Archeworks Founders Pass the Baton

Architects Sarah Dunn and Martin Felsen were recently named the new co-directors of Archeworks in Chicago. They take over from co-founders Eva Maddox and Stanley Tigerman.

Archeworks is an alternative design school, where students work in multidisciplinary teams with nonprofit partners to create design solutions for social concerns. Since 1994, Archeworks has paired with 75 community partners to complete community design projects touching neighborhoods and communities throughout the Chicago area.

Under Dunn and Felsen, Archeworks will operate as a do-tank to engage in an international discussion of the future of cities. It’s a critical issue. At the outset of the 20th Century, 10% of the world population lived in cities.

Beginning with the 2008-2009 academic year Archeworks will address urban issues such as health, energy, mobility and lifestyles. The 2008-2009 year will focus on water. Archeworks students will envision ways that Chicago can become a sustainable urban model for dealing with the global water scarcity dilemma.

In subsequent years Archeworks will take on developing proposals to help Chicago to meet each of the other challenges, one issue per year.

“The unique confluence of events that shaped Chicago into the ‘inevitable metropolis,’ has forged a city that, however imperfect, has grown into an exemplary model for both global and regional urban ingenuity,” Felsen says. “At the same time, inequitable social and environmental conditions within the Chicago Megalopolis mirror challenges facing nearly every city across the globe.”

Dunn and Felsen are founding principals of UrbanLab in Chicago. UrbanLab has designed civic, commercial and residential projects.

Recently, UrbanLab won the History Channel’s 2007 City of the Future competition, and Felsen won the 2007 Dubin Family Young Architect Award from the AIA Chicago.
Maddox has acted as program director and Tigerman as director since the school’s inception in 1994. They will both continue to serve in these roles through the 2007-2008 school year and will remain on the organization’s Board of Trustees.

Chicago Residential Project Offers Energy Guarantee

Construction has started in Chicago on Green Armitage, a multi-residential, green project featuring a guarantee that homeowners’ energy bills will not exceed $600 per year for the first two years with reasonable use.

Located at 3018 W. Armitage Ave. in the Logan Square neighborhood, Green Armitage is targeted for a fall 2008 opening.

Computer modeling shows that the eight-unit property will exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Residential Energy Star standard by more than 90%. The project is aiming to achieve a LEED platinum rating. It qualifies for the highest rating of 3 Stars under the new Chicago Green Homes certification.

The three-bedroom, two-bath units, with prices beginning at $399,900, offer open floor plans, private outdoor space, attached garage parking and elevators.

Chicago-based The Sanders Co. is the developer, and Chicago-based Eco Smart Building is the design-builder.

Triton College Offering Associate Degree in BIM

Triton College in River Grove, Ill., has recently started to offer an associate degree in building information modeling.
Students must complete 69 credit hours involving 22 courses to get the degree, says Frank Heitzman, a Triton faculty member. Five of the courses are specifically tailored to BIM.
Two courses in the program are being held this semester, “Building Information Modeling and Rendering” and “BIM Production.” They are being held for 15 Saturdays until May from 8 a.m. to 1:40 p.m

The degree program was started because an advisory committee in architecture was enthusiastic about offering it, Heitzman says.

For information, contact Heitzman at 708-456-0300, ext. 3007, or email him at fheitzma@triton.edu.

Architecture Billings Increased in November

Following a rebound in October, the national Architecture Billings Index continued up more than two points in November.

The American Institute of Architects reported the November ABI rating was 55.3, up from 53.2 in October, and the index for inquiries for new projects was 56.6. Any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings. The Midwest had an index of 54.5.

Sector index breakdown nationally was commercial / industrial (58.7), mixed practice (57.0), institutional (55.8) and multi-family residential (44.2).

St. Louis’ Express Scripts Gets Design-Build Honor

The Express Scripts headquarters in St. Louis recently won a Merit Award from the Mid-America Design Build Institute of America.

Clayco Inc. and Paric Corp. were joint ventures partners on the project, and the joint venture was recognized for its application of total integrated project delivery, finding project solutions and interdisciplinary teamwork.

Design elements include a white roof, bamboo and cork floors, energy-efficient mechanical and electrical systems, low-floor plumbing fixtures and motion-detector lights.

A company providing prescription drug services, 315,000-sq-ft Express Scripts is on the campus of the University of Missouri at St. Louis.

The building also won a Keystone Award from the Association of General Contractors’ St. Louis chapter.