Sign, Harlingen, Texas. 1939. Photographer Lee Russell Photo courtesy of The New York Public Library on Unsplash

New buildings constructed using innovative techniques are springing up all over Canada.

These structures only exist because someone tried to push the boundaries of what was possible and quite often its an architect who was responsible.

But what many architects dont realize is that tax benefits exist for all kinds of innovation through the Canadian governments Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax incentive program, and their work can qualify too.

These incentives are not just for scientists. Examples of R&D conducted by architects in the past include:

and many more.

Not all types of innovation qualify there are specific criteria that have to be satisfied first.

The government looks for any activity that involves systematic investigation or research that is carried out in a field of science or technology by means of experiment or analysis. It must involve experimental development, but the work need not create new materials, devices, products or processesit could just be an improvement to existing ones.

There are three simple tests that must be met for innovation to qualify for the incentives. The work must:

How rewarding are SR&ED tax incentives and how do they work?

The rewards for claiming innovation tax incentives can be huge, and they are often worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. In fact, SR&ED incentives allow businesses to claim back up to 41.5% of innovation expenses. The main qualifying costs are materials, payments to contractors and third parties, staff costs and salaries.

The overall amount can vary by province as the final benefit is a combination of federal and provincial schemes. Private Canadian businesses receive the incentive as a cash payment, while publicly traded companies get a credit to be offset against outstanding taxes.

Claiming

Businesses can claim SR&ED up to eighteen months after the tax year in which the work took place. Tt costs firms nothing to establish whether they can claim, as most consultancies charge contingent fees. This means that businesses pay a percentage of the value of the claim once successful.

SR&ED incentives shouldnt be confused with the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), which is a government-funded grant program available to small- and medium-size businesses, rather than an R&D tax incentive. The SR&ED regime for SMEs has actually improved recently, so theres never been a better time to claim.

Richard Hoy is President of specialist tax consultancy Catax Canada. You can reach him at [emailprotected]

More:
How architects can take advantage of R&D tax incentives - Canadian Architect

cat hill house by studio MM architect is a private residence in the US, complete with a floating, glass-clad fitness studio that extends over a natural ridge. located at the foothills of the catskill mountains in new yorks hudson valley, the house occupies a densely wooded site with dramatic changes in elevation. its main volume extends parallel to the ridge, directly responding to the topography, while the studio space extends horizontally along the knoll.all images by brad feinknopf

studio MM architect developed cat hill house for a marathon runner, businesswoman, traveler, musician, and art collector, who requested not only a thoughtfully-designed home, but also an inspiring place to pursue creative and athletic activities. the glass-clad fitness studio that extends over the ridge marks the heart of the project. surrounded by trees, the studio appears to float above the wooded landscape as the topography falls steeply away.

set apart from the rest of the house, the studio is accessed via a long, enclosed gallery that follows the ridgeline. deeply personal mementos and works of art are displayed in the gallery walkway, while the studio itself is enclosed by glass on three sides. this space is dedicated to the clients passion for running, featuring a treadmill and an indoor cycling bike that benefit from great views of the surrounding wooded landscape.

the main volume of the house features an open living room with a patio, where floor-to-ceiling windows put forest views front and center.interiors are thoughtfully curated, complete with original artwork and custom-built pieces fabricated by a local furniture maker. the client, a new york city transplant turned proud local, wanted not only a simple and cozy retreat but a true hudson valley home that would showcase the work of skilled makers and craftsmen, notes studio MM architect. with personal or local connections proudly shining through, every piece has meaning.

