Century-old courthouse renovated for Delaware law firm offices

Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP moved into its new headquarters, a former Federal building, after extensive renovations by architecture firm Francis Cauffman. Young Conaway is the sole tenant of the notable Daniel L. Herrmann Courthouse in downtown Wilmington. The 233,880-sf. courthouse had been vacant since 2002. .

The renovated courthouse comprises four floors and a mezzanine. The entrance features a two-story atrium that is now the heart of Young Conaway’s public and collaboration areas. Francis Cauffman restored the central bronze stairwell, and the refurbished natural stone and chiseled marble in the atrium augment the clean, streamlined interior. The first floor has flexible conference rooms while the mezzanine floor contains a visiting attorney strategy suite, a mock trial room, additional conference rooms, and access to an outdoor plaza.

The U-shaped building boasts a large outdoor plaza with an urban garden lit by the building’s original ornate lampposts. The outdoor plaza can accommodate up to 300 people for events. The design firm added a 100-car garage beneath the building, making parking quick and easy for the downtown location.

To account for future expansion, Francis Cauffman developed a plan to accommodate the addition of an 8-story tower to the building. This included laying the foundations and creating infrastructure for the future addition. BD+C

LPA Architects conducted a post-occupancy evaluation, or POE, of the eSTEM Academy, a new high school specializing in health/medical and design/engineering Career Technical Education, in Eastvale, Calif. The POE helped LPA, the Riverside County Office of Education, and the Corona-Norco Unified School District gain a better understanding of which design innovations—such as movable walls, flex furniture, collaborative spaces, indoor-outdoor activity areas, and a student union—enhanced the education program, and how well students and teachers used these innovations.

Interior designer Creative License International fashioned this community room for P83, a 250-unit rental community in Peoria, Ariz. 2021 Multifamily Amenities study

Multifamily Housing | Jul 7, 2021

Make sure to get your multifamily amenities mix right

One of the hardest decisions multifamily developers and their design teams have to make is what mix of amenities they’re going to put into each project. A lot of squiggly factors go into that decision: the type of community, the geographic market, local recreation preferences, climate/weather conditions, physical parameters, and of course the budget. The permutations are mind-boggling.

Industrial Facilities | Jul 2, 2021

A new approach to cold storage buildings

Cameron Trefry and Kate Lyle of Ware Malcomb talk about their firm's cold storage building prototype that is serving a market that is rapidly expanding across the supply chain.

A post-pandemic ‘new normal’ for apartments, Grimm + Parker, Building Design+Construction 2021 Exercise area

Multifamily Housing | Jun 30, 2021

A post-pandemic ‘new normal’ for apartment buildings

Grimm + Parker’s vision foresees buildings with rentable offices and refrigerated package storage.

Architects | Jun 30, 2021

Perkins Eastman joins forces with MEIS

MEIS’ work on stadiums and entertainment centers spans the globe with state-of-the-art designs in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Architects | Jun 25, 2021

AIA announces Small Project Award recipients

Now in its 18th year, the AIA Small Project Awards program recognizes small-project practitioners for the high quality of their work.

Work in existing buildings will prevail in 2021

Architects | Jun 24, 2021

Post-pandemic, architects need to advocate harder for project sustainability

An AIA-Oldcastle report looks closer at the coronavirus’s impact on design and construction

Resiliency | Jun 24, 2021

Oceanographer John Englander talks resiliency and buildings [new on HorizonTV]

New on HorizonTV, oceanographer John Englander discusses his latest book, which warns that, regardless of resilience efforts, sea levels will rise by meters in the coming decades. Adaptation, he says, is the key to future building design and construction.