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The rapid pace of construction at 66 Hudson Boulevard, akaThe Spiral, finally reached the 65-story, 1,031-foot-tall pinnacle over Hudson Yards this past Tuesday. Despite a light flurry of snow showers, the dedication ceremony was successfully held with Tishman Speyer President and CEO Rob Speyer joined on by Gary LaBarbera, President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, Peter Davoren, President and CEO of Turner Construction Company and a group of trade partners. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, the steel-framed superstructure is located on a full-block parcel bound by Tenth and Eleventh Avenues and 34th and 35th Streets, and will yield 2.8 million square feet of office space.

Turner Construction Company is serving as the construction manager, Banker Steel is in charge of manufacturing the steel, and Permasteelisa is the contractor for the glass enclosure for the 66-story project, which is expected to cost $3.7 billion. Other notable companies that helped contribute to this critical milestone are Adamson Associates, WSP, Cosentini Associates, Heintges Consulting Architects & Engineers, Langan and Siteworks.

Photographs show the ceremony and steel beam signed by numerous attendees before being raised into the sky.

The Spiral. Photo by Diane Bondareff

The Spiral. Photo by Diane Bondareff

YIMBY also has new renderings of The Spiral that depict the overall appearance, the podium, the stepped and landscaped outdoor setbacks, and upper levels of the edifice. The six-story base will house a lobby that will have dual entrances on both Hudson Boulevard East and Tenth Avenue, and include ceilings heights up to 28 feet tall. 25,000 square feet of first-class retail space will also be included within.

The Spiral. Rendering by Tishman Speyer.

The Spiral. Rendering by Tishman Speyer.

The Spiral. Rendering by Tishman Speyer.

The Spiral represents the ideal collaborative workspace, now more important than ever, combining sustainable design with an elevated hospitality experience, said Rob Speyer. The continued rise of The Spiral is a testament to our vision and optimism for New York Citys future. I am grateful to Gary, Peter and their teams for partnering with us on a plan that kept their members working and construction on schedule, while also safeguarding everyones health and well-being over the past year.

The milestone reached today is a testament to the hard-working union men and women of New York City, who despite the extraordinary challenges of the past year have gone above and beyond to get the job done, said Gary LaBarbera, President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York. With the success of this project and the value that a union workforce brings to construction projects more clear than ever, we look forward to building and expanding upon the relationship with Tishman Speyer on future projects. The topping-off of The Spiral is yet another sign that New Yorks future will always be bright.

51 percent of the building is already pre-leased with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer being the anchor tenant, who are planning to take up 746,000 square feet across 15 floors. Law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is occupying 531,000 square feet across 13 floors, and AllianceBernstein is taking up 166,000 square feet across three and a half floors.

The Spiral is aiming to achieve LEED Gold Standard and is expected to be completed next year.

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1,031-Foot Tall 66 Hudson Boulevard, aka The Spiral, Tops Out Over Hudson Yards, Manhattan - New York YIMBY

Nothing about 2020 fell within the realm of business as usual. It seems like there were surprises around every corner and the best prepared business plans were quickly laid to waste as contingency plans were hastily put in place to deal with one crisis after another. While the uncertainty of the 2020 election cycle is finally settled, and there are a couple of vaccines approved to combat the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, there is still plenty of uncertainty that makes it very difficult to forecast the future. The pandemic and its aftermath are expected to continue to plague the economy through at least the first half of the year. The vaccine will take time to produce and distribute.

In the meantime, construction backlogs and the construction material supply chain have been impacted. And despite the uncertainty, you still need to make a plan to address the upcoming year. To help you sort it all out, we contacted some of the construction industrys most trusted sources about what they see for the months to come.

Q: What are likely to be the major drivers of the commercial and housing construction markets in 2021, and do you anticipate the current level of new construction to be sustained in both segments?

Fan Yu Kuo, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB): After a gradual reopening of the economy, the housing market has seen a meaningful rebound and record breaking growth, especially in recent months. With a recovering economy and renewed interest in housing, the residential sector will lead the economic rebound.