See the original post:
studio MM architect adds floating, glass-clad fitness studio to 'cat hill' house in the US - Designboom

Two exhibitions in Finland pay homage to one of modern architectures best-known husband and wife teams, Kaija and Heikki Siren, who worked in the second half of the twentieth century. KAMU Museum in Espoo presents Everything and Nothing Architects Kaija + Heikki Siren, while the Museum of Finnish Architecture in Helsinki presents Quite Japanese yet so Finnish: Kaija + Heikki Siren. The two architects, a couple in life and work, rose to international prominence in the 1950s with their projects featuring sophisticated proportions, architecture designed for living in harmony with nature, and well-considered use of materials and construction techniques. Works of apparently simple but authentic beauty, as summed up in the title of the exhibition currently under way at KAMU, Everything and Nothing, from Italian composer Luigi Nonos exclamation before the work of Kaija and Heikki Siren: Tutto e niente! This has everything and nothing!.The two exhibitions opened at the same time, on October 23, a date chosen to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kaija Siren: October 23, 1920.Everything and Nothing Architects Kaija + Heikki Siren is the first exhibition in Finland to offer a complete retrospective of the Sirens architecture, featuring projects built in various cities all over the world, from the well-known Otaniemi Chapel of 1957 to the experimental projects in the garden city of Tapiola and the Baghdad Conference Palace.KAMU is one of the museums in the Espoo City Museum opened in the former Weilin & Gs print shop in Tapiola, now WeeGee Exhibition Centre. The museums collection accompanies visitors on a voyage through the history of Finland from the earliest prehistoric findings to the Middle Ages, with a special focus on Finlands second largest city, and also hosts temporary exhibitions focusing on themes of national and international interest. The perfect place to pay homage to this couple of architects whose projects gave shape to the Finns profound ties to nature, and who worked in the city for many years. Otaniemi Chapel, their first project in Espoo, is also their most famous work. In over half a century of working and living together, the two architects designed schools, commercial buildings, administrative buildings, cultural buildings, homes, industries, sports centres, churches, chapels and town plans. They were also awarded large international commissions such as the Baghdad Conference Palace and Brucknerhaus concert hall in Linz, Austria, as well as numerous projects in Japan. The two architects always had a predilection for small-scale projects, and in fact Kaija herself said in 1997, "the smaller the better...".The architects special relationship with Japan is the focus of the second exhibition, Quite Japanese yet so Finnish: Kaija + Heikki Siren, at the Museum of Finnish Architecture in Helsinki. Kaija and Heikki Siren worked on a number of projects in Japan, and had a particular affinity for Japanese architecture with its special relationship between buildings and the environment, between the composition of indoor and outdoor spaces.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Images courtesy of Kamu, photo credit: Siren Architects (1,2,4,6), Teuvo Kanerva (3,5)

Title: Everything and Nothing Architects Kaija + Heikki SirenDate: 23 October 2020 9 January 2022Location: KAMU Espoo City MuseumWeeGee Exhibition CentreAhertajantie 5www.kulttuuriespoo.fi/en/kaupunginmuseo

Title: Quite Japanese yet so Finnish: Kaija + Heikki SirenDate: 23 October 5 December 2020Location: Museum of Finnish ArchitectureStudio exhibition space, Kasarmikatu 24, Helsinki, Finlandiahttps://www.mfa.fi/en/frontpage/

Read more from the original source:
Everything and Nothing Architects Kaija Heikki Siren exhibition - Floornature.com

Beals Lyon Architects Wins the 2020 Oscar Niemeyer Award in Latin American Architecture

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Whatsapp

Mail

Or

On November 18, the Panamerican Architecture Biennial of Quito announced the winning projects of the 2020 Oscar Niemeyer Award for Latin American Architecture.

This award arises as one of the fundamental initiatives of REDBAAL the Network of Architecture Biennials of Latin America, seeking to recognize the best of the architectural production in moments of indisputable enhancement and presence of Latin American architecture on the international landscape scene.

The winners were part of a shortlist comprised of 20 projects from 7 countries. "We admire the architectural quality of each project presented and selected in the competition and applaud their representation of Latin American architecture as a profession that respects its cultural, social, urban, and natural context," said Executive Director of REDBAAL and the ON-03 Award Handel Guayasamin after the shortlist was revealed back in October.

