YEOW!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Congrats Baker! Welcome JMA, The New Kid on the Block

On behalf of YEOW! Welcome!

TGIF!

Today’s Environment of the Week will be JMA Architects Office a Portfolio

Thank you Gary Nelson for today’s YEOW suggestion!

[If anyone else has any YEOW’s they’d like to share, please feel free to let me know! Thx J]

JMA owner Thomas Schoeman will stay
on board as company president.
Schoeman hopes the acquisition will
help double the size of JMA within five years.

Michael Baker Corporation announced on Friday, May 7, 2011 that an affiliate of the Corporation has acquired JMA Architects, Inc., d/b/a JMA Architecture Studios (JMA), a 40-person architectural and interior design firm based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The addition of JMA, with its particular expertise in the design of healthcare, hospitality, education and commercial facilities, significantly broadens the spectrum of architectural services offered by Baker and allows both firms to expand geographically and strengthen their combined ability to provide an elevated level of design services worldwide.

“One of our growth objectives has been to expand our architectural practice into the healthcare and education sectors,” says Brad Mallory, Michael Baker Corp. president and CEO, in a statement. “The addition of JMA is a significant step forward in that pursuit.”

JMA’s self-designed headquarters

Design Approach: The design approach

for the Architect's Office evolved from a simple premise

that all of the firm's support functions shall surround and

nurture the processes housed within the Large

Volume that would become the “Studio.”

Eight State Region

Founded in 1945

Design Team: Architect: JMA Architecture Studios

Design Team: Thomas J. Schoeman, AIA; Ed Vance, AIA

Interior Designer: JMA Architecture Studios – Jonelle Vance, NCIDQ

Landscape Architect: JW Zunino & Associates

Structural Engineer: Martin & Peltyn, Inc.
Electrical Engineer: Harris Consulting Engineers

Mechanical Engineer: Harris Consulting Engineers

Civil Engineer: GC Wallace

Owner/Developer: JMA Crossing, LLC

General Contractor: Martin Harris Construction

Photographer: In Site Photography – Peter Malinowski; Ed Vance, AIA; Kastytis Cechavicius

A/I Firm

Architecttural Record 2009 Architectural Record 2009 ENR 2009 LVHCA 2008 • NAIOP 2007 • AIA WMR 2004

•

“Architecture Firm of the Year”

“Las Vegas Firm of the Year”

The company specializes in both
private and public work in four market sectors:
health care, commercial, public works and hospitality.

JMA's current projects include the $146.2-million,

308,990-sq-ft Las Vegas City Hall, under
construction now in downtown.

And JMA just bagged... The new $364.9-million dollar contract mentioned in the march issue of ENRSouthwest magazine. The new hospital is the VA’s largest contract ever awarded.

VA Builds New Medical Complex in Southern Nevada

Image: RTKL/JMA

As its first new hospital in over 20 years,

the VA is pulling out all the stops with a nearly

1-million-sq-ft building in North Las Vegas.

Photo: Clark/Hunt JV

The seven-story hospital will be skinned with blast-proof laminated glass and Trespa-brand smooth finish insulated metal panels. The ground-level will be skirted with a resilient concrete masonry block.

The U.S. Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs is betting big on Southern Nevada.
The federal agency in charge of soldiers’ health is building its first new hospital in more than 20 years. The 1-million-sq-ft building is going up at 6900 N. Pecos Road in North Las Vegas.
“We look forward to a future of greatly expanded medical care that will meet the needs of Nevada veterans, not just for today, but for generations to come, especially in southern Nevada where we have one of the fastest-growing veteran populations in the country,” VA Secretary Jim Nicholson says in a statement.
The joint-venture team of Bethesda, Md.-based Clark Construction Group and Hunt Construction Group, Scottsdale, Ariz., won the $364.9-million construction contract in September 2008. It’s the largest VA contract ever awarded. About 900 workers from 70 companies will be onsite during the peak of construction activity. Clark is the lead partner under a 55/45 partnership. Baltimore-based RTKL Associates Inc. and JMA, Las Vegas, are the joint-venture architects.
“The VA has built very few new medical campuses over the last 20 to 30 years,” says Scott Rawlings, vice president of RTKL’s health care design group. “They have primarily expanded and upgraded existing facilities and weren’t set up for building new from ground up.”
Building plans took shape after several stakeholder meetings and planning sessions. The seven-story hospital is skinned with blast-proof laminated glass and Trespa-brand smooth-finish metal panels. The ground-level is skirted with a resilient concrete masonry block.

A quick look at JMA's Portfolio.

