25 King St in Brisbane, worlds tallest timber building. Photograph: Aurecon

The famous Queenslander tradition of building houses upon wooden stilts is escalating to a whole other level on Thursday or 10 levels, to be exact.

The sod-turning ceremony at 25 King Street in Brisbane will be a groundbreaking event in more than just in the literal sense. When complete in 2018, 45 metres of the 52-metre office tower will qualify as the worlds highest to be held aloft not by steel and concrete, but timber and glue.

The project is the latest of a flurry of engineered wood towers in Australia using solutions such as cross-laminated timber (CLT), the load-bearing material on projects such as StrongBuilds The Gardens Macarthur affordable housing project in Campbelltown. Sydneys International House at Barangaroo is constructed from CLT and the similar Glulam method.

According to Chris Ammundsen, the Aurecon lead structural engineer behind 25 King Street, the CLT process involves glueing thick layers of wood together with the grain alternating at 90 degree angles .

Using timber as the primary structural load-bearing element creates interesting questions during the design process of any building, he says.

For example; how might we minimise the risk of chainsaw attack?

Ammundsen has a lot riding on the answers he came up with his company is setting up office within the building in order to enjoy the benefits of working in timber surrounds, which a PlanetArk study indicated can lead to a lower heart rate and blood pressure.

There are also environmental benefits where every tonne of cement creates 900kg of greenhouse gas emissions, engineered wood acts instead as a carbon sink.

The GBCA (Green Building Council of Australia) last year updated its Green Star accreditation to incentivise CLT, which chief executive Romilly Madew says: provides great thermal performance, which means they are efficient to heat and cool and save considerable amounts on utility bills.

An RMIT Lifecycle Assessment study conducted on Australias first timber high-rise completed in 2013, Lend Leases 10-storey Forte building in Melbourne, concluded it would generate 22% lower global warming emissions over its lifespan than a traditional concrete build.

The construction site for engineered timber projects also generates less noise pollution, and the structures can be erected much faster with fewer workers: Lend Lease claims it will cut six weeks off the construction time of 25 King Street by using timber.

Thats because they are assembled like supersized flatpack furniture, says Nick Hewson, a technical manager with engineered wood suppliers XLam.

Theres a speed and simplicity in construction, he says. Think of assembling a big piece of furniture there are even oversized screws and slats.

He says the radically different building style is one of the main barriers to the growth of CLT in Australia, where a construction industry used to grappling with each project requirement as it arises instead needs to revamp workflows to ensure everything is on-site ready to go from day one. Anyone who has assembled an Ikea bookshelf can attest that a single piece missing from a flatpack can result in construction delays, structural deficiencies, and even desperate attempts to decipher oblique Swedish instruction manuals.

Just like Ikea products, CLT components need to be shipped in all the way from Europe, where modern engineered timber techniques were first developed and are far more widely used.

To address this, XLam is building Australias first engineered wood factory just outside Albury Wodonga, a town that sits on the border between Victoria and NSW and will be able to service both major metropolitan markets once it is operational early next year.

A UN annual review in 2015-16 found that production of CLT is expanding globally from 650,000 to 700,000 cubic metres in 2015 to a projected 1 million cubic metres last year, but concrete remains well ahead.

Safety is another obstacle to growth. As last weeks Grenfell Tower apartment block blaze in London so tragically illustrated, incorporating flammable materials into building design can be fatal so isnt adding wood into the mix a recipe for disaster?

Hewson says that when Australias building code changed last year to allow for medium-rise timber buildings, the rules were based on requiring sprinklers in buildings and cladding in fire-rated plasterboard a measure he conceded would lessen the psychological benefits of exposed wood in buildings. Where architects dont want to cover the wood in plasterboard, an alternative is using timber thick enough to self-protect.

[With thick wood] you can subject it to long periods of fire exposure, it starts to char which insulates the material inside. It can burn through slowly but maintain its strength, he says.

Ken Slattery, the chief executive of Cement Concrete and Aggregates Australia, has a simple observation to make in response to the new competition: concrete doesnt burn.

He says that concrete remains the most-used building material on earth as it is flexible, durable and long-lasting.

The rise of CLT offers another approach that builds upon the strengths of concrete in a quite literal sense engineered wood extensions slapped on top of existing buildings, as seen in the use of XLam timber in a 10-storey hotel being built on top of a six-storey office block in Melbournes Southbank.

