Why do buildings last? How do we design flexible spaces that can change and adapt? 

A team from Shepley took on this question as part of the Open Building conference at Build Boston last month. The conference tasked three firms – Shepley, Payette, and Cannon – to propose a building that would evolve over time to house multiple uses on a large scale site in Somerville. We took the long historical view and, after a week of exhaustive debate, found that architectural systems which are designed to change rarely work or ...[more]

A “topping out” ceremony on September 9 marked the symbolic installation of the last piece of structural steel for the Health and Biomedical Sciences Center at the University of Houston, which will feature the College of Optometry’s Vision Institute. In keeping with tradition, a small tree and a flag were attached to the steel beam, which bears the signatures of those involved in the project from the university and the design and construction team. Dr Earl Smith, dean of the UH College of Optometry spoke at ...[more]

Catching the sun as it plays across the building’s surface, the undulating façade system for the University of Houston’s Health and Biomedical Sciences Center is an innovative design solution that responds to challenges in topography and program.

The risk of flooding on the low-lying site disallowed a basement, shifting all mechanical space to the top of the building. Likewise, the building program’s secure research spaces – typically located below grade – are also at the top level. Since both the mechanicals and research program require windowless spaces, the upper half of the building façade has few openings.

Recognizing the potentially overwhelming proportion of a solid façade, the design team used reflection ...[more]

An interesting article from yesterday’s NY Times discusses a new exhibit/critique of preservation by Koolhaas in NY. Nicolai Ouroussoff writes that in the exhibition Mr. Koolhaas “paints a picture of an army of well-meaning but clueless preservationists who, in their zeal to protect the world’s architectural legacies, end up debasing them by creating tasteful scenery for docile consumers while airbrushing out the most difficult chapters of history. The result is a new form of historical amnesia, one that, perversely, only further alienates us from the past.” I would argue this is a fair criticism of styled big-box architecture and other developer driven “luxury” destinations including hotels and shopping malls…

But what ...[more]

With hard hats on and shovels in hand, students, faculty, alumni, and donors broke ground on Hamline University’s new University Center today at the site for the new building, on the southwest edge of Hamline’s campus in St. Paul, Minnesota.  University President Linda Hanson announced that the building would be named the Carol Young Anderson and Dennis Anderson University Center, in honor of the project’s lead donors.

The three-level glass and terra cotta building will include large and small meeting spaces, computer bars, dining facilities, a coffee shop, a Spirit ...[more]

I recently read this article and thought we should have a clear position on the developing debate in the planning sphere.  Are we New Urbanists?  Are we Landscape Urbanists?  How do we define our attitude toward development and landscape as a firm?  How do campuses relate to these issues?

Boston Globe article: A fight grows in urban planning

Let the debate begin…..

- Luke Voiland

With construction projects in Boston on hold for the near term, what can we do with all the vacant development sites? New England Cable News asked Luke Voiland and Tad Jusczyk for their ideas in this story.

A Shepley Bulfinch design team has won a prestigious 2009 Unbuilt Architecture Design Award from the Boston Society of Architects.

ecoFLEX, the winning project, was one of ten winning entries chosen from more than 90 submissions in the BSA’s Unbuilt Architecture Design Awards program, which is open to architects from around the world. It was designed for the Tall Emblem Structure competition in Dubai earlier this year.

The Shepley Bulfinch design team of Angela Watson, Luke Voiland, Lauren Deck, and Allan Donnelly, joined by Paul Kassabian of Simpson Gumpertz and Heger, will be honored in November at the BSA Jurors’ Forum during the Build Boston, where the winning boards will be displayed.

The ...[more]