This year, we have seen a shift in housing demand preferences as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with home buyers and renters favoring lower density suburbs and exurbs over the core of large metropolitan areas. This suburban shift is seen in construction data, with the NAHB Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) showing that residential construction activity expanded at a more rapid pace in lower density markets. With this changing geography of housing demand, combined with record-low mortgage rates and a renewed focus on the importance of home, we expect demand will remain strong in 2021.

Supported by increased buyer interest, builder confidence remained near a data series high and sales have outpaced construction. Single-family construction is now at the highest level since the spring of 2007 and is expected to grow steadily over the next two years. However, builders continue to face challenges in terms of supply chain shortages of building materials and skilled labor as well as a lack of lots.

From a rental perspective, we expect multifamily construction to decline in 2020 and 2021 before stabilizing in 2022, although apartment construction will see strength in lower density markets.

Though home building and remodeling are relative bright spots for the overall economy, nonresidential construction will experience greater headwinds, as private nonresidential construction spending has seen a significant decline since January 2020.

Anirban Basu, chief economist, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC): COVID-19 accelerated several pre-existing industry trends, many of which have implications for real estate, construction and the overall economy. Among the most obvious trends is e-commerce, a trend that was gaining market share even before the global health crisis began. An ongoing proliferation of fulfillment and data centers will serve this ongoing boom. However, this could translate to tougher times ahead for retailers and shopping centers, with many large American malls set to falter within the next five years.

Another trend is remote work, a pattern that gained momentum during the pandemic that could translate into less demand for traditional office space. But the work from home trend also supported a raging U.S. housing market in 2020 as people seek to acquire more space for dedicated home offices. This is also consistent with greater migration from cities to suburbs, which is already reflected in large-scale declines in apartment rents in some of Americas most expensive cities, such as San Francisco, New York City and San Jose. The multifamily market is less likely to generate as much construction activity as it did during the prior decade.

Richard Branch, chief economist, Dodge Data & Analytics (Dodge Data): The commercial construction space in 2021 will be somewhat of a mixed bag. On the upside, warehouse construction will continue to flourish as demand for e-commerce space seems to be nearly insatiable. Warehouse construction topped $30 billion in 2019, a record for the category. That record was broken in 2020 and we expect a new record to be established in 2021.

Office construction should also begin its recovery in 2021, following a steep decline in 2020. While demand for new office space will be lower than years past, renovation activity will increase as landlords and developers push to improve their facilities by providing more physical space for workers and improved environmental attributes such as better air handling and washroom spaces.

Retail and hotel construction is expected to continue to languish in 2021, and indeed, wont resume growth until there is widespread vaccine adoption. Since that is not expected until the mid-point of the year, it leaves little opportunity for growth in 2021.

Housing will be driven by strong demand for single-family construction in 2021. This is the result of the natural aging of the millennial generation as they grow their families, but also the pandemic-driven search for additional space away from dense urban areas. Increased flexibility resulting from remote working will aid this geographic shift. Multifamily construction will be weak in 2021 due to the supply overhang in large metropolitan areas.

Ken Simonson, chief economist, Associated General Contractors of America (AGC): There is huge pent-up demand for single-family housing in most parts of the country and widespread demand for moderate income multifamily housing. Most categories of nonresidential construction will be in decline in 2021. But a few niches should do well, including smaller distribution facilities, data centers and specialized healthcare-related facilities, such as clinics, screening/testing facilities and medical laboratories and manufacturing plants.

Q: What are likely to be the major drivers for public construction in 2021, and do you anticipate the current level of new construction to be sustained? In which subsets do you expect to see the greatest uptick or downturn in activity?

ABC: Countervailing forces are at work in public construction. On one hand, weakened state and local government finances suggest weaker public works spending going forward. Despite the prevalence of low interest rates, many policymakers will probably seek to avoid putting more debt on public balance sheets.

On the other hand, given the battered state of the U.S. economy and the priorities of the incoming administration in Washington, D.C., federal spending on infrastructure could increase as part of a post-inauguration stimulus package. Republicans and Democrats do not agree on much, but leaders from both parties agree that America spends too little on infrastructure.

Public spending on infrastructure could rise over the next couple of years as the federal government steps up to assist our recovering economy, but that spending could fade quickly thereafter.