According to Hewson, the fact CLT is 20% lighter than concrete allowed extra room to grow for the Adina Apartment Hotels project, due to start construction later this year for completion in 2018. He says: A lot of buildings from the 50s and 60s are looking a bit tired, and owners want to rejuvenate - so why not vertical extensions?

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Tall timber: the world's tallest wooden office building to open in Brisbane - The Guardian

Developer says 11-story complex will have outdoor collaborative space, gym

By Bethany Rodgers

Published: 2017.06.20 12:09

Rendering of plans for an 11-story office building at Pike & Rose in North Bethesda.

Via Federal Realty Investment Trust

The developer of Pike & Rose has released the first glimpse of an 11-story office building that will claim a space in the burgeoning North Bethesda neighborhood.

Tenant construction on 909 Rose, which will stand at the corner of Rockville Pike and Rose Avenue, could get started in fall of 2019, and the first occupants could move in early the following year, according to a press release from developer Federal Realty Investment Trust. The 208,527-square-foot building will be the second office complex in Pike & Rose, with the first leased quickly to corporate tenants such as Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Regus and Hilti.

Pike & Rose offers tenants proximity to transit and boasts an array of dining, shopping and housing options; Federal Realty executives are even making plans to move their own employees to the site, according to the release.

The office building will form part of Pike & Roses second phase, which celebrated the opening of its first retail site in April with the relocation of REI. The first phase included the luxury iPic Movie Theaters, new restaurants such as Del Friscos Grille and the performance venue AMP by Strathmore. Residential complexes at the Pallas and PerSei provided a combined 493 apartment units.

The new building, 909 Rose, will feature meeting rooms, outdoor collaborative spaces with on-demand catering and Wi-Fi, bike storage and a gym with showers.

Business thrives when its people thrive, so were designing 909 Rose with that in mind, said Chris Weilminster, president of mixed use at Federal Realty.

Image of lobby at 909 Rose, the next office building planned for the Pike & Rose development. Via Federal Realty Investment Trust.

Post updated to correct construction schedule.

Department of Liquor Controls director toned down proposed ID policy before it goes into effect July 1

Few speakers Monday night opposed measure that will prevent city police officers from enforcing federal immigration law

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Introducing 909 Rose, Pike & Rose's Next Office Building - BethesdaMagazine.com

As a $1.6 billion plan to transform the iconic Farley Post Office Building into a transportation hub takes shape, critics say the money could be better spent on work more directly impacting commuters. NY1's Jose Martinez filed the following report.

It's Governor Andrew Cuomo's transit project of the moment: expanding Penn Station across Eighth Avenue into the old Farley Post Office Building.

Last week, the completion of a concourse linked the two sites for the first time.

"It is a beginning of a transformation," Cuomo said. "This is also Door Number 1. Door Number 2 is when we finish the train hall."

But the $1.6 billion project is not just about rail transportation. When completed, the Farley Building will have nearly three times the amount of space for retail as there will be for Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road.

Which is why critics lined up at a news conference Tuesday blasting the deal. They said public funds should not be covering the bulk of the costs for a project that's more shopping mall than train hall at a time when the region's transit system is plagued by delays and breakdowns.

"We need to get down and tackle the real issues that are affecting infrastructure and transit in New York," said Charles Khan of the Strong Economy for All Coalition. "I promise you that it's not the lack of shopping malls and it's not that there's a lack of TV screens inside our transit hubs."

A plan for private developers to create the new transit hub has been around since the early 1990s, but it has gained traction under Cuomo.

"It's just going to privatize and sell off a public asset to the very wealthy yet again. We're here to say no," said Pete Sikora of the Center for Popular Democracy.

A spokesman for the governor called the protest "misguided," and boosters said the public-private renovation of the landmark will ultimately be a plus for the city.

"When you have this type of space and it's not being utilized in a positive way, that's really not good for the economy," said Gary La Barbera of the Building and Construction Traces Council of Greater New York.

And after a generation of plans, the renderings may finally become reality.

What will eventually be known as the Moynihan Train Hall, with its attached 700,000 square feet of retail space, is supposed to open by late 2020, early 2021.

