University of Michigan’s Central Campus residence hall, as seen looking west from Hill Street. Rendering © RAMSA

The University of Michigan addresses a decades-long student housing shortage with a new housing-dining facility

The University of Michigan has faced a decades-long shortage of on-campus student housing. In a couple of years, the situation should significantly improve with the addition of a new residential community on Central Campus in Ann Arbor, Mich. The University of Michigan has engaged American Campus Communities in a public-private partnership to lead the development of the environmentally sustainable living-learning student community.

MFPRO+ New Projects

Shipping containers converted into attractive, affordable multifamily housing in L.A.

In the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles, a new affordable multifamily housing project using shipping containers resulted in 24 micro-units for formerly unhoused residents. The containers were acquired from a nearby port and converted into housing units at a factory.

Adaptive Reuse

Empty mall to be converted to UCLA Research Park

UCLA recently acquired a former mall that it will convert into the UCLA Research Park that will house the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA and the UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, as well as programs across other disciplines. The 700,000-sf property, formerly the Westside Pavilion shopping mall, is two miles from the university’s main Westwood campus. Google, which previously leased part of the property, helped enable and support UCLA’s acquisition.

Geothermal Technology

Rochester, Minn., plans extensive geothermal network

The city of Rochester, Minn., home of the famed Mayo Clinic, is going big on geothermal networks. The city is constructing Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) that consist of ambient pipe loops connecting multiple buildings and delivering thermal heating and cooling energy via water-source heat pumps.

Architects

Every building starts with a concept and a design. Architects are involved at every stage of the process, even after a design has been finalized, helping other building team members through the snares and missteps in the construction process. Building Design+Construction delivers news, trends, and research to the nation's largest architectural design firms.

Gabe Savely | Aug 21, 2014

Strategies for providing great customer service

Customers are inherently inefficient and inconvenient to do business with, writes Customer Service Consultant Micah Solomon, in a recent Forbes post. That’s why he believes great customer service depends on understanding this. SPONSORED CONTENT

Sasha Reed | Aug 21, 2014

Defining the measure of success when implementing new technologies

Sasha Reed and Chad Dorgan, McCarthy Building Cos.’s Vice President of Quality and Sustainability, discuss the keys to managing innovation within a large construction firm. SPONSORED CONTENT

Pasa Hotel & Spa in Huntington Beach, Calif., designed by WATG (hotel design) a

Aug 21, 2014

RTKL's parent company Arcadis acquires Callison

The acquisition of Callison, known predominantly for its leadership in retail and mixed-use design, builds on Arcadis’ strong global design and architecture position, currently provided by RTKL.

Aug 21, 2014

Must See: Detroit's Beaux-Arts parking garage

An opulent Renaissance Revival building in downtown Detroit is being used as a parking garage.

Skanska | Aug 20, 2014

WELL Building: The next step in green sports construction

The WELL Building Standard, a new protocol that focuses on human wellness within the built environment, is a particularly good fit for sports facilities, write Skanska's Tom Tingle and Beth Heider.

Designed by the architectural duo Charles A. Reed and Allen H. Stem, King Street

Aug 20, 2014

Seattle's King Street Station thoughtfully restored [2014 Reconstruction Awards]

After years of neglect and botched renovations, King Street Station sparkles once again.

Aug 20, 2014

Tour an office with no assigned workstations [slideshow]

The New York office of the Gerson Lehrman Group recently redesigned its office without personal desks or cubicles. The company gave each of its 250 employees a locker, a laptop, and told to work anywhere they wanted, according to Business Insider.

Photo: Mark Ahsmann via Wikimedia Commons

Aug 20, 2014

Architecture Billings Index reaches highest mark since 2007

The American Institute of Architects reported the July ABI score was 55.8, up noticeably from a mark of 53.5 in June.

Renderings courtesy of Goettsch Partners

Aug 19, 2014

Goettsch Partners unveils design for mega mixed-use development in Shenzhen [slideshow]

The overall design concept is of a complex of textured buildings that would differentiate from the surrounding blue-glass buildings of Shenzhen.

One of the projects that 360 has worked on; Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Aug 19, 2014

HOK to acquire 360 Architecture

Expected to be finalized by the end of October, the acquisition of 360 Architecture will provide immediate benefits to both firms’ clients worldwide as HOK re-enters the sports and entertainment market.