Dodge Data: The public sector both building and infrastructure projects will be reasonably stable in 2021. Given the growing gaps in state and local budgets across the country, this is somewhat positive news.

Street and bridge construction will see tepid growth in 2021 as federal funding provided through the one-year extension of the FAST Act is unchanged from the previous year. We fully anticipate that by the summer, a replacement for the FAST Act will be enacted providing for improved funding the following year. It is also likely that we will see a push from the Biden administration for an infrastructure package now that the Democrats have control of both the House and Senate.

On the building side of public construction, the largest project type is education. This sector was under great pressure in 2020 as the pandemic forced students out of their classrooms and into their homes. The fiscal issues facing state and local governments also weigh heavily on this sectors ability to recover, meaning 2021 is likely to be another down year for education construction.

AGC: Any growth in public construction will depend on early passage of federal funding for infrastructure and relief for state and local governments. Unless this occurs early in the year, the impact on projects is unlikely to be felt until 2022 or later.

Highways have the greatest chance of receiving additional funding. But there will also be a push to fund transit and other passenger rail projects; alternative energy production, storage, and charging facilities; and possibly public hospitals and care facilities.

The weakest public markets are likely to be public universities and colleges and other types of public buildings such as office and judicial system buildings.

Q: What factors could play an instrumental role in raw material costs in 2021? Will the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have any impact on the costs of raw materials or other construction inputs?

NAHB: The issues that have limited housing supply in recent years, including land and material availability and a persistent skilled labor shortage, continue to place upward pressure on construction costs.

The result of insufficient supply to meet soaring demand has caused prices of building materials, most notably lumber, to skyrocket this year. Between mid-April and mid-September, lumber prices soared more than 170% due to reduced domestic production during the pandemic. NAHB data showed spikes in softwood lumber prices earlier in 2020 caused the price of an average new single-family home to increase by $16,148. While prices fell from September to November, lumber costs are rising once again as production remains limited and housing demand is strong headed into 2021.

As tariffs contributed unprecedented price volatility leading to higher prices and harming housing affordability, the U.S. Commerce Department has recently made the decision to reduce its duties on shipments of Canadian lumber into the U.S., down to roughly 9% from more than 20%. The tariff reductions were expected to go into effect in mid-December. Lower tariffs would mitigate uncertainty and associated volatility that has plagued the marketplace, which could help ease upward pressure on lumber prices.

Beyond lumber, there are other material costs that are elevated. Additionally, appliances and materials are taking longer to deliver, extending construction times and increasing costs.

ABC: For the most part, construction materials prices have behaved, with exceptions like softwood lumber. Production capacity of this lumber has been constrained recently for several reasons. When home builders began placing large softwood lumber package orders, suppliers were not prepared for the rush and prices took off.

Once vaccines become broad-based globally... similar dynamics may become apparent for commodities such as steel, oil and copper as the global economy comes racing back after a period of slumber. That could set the stage for large-scale increases in construction input prices at some point in 2021. That is an important point to consider as people enter longer-term commitments presently.

Dodge Data: One of the key factors will be the new administrations views on tariffs on construction-related goods from China, Canada and elsewhere. Additionally, increased levels of construction activity in 2021 will put upward pressure on materials prices and wages.

AGC: Materials costs are likely to remain volatile as the U.S. and global economies expand or pause. Bottlenecks and supply chain disruptions may crop up again, depending on the severity of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Q: How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the continued labor shortage plaguing the construction industry? What are your projections for the labor market in 2021, particularly when it comes to skilled trades?

NAHB: Cost and availability of labor has been top issue for builders in recent years. In 2011, only 13% of builders reported cost and availability of labor as a significant problem, but the share increased to 85% in 2020. As housing demand is outpacing residential construction, the gap between housing needs and production has widened and the labor shortage continues to grow this year.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics November data shows that over the past seven months, job gains in residential construction offset 96% of the jobs lost in March and April, while there has only been a 58% job recovery in nonresidential construction. However, in any given month, there is still a shortage of 200,000 to 300,000 workers. Looking forward, the job openings rate is likely to experience choppiness in the months ahead given divergent outlooks within the construction industry.