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Money to Turn Post Office Near Penn Station into Transportation Hub Could Be Better Spent, Critics Say - NY1

Charlotte Business Journal

Vacant office building in University City sells for $12.3M Charlotte Business Journal A University City office building that has sat empty since Allstate Corp. (NYSE: ALL) relocated its local offices has been sold. 401 McCullough, a three-story, 191,681-square-foot office building that sits on 32.6 acres fronting Interstate 85, was sold ... and more »

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Vacant office building in University City sells for $12.3M - Charlotte Business Journal

Renovation projectson six Indiana University campuses were approved by the IU Board of Trustees at today's meeting of the Facilities and Auxiliaries Committee. The trustees met Thursday and today on the South Bend campus.

Thomas A. Morrison, IU vice president for capital planning and facilities, presented the requests, as well as design approvals for four projects on the Bloomington campus.

The board approved the following renovation projects: renovation of the golf course and Phase III of the Old Crescent renovation in Bloomington; renovation of the Primary Care Center at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; and Multi-Campus Special Repair and Rehabilitation for Deferred Maintenance on the IU East, IU Kokomo, IU Northwest and IU Southeast campuses.

The golf course renovation will reconfigure the existing 18-hole championship and nine-hole par-3 courses into a new 18-hole championship course and driving range; a new clubhouse will also be built. The existing driving range will be developed into the neighboring IU Health Regional Academic Health Campus facilities. The renovation will provide play on new, challenging holes that take advantage of the existing topography while using ecological and sustainable design and maintenance methods.

"The golf course renovation will be handled with the utmost care and concern for the environmental impact and sustainability of the course and surrounding landscape both now and in the future," Morrison said. "We have the opportunity to reinvigorate the course while taking advantage of design and ecological methods that were not available when the course was constructed in the mid-1950s."

The new, upgraded facility will include a distinctive course able to host tournament play and will remain open to the public and IU students, faculty and staff following the renovation.

"We are very appreciative of the Board of Trustees' approval, which will enable the Indiana University community to have a golf course worthy of the Indiana University name," Vice President and Director of Athletics Fred Glass said."I am most proud that the renovation will improve the environmental impact and sustainability of the golf course, enhance its economic viability, and preserve its public accessibility."

Ballantine Hall and Geological Sciences will be renovated as the third phase of the multiphase Old Crescent Plan to modernize the older buildings on the Bloomington campus. Renovations will include new, energy-efficient heating and air conditioning and updates to plumbing, electrical systems, roofs, windows, classrooms and accessibility features.

"The third phase of the Old Crescent renovation will continue our efforts to rejuvenate our older buildings on the Bloomington campus, which are crucial to our academic mission," Morrison said. "Likewise, the multicampus deferred maintenance projects are part of our ongoing goal to provide safe and effective learning and work environments while reducing our deferred maintenance backlog."

Four design approval requests for the Bloomington campus were also presented and approved.

The new Parking Garage/Office Building, north of 11th Street between Forrest Avenue and Walnut Grove, will contain a parking garage with about 650 spaces and an administrative office building totaling about 55,000 gross square feet. The garage will have two entries/exits: one at the lowest level along Walnut Grove and another at level three on the west side of the facility. The administrative area will include three levels of modern, flexible office space to accommodate a variety of users over time. A mix of open and enclosed work areas and conference and collaboration areas will be provided.

An addition to the Fine Arts Studio Building, dedicated to studios and lab spaces, will increase the current structure by about 30,000 gross square feet on two stories with a ground level. About 10,000 square feet of existing unfinished space will be built out as part of the project. Accommodations for an outdoor kiln structure and area will be made as well. The facility, at 13th Street and Woodlawn Avenue, will house many of the fine arts programs currently in the Arts Annex (former Central Stores), Graduate Printmaking and the McCalla School. Other School of Art and Design occupants will include printmaking, ceramics, painting and sculpture.

On the athletics campus, a new indoor arena will be constructed for the volleyball and wrestling programs next to Cook Hall on Fee Lane. The 3,000-seat facility will have permanent grandstands on the east and west sides, with telescoping bleachers on the north and south sides. Concessions and ticketing will be in the grand lobby. The arena will accommodate volleyball/wrestling events as well as special events such as summer basketball camps. Also included in the project will be volleyball and wrestling home-team locker rooms, visitor locker rooms and volleyball offices.

