Buildings Sector, Fall 2023: Openings, Awards, and On the Boards

What's new in the Buildings Sector? Domino Sugar Refinery was reborn, unique affordable housing came to Los Angeles, a design team was selected to redesign Fifth Avenue, and more. Read about all our recent project updates below:

Newly opened

Old beams meet a new metal staircase in a historic New Jersey farmhouse (Dwell, 12/6/23) – Both the original portion of this house and its gambrel roof addition were originally constructed in the 1700s.

New affordable housing makes use of triangular site in South Los Angeles (Fast Company, 11/27/23) – Located on a government-owned site near one of California’s busiest freeway interchanges, Isla Intersections employs modular shipping containers that are stacked into towers and connected by a central steel walkway.

Renovated East Flatbush Library features a pleated aluminum facade (Architect's Newspaper, 11/3/23) – The renovation of this single-story building also created a skylit central patron area. The project's main structural design feature is the framing supporting the skylights, which required making large penetrations through the existing roof.

Roy Lichtenstein’s former studio now houses program for Whitney Museum (Architect's Newspaper, 11/2/23) – A two-story building on the same West Village block as the Westbeth Artist Housing complex has been transformed with the help of a sensitive third-floor addition.

Revamped Brooklyn rowhouse nods to the English garden (Wallpaper, 11/1/23) – This project renovated a typical wood-framed rowhouse in Greenpoint to create large open plan living spaces and a leafy garden.

Schools in Virginia and Washington, D.C., blaze a trail for net zero energy (USGBC, 10/24/23) – The third school in the Arlington Public Schools net zero energy portfolio is Cardinal Elementary School, which is also LEED Gold certified.

Virginia's General Assembly gets new offices befitting Jefferson’s Capitol (Washington Post, 10/10/23) – The new $292 million General Assembly Building, which incorporates a century-old facade from a previous building, has opened on Richmond's Capitol Square.

Artist Delcy Morelos brings colossal soil installation to Dia Art Foundation (New York Times, 10/5/23) – The structure, which is made of soil mixed with other materials, appears to float slightly off the ground.

Manhattan's first beach opens at Gansevoort Peninsula Park (Curbed, 10/2/23) – In addition to the beach, the new 5.5-acre park features kayak slips, an ecological salt marsh, and a large athletic field.

Architecture Review: Domino Sugar Refinery (Curbed, 9/27/23) – The adaptive reuse of the Domino Sugar Refinery entailed replacing the interior structure while retaining the exterior brick shell.

Awards

AIA Chicago Design Awards: Blue Bottle Coffee (Interior Architecture, Medium, Honor Award Winner)

AIA Virginia Awards: Church Hill North, Nebo House

Architect's Newspaper Best of Design Awards: Princeton University Residential Colleges, Brooklyn Mass Timber House, Jackie Robinson Museum (honorable mention), Trinity Church Wall Street (honorable mention)

DC Preservation League, Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation: Rubell Museum DC at the Randall School (video link)

Dezeen Awards: Phoenix Mycelium Sculpture (Longlist)

Engineering News-Record (ENR) New England Best Projects: Huntington Theatre

Engineering News-Record (ENR) New York Best Projects: Perelman Performing Arts Center

MASterworks Awards: Powerhouse Arts (Winner for Best New Urban Amenity)

On the boards

Yale University breaks ground on nation's largest Living Building student housing complex (Building Design + Construction, 12/8/23) – The Living Village will be a 45,000 sf home for Divinity School graduate students. The superstructure will be a combination of mass timber and dimensional lumber.

Project team selected for revamp of multiple spaces at the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art (Architectural Record, 11/28/23) – The project will design a new special exhibition gallery and reimagine the Museum’s dining and retail spaces. The current Met Store will be converted into a new 11,500 sf gallery.

Design team selected for pedestrian friendly Fifth Avenue redesign (Architect's Newspaper, 10/18/23) – This long-term project that would boost foot traffic in Midtown Manhattan. Other design team members include colleagues at Sam Schwartz and Introba.

Image credit: Max Touhey.