The city of Miami has awarded an $11 million contract for its on-again, off-again convention center renovation to Denver-based Fentress Architects, which will serve as the design criteria professional on this project.
City Commissioners voted unanimously (with one commissioner absent) in favor of Fentress over seven other contenders, according to the Miami Herald. The design plans that Fentress draws up will serve as the basis for the city’s weighing bids from design-build firms to complete this project.
The renovation has been controversial. A larger plan that would have spanned 52 acres across South Beach and cost $1 billion got scrapped after the election of a new mayor and three new commissioners. The designs for that larger plan got nixed only six months after the city had awarded developer South Beach ACE and the architectural firm OMA.
Fentress is working with New York-based architecture, design, and planning firm Arquitectonica and the urban-design and landscape architect West 8 on a scaled-down masterplan whose price tag is estimated at $500 million. The renovation will include the convention center’s 500,000-sf exhibition hall, its 200,000-sf of existing meeting spaces, and a new 70,000-sf ballroom and outdoor event area. The facility’s existing parking lot will be converted into a 6.5-acre public park.
The Herald reports that the park will include a memorial to Miami Beach’s military vets, and a small café. A 1.8-acre park along the north side of the convention center will have more than 1,000 feet of renovated space.
City Manager Jimmy Morales is quoted as stating that his office staff expects to present recommendations for design-build firms to the City Commission by Nov. 19. If there are no hitches, the renovation should begin by December 2015, the convention center should be completed by 2017, and the park by the following year.
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Aug 13, 2019
2019 Science + Technology Giants Report: Operational flexibility is a must for S+T buildings
The science and technology (S+T) sector is arguably the industry’s most complex because it caters to a diverse clientele with specific priorities and imperatives, according to Building Design+Construction's 2019 Giants 300 Report.
Architects | Aug 12, 2019
AIA, NCARB help launch coalition to represent complex professions and licensing boards
Architects, registration boards, and others join effort to ensure a unified voice for professions in growing debate around licensure, regulation, and public safety.
AEC Innovators | Aug 9, 2019
Improving architectural designs through iteration
Computational design lets ZGF Architects see patterns that renderings and even models can’t show.
Giants 400 | Aug 8, 2019
Top 200 Office Sector Architecture Firms for 2019
Gensler, AECOM, Perkins+Will, Stantec, and HOK top the rankings of the nation's largest office sector architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2019 Giants 300 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 8, 2019
2019 Office Giants Report: Demand for exceptional workplaces will keep the office construction market strong
Office space consolidation and workplace upgrades will keep project teams busy, according to BD+C's 2019 Giants 300 Report.
Museums | Jul 29, 2019
A new museum debuts inside the Empire State Building
A $165 million, 10,000-sf museum opened on the second floor of the Empire State Building in New York City, completing the second of a four-phase “reimagining” of that building’s observatory experience, which draws four million visitors annually.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 23, 2019
Is prefab in your future?
The most important benefit of offsite construction, when done right, is reliability.
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 15, 2019
Can a kids’ healthcare space teach, entertain, and heal?
Standard building requirements don’t have to be boring. Here’s how you can inject whimsical touches into everyday design features.
Architects | Jul 10, 2019
9 picks from NeoCon 2019
Interior architect Mary Bartlett selects her favorite products and systems from the 2019 NeoCon show, Chicago, June 10-12, 2019.
BD+C University Course | Jul 8, 2019
Shadow box design: To vent or not to vent [AIA course]
A curtain wall shadow box is a spandrel assembly consisting of vision glass at the building exterior and an opaque infill at the interior side of the curtain wall system. This course is worth 1.0 AIA LU/HSW.