The international panel of judges for the ON Award, consisting ofDiane Gray, Csar Shundi Iwamizu, Jos Luis Corts, Juan Articardi, Isaac Broid, and Carlos Bedoya,selected the following finalists:

New City Hall in Nancagua / Beals Lyon ArquitectosChile

As other spaces with high civic spirit, like the agora of Assos in Greece or the Piazza San Marco in Venice, the project emphasizes the construction of a void over the construction of isolated buildings. Spaces with a public void are created and charged, to become a catalyst for public life. In order to connect the city with the park, we proposed an open square that links both entities, borderedby the new municipal building on its two longer sides (north and south). The square, non-existent in the competition brief, became, therefore, the center of the project. An urban void that allows for a wide range of unexpected situations and events to happen, whether individual or collective.

Emergency Public Hospital in So Bernardo do Campo / SPBR ArquitetosBrazil

UDEP Lecture Building / BARCLAY&CROUSSE ArchitecturePeru

The Chapel Ing-Mirim / messina | rivasBrazil

Productive Rural School / Bachillerato Rural Digital No.186 + Comunal Taller de ArquitecturaMexico

Bonpland Building / Adamo FaidenArgentina

See original here:
Beals Lyon Architects Wins the 2020 Oscar Niemeyer Award in Latin American Architecture - ArchDaily

MBH Architects has relocated it New York studio to 50 HudsonStreet.

The company will occupy the entire second floor of the 95-year-old building, which once housed the Sarle & Co.s printing facility.

MBH signed a five-year lease for 5,150 s/f space in thebuilding situated on the corner of Hudson and Thomas Streets.

Avison Young brokered the lease on behalf of the landlord.Compass represented the tenant.

This New York office will serve as an East Coast home-basethat will spur further growth for MBH with New York City-based clientele aswell as offer luxury and Europe-based brands more individualized services.

Helen Herrick, Studio Director at MBHs New York office, saidthe new move signals an optimistic outlook for the steadfastly growing team andburgeoning new business in the Tri-State area.

This is an exciting new chapter for the New York team, saidHerrick. We look forward to better serving our impressive roster of existingclients as well as burgeoning new business in the Tri-State area.

For the new space, MBH Architects sought to blend theauthentic urban grit of New York City with cues from the California-basedfirms Alameda headquarters, in order to reflect the firms overall culture.

For the interiors, the team opted for an open floor planthat could accommodate 30 individual workstations, featuring expansive windows andminimalist material and color palette that allows the industrial character ofthe New York City printing house like brick walls and concrete floors to beshowcased as focal points of the space.

MBH has outfitted the space with modifications to ensure asafe working environment for employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. A limitedgroup will work from the office on a flexible schedule to avoid commuting atpeak times and allow for ancillary ventilation.

Simultaneously, the teams technology infrastructure hasbeen reinforced to adapt to hybrid working.

A cloud-based contact tracing system allows the firm tocommunicate expeditiously should the need arise as more in-person work resumes,and a formalized COVID-positive response plan has been implemented to protectthe health of the firms staff, clients, consultants and vendors.

Having completed several projects in and around theTri-State area, including the Allbirds flagship store in Soho and the Good TidingsFoundation Columbus Clubhouse in the Bronx, the firm will continue their workthrough upcoming projects such as luxury watch brand Tourneaus new flagshipstore on 57th and Madison avenue.

MBH is further expanding its client base into luxurysingle-family residential, building on its success in luxury retail andmulti-family residential.

(Visited 1 times, 2 visits today)

More here:
Architects relocated to Hudson Street - Real Estate Weekly

Tedious administrative tasks are the bane of many peoples working lives and it seems architects are not immune, especially when it comes to preparing planning permissions. There are dozens of disparate, difficult to access pieces of data required to complete an application, and dealing with them takes the architect right out of their creative workflow, says Greg Jackson founder of AI company AutoPlan which has just launched a platform that streamlines the planning permission process for architects, saving them time and money.

Jackson got the idea for his business from his architect father. He was really frustrated with the amount of administrative hassle that comes with the job and asked me if I could automate a really simple but time-consuming task he had finding out if there had been previous planning applications on the sites he was working on, Jackson says.

