Greeening Silicon Valley: Samsung's new 1.1 million-sf HQ

Samsung Electronics will enter the Silicon Valley rivalry for best technology-oriented campus with its new headquarters design. The 1.1 million-sf San Jose campus, calculated to give Apple, Facebook and other local high-tech firms a run for their architectural money, will support at least 2,500 sales and R&D staff in Samsung's semiconductor and display businesses.

A pair of linked, 10-story office buildings, encompassing a combined 680,000 sf, will be the hallmark structure. Extensive "green floors" will be provided on every third story, creating a stack of alternating enclosed and open spaces. The gardens will be available to employees for informal breaks and organized recreation. Adjacent facilities will be connected by elevated walkways.

In addition to offices, the program includes research space, a cleanroom, a data center, basketball and sports courts, and cafés in a star-shaped amenities building. A parking structure for more than 1,500 vehicles will feature a rooftop solar array. NBBJ, also the architect behind the recently announced Google Bay View campus, is helming the project.

Samsung Information Systems America is getting new quarters as well. The company has signed a 15-year lease for two six-story buildings in Mountain View's Cypress Business Park, comprising about 385,000 sf.

The state of California is providing an R&D tax credit and an unspecified reimbursement for employee training. The city of San Jose is pitching in with a reduction of traffic impact fees (by more than 50%), a 75%+ reduction in construction taxes, a 50% rebate of up to half of utility taxes for 10 years, and a direct $500,000 economic incentive.

(http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/18/business/la-fi-samsung-silicon-valley-20130218)

Outside Paris, Holcim, a Swiss-based provider of innovative and sustainable building solutions, and Seqens, a social housing provider in France, are partnering to build Recygénie—a 220-unit housing complex, including 70 social housing units. Holcim is calling the project the world’s first fully recycled concrete building.

Multifamily Housing | Apr 21, 2023

Arlington County, Va., eliminates single-family-only zoning

Arlington County, a Washington, D.C., community that took shape in the 1950s, when single-family homes were the rule in suburbia, recently became one of the first locations on the East Coast to eliminate single-family-only zoning.

March 2023 AIA Deltek Architecture Billings Index

Architects | Apr 21, 2023

Architecture billings improve slightly in March

Architecture firms reported a modest increase in March billings. This positive news was tempered by a slight decrease in new design contracts according to a new report released today from The American Institute of Architects (AIA). March was the first time since last September in which billings improved.

Green | Apr 21, 2023

Top 10 green building projects for 2023

The Harvard University Science and Engineering Complex in Boston and the Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis are among the AIA COTE Top Ten Awards honorees for 2023.

The Paseo 48-story mixed-used residential tower in Austin, Texas, architect Pappageorge Haymes Partners

Multifamily Housing | Apr 19, 2023

Austin’s historic Rainey Street welcomes a new neighbor: a 48-story mixed-used residential tower

Austin’s historic Rainey Street is welcoming a new neighbor. The Paseo, a 48-story mixed-used residential tower, will bring 557 apartments and two levels of retail to the popular Austin entertainment district, known for houses that have been converted into bungalow bars and restaurants.

Reinforced concrete fins provide shade to the 300-meter-tall National Bank of Kuwait headquarters. Photo: Nigel Young/Foster + Partners

Design Innovation Report | Apr 19, 2023

Reinforced concrete walls and fins stiffen and shade the National Bank of Kuwait skyscraper

When the National Bank of Kuwait first conceived its new headquarters more than a decade ago, it wanted to make a statement about passive design with a soaring tower that could withstand the extreme heat of Kuwait City, the country’s desert capital.