Submergia, a conceptual design for a city of the future developed by Shepley Bulfinch’s Tad Jusczyk , has been recognized in the 3rd Advanced Architecture Contest: The Self-Sufficient City, held in Barcelona earlier this year. The international competition, which attracted more than 700 entries from around the world, was sponsored by the Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) and Hewlett-Packard.

Submergia creates a new typology for suburban housing with a series of floating cities, each designed to accommodate 8,000 people. Tad, working with partner Andrew Wit, envisioned the new cities for sites south of San Francisco, where existing communities face the risk of submersion due to rising sea levels over the next half-century. The floating cities provide the amenities of urban life, including parks, schools, commercial centers, and housing. As seen in the section at right, only twenty feet of the ¼-mile long structure are ...[more]

Campbell University and the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law were honored by the Downtown Raleigh Alliance (DRA) as a recipient of the Alliance’s 2010 Imprint Award at a ceremony on February 25. Campbell treasurer Jim Roberts and law school dean Melissa Essary accepted the award on behalf of the university. Shepley Bulfinch, the project’s design architect, and associate architect Small Kane were also recognized during the presentation, together with the general contractor and project engineers.

The Imprint Award recognizes new construction and renovation projects completed in the previous year that significantly contribute to the identity of downtown Raleigh. Campbell was honored for its $32 million investment in locating the Wiggins School of Law in downtown Raleigh. The 110,000 s.f. law school also houses the Raleigh division of the North Carolina Business Court.

Construction continues on the new public library in Show Low, Arizona, with an anticipated opening this summer.

Designed by Merzproject of Phoenix, now a studio of Shepley Bulfinch, the library uses masonry and laminated timber construction that reflects the wood barn tradition of the region’s White Mountains. The design reflects an environmentally conscious approach to the project. A 150-foot long clerestory window brings daylight deep into the main hall, while other sustainable features include the use low-VOC and recycled-content finishes, high-efficiency plumbing and mechanical equipment, and regional materials, such as Arizona stone.

The new library is one of a series of transformative projects that Merzproject is completing for Show Low that give the city a pedestrian accessible and environmentally friendly downtown. Its entrance is aligned in direct axis with that of the City Hall across the street, creating a civic portal. The City Hall ...[more]

The University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, has given the green light for construction of the 210,000 s.f. Anderson Student Center, with plans to complete the project by the end of 2011.

The center will draw students crossing from the Quad into a lively three-story atrium filled with light and activity (image, right). Jane Canney, the University’s vice president of student affairs, said, “The student center will be our living room… the real heart of the campus.”�

A hub of campus activity, the center will feature a variety of dining facilities, including a 590-seat dining hall; recreational facilities; stores; meeting rooms and offices; a major multi-purpose room; and a small gallery, linked together with a unifying circular stair in the atrium. A variety of small, informal lounge spaces will enliven the space further.

Anderson Student Center, which has been a priority of the University’s ...[more]

Boston Public Library’s new new torchieres for the iconic John Singer Sargent Gallery are celebrated in a feature in the January/February 2010 issue of Architectural Lighting magazine. As Joe Bille, the project’s interior designer, notes in the article, “Conceptually, Shepley’s design goal was to create a fixture that was not so much ‘in’ the space as ‘of’ the space … We used the Sargent murals themselves as a guide and source of inspiration.”  The firm worked with Lam Partners of Cambridge on the lighting installation.

The gallery lighting is the last part of a 20-year renovation project for Boston Public Library, winning Shepley the 2001 Harleston Parker Award for Boston’s “most beautiful piece of architecture.”

Architectural Lighting magazine article, In a New Light

Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven Hospital has been named a winner in the Connecticut Green Business Awards. The cancer hospital, which began seeing its first patients late last year, took top honors in the “New Construction” category.

Smilow Cancer Hospital is one of 25 businesses, organizations, and individuals recognized with Green Business Awards, which were announced in a feature in the January issue of the Connecticut Business News Journal. Smilow was recognized for the highly sustainable design and construction of the 516,500 s.f. project, which is targeting a minimum of LEED certification.

The Green Business Awards will be presented in a ceremony in New Haven on February 24.

Smilow Green Business Award – article

Shepley Bulfinch has moved up ten places to rank 39th among the nation’s leading interior design firms, according to Interior Design magazine in its “100 Giants” annual survey, published this month. The survey is based on 2009 interior design fees for major interior design firms from around the US.

In a break-out by key sectors, Shepley also ranks 6th among education design firms. The firm’s 2009 university clients include Duke, Johns Hopkins, George Mason, Atlanta University Center, Illinois Wesleyan, and  the University of New Mexico. In 2009 the firm also completed projects for secondary school clients, including The Lovett School and Ashley Hall School.

Shepley Bulfinch was also ranked 10th nationally in the magazine’s Top 40 Healthcare Design Giants, which was published in November.

Merzproject, a studio of Shepley Bulfinch, was named a winner of Interior Design Magazine’s Best of 2009 in December.

...[more]

CINCINNATI, OH – As an article in the current issue of the Business Courier of Cincinnati notes, the building now under construction for Williams College of Business at Xavier will transform the school’s learning environment, but it won’t stop there. As part of the new Hoff Academic Quad (with Conaton Learning Commons), the project will provide the public face of Xavier, its towers flanking the newly defined entrance.

The school itself will immerse students in a business-rich environment that brings together not only students and faculty, but also Cincinnati’s business community, called the school’s “third stakeholder,” by Dean Ali Malekzadeh. Facilities include executive-in-residence suites and space for the school’s executive mentoring program.

The business school and learning commons are scheduled for completion in time for the 2010-11 academic year.

Cincinnati Business Courier article