“2008 Revenues of RECORD’S

Top 250 Firms”

JMA Organization Structure

Design Approach: The design approach for the Architect's

Office evolved from a simple premise that all of the firm's support

functions shall surround and nurture the processes housed within

the Large Volume that would become the “Studio.”

Narrative/Project Description:
The building is steel and metal stud framed with an EIFS exterior finish. The use of technological materials (i.e. metal panels, and mullionless glazing) and indigenous materials (i.e. stone) and colors blend the highly technical mature of the owner’s medical imaging business with the surrounding desert environment.
Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging is an innovative and expanding medical imaging company. As the building owner, they decided to combine their administrative functions into this one location. By doing this they are freeing up space in their other facilities to add additional imaging functions. The remaining space in the building’s first floor is for medical related tenants. This type of space is needed in the medical corridor this building is located within.
The building owner is very design oriented. We were requested to go beyond the typical medical office and create a building that represents the type of technical advances that the medical industry is making today. The “MRI slice” that is made through the building is one detail that signifies this. The detailing that highlights the infusion of materials and forms was of great importance.
A decision to change contractors was made between design and the start of construction. This change brought with it necessary construction budget revisions that required revising certain exterior materials and landscape designs. The final building represents the result of the design team and contractor’s resolve to provide the owner with a building that met his expectations for design and construction quality.

Sustainability Description:
The landscape design included low water usage plants which are native to the arid climate of the southwest. The use of these plants will reduce the water consumption by over 50%. As it matures this desert landscaping will enhance the desert color palette of the building.
The building placement on the site required orienting the building so that its mullionless window wall (MRI slice) was north facing. This allows for views to the mountains and the natural daylighting to extend into the building’s open office space reducing the need for continuous fluorescent lighting. The perimeter windows incorporate an integral solar shading device to control direct sunlight into the building.

Shot of City of Las Vegas Public Studio.

Project Name: Miley Achievement Center
Building Type: Educational
Completion Date: March 2006
Architect: JMA Architecture Studios
Building Location: 245 N. Pecos Rd. Las Vegas, NV 89101

Project Name: Centennial Hills Library
Building Type: Public Library
Completion Date: January 2008 (opening)
Architect: JMA Architecture Studios
Building Location: 6711 N. Buffalo Dr. Las Vegas, NV

Project Name: World Market Center, Bldg A,B,C
Building Type: Commerical
Completion Date: Bldg A July 2005 Bldg B January 2007 Bldg C July 2008
Architect: JMA Architecture Studios
Building Location: 495 S. Grand Central Pkwy., Las Vegas, NV 89106

Project Name: Vegas PBS/CCSD Technology Campus
Building Type: Broadcasting/Educational Facility
Completion Date: November 2008
Building Location: Las Vegas, NV
Type of Construction: Steel, metal framing
Materials Used: Steel, Low-e glazing, metal paneling, E.F.l.S
Building Area: 108,056 sf

Statement of Design Approach:This project serves both as a broadcasting station for Vegas PBS and a Virtual High School for Clark County School District. The prime objective of the project was to construct an integrated facility providing seamless interaction between both institutions and allowing the electronic distribution of educational tools. The second objective of the project was to build a sustainable building which will serve as a model for green broadcasting stations and as a national PBS business model for public/private partnerships. The third objective was to build a facility to serve as a homeland security and emergency response center.

The two programs combined into a single high-tech facility that can share electronics while maintaining their own missions led to a design with two single wings and a central core. The use of technology and LEED requirements blended into the design to create a 21 51 century facility.

Sustainable Description:
The campus is targeting Gold LEEOTM Certification. Two hundred and two geothermal wells were installed below ground to keep the water temperatures going in and out of the cooling lowers al a 55 degree ambienllemperature. The electrical control systems have been designed to minimize power consumption and mechanical equipment has been designed with intricate controls and the highest efficiency ratings. Sloped rooftop for water to be captured during rainstorms and stored for later use as "gray water". Outside lighting is being transmitted into the building using SolaTube skylights throughout the roof. The 180 KWOC photovoltaic system installed on the roof will produce 17.5% of energy demand. Additional features ensure that the Campus will have an average energy savings 35 percent below current Clark County building codes.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Fire!!

Happy Friday folks~!

The past few days has been HOT HOT HOT!!! Luckily we had rain yesterday evening to give us a pretty good start today :)

....which brings me to today's building. The Fire Station #12 in College Park, MD.
(Thank you Tom Williams for today's blog!)

Located inside the DC Beltway about a half mile north of the main entrance to the University of Maryland, College Park campus, on U.S. Route 1.