A campus gateway with a limestone sign wall similar to those found elsewhere on the Bloomington campus will be added at the corner of Seventh Street and Indiana Avenue. The gateway will serve both the western edge of campus and Dunn Meadow and will include limestone piers, columns, a landscape bed and ornamental plantings in addition to the sign wall.

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Construction, design projects approved for six IU campuses - IU Newsroom

The construction of any buildings that are used by organizations or companies to conduct their office-based business operations is categorized under office buildings. Mixed-use buildings within which more than 50% of the floorspace is dedicated to offices are included in this category. It excludes all the office spaces available within manufacturing plants, educational buildings or any kind of buildings that is not the part of commercial construction.

The Australian office buildings construction market has observed some fluctuations in the review period with a value of US$x.xx billion in 2016 and increased at a rate of x.xx% over 2015. The market recorded a CARC of -x.xx% from 2012 through 2016.

"Office Buildings (Construction) in Australia: Market Analytics by Category & Cost Type to 2021"' provides a top-level overview and detailed insight into the operating environment of the office buildings market in Australia. It is an essential tool for companies active across the Australia construction value chain and for new players considering to enter the market.

Report Scope

List of Tables

Table 1: Timetric- Office Buildings Market Definitions Table 2: Australian Overall Office Buildings Output Value (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Table 3: Australian Overall Office Buildings Output Value (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Table 4: Australian Overall Office Buildings Output, by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Table 5: Australian Overall Office Buildings Output, by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Table 6: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, New Construction (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Table 7: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, New Construction (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Table 8: Australian Office Buildings Output, New Construction by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Table 9: Australian Office Buildings Output, New Construction by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Table 10: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, Repair & Maintenance (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Table 11: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, Repair & Maintenance (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Table 12: Australian Office Buildings Output, Repair & Maintenance by Cost Type(US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Table 13: Australian Office Buildings Output, Repair & Maintenance by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Table 14: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, Refurbishment (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Table 15: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, Refurbishment (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Table 16: Australian Office Buildings Output, Refurbishment by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Table 17: Australian Office Buildings Output, Refurbishment by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Table 18: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, Demolition (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Table 19: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, Demolition (US$ Billion),2017 - 2021 Table 20: Australian Office Buildings Output, Demolition by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Table 21: Australian Office Buildings Output, Demolition by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021

List of Figures

Figure 1: Australian Overall Office Buildings Output Value (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Figure 2: Australian Overall Office Buildings Output Value (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Figure 3: Australian Overall Office Buildings Output, by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Figure 4: Australian Overall Office Buildings Output, by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Figure 5: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, New Construction (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Figure 6: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, New Construction (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Figure 7: Australian Office Buildings Output, New Construction by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Figure 8: Australian Office Buildings Output, New Construction by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Figure 9: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, Repair & Maintenance (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Figure 10: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, Repair & Maintenance (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Figure 11: Australian Office Buildings Output, Repair & Maintenance by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Figure 12: Australian Office Buildings Output, Repair & Maintenance by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Figure 13: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, Refurbishment (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Figure 14: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, Refurbishment (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Figure 15: Australian Office Buildings Output, Refurbishment by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Figure 16: Australian Office Buildings Output, Refurbishment by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Figure 17: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, Demolition (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Figure 18: Australian Office Buildings Output Value, Demolition (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021 Figure 19: Australian Office Buildings Output, Demolition by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2012 - 2016 Figure 20: Australian Office Buildings Output, Demolition by Cost Type (US$ Billion), 2017 - 2021

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Office Buildings (Construction) in Australia: Market ...

Development is underway for a 56,000-square-foot, two-story ambulatory care medical office building on the San Antonio Regional Hospital campus in Upland, Calif., that will include a City of Hope community cancer center. PMB is providing program management, development and design management services for the project on behalf of San Antonio Regional Hospital.

The new building is part of a larger, campus-wide project that involves construction of a new four-story patient tower, which opened in January 2017. The new Vineyard Tower has 92 private rooms, including a 12-bed critical care unit, as well as a new, 8,000-square-foot emergency department with 52 beds and three major treatment rooms.

The new medical office building will be situated on a three-acre site located across from the hospitals main entrance. It will replace an existing, functionally obsolete medical office building which is predominately comprised of hospital administrative services. The building will be demolished and the staff will be relocated to other campus buildings.