As the construction skilled labor shortage remains a key challenge for residential and nonresidential construction firms, training and adding new workers is an important goal of the industry as we have seen an aging workforce in the skilled trades. A labor shortage will lead to higher housing costs and increased home prices, and make housing less affordable for buyers.

To help close the gap on the labor shortage, the housing industry needs to continue to invest in training to attract younger workers who may not have considered a career in construction or have been inordinately affected by the pandemic and recession. Workers trained in the building trade skills will increase productivity and further lower construction costs to consumers.

Bringing additional women into the construction labor force also represents a potential opportunity for the future. A recent NAHB study found that the number of women employed in the construction industry grew substantially in 2019, surpassing the peak pre-recession employment level.

ABC: Despite the loss of nearly 200,000 construction jobs over the course of the pandemic, shortages of skilled construction workers will persist. Many of Americas most skilled construction workers are approaching retirement age, and the next generation has still not entered the skilled trades in sufficient numbers.

History indicates that when construction workers lose jobs, they often leave the industry altogether. All of this suggests that while it may be marginally easier to recruit talent now than prior to COVID-19, structural issues remain.

Dodge Data: The construction sector will continue to be plagued by the lack of skilled and available labor in 2021. While the number of job openings in construction has fallen since the pandemic began, there are still, on average, more open positions in the industry currently than there were in 2017. The demand for workers is down, but not out, and will certainly rebound sharply in 2021 as construction picks up.

AGC: Many contractors report projects are taking longer to complete, either because fewer workers are allowed on site at one time, workers are kept home by illness (their own, a family members or the need to provide dependent care), or delays and shortages of materials. While the decline in nonresidential projects will mean fewer companies are hiring and more workers are laid off, contractors that are trying to hire are still likely to have difficulty finding willing applicants with the right skills.

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2021 State of Construction Industry: A Forecast for Uncertain Times - ForConstructionPros.com

This week, workers wearing double layered suits and respirators, inside a bubble of plastic are scraping tiles from the floor and removing drywall from the main office building at the former Grand Junction Steel building to remove asbestos, as the property prepares for the future.

When a building in Colorado is undergoing a renovation, testing is done to determine if there is asbestos present that would be disturbed by the construction work. In the case of the Grand Junction Steel building, the main building did not have any asbestos. However, about 5,500 square feet of the office building, which sits at the entrance of the site off Third Street, was found to have asbestos.

Regional Asbestos, located in Grand Junction and Aurora, was brought in to mitigate the asbestos, which was found in the tile floor, mastic and drywall texture. The floor tile and mastic were both found to be greater than the 1% asbestos threshold requiring a full-regulated abatement, according to Regional Asbestos.

Regional Asbestos President Shaun Witkamp said there are many layers of protections put in place for both the workers and the general public to ensure the mitigation work is safe. The area the workers are in is contained by plastic sheeting and is kept at negative pressure to keep air from escaping.

With our negative air machine, we hold a certain negative pressure, which makes sure we are constantly pulling negative air in and cycling it out, Witkamp said. As were breaking up this asbestos, if fibers are released, theyre working their way into machines and being filtered and not back out into the public.

With the material that is removed, Witkamp said, they use a system to keep the material wet and reduce the amount of asbestos fiber that is released. The material is double bagged, with each bag being cleaned as it is moved out to specialized trucks that will take it to the landfill.

The tile remediation will take five days, Witkamp said, with the drywall mitigation taking another 20 days. A crew of seven full-time workers will be used to complete the project. Witkamp said this is a medium-sized project for his company, which works on everything from a single pipefitting to commercial properties requiring up to 40 workers.

The owner of the Grand Junction Steel property, Jim McConnell, said the remediation was part of an effort to get the building into a usable condition for a future tenant. He said the mitigation work has to be completed first.

Once we get this done, get the asbestos out of here then well start, McConnell said. Ive got some good people working on some plans.

Grand Junction Steel was founded in 1947 and McConnell bought it in the 1980s. The business provided heavy steel plate fabrication for highway and railway structural bridge projects across the country.

