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.

Feb 27, 2014

Metal Construction Association introduces two Environmental Product Declarations

Two Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), one for Metal Composite Material Panels and one for Roll Formed Steel Panels for Roofs and Walls, are now available free of charge from the Metal Construction Association (MCA) on its website.

Feb 27, 2014

Bluebeam Software launches Revu 12 for better field-ready document management and project collaboration

The latest version of the company’s flagship solution better enables users in document-intensive industries to digitally collaborate on project documents and more easily connect the office to the field.

PocketCake's VRSCA (for Virtual Reality Simulation Converter Assembly) is three

Feb 27, 2014

PocketCake lunches CPU designed for virtual reality simulations

The company's Virtual Reality Simulation Converter Assembly is three times more powerful than the average high-performance computer and allows for up to eight people to experience a virtual reality simulation at the same time.

Photos courtesy Blackney Hayes Architects

Feb 26, 2014

Adaptive reuse project brings school into historic paper mill

The project features nontraditional classrooms for collaborative learning, an arts and music wing, and a technologically sophisticated global resource center.

Feb 26, 2014

Startup PocketCake aims to bring virtual reality simulations to the AEC masses

Founded in 2012, the development firm offers custom virtual reality simulations for the price of a typical architectural illustration.

Renderings courtesy Blackney Hayes Architects

Feb 26, 2014

Billie Jean King National Tennis Center serving up three-phase expansion

The project includes the construction of two new stadiums and a retractable roof over the existing Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Feb 24, 2014

First look: UC San Diego opens net-zero biological research lab

The facility is intended to be "the most sustainable laboratory in the world," and incorporates natural ventilation, passive cooling, high-efficiency plumbing, and sustainably harvested wood.

Feb 21, 2014

Naturally ventilated hospital planned in Singapore

The Ng Teng Fong General Hospital will take advantage of the region's prevailing breezes to cool the spaces.

The building's owner says the structure's mechanical visor has never worked beca

Feb 21, 2014

Calatrava ordered to pay millions for 'shortcomings in his work' on conference center project

Famed architect Santiago Calatrava must pay 2.9 million euros due to faulty design work on the Palacio de Congresos project in Oviedo, Spain.

Sasha Reed | Feb 20, 2014

Chicago’s historic Wrigley Building renovated to attract tech companies

Purchased in 2011 by a consortium of investors led by BDT Capital Partners, the building’s new owners have recently renovated and reimagined the next life for this architectural landmark—as a hub for tech firms.