City of Hope will lease approximately 25,000 square feet for a community cancer center. Services will include radiation therapy, infusion services, hematology and medical oncology, general surgical oncology, related surgical subspecialties and clinical trials. The new building will also house San Antonio Regional Hospitals Womens Breast and Imaging Center, a community resource center and medical offices.

The design of the new medical office building will complement the hospitals new Vineyard Tower and the local surroundings with the use of a glass curtain wall, metal wall panels and native landscaping. Sustainable design and building practices will be implemented throughout. The building will feature custom-designed medical office suites and parking located next to the building.

Construction is scheduled to begin the second quarter of 2017, and the building is projected to open in Fall 2018.

In addition to PMB serving as program manager, HMC Architects is providing architectural services. Millie and Severson will serve as the projects general contractor.

Earlier this year, BMHMC completed a $60 million capital campaign for the 2017 opening of the 60,000-square-foot Knapp Cardiac Care Center.

The grand opening event also served as a tribute to the legacy of Dr. Lucien Coutu, father of the esteemed pharmacist Jean Coutu and one of Sainte-Justine's first pediatricians.

An open, competitive request for qualifications process, overseen by IO and Sinai Health System, began in August 2015.

Read more:
PMB To Develop New San Antonio Medical Office Building - Healthcare Design

Dive Brief:

The WELL standard, created by the International Well Building Institute, focuses on building features that impact the health and wellbeing of its occupants. According to the IWBI, the elements of the office environment that are most important are the ones that affect air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind.

Mallory Taub, sustainability consultant at Arup in Boston, told Construction Dive earlier this month that the company is pursuing WELL certification for its Boston office. She said the growing attention to air and water quality, healthy food choices and general comfort plays a role in increased employee productivity.

Because the WELL standard is relatively new, compared to industry giants like the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification, there are many WELL "firsts" popping up in various parts of North America. In March, construction services company Structure Tone earned the first WELL office certification in New York City.

The company's Gensler-designed, 82,000-square-foot office was certified WELL Silver through the implementation of features like efficient mechanical systems, point-of-source water filters, healthy food availability, circadian lighting, fitness club membership discounts and sit-stand desks for all employees.

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CBRE office is Vancouver, Canada's first WELL Building - Construction Dive

Pearl District - KATU image.jpg

PORTLAND, Ore. A Portland resident took a stand against the construction of a building that he believes is disrespectful to the heart of the Pearl District.

Construction has already been approved to allow a 6-story, 100-foot office building with a penthouse at the corner NW 13th Avenue and Glisan Street.

John Hollister lives in the Northwest 13th Avenue Historic District in Portlands Pearl District. The section was designated on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, and includes 20 buildings dating between 1900 to 1945 that have been restored and preserved.

The new building was approved for construction in a spot currently used as a parking lot.

Hollister spent $5,000 to appeal the final approval of the building to Portlands City Council. That appeal was denied Wednesday afternoon.

Hollister believes the new building doesn't meet the historic district guidelines for height and visual compatibility.

Its just too tall and its going to create some real economic pressure and development pressure on some of the smaller buildings," said Hollister. "I just don't want to see it change. With all of the building going on around it, I'd like to have one area that stays the same."

Hollister is worried if its built, similar buildings will spring up in the future, eventually hiding the historic brick buildings in canyons of steel and glass. Hes also concerned that there may be less concern in the future for preservation due to costs of upgrading and retrofitting those existing structures.

The argument for the height of this new structure is based on information recorded in the Citys database. Hollister researched the building heights in the area and discovered city records had incorrect height information for at least two existing buildings.

Hollister has done other research and gotten the support of an architect who will testify at City Council along with him.

"He says anyone who is dedicated and committed to tall buildings has to be equally committed to protect the villages within those tall buildings. And thats what Im trying to do here, said Hollister.

While he doesnt expect a unanimous vote, he is hopefully his argument will win most of the councilors over.

Im totally fine when I go to City Council to have a three, two vote in my favor, he said.

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Resident fights new 6-story office building in historic Pearl District - KATU

Sacramento Bee

Replacing those aging state office buildings will have to go on California's credit card Sacramento Bee Gov. Jerry Brown has been vocal about his preference for pay-as-you-go instead of borrowing when it comes to funding public works projects. We got to belly up to the bar and start spending money, Brown told reporters in February. A budget bill ...

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Replacing those aging state office buildings will have to go on California's credit card - Sacramento Bee