Category

Green Design

Crosstown Concourse Wins Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Award

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by Deane

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has announced that Crosstown Concourse, a mixed-use redevelopment of a former Sears Roebuck distribution center, won a 2018 Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Award. This award comes the same week that the building’s original occupant, Sears, filed for bankruptcy.

It’s been a tumultuous ride for Sears, with the closure of distribution centers decades ago portending the former titan of retail’s eventual collapse. With the rise of online retailers has come the steady decline of brick-and-mortar shops, even the big box stores that once anchored suburban shopping centers. Where new business models rely more on carrier infrastructure and customer reviews than on physical showrooms, legacy businesses have struggled to keep pace and maintain relevance. If there’s a silver lining to the emptying out of all of this retail square footage, it’s in projects such as Crosstown Concourse, which successfully repurposes a 1.3 million-square-foot structure, transforming it into a one-stop-neighborhood filled with young disruptors of the type much more likely to purchase with one click than mail-order anything. As I wrote for Architectural Record back in February, the Crosstown Concourse redevelopment offers a potential template for oversized buildings that have remained standing long after the businesses that occupied them evaporated:

“As cities grapple with the respective futures of their industrial pasts, they would do well to look at Crosstown Concourse. For this development, the vision was strong and swayed a diverse group of prospective tenants to get on board. From an environmental standpoint, the transformation of the Sears building into a successful venture like Crosstown Concourse turned a white elephant into green one.”

The Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Award jury included Mtamanika Youngblood, an Atlanta preservationist, Jeffrey Cody, a Getty Conservation Institute historian, and architecture critic Paul Goldberger.

Three big warm-weather home renovations to consider

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by Deane

Home improvement projects often ramp up in the warmer months, and for good reason. With longer days and fewer chances of inclement weather, summer is the perfect season for renovations, from replacing windows to installing shading devices and optimizing your home’s energy efficiency. Get started with these three options, which can raise the value of your home while also cutting cooling costs.

Shading devices: As much as you might appreciate views from expansive walls of glass, you might also notice during long summer days that your house is too bright and too hot from solar gain. Consider the addition of exterior shading devices; your architect can select the right shading device for you, based on your home’s specific geography, to take advantage of seasonally varying sun angles. For some regions, the approach might be over-window shading devices that block high-angle summer sunlight while still admitting low-angle winter sun. In other regions, perforated shutters that block midday sun but can be opened to take advantage of softer evening tones might be the better option.

Cutler Anderson Architects used the latter approach for a Pennsylvania Farmhouse, a recipient of AIA’s 2017 Housing Awards. Barn doors might seem like an obvious choice for a farmhouse, but those installed at the Pennsylvania Farmhouse serve as shutters for the south-facing, double-height windows, providing nighttime privacy for the occupants and reducing daytime solar gain. When the sliding shutters are closed, slits allow ample daylight to reach the interior but temperature reductions are in the range of 20 degrees Fahrenheit, according to anecdotal evidence provided by the contractor.

Thermal transfer: If you noticed any draftiness during the winter, you’d be wise to consult with an architect about thermography, which is infrared scanning of your home. This process will discover areas of thermal transfer, i.e., the places where your house is leaking air. The most common areas of thermal transfer are apertures such as windows and doors, but it’s also crucial to check the exterior cladding of your house to ensure that there aren’t leaks that may otherwise evade easy detection. The more thermal transfer your house has, the more energy you’ll consume in attempting to cool it in the summer months and heat it in the winter months; imagine a freezer door left ajar. Measuring your house’s baseline energy consumption and thermal transfer is key to potentially reducing long-term energy costs.

Insulation: If you’re reluctant to change your home’s outward appearance, another method of increasing energy efficiency—and long-term cost savings—is through additional insulation. Many people think of attics when they think of insulation, but it’s important to remember that walls and floors can also benefit from extra insulation to prevent heating and cooling loss. Increasing the amount of insulation doesn’t necessarily mean tearing down your walls or ripping up hardwood floors; expanding foam and loose-fill insulation can be added through minimally invasive methods.

 

Read the full story and see images at Topic Architecture. 

Textile-Covered Soft House Opens in Hamburg

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by Architect Magazine: Articles by Deane Madsen, Assoc. AIA

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Double LEED Platinum for GSK’s New Headquarters

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by Architect Magazine: Articles by Deane Madsen, Assoc. AIA

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