I bought it in 1985, McConnell said. After that we went out looking for business. We had a total of maybe 200-plus employees here for a while.

The steel from the business was used to construct bridges in projects around Denver and in Glenwood Canyon. It was used coast-to-coast from bridge construction, from earthquake repair in California to the Big Dig in Boston.

Grand Junction Steel closed in 2009 and was empty for several years. Its most recent tenant was EcoGen, a hemp and CBD producer. However, after EcoGen was sold in mid-2020, the business moved its offices off the property.

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Grand Junction Steel has asbestos remediated from offices - The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

A multi-million dollar development project known as the Smithfield Gateway will be a mixed-use development near East Stroudsburg.

EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. From Skycam 16, you can see heavy machinery and lots of construction work happening off Route 209 near East Stroudsburg. It's all part of a major development project called the Smithfield Gateway.

It takes up more than 120 acres of land in Smithfield Township.

Ken Schuchman owns Odd-Lot Outlet. His business has a front-row seat to construction work.

"We are very, very excited. We've been here for 20 years, and we've been waiting for this type of project to come to town," said Schuchman.

The project broke ground in 2019. That's also when several buildings were demolished to make way for new structures.

Apartments, retail and office space, a grocery store, and a medical building are some of what is planned for this area.

"We do have a 40,000 square foot office building that has been leased out. Of course, we also have the Dunkin' Donuts that will be taking a spot, so they will have a much nicer facility once we get that constructed, a lot of retail, a lot of apartments. It will be a total mixed-use project with townhouses and apartments. So we will have a mix of a type of residential units also," said Doug Olmstead, Smithfield Gateway development manager.

While people are excited to see machines moving, they are really eager to see the improvement project on Route 209.

Route 209 will be converted from two lanes to five. A loop road will be built that goes through the former site of Mosier's Dairy Farm to Route 447.

Drivers Newswatch 16 spoke to hope the change will alleviate some congestion in this area.

"That will be very important for the area to continue growing. Usually, the roads are the last thing they do. They put a lot of places in and forget about the road, and then the congestion is unbelievable," said Al Schmid, Tannersville.

The Smithfield Gateway project is expected to create 1,000 jobs.

Developers say the project is being done in phases, with the first building scheduled to open to the public in 2023.

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Construction of Smithfield Gateway underway - WNEP Scranton/Wilkes-Barre

Slowing demand at architecture firms last year is expected to contribute to a projected 5.7% decline in construction spending for 2021, according to a new consensus forecast from The American Institute of Architects (AIA).

The AIA Consensus Construction Forecast Panel, comprised of leading economic forecasters, expects steep declines this year in construction spending on office buildings, hotels, and amusement and recreation centers. Health care and public safety are the only major sectors that are slated to produce gains in 2021.

Growth in nonresidential construction is expected for 2022, with three percent gains projected for the overall building market matched by both the commercial and institutional sectors.

The December jobs report confirmed that the economy needs additional support in order to move to a sustainable economic expansion, said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. As pandemic concerns begin to wane and economic activity begins to pick up later in 2021, there is likely to be considerable pent-up demand for nonresidential space, leading to anticipated growth in construction spending in 2022.

Complete details on the latest Consensus Construction Forecast can be found on AIAs website.

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Nonresidential Building Spending Expected to Decline Through 2021 - ForConstructionPros.com

Rea Ventures Group and its development partners have completed the acquisition of an eight-property assemblage comprising approximately 1.5 acres at the border of Ormewood Park and East Atlanta with plans to develop The Lodge, a mixed-use development anchored by affordable housing project Abbington at Ormewood and a new ground-up office building.

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The Lodge first announced in 2019 with the acquisition of the land is now expected to break ground in summer 2021 immediately across from the East Atlanta Village business district, at 525 Moreland Avenue. At the site sits the projects namesake, the 15,000 square-foot historic Masonic Lodge building which will be restored as part of the development. The project also includes a new office building at the corner of the intersection.

Abbington at Ormewood will offer 42 units of affordable housing geared toward households with a mix of incomes from 30 percent to 80 percent of area median income (AMI), with an average of 60 percent AMI. Were proud to be part of this collaborative effort to add a range of affordable housing options to an area where housing prices have escalated rapidly over the past 10 years, Trey Coogle, managing partner at Rea Ventures, said.

