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.

Engineers

Engineering goes hand-in-hand with design, putting a practical lens on the architect’s vision and finding the best way to make it happen. Without a talented engineer, the project will never reach completion, and certainly will not reach the standards of functionality and sustainability that the architect and client are seeking.

HDR | Aug 19, 2014

A designer's epiphany: 'Let's stop talking and make something'

Making things is important because it reveals gaps in thought, sheds light on the fundamental assumptions that can kill ideas, and forces us to push toward solutions that actually work, writes HDR's David Grandy.

Aug 18, 2014

Perkins+Will expands planning practice with strategic focus on underserved U.S. communities

The broadened focus is resulting in comprehensive, long-term plans that will guide new growth in places like Buffalo, N.Y., Kingston, R.I., and Brooklyn, N.Y.

Aug 18, 2014

SPARK’s newly unveiled mixed-use development references China's flowing hillscape

Architecture firm SPARK recently finished a design for a new development in Shenzhen. The 770,700 square-foot mixed-use structure's design mimics the hilly landscape of the site's locale.

Narrow fire-rated aluminum framing system

Aug 16, 2014

Fire-rated framing system makes the grade at Johnson & Wales University Center

The precision engineering of TGP’s Fireframes Aluminum Series creates narrow profiles and crisp sightlines at Johnson & Wales University Center for Physician Assistant Studies

Steven Burns | Aug 16, 2014

Decoupling the professional services firm

Business consultant Tim Williams authored a recent LinkedIn post that highlights the emerging trend among professional services firms toward “decoupling,” or consciously separating the high-value services that are scarce from the low-value services that are plentiful. SPONSORED CONTENT

Life at HOK | Aug 16, 2014

The science of learning: Designing the STEM learning facilities of the future

New technology and changing pedagogies are influencing how to best teach a generation of learners who have never known a world without smartphones or tablets, writes HOK's Kimberly Robidoux.

Aug 15, 2014

First look: RMJM’s 'jumping fish' tower design for the Chinese Riviera

The tower's fish-jumping gesture is meant to symbolize the prosperity and rapid transformation of Zhuhai, China.

Renderings courtesy Adam Wiercinski Architekt

Aug 15, 2014

Periscope structure gives public toilet an unobstructed sea view

Polish architect Adam Wiercinski designs a public toilet with a periscope mechanism that gives visitors unobstructed views of the sea.

Aug 14, 2014

8 do's and don'ts for completing an HVAC life cycle cost assessment

There are many hurdles to overcome when completing a life cycle cost assessment. RMF Engineering’s Seth Spangler offers some words of advice regarding LCCAs.