considered a resounding success today, particularly in the areas of sustainable design, which was required of many of the complex’s latter day projects. Standing out among even these green stalwarts is the recently completed Riverhouse, designed by Polshek Partnership and shooting for LEED Gold, though the project now provides a bit of a cautionary tale for ambitious developers. According to the Journal, two tenants recently sued the projects’ developers for $1.5 million for breach of contract and fraud because the building was deemed not as green as it had been billed. Among the issues: Read More
One Bryant Reaches New Heights
There was quite the crowd at the One Bryant Park "opening" last week. (Matt Chaban)
The building’s been up and running for two years, but One Bryant Park wasn’t finished finished until last Thursday night, when the opening party was held in the cavernous lobby and the U.S. Green Building Council awarded the Dursts with the building’s LEED Platinum plaque. Jody Durst kicked things off, thanking everyone for coming, all the people who made the building possible, and the like before introducing Rick Cook, the lead designer for Cook + Fox on the penguin-shaped tower. Before a crowd of a few hundred bankers, real estate types, and other assorted Midtown workadays, Cook probably gave the largest architectural lecture of his career. Read More
No Green in Green?
The solar panels are just the start of this green-house in Harlem. (Courtesy Warburg Realty)
Is it really possible to make your house too green? California may not think so, but a Harlem brownstone is finding that to be the case. Last week, Curbed spotted 151 West 122nd Street, which the realtors declare to be the “greenest house in Manhattan.” While there are a few others that might argue for that throne, this one holds the title by apparently being the first standalone townhouse in the borough to achieve a LEED rating, Silver to be exact, courtesy a Better Homes and Gardens makeover. But all that green cred is not translating into green credit, as the building’s price has fallen from $4.05 million some 17 months ago to $2.79 million. At least one critic, gadabout blogger Harlem Bespoke, has complained that the problem is the project has forgone its charm for slick environmentalism—there’s no brownstone left in this brownstone!. Could this be the case, as ArchNewsNow turned up more green backlash today? Or is it simply the fact that no one is willing to spend this kind of money, no matter how nice a house, in Harlem?
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