It turned out to be both an industry-wide issue and a tricky problem to solve as anything involving data is usually more complex than it first appears. But we introduced machine learning into the process, really got inside architects heads to understand how they think in this area and our first product, which allows them to quickly and easily find a site and its history, is now up and running, having been successfully trialled with 30 practices.

Ballina-born Jackson studied mechatronic engineering at DCU and also has a PhD in smart cities technologies from Imperial College London. He has worked with Boston Scientific as a process engineer and spent time as a technical lead with Intel. He is also no stranger to the start-up world having previously been involved with Solar Print and Domus.ai.

Jackson set up AutoPlan in March this year and the company now employs three people. This is set to rise to 10 by the middle of next year. The companys aim is to turn AutoPlan into a one-stop shop for all statutory and data requirements for the architectural process and the company will make its money by offering its solutions on a SaaS basis. There is a free element to the subscription and a tiered pricing structure for additional features such as report bundles.

Digital transformation has changed the way architects design but the administrative process is still very analogue and thats what our platform will change while also allowing architects to deliver more successful planning applications, faster, Jackson says.

On the face of it, architects have an amazing job as they design our cities, homes, and workplaces. The day-to-day process of architecture, however, is very different. It is filled with manual administrative and bureaucratic tasks and unfortunately for the architect, the success of a project is as dependent on this bureaucracy as it is on their design ability. Architects want to design not get bogged down in administration.

The companys frontline customers will be architects, but the platform will also be of interest to planning consultants, property developers, engineering consultancies and banks and insurance firms looking to de-risk projects. We will start with architects because they are like the gatekeepers of the planning process and we want to build their trust in us to begin with, Jackson says. Our first markets will be the UK and Ireland but this is very much a global problem and we intend to be the go-to people who will solve it internationally.

Investment in the business to date is about 125,000 with support coming from the NDRC, New Frontiers at TU Dublin and Entrepreneurs First in London which is Europes version of the high-powered Y Combinator accelerator in the US. The company is now in the process of preparing a seed round of 700,000 to build out the team and the platform.

Read more here:
AI helps ease the administration burden for architects - The Irish Times

The coronavirus pandemic has presented the aviation industry with an unprecedented opportunity to reimagine how travelers take to the skies, starting with the airport experience.

A large reduction in daily passenger numbers has given airports an abundance of time and space to implement new temporary safety features, but the fact remains that airports weren't built to handle a pandemic.

Architecture firms Gensler and Fentress Architects are using the downturn in travel to envision what future airports may look like. Gensler recently took up a challenge by Washington Magazine to redesign local public areas while Fentress Architects turned to university students to design the airports of 2100 as part of this year's Fentress Global Challenge.

Airport planning is already shifting towards built-in resilience to global health crises, even if it's too late to mitigate the effects of COVID-19, and airports of the future will need to address the possibility of another pandemic. New York's LaGuardia Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport both opened new terminals during the pandemic that came complete with plexiglass partitions, hundreds of hand sanitizer stations, and social distancing reminders.

Take a look at what the future of airports might entail as transportation hubs cope with new safety demands from the public in a pandemic-stricken world.

Read the original:
Future of travel: architects designing the airports of future - Business Insider - Business Insider

KITCHENER Scandinavia, like Canada, has long, cold and wintry winters, but that reality hasnt prevented architects there from designing buildings that set new standards for energy efficiency and sustainability.

Toronto architect Heather Dubbeldam is the featured speaker in a free online public lecture Thursday, hosted by the Grand Valley Society of Architects and the Kitchener Public Library.

In her talk, The Next Green: Innovations in Sustainable Design, Dubbeldam will talk about the lessons her firm Dubbeldam Architecture + Design learned in researching innovative sustainable designs after it was awarded the 2016 Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture from the Canada Council.

The firm has been exploring firsthand how Scandinavian architects set new standards for sustainable buildings in which energy efficiency and design merge seamlessly while achieving better environmental and socially sustainable outcomes in their built environments, from individual buildings to cities.

