For more than five years, Enquist has led a team at SOM in developing the Great Lakes Century Vision, a 100-year plan to improve water quality within the Great Lakes and adjoining St. Lawrence River. SOM is working on the initiative pro bono with the hope of raising awareness and inciting action to address what … Continued
Seventeen years ago, when Kazakhstan moved its capital here, the city of Astana didn’t even exist. Back then, it was a small town in the middle of the vast steppe called Akmola, which consisted mostly of Soviet-style block buildings, grim remnants of the country’s past. But after years of rapid economic growth fueled by Kazakhstan’s … Continued
When TMG Partners and Rockwood Capital acquired the then-vacant former PacBell building for $24 million in 2010, it was clear the project’s motto would be “go big or go home.” The asbestos-contaminated eyesore in the heart of SoMa at 680 Folsom St. was a building that no one wanted. However, TMG proved that the company … Continued
SOM’s renovation of 680 Folsom in San Francisco has won a Silver Award in Building Design + Construction’s 2014 Reconstruction Awards. Now in its 31st year, the program selected 15 examples of excellence in historic preservation, adaptive reuse, renovations, and additions. The original structure’s sizable floor plates and expansive views in all directions offered a … Continued
After more than a decade of planning and construction, the new One World Trade Center is finally almost complete. And for the last three years, photographer Benjamin Rosamond has been watching the 1,776-foot skyscraper rise from his living room in Brooklyn. Source: Fast Company
The American Institute of Architects’ annual Healthcare Design Awards—bestowed by the organization’s Academy of Architecture for Health—honor professionals who push the boundaries of design to create uplifting spaces that are sensitive to the needs of patients and their families. It’s no easy feat, but it’s one that the minds behind each of these projects achieve … Continued
In March, Interface, working with Nadav Malin of BuildingGreen, invited a group of architects from small and large practices across the U.S. to warm and sunny San Diego. Our task was to explore the question of why green buildings are not usually considered beautiful, and conversely, why the sexiest buildings are often not very sustainable. … Continued
SOM’s interior design for law firm Davies, Ward, Phillips & Vineberg has been shortlisted in the 2014 World Interiors News Awards. Recognized in the category of Workspace Interiors, the firm’s new Toronto office capitalizes on the base building’s loft-like open floors and exposed concrete to create a new, sophisticated space. The design breaks from the … Continued
Denver Union Station was recently recognized with a National Award of Merit by the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA). Given annually, DBIA Merit Awards recognize “exemplary collaboration and integration in design-build project delivery.” Denver Union Station was honored in the Transportation category and is now eligible for further awards, including the National Award of Excellence … Continued
In a world where reinforced concrete and steel-framed buildings dominate in commercial construction, a timber tower may sound like an architectural oddity. But to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), it represents a new type of high-rise that has a 60 to 75 percent smaller embodied carbon footprint than conventional structures. The Timber Tower Research Project, … Continued