The commercial team, led by a partnership between local developers Clark Property R+D, King Properties, and Porch & Square, will develop approximately 30,000 square feet of office, retail, and restaurant space.

The development team worked closely with Ormewood Park and East Atlanta residents to explore design solutions and respond to community concerns: preservation of the historic Masonic Lodge building, affordable housing, outdoor public space, commercial amenities, and work centers. It also uses a transitional height strategy to concentrate density along the Moreland Avenue frontage, while scaling down at the edges adjacent to single-family homes.

After six months, 10 design charrettes, and 12 neighborhood meetings, a necessary rezoning of a portion of the site was unanimously approved by the community and the City of Atlanta in May 2019 but was delayed due to the pandemic.

The development team is now proceeding with finalizing the design, entitlement details, and site preparation before submitting their application for building permits. Construction is targeted to start by the Summer of this year, with the site work and the residential phase of the project completed by 2021. The commercial space is currently for lease by Perry King with King Properties and will break ground in phases as buildings are preleased.

Link:
[Exclusive] Summer Groundbreaking Planned For The Lodge in East Atlanta - What Now Atlanta

Global design firm Fentress Architectshas ranked as one of the top architecture firms in Building Design + Construction Magazines annual Giants 400 Report. Internationally known for innovative, award-winning design of diverse building types including airports, museums, convention centers, civic and government buildings, laboratories, and higher education facilities Fentress ranked No.36 on the Top 155 Architecture Firms list, progressing nine places from its 2019 ranking at No.45.

In addition to the firms recognition as one of the Top Architecture Firms for 2020, Fentress, whose portfolio features over 40 convention center designs including the recently completed LEED Silver Miami Beach Convention Center, is ranked No.5 in the Convention Centers/Conference Centers sector. With over $23.8 Billion and 115 Million square feet in aviation projects, the firm is ranked No.8 in the Airport sector. Fentress also landed No.22 in the overall Cultural Facilities sector, No.10 in the Museums and Galleries category, No.63 in the Office Buildings/Core+Shell sector, and No.98 in Office All Building Work.

We are proud that our firm was recognized for our continuous efforts to elevate design excellence in public architecture, said Fentress Architects Principal in Charge of Design Curtis Fentress, FAIA, RIBA. Our ability to drive growth throughout the industry reflects our teams unwavering commitment to innovation, along with the collaborative efforts of our clients and project partners.

Over the past year, Fentress projects achieved major milestones including the completion of four world-class projects: the new Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe, KS; the new Concourse D and Terminal Wings at Nashville International Airport in Nashville, TN, which also became one of only five airport facilities in the US to achieve LEED v4 Silver certification; the Terminal Balancing and Concourse E Extension at Portland International Airport in Portland, OR; the Denver Art Museum North Building Renovation and Anna and John J. Sie Welcome Center in Denver, CO; and the Miami Beach Convention Center Expansion and Renovation in Miami Beach, FL, which also achieved LEED Silver certification.

As a testament to Fentress recognition, the firm garnered 16 awards for design excellence and innovation in 2020 alone, including the American Institute of Architecture (AIA) Colorados Twenty-Five Year Award for the Denver International Airport as well as the AIA Western Mountain Regions Twenty-Five Year Award for the Clark County Government Center. The Miami Beach Convention Center landed a Silver Award in the Faade category of the 2020 World Architecture News (WAN) Awards and a 2020 BEST Award in the Serve category from the International Design Associations (IIDA) Rocky Mountain Chapter.

Positioned for a strong 2021, Fentress is anticipating the upcoming completion of the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Nashville, TN as well as the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Washington, DC. Additionally, the firm is working on the new South Terminal C at Orlando International Airport, the Terminal Lobby and International Arrivals Facility at Nashville International Airport, the new Mickey Leland International Terminal at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the U.S. Courthouse Huntsville, Alabama, and the National Museum of Intelligence and Special Operations just to name a few.