The talk explores the huge opportunity architects have as cities and countries set aggressive new targets for greenhouse gas reductions and lower energy use. Although sustainable, high-performance building design is often considered a technological concern, Dubbeldam has found from her research in Denmark, Sweden and Norway that design and form can have a major impact on energy efficiency.

The talk happens Thursday, Nov. 26 from 7:00-8:30 p.m. Register online at kpl.org under events.

View original post here:
Talk will explore how Scandinavian architects have blended design and energy efficiency - TheRecord.com

Oyler Wu Collaborative and Ren Lai Architects to Re-Envision the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in Taiwan

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Whatsapp

Mail

Or

Oyler Wu Collaborative and Taiwanese partner Ren Lai Architects have won a competition to re-envision the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in Taiwan. Selected among finalists including Asif Khan with C.M.Chao Architects, Sou Fujimoto Architects with WSAA Design Team, and Liao Architects and Associates, the winning project proposes a newly renovated exterior that seeks to reconnect the building with its evolving context.

+ 15

Organized by the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (KMFA), the renovation competition attracted proposals from Taiwan, America, UK, and Japan. Highlighting the innovative image of the brand-new museum, and further strengthening the visibility of the KMFA to the city and to the world, the winning scheme by Oyler Wu Collaborative and Ren Lai Architects is both a transformation and a rebirth.

A cultural interface between newly developed and historic neighborhoods, the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts has always been at the forefront of the citys expanding arts culture. Encompassed by an extensive ecological park, the museum was looking to reinvigorate its image as an artistic extension into the surrounding city. Oyler Wu Collaborative and Ren Lai Architects proposal has created an addition to the museums existing facade that will engage the building in an entirely new, more lively dialogue within the growing context. In fact, the winning scheme puts in place a series of ethereal volumes and articulate framework that hovers in front of the existing faade.

Embodying the artistic aspirations of the museum, an outstretched sculptural canopy, unfurls delicately as it welcomes guests into the new sunken plaza [] The redesigned landscape of the park encourages meandering and offers moments of intimacy in which wanderers might find a seat among the architectural elements. Composed by contrasting complex forms against a subtle grid, the canopy volumes, gripping lightly to the columns, interfacing with one another, appear to billow loosely at moments.The sculptural elegance of the canopy brings an entirely new vitality to the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, and allows the institution to fulfill its integral role as the cultural interface between Kaohsiung and its citizens.

Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts

Read the original here:
Oyler Wu Collaborative and Ren Lai Architects to Re-Envision the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in Taiwan - ArchDaily

Nov 21st 2020

JOHN STANKEY is an American chief executive from central casting. The 58-year-old has a square jaw, a lanky frame and, as one friend put it, the worlds deepest voice. During his 35 years as a telecoms executive, he has been a voracious dealmaker. He helped set Southwestern Bell Corp, one of the Baby Bells spawned by the break-up in 1984 of American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T), on an M&A blitzkrieg that eventually consumed the original Ma Bell herself. He then helped orchestrate its $176bn push into entertainment, buying DirecTV, Americas largest cable provider, in 2015, and Time Warner, a media colossus, three years later. In July he took over as AT&Ts boss. A self-confessed Bell-head, he doesnt flinch when confronting media moguls. Yet before one constituency he practically cowers: widows, orphans and other investors that depend on AT&T as the worlds second-biggest dividend-payer after Microsoft.

That is a problem not because AT&T cannot afford this years anticipated $15bn payout. Despite the travails of covid-19, it easily can. The rub is that it has become a treadmill. This year is the 36th since AT&T was broken up in which it has increased the dividend. Such a legacy may not be strange for a stolid telecoms firm. But with a flighty media business on the side, it is a foolish promise. Moreover, AT&Ts acquisition spree has saddled it with almost $150bn of net debt, even as its two core businesses, mobile telecoms and entertainment, are in the throes of upheaval that requires immense financial flexibility. Instead of revitalising each of them, AT&T has so far done what many dividend aristocrats dotry to sell the family silver to make ends meet.

