The Starchitect of Oz: New Gehry building in Sydney celebrates topping out

The Dr Chau Chak Wing Building at the University of Technology, Sydney, will mark Frank Gehry's debut project in the Australian metro. The 12-story, $150 million project will serve the university's Business School and is being built by Lend Lease.

Gehry says the design, which is a bit reminiscent of his Stata Center at MIT, was inspired the trunk-and-branches arrangement of a tree. The main structure has been completed and work has begun on the façade--as usual with Gehry, a complex proposition. About 320,000 bricks will be hand-laid to achieve a crinkled effect, guided by extensive BIM analysis. The UTS civil engineering labs collaborated with Chinese partners to create and test prototypes for the brick work. The building's west side will feature huge panes of reflective glass.

As with many new Australian facilites, this one incorporates a green focus. High-performance glazing will combine with energy- and water-efficient engineering, including a 20,000-L rainwater tank. The building is aiming for 5 Star status in the Green Star sustainability certification program.

Part of a 10-year master plan for the campus, the Dr Chau Chak Wing Building is scheduled to be completed this year.

Across the country, multifamily rents have skyrocketed. Year-over-year rents are up by double digits in nine of the top 30 markets, while national YoY rent growth is up 6.3%. Emerging from the pandemic, a perfect storm of migration, enhanced government stimulus and a hot housing market, among other factors, has enabled this extremely strong growth.

AEC firm actions in light of Covid opening

AEC Business Innovation | Jul 11, 2021

Staffing, office changes at SCB, SmithGroup, RKTB, Ryan Cos., Jacobsen, Boldt, and Adolfson & Peterson

AEC firms take strategic action as construction picks up steam with Covid openings.

STEM High School Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) HorizonTV, LPA Architects

K-12 Schools | Jul 9, 2021

LPA Architects' STEM high school post-occupancy evaluation

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.