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.

At 206,000 sf, San Diego State Universitys Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union is

Jul 18, 2014

Top Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]

Fluor, Arup, Day & Zimmermann top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest engineering firms in the United States.

The shale gale of petroleum development is bringing economic growth to numerou

Jul 18, 2014

Top Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]

Gensler, Perkins+Will, NBBJ top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest architecture firms in the United States.

Multifamily housing development should stay strong at least into 2015, according

Jul 18, 2014

Top Architecture/Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]

Stantec, HOK, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest architecture/engineering firms in the United States.

Los Angeles International Airport is undergoing a massive improvement program, e

Jul 18, 2014

2014 Giants 300 Report

Building Design+Construction magazine's annual ranking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S.