The McClay Library at Queen’s University Belfast, in Northern Ireland, has received the 2010 Sustainability Award from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), it was announced today.

The Library, which won the 2010 RICS Northern Ireland award earlier this year, was chosen over category winners from the other RICS geographic regions across the UK for this prestigious national award.

As one of the judges noted in the announcement, “The new Library is proving an invaluable resource for students at Queen’s University, Belfast. The building achieves excellence on two fronts: in terms of providing essential educational support and through ...[more]

One of Northern Ireland’s newest landmark buildings – the McClay Library at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland – was officially opened today by one of the University’s most famous alumni, Nobel prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney.

Speaking at the event, Dr Heaney lauded the new library, saying, calling it “a lightship for scholarship…” He went on to comment on how the library represents the role of technology in transforming how students learn.

Illuminated by a multi-story open atrium, the 196,000 square foot building accommodates 2,000 reader places and 1.2 million volumes. ...[more]

Shepley Bulfinch welcomed Partners In Health co-founder Dr. Paul Farmer (“Mountains Beyond Mountains”) to our Boston office today, where he spoke at the unveiling of plans for a new rehabilitation and training center in Haiti.

We partnered with colleagues from Boston’s healthcare and design communities to deliver this pro bono project, joining with Partners in Health, Partners Healthcare, Spaulding Rehabilitation Network, and the Mass Design Group to address the immediate and long-term demand for rehabilitation services in Haiti.

Carole Wedge welcomed 80 guests to this morning’s event. “We got as much as we gave in this process,” she said, pointing to the design response forged by a tight timetable, limited ...[more]

Worcester, MA – The recently completed Worcester Trial Court was among projects recognized in a feature on sustainable design that appeared today in the Worcester (MA) Telegram and Gazette.

The article made reference to the Action Plan for Green Buildings in Massachusetts State Construction Projects, published by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and Division of Capital Asset Management in October 2006. The report cited the new Worcester Courthouse for its many sustainable design features, including .

Sustainable design features of the courthouse, include lighting, with designs that use natural light, and light and motion sensors, sophisticated heat exchange technology in its ventilation system, and other ‘green’ technologies.

The new ...[more]

The new library at Queen’s University, Belfast, was among the examples of the economic revival of Belfast, Northern Ireland, according to an article which appeared today in Architecture Week.

With design techniques that exceed code requirements, the 190,000 s.f. project is expected to meet the stringent standards of the UK’s Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM).

Instead of a mechanical system, its natural ventilation system will reduce energy costs by fifty percent. The library’s sustainable elements also include automatically operated windows, atria, roof venting, and a night cooling strategy that utilizes exposed concrete structural slabs. Ground source heat pumps, with a raised floor system, efficiently deliver low temperature heat. ...[more]

The Brody Learning Commons at Johns Hopkins University, which has been packed since its doors opened last August, has something big to celebrate this week: LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council. It’s the first new construction on the school’s Homewood campus to earn this distinction.

The Learning Commons’ sustainable strategies include:

Managing solar gain: Heat gain and loss from the glass curtain wall system was combated by high-performance glass, automated interior shades, and perimeter (hydronic) heating and cooling.
Energy efficiency: While the under-floor air distribution system ...[more]

The paired Phoenix dining destination of Windsor and Churn has taken top category honors in the 32nd annual Valley Forward Environmental Excellence Awards, which were announced on September 29. Windsor and Churn, designed by Shepley Bulfinch with redeveloper Venue Projects and Upward Projects, received Valley Forward’s Crescordia (first place) Award (Historic Preservation) and a Merit Award (Commercial/Mixed-Use).

The Valley Forward Association’s Environmental Excellence Awards (EEA) program is Arizona’s oldest and largest environmental competition.

The adaptive reuse project transformed a 1940s retail structure into a lively and open restaurant (The ...[more]