Goettsch Partners (GP) has opened their third global office, in Abu Dhabi. The opening of the Abu Dhabi office coincides with a new brand identity, which recognizes the firm’s strategic expansion from a practice working primarily in and around Chicago to one that designs globally, with projects spanning four continents and more than 40 cities.
The new Abu Dhabi office is located in Al SilaTower, also known as Tower 1, at Sowwah Square, a large-scale mixed-use complex that was designed by GP for Mubadala Development Company. Sowwah Square is the commercial core of Al MaryahIsland, formerly known as Sowwah Island, and will showcase the new headquarters building of the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, along with four office towers, two hotels and interconnected retail and parking facilities.
The GP Abu Dhabi office is managed by Steven M. Nilles, FAIA, LEED AP, a partner in the firm and resident of Abu Dhabi. His team includes architects who have spent the last several years living and working in the area, along with other professionals trained at the firm’s main office in Chicago and relocating to Abu Dhabi. +
Related Stories
| Feb 22, 2011
HDR Architecture names four healthcare directors
Four senior professionals in HDR Architecture’s healthcare program have been named Healthcare directors.
| Feb 15, 2011
Iconic TWA terminal may reopen as a boutique hotel
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey hopes to squeeze a hotel with about 150 rooms in the space between the old TWA terminal and the new JetBlue building. The old TWA terminal would serve as an entry to the hotel and hotel lobby, which would also contain restaurants and shops.
| Feb 15, 2011
New Orleans' rebuilt public housing architecture gets mixed reviews
The architecture of New Orleans’ new public housing is awash with optimism about how urban-design will improve residents' lives—but the changes are based on the idealism of an earlier era that’s being erased and revised.
| Feb 15, 2011
LAUSD commissions innovative prefab prototypes for future building
The LA Unified School District, under the leadership of a new facilities director, reversed course regarding prototypes for its new schools and engaged architects to create compelling kit-of-parts schemes that are largely prefabricated.
| Feb 15, 2011
New 2030 Challenge to include carbon footprint of building materials and products
Architecture 2030 has just broadened the scope of its 2030 Challenge, issuing an additional challenge regarding the climate impact of building products. The 2030 Challenge for Products aims to reduce the embodied carbon (meaning the carbon emissions equivalent) of building products 50% by 2030.
| Feb 15, 2011
New Urbanist Andrés Duany: We need a LEED Brown rating
Andrés Duany advocates a "LEED Brown" rating that would give contractors credit for using traditional but low cost measures that are not easy to quantify or certify. He described these steps as "the original green," and "what we did when we didn't have money." Ostensibly, LEED Brown would be in addition to the current Silver, Gold and Platinum ratings.
| Feb 15, 2011
AIA on President Obama's proposed $1 billion investment in energy conservation
The President’s budget increases the value of investment in energy conservation in commercial buildings by roughly $1 billion, reports AIA 2011 President Clark Manus, FAIA. The significant increase from the current tax deduction of $1.80 per sq. ft. now on the books is an increase for which the AIA has been advocating in order to encourage energy conservation.