Let me first tell you that I like this building. With all the bad civic architecture out there (like Bowie’s brand new City Hall), I happen to think this one is rather nice.

The building’s parti is simple: T-shaped in plan, the offices, training rooms, breakrooms are all located in the top of the “tee” (shown in the first photo below). The truck storage bays with dorms above are located in the leg of the “tee”.

A few things that I don’t think work so well:

· -The hallways are too narrow.

· -The building is shoe-horned onto a really tight site – it would have been better served if more land could have been acquired.

- Regrettably, the chimney bookends are fake, but they are a purposeful design element that recalls the architecture of the buildings on the university campus located directly across the street.

But despite its very few flaws, here are some things that do work well:

· - The building has a commanding handsome presence, appropriate for the function it serves.

· - The building is appropriately scaled – both in context with its surroundings (mostly residential and low, one and two-story commercial) and the fact that it is a civic building.

· - The building’s entrances are clearly articulated – one entrance is clearly visible in the first image below.

· - The building’s site design separates pedestrian and vehicular traffic patterns.

· - The balconies and outdoor patio areas are “nice-to-have” features which allow building occupants to bring in the outdoors once in awhile, or perhaps step outside for a breath of fresh air.

· - Palette: The color palette is rather restrained, but the building materials have been selected for their long-lasting, low maintenance, abuse-resistant characteristics – brick with precast concrete shapes, standing seam metal roof, and porcelain ceramic tile.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Egg on the sidewalk

Happy Friday folks!

Today I'd like to share with you the "Egg House" by a young Chinese architect.

[Thank you Gretchen for the recommendation!]

"A young architect in Beijing can't afford housing in his own city, so he designed an egg-shaped pod to sleep in on the street." 

The egg-house's specifications are, of course, spartan at best: two  meters high at its tallest point, built on a bamboo frame, insulated  with wood chips, and an exterior made of what looks like cut-up sleeping  bags. But what the pod lacks in good looks, it makes up for with hardy  sustainable design: grass seeds planted in the cladding will sprout into  a green covering over the whole structure, and a solar panel provides  power for a lamp and handful of electrical necessities inside.  --John Pavlus

Go here to read the full article: http://www.fastcodesign.com/1662870/sign-of-the-times-chinese-creates-egg-house-to-live-rent-free  

Friday, May 27, 2011

New Fort Belvoir (Va.) Community Hospital Project

TGIF!

Today’s Environment of the Week will be the New Fort Belvoir (Va.) Community Hospital Project

Name project: Fort Belvoir (Va.) Community Hospital Project
Managed By: Army Corp of Engineers.

Architects:HDR of Alexandria VA & Dewberry

General contractor:Turner Construction & Gilbane Building Co.

Cost: Beginning of a new $747 million medical treatment facilityTotal Height: 495 Ft.

Floor count:1.2 Million SF. 7 Story builing.

Population: 140 total patient beds

Date of completion: Summer 2010

National Capitol Area active and retired military and their families will be the beneficiaries of a new community hospital being built on Fort Belvoir, Va., just south of Washington, D.C. Groundbreaking for the new state-of-the-art health care facility was held on Nov. 8, 2007, marking the beginning phase of a new era in military health care in the National Capital area and the start of on-ground work on the new $747 million medical treatment facility, part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program.

The hospital’s construction phase, managed by the Corps of Engineers' Norfolk District, is expected to be completed in late summer 2010. The facility will then be turned over to the U.S Army Medical Command to staff and equip for subsequent operation.

Once opened, the hospital will be part of an integrated health care network providing world-class medical services to the nation's wounded soldiers and families. The hospital is one piece of a realignment designed to increase hospital and outpatient care to all service members and veterans under BRAC 2005. Other elements of the health care network include the realignment of Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Naval National Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

State-of-the-art features

The hospital’s conceptual design calls for a 1.2 million square foot, seven-level community hospital, including medical administration areas. The design includes 120 in-patient beds, a 10-bed intensive care unit, a 10-bed behavioral health inpatient unit, a cancer center, an emergency department, a pharmacy, an operative services center with 10 operating rooms, diagnostic centers such as pathology and radiology, and modular clinic space dedicated to outpatient services. Additional space is planned for future outpatient expansion. In addition to the square footage of the facility itself, the project includes two parking garages and surface parking for 2,600 parking spaces, a helipad, ambulance shelter and dedicated central energy plant.

Designs also include logistics and administrative services, food services, a chapel and other amenities. Supporting facilities include utilities (water, sewer, gas, HVAC, steam and electric services), paving, walks, fencing, storm drainage, site improvements, communication and information systems, fire protection and alarm systems, site improvements that include parking spaces, landscaping buffers and additional site amenities and public access space.

