Archive for the ‘Construction Jobs’ Category
The looming stimulus bill stands ready to pump billions of dollars into construction projects across the nation, posing both opportunities and challenges to architects and builders. In this video, president and CEO of Design + Construction Strategies, Barbara Heller, gives her take on President Obama’s choice to have a chief performance officer, the breadth of the stimulus, technology to make the government more efficient and the lessons she’s learned working on projects involving the Pentagon and Reagan National Airport. Also learn how green building guidelines such as LEED may be good at certifying aspirations, but lacking when it comes to measuring the benefits realized.
Heller’s firm specializes in using technology to improve efficiency in the construction industry. She was interviewed on E&ETV’s OnPoint.
Not too long ago, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, along with architect Santiago Calatrava, released revised designs and timetables for the World Trade Center’s transportation hub. Though you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at the renderings, this futuristic memorial of glass and steel is actually a scaled back version of the original! It replaces an even more striking structure that was envisioned with almost no support beams and reams of skylights.
The reason for the design change? $$. The earlier structure called for massive amounts of steel, and cost projects went through the roof. As sad as that may make some Calatrava fans, the current design is still impressive by any measure. Scheduled for completion in 2012, the structure will be a stunning monument.
Headlines have continued to decry this historic correction in the first quarter of 2009. But despite the foreboding coverage, green building has proved sustainable in more than one sense. Firms and consumers are embracing the trend and proving that the economic downturn will not discourage the practice.
In fact, quite the opposite appears to be happening. According to Turner Construction’s 2008 Green Building Barometer, 75% of commercial real estate executives said that credit market conditions would not stop them from constructing green buildings. Citing reduced energy costs, higher building values and lower overall operating costs, the respondents suggest that the current economic doldrums will not take the wind out of green building’s sail.
Green building is holding up in other ways as well. According to the 2008 Green Survey: Existing Buildings, more than 80% of commercial building owners allocated funds to green initiatives in 2008, and 45% plan to increase their sustainability funding in 2009, despite the economy. These results highlight the proliferation of sustainable efforts and the importance they will play in future building projects.
Additionally, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, passed just a few weeks ago, has already started putting construction workers back to work. With money for home weatherization, green federal facilities, energy efficiency grants and green building job training programs, construction executives have been given even more reasons to pursue green building.
Look for green building to be the hottest trend in construction again this year and shine through otherwise disappointing headlines.
Turner’s 2008 Green Building Barometer was a survey of 754 commercial real estate executives.
The 2008 Green Survey: Existing Buildings was jointly funded by Incisive media’s Real Estate Forum, GlobeSt.com, the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group (…BIG…) recently revealed a spectacular design in a bid to create a Prague landmark. The structure, called Walter Towers, is actually a single building that has been effectively cut, twisted, and stretched to create a stunning visual ‘W’ effect. BIG points out that this maximizes the amount of surface area, creating more attractive apartments.
BIG describes the project: “By uniting the tradition of building towers in clusters, which is seen in the old Prague, with the rational way of organizing tall buildings as we know it from the American skyscraper, it is possible to make a new kind of contemporary tower that unites history, functionality and the need for a new Walter site landmark.”
Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron revealed their latest design earlier this week: 57 stories of apartments that emulate a Jenga game…in mid-play. The cantilevered design will contain 145 two to five bedroom apartments, all with private open space accessible through 12 foot high glass doors.
British artist Anish Kapoor designed the metallic sculpture at the bottom (the thing that looks like a giant drop of mercury). Amenities include a 75 foot infinity edge pool, a library, a daycare, and 14 foot high window walls in your unique apartment that may or may not cause heart attacks for those with weak stomachs. With the “houses stacked in the sky” design, you can be sure there will be some unbelievable views.
Residents of the tower will call 56 Leonard Street home, and for anywhere from $3.5 to $33 million, you can too. Move in is scheduled for fall 2010, which means the Tribeca tower should change the skyline in less than two years. The ticket for the building? $650 million.
All photos Copyright Herzog & de Meuron, Basel, 2008
No one ever said that building the largest freestanding structure on earth would be easy, but when Samsung Engineering and Construction began building the Burj Dubai, they never suspected that it would be their walkie-talkies that would be a problem. According to Samsung’s project manager, Chang Geun Lee, the problems began at about 30 floors. “We started to experience delays or no connection between the thirty-first and the ground floors, particularly in the core of the building,” said Lee. Simply put, the walkie-talkies did not have the range necessary for such a massive structure. For the rest of the story and more pictures,
Miscommunication, or a complete absence of it, is an incredible danger on construction sites, especially when you’re hundreds or thousands of feet off the ground trying to coordinate crane operations with crews on the top floor. To solve the problem, Samsung tried everything from radio amplifiers to coaxial cables with little success. Then they decided to try running the communications through an IP network, the same network that would be used for the tower’s wireless security cameras.
A wireless mesh network proved to be a working solution and was chosen by Samsung. A company called Firetide provided the network, and through it construction workers can use walkie-talkies that utilize VoIP and RoIP features, sending clear signals all the way to the top of the world’s tallest building.
All pictures from burjdubaiskyscraper.com, check it out for more high-definition pictures and building updates.
A 20ha site on the north shore of Tirana Lake is the future home of the “Tirana Rocks”, a unique and eye-catching urban neighborhood designed by the Dutch firm MVRDV. The “rocks” will be large, cantilevered and leaning structures arranged in a ‘naturalesque’ pose and clothed in local stones, giving the entire complex a monolithic feel.
The neighborhood in Albania’s capital will have everything one would expect from a dense urban area: housing, offices, public buildings, retail locations, hotel spaces, sport complexes and parking. In addition, a large green space will be set aside for gardens and recreation. Tirana Lake is a valuable green area for the city, and MVRDV made sure its design would keep it that way. MVRDV plans on planting a park of Jacaranda trees, as well as constructing a promenade along the water.
The classic construction mishap video from youtube:
Over the past few years, we have witnessed a massive outpouring of creative and ambitious building projects in Dubai, effectively positing Dubai as a leader, perhaps the leader, in cutting-edge and sustainable building. In August, Dubai-based designer Timelinks announced plans for a futuristic city that will be nearly self-sufficient in many regards.
Timelinks has managed to combine one of the most enduring ancient designs with groundbreaking technology, appropriately naming the pyramid-shaped project “Ziggurat” (the word for an ancient, pyramid-shaped temple). Ziggurat will be a carbon-neutral city, powered by steam, wind, and solar energy. Strategically placed within the pyramid will be public and private “green spaces” for agriculture. There are even plans for facial recognition technology being used for security purposes. One of the hallmarks of the project would be a proprietary 360 degree transportation system capable of moving people both vertically and horizontally around the enclave.
The Ziggurat’s design calls for it to take up 2.3 square kilometers of land, with room for roughly 1 million residents. And while some forward-looking projects have, in the past, failed to make it past the design stage, it is not only plausible, but maybe even probable, that the Ziggurat will become a reality given Dubai’s recent building record. The design, and the fact that it could become a reality, pose important questions (raised by worldarchitecturenews): “are people [even] willing to live in a mega building of 2.3 sq km?” and ”Will the thought of living in a machine comfort people?”
Timelinks has patented the design and technology necessary for the project, and plans to unveil it at Cityscape Dubai, October 6-9.