Yet there are indications that Mr Stankey may be prepared to challenge the old ways of thinking. He ought toeven for the sake of those widows and orphans.

He started the job with the odds stacked against him. Not only has the covid-19 pandemic clobbered WarnerMedia, the renamed Time Warner, by disrupting film releases, accelerating the decline of cable TV and reducing advertising spending. He also had to overcome doubts about his leadership abilities first aired last year by Elliott Management, an activist hedge fund, when it took a stake in AT&T. When his former boss, Randall Stephenson, announced his retirement in the midst of the pandemic, it was hard to imagine that an outsider could run a company with a market value of $200bn and a phone books worth of problems by Zoom. So Mr Stankey won the contest, despite his role as Mr Stephensons lieutenant during years of value destruction. Since then, he has soothed some nerves, taking further acquisitions off the table, promising to repair the balance-sheet and lengthening debt maturities. Yet the share price languishes, as investors wonder if he can sustain the dividend while competing against two fierce rivals, T-Mobile in telecoms and Disney in entertainment.

One big test of his mettle will be an auction next month of wireless spectrum. Mobile, after all, is AT&Ts mainstay, generating as much core earnings, or EBITDA, in a week in the third quarter as WarnerMedia did in a month. Yet T-Mobile, once a distant third in wireless subscriptions, is now running neck-and-neck with AT&T and has its sights on Verizon, the leader. After its merger with Sprint, T-Mobile has also surged ahead of both rivals in the coverage and speed of its fifth-generation (5G) network, adding to its appeal. In order to catch up, AT&T and Verizon will take part in an auction of mid-band 5G spectrum starting on December 8th. Verizons balance-sheet is robust enough to bid what some expect to be at least $15bn. AT&T may feel more constrained. Yet those who keep a careful eye on its credit rating think it should splurge, both on spectrum and the fibre networks it lays across America. Davis Hebert of CreditSights, a research firm, calls them the core tenets of its business. (How quickly it can sell long-in-the-tooth assets like DirecTV to ease the financial strain is another matter.)

On November 18th Mr Stankey may have shown promising signs of audacity, though, when WarnerMedia announced an unexpected move in support of HBO Max, AT&Ts streaming platform that competes with Disney+, not to mention Netflix. It said it would release Wonder Woman 1984, a potential Christmas blockbuster, simultaneously on HBO Max and in American cinemas on December 25th (it will hit cinemas in other countries earlier). That will break a long tradition of releasing films in theatres first to recoup production costs at the box-office, and to support the cinema business. It shows the company may be prepared to cannibalise revenues in one part of the firmWarner Bros, the film studiofor the greater goal of driving subscribers to its streaming service, which is potentially a bigger long-term source of value. If going all-in on streaming attracts hordes of subscribers, it could reward Mr Stankeys dogged faith in the marriage of phone and film.

It is time for more of such hard choices. Yet the risk is that Mr Stankey feels he has time on his side. He now appears to enjoy Elliotts support (reports that the asset manager had sold its equity stake do not mean it has thrown in the towel; it may still have a large derivatives position). The rating agencies are patient. Neil Begley of Moodys says that because of coronavirus and other reasons, it has put big investment-grade firms like AT&T on a longer leash. Many remain convinced the dividend is a sacred cow.

That breeds complacency, however. The payout saps AT&Ts financial flexibility just when it needs all the leeway it can find. It encourages defensiveness, when T-Mobile and Disney are, as Roger Entner, a telecoms analyst, puts it, surrounding it like wolves. Come what may, one day it will have to cut the dividendpreferably to be complemented with more flexible share buy-backs. If Mr Stankey does that to make the company more nimble, he might emerge a corporate superhero. If it is forced upon him by weak earnings, it will be kryptonite that could cost him his job.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "Wring out those Bells"

Excerpt from:
Can one of the architects of AT&Ts woes turn it around? - The Economist