An innovative design & construction project

The new community hospital is being designed and constructed through an Integrated/Design/Bid/Build (IDBB) procurement. This is an innovative process that uses coordination between the hospital design firm and the actual construction contractor to increase constructability, and provide accurate cost/schedule impacts of design decisions and resulting in fewer design omissions and errors. The process enabled the Corps of Engineers to establish a construction contract on the hospital long before traditional processes would have allowed, meeting the accelerated construction timelines dictated by BRAC.

http://www.nao.usace.army.mil/projects/military%20projects/fort%20belvoir/homepage.asp

More info at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/19/AR2007111901674.html

Friday, May 20, 2011

One Rincon Hill

TGIF!

Today’s Environment of the Week will be One Rincon Hill, San Francisco,

Name project: One Rincon Hill

Architects:Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and Associates

Consultants: Urban West Associates

General contractor: Bovis Lend Lease

Cost: $300 Million

Total Height: 495 Ft.

Floor count: 106 Total between two towers.

Date of completion: 2009

One Rincon Hill is a residential complex on the apex of Ricon Hill in San Francisco, California.

Click on link below to see their site.

http://www.onerinconhill.com/

The complex consists of two buildings joined together at the base by a row of townhomes. The South Tower and North Tower rise 641 ft (195 m) and 495 ft (151 m) above the corner of Fremont and Harrison streets, respectively.^[A]^[B] The North Tower contains 45 floors, while the South Tower contains 60.^[A]^[B]^[10] However, because of the sloped nature of the Rincon Hill site, the South Tower's lobby floor or the First Street entrance is located on the sixth floor, and the first floor is five levels underground from the First Street entrance.^[18] The skyscraper is one of the most significant additions to the San Francisco skyline in over 30 years.^[3]^[19] It is also one of the tallest all-residential towers west of the Mississippi River, towering 697 feet (212 m) above San Francisco Bay.^[12]^[20]^[21]

One Rincon Hill South Tower towering over the San Francisco Bay

Both the north tower and the south tower of the Rincon Hill complex bear a resemblance to The Heritage at Millennium Park in Chicago, a building of a similar height to the south tower designed also by Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and Associates.^[22] The architectural style for both buildings of the Rincon Hill complex are late-modernist.^[3]^[10] As for the South Tower, the three sides of the building facing southeast, northeast, and northwest consists of a linear glass curtainwall.^[3]^[19] The side that faces southwest is curved and cladd in white aluminum panels and glass in a pattern resembling Sharper Image's Ionic Breeze, leading to the nickname "Ionic Breeze Tower".^[23] The North Tower has a similar design, except it is shorter and the curved aluminum and glass side faces northeast.^[10]^[19] Both skyscrapers of the Rincon Hill project contain an oval-shaped crown housing mechanical equipment.^[9]^[19]^[24]

The crown of the South Tower contains a band of 25 LED floodlights that remain lit all night. Each LED light consumes little energy and has a lifetime of 40,000 hours. These lights are used to signal the weather, just like the lights on the John Hancock Tower in Boston. The crown glows red if warmer weather is in the forecast. A blue crown signifies that cold weather is expected soon. Green means that there is at least a 50 percent chance of rain. Amber indicates that the weather will remain unchanged. This is the San Francisco Bay Area's first weather beacon. The crown began lighting up on December 8, 2008.^[25]

Earthquake engineering

In order to support the 60 story condo tower, One Rincon Hill South Tower will have a 12 foot (4 m) thick massive foundation embedded deep into serpentine rock. Although some engineers view serpentine rock with suspicion, there are massive structures, such as the Golden Gate Bridge, that have foundations on rock that is largely serpentine.^[26] Rising out of the foundation are the concrete core and large, tall columns of steel-reinforced concrete called outriggers. The core is attached to large outrigger columns by steel-buckling restrained braces that are designed to transfer building loads in an earthquake. These V-shaped restraining braces are said to act like a shock-absorber during earthquakes. The braces are also encased in a concrete and steel casing in order to prevent the braces from buckling and losing their strength. Many of these engineering technologies used in One Rincon Hill South Tower are new to the United States.^[26]^[27]

Water tanks

At the top of the building is a large tank, capable of holding up to 50,000 gallons (189,250 litres) of water, which will weigh 416,500 pounds (185,440 kg).^[21]^[27] A similar 50,000 gallon (189,250 liter) tank is located in the basement for firefighting purposes.^[21] There are two liquid damper screens in each tank to control the flow of the water in order to counter the sway from the powerful Pacific winds, which can sometimes reach hurricane-force.^[26]

Interested in reading more? Go here for the continuation of the article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Rincon_Hill

http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-12-29/bay-area/17272948_1_wind-east-bay-water-tank

Friday, May 13, 2011

Nest by UID Architects

(Unfortunately, the blog was down this morning and I wasn’t able to get in…)

For today’s Your Environment of the Week (Y.E.O.W), we will take a look at the NEST by UID Architects. [PIC HEAVY!]

TGIF!

Today’s Environment of the Week will be Nest by UID Architects Onomichi-city, Hiroshima, apan.Thank you Hannah for today’s YEOW suggestion!
[If anyone else has any YEOW’s they’d like to share, please feel free to let me know! Thx J]

Project description
Name project: Nest
Architects: UID architects – Keisuke Maeda and Toru Shigehiro
Consultants: Konishi
Structural Engineers: Yasutaka Konishi, Takeshi Kaneko
Structural: K-style – Kouso Katayama
Mechanical: Toshiya Ogino
Environment Design Office: Toshiya Ogino
Masaru Kitamura, landscape
General contractor: Home Co., Ltd.－Masafumi Ichikawa and Akihiro Hosoya

Structural system: reinforced concrete, timber
Used materials: cedar, exterior; concrete, structural plywood, interior
Site area: 362.00㎡
Built area:81.22㎡
Total floor area : 121.45㎡
Date of completion: November, 2010

Japanese studio UID Architects have completed this timber house

at the foot of a mountain in Japan that has wide openings

in the walls and roof, as well as between the ground and first floors.

The entrance to Nest is located on the ground floor

and visitors pass through a planted garden that can grow

up through the full height of the house.

This time we sought a single space that comprehends

the surroundings and the house by rethinking elements

such as floors and walls that make up architecture.

Specifically, in the ground layer some spaces are connected

to each other by a tunnel that becomes a concrete anthill

nest attached with a small entrance on the ground.

Above the ground a floating wooden nest box composed

of things like branches and fallen leaves cover the nest on

the ground’s surface. Although non-sequence composition

of the floors and the walls make the architectural elements

look separated, they will become essentials that link

architecture and the surrounding in succession, when viewing

the environment on the whole.

The house will offer spaces that is similar to the forest’s

comfortable sunshine and shade,

which reside with natural climate. The house will be a nest in a

forest that its territory will not be regulated.

Nest by UID Architects
Onomichi-city, Hiroshima, Japan

This is a small house planned in a forest surrounded by rich nature. The site is located in the foot of a mountain with scarce neighbouring houses in Onomichi City. The family is consisted of two daughters, their mother and their loving cat.

Since there are only three women, we thought it would be appropriate to gently connect a boundary of the place’s environment and architecture, allowing close distance between the family members. It is to seize the environment as non-dividable, similar to creatures that generate their nest under elements that cover forest’s ground. It is like a principle that expands from a nest in a forest, to a forest , then to the earth, and ultimately to the universe.

http://www.dezeen.com/2011/05/13/nest-by-uid-architects/

Friday, May 6, 2011

Chapel of St. Mary of the Angels

Happy Friday!

Today’s Environment of the Week will be the Chapel of St. Mary of the Angels, Monte Tamaro, Ticino, by Mario Botta. Thank you Mark Vanderlyn for today’s YEOW suggestion!

[If anyone else has any YEOW’s they’d like to share, please feel free to let me know! Thx J]

Chapel of St. Mary of the Angels, Monte Tamaro, Ticino 1990 -1996
Project: 1990-1992
Realization: 1992-1996
Location: Alpe Foppa, Monte Tamaro (Rivera), Ticino, Switzerland
Commissioned by: Egidio Cattaneo
Surface area: chapel 184 m²,
Exterior walkway: 150 m²

The chapel, commissioned by Egidio Cattaneo in memory of his wife, was built from 1990-1996, with the design being based on a project by architect Mario Botta, on the Monte Tamaro, or more precisely, the Foppa Alp (1567m). It can be accessed via a 60-metre long footbridge, at the end of which is a lookout terrace with a view of the surrounding mountains. A sense of the sublimity of the mountains inspired the building of the chapel of Santa Maria degli Angeli on Monte Tamaro, high over the Ticino lakes. In this striking location, Mario Botta has created an overall work of art that must be reckoned as one of the most successful examples of contemporary church architecture. Botta says a great deal with minimal means. His work is characterised by beautiful design, perfect execution, sustainability and permanence. Ticino architect Botta designs buildings all over the world and also contributes to the training of young architects in Switzerland at the Accademia di architettura in Mendrisio.