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Fentress Architects Ranked Among Top Architecture Firms in the Nation - milehighcre.com

This morning, the Milan-based real estate investment fund COIMA SGR announced that it had crowned a team of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) and Stefano Boeri Architetti the winners of an international design contest to fill Pirelli 39, part of a massive portside redevelopment in Milan.

Wedged between Central Station and the Scalo Farini railyard (which OMA is overhauling), Pirelli 39 is home to an existing tower decommissioned by Milan in 2015 over the buildings unsuitability for modern uses and lack of seismic protection. The surrounding site is also in need of environmental remediation. Once complete, Pirelli 39 will join a larger collection of parcels making up the newly reinvigorated Porta Nuova Gioia area, which aims to better integrate the Porta Nuova business district with the citys center.

Our studio is thrilled to have this opportunity to make a meaningful architectural contribution to the city of Milan, our first project in Italy, wrote DS+R partner Elizabeth Diller. As much of our work focuses on the future of cities, the Pirelli 39 project presents a great opportunity to develop a new model of mixed-use development and sustainable urban growth. The project combines the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings with environmentally responsible new construction, and a vibrant living cultural destination devoted to the art and science of plants.

The winning proposal for Pirelli 39 is a complex mixture of new and repurposed buildings that will bring a mixture of residential and office space to the site, along with a bulbous, futuristic laboratory-slash-greenhouse bridge encased in diagrid glass.

The existing building will be retrofitted with both seismic and sustainability upgrades, bringing it in line with Next Generation EU standards (passed as part of the E.U.s COVID recovery plan at the end of 2020, the package includes stringent building efficiency standards intended to combat climate change). As COIMA noted in its selection announcement, Pirelli 39 will be the first Italian redevelopment to be built along Next Generation EU standards.

While the retrofit of the existing office building will reskin it from a clunky International-style office block with heavy mullions to a more typical glass-enclosed tower, the real star of the renderings revealed today is the new residential tower planned for next door. Each floor juts out to a heavily planted terrace, and COIMA has promised that the buildings structural elements will be made from timber, while the nearly 30,000 square feet of photovoltaic panels are projected to generate approximately 65 percent of the buildings annual energy usage. Altogether, an estimated 18,000 square feet of vegetation has been planned to cover the facade.

The residential tower will be linked with the office building via the conversion of an existing building on site that crosses the Via Melchiorre Gioia, one of the citys main thoroughfares. The bridge building will anchor the redevelopment, becoming a transparent greenhouse and events and exhibitions space flowing from the lower levels of each tower and inflating in the center. The bridge is already slated to become an extension of the Biblioteca degli Alberi (Library of Trees) laboratory as well.

COIMA noted that the central theme of the competition was adaptive reuse over demolition and that 70 teams, made up of 359 architecture, landscape, and engineering firms from across 15 different countries, ultimately submitted.

No estimated date of completion or budget has been revealed for the project yet.

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Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Stefano Boeri Architetti tapped for massive mixed-use revival in Milan - The Architect's Newspaper

A blaze which destroyed a wood store in the garden of a home in Tipton St John spread to a small gazebo.

Fire crews from Ottery St Mary and Sidmouth were called to the property at lunchtime on Wednesday (January 27) where they put out the fire then dragged the wood from the store to make sure it would not reignite.

The fire crews said the cause of the blaze was accidental and urged care when disposing of ash or other combustible materials.

An Ottery Fire Station spokesperson said: Crews were mobilised to a domestic fire which was later identified as a wood store, which had spread to a small gazebo.

Crews got to work quickly using a hose reel jet and small tools to extinguish and drag out the wood pile to ensure that it was cool and not going to reignite.

The cause of the fire was accidental.

They added: Please remember to always dispose of ash and other burnt or combustible materials properly and ensure they are well away from fuel sources, such as wood.

Fire crews were called to the property shortly before 1pm after the alarm was raised by a member of the public.

When the crews arrived they found an outdoor gazebo and wood store on fire.

Firefighters used a thermal imaging camera, a hose reel jet and drag forks to extinguish the blaze.

The log store was completely destroyed by the blaze and the gazebo was left with 20 per cent fire damage.

A Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: One fire engine from Sidmouth and one fire engine from