Design Awards Top the News

More design awards on big programs will lead to construction down the road. Hillier, URS, Swanke Hayden Connell and more top the news this month.

New Campus for Episcopal Academy

PHILADELPHIA — The 217-year-old Episcopal Academy, Merion and Devon, Penn. plans to erect and occupy a new 123-acre campus in Newtown Township by the fall of 2007. Hillier Architecture will serve as master architect for the seven projects to compose the new campus and will design four of those multi-building projects: the Lower School (pre-k through fifth grades); Middle School (sixth through eighth grades); Upper School (ninth through 12th grades); and Science Building. The remaining projects include the:

• Chapel, to be designed by Venturi, Scott Brown Associates;
• Campus Center, to be designed by Graham Gund Architects of Cambridge, MA, who also developed the campus master plan; and
• Athletic Complex, to be designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Philadelphia.

Design Team Selected for $540 Millon Modernization

WASHINGTON, DC — URS Corporation and GGA-Ehrenkrantz Eckstut and Kuhn have been selected by the General Services Administration (GSA) to provide design services for the modernization of the Herbert C. Hoover Building complex in Washington, DC.

The Hoover Building complex is home to the headquarters of the Department of Commerce, the National Park Service's White House Visitor Center, and the National Aquarium. Located next to the White House and across from the Washington Monument, it was built 70 years ago and consists of 1.85 million sq. ft. of floor space with more than eight miles of corridors running through the building.

Renovations will be performed over a 12-year period and will include modernization of the interior; historic restoration of the shell, corridors and public spaces; structural upgrades; and complete modernization of all mechanical and electrical systems. The building, which houses some 4,000 employees, will remain in operation during the phased construction.

Final Four Compete for Education Center

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Four design teams are working to develop designs and refine their proposals for the Education Center at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The teams will present to a jury that now Maya Lin, designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and an internationally acclaimed artist. The competition is sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

The four teams are headed up by: Ann Beha Architects, Boston, Mass.; Architecture Research Office, New York, NY; Michael Graves & Associates, Princeton, NJ and New York, NY; and Polshek Partnership, New York, NY.

The teams each have 120 days to refine their concepts. Final presentations will be made sometime in early September.

Swanke Hayden Connell Wins FEMS Projects

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (FEMS) of the District of Columbia has awarded a contract to Swanke Hayden Connell Architects (SHCA) to provide architectural, engineering and construction administration services in support of a major capital improvement initiative for various public safety facilities.

FEMS, which includes the District's Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services Bureau, is looking to provide facilities that meet the new evolving challenges of "public safety" as well as functional and secure environments for its employees. SHCA's scope of the work will include design and construction of new state-of-the-art facilities and the renovation/rehabilitation of existing structures, some of which are designated historic landmarks.

Clark Interiors Awarded Two Tenant Projects

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Clark Interiors was awarded two tenant projects at 901 New York Avenue, N.W., adjacent to the new Washington Convention Center. Both are high-end interior spaces for two notable law firms - Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett, & Dunner, LLP and Shea & Gardner. Working closely with Clark's 901 New York Avenue base building team, the tenant work will be substantially complete 30 days after the base building work. Boston Properties of Washington, D.C. is the developer/owner of the project.

Davis Carter Scott of Washington, D.C. designed the 250,000-square-foot space for Finnegan Henderson. TOLK Engineering of Fairfax, Va. is serving as MEP engineer and Staubach is the tenant representative.

Shea & Gardner's 72,000-square-foot space is designed by SKB Architecture and Design of Washington, D.C. Girard Engineering of McLean, Va. is serving as MEP engineer and Commercial Realty Services is the tenant representative.

The projects will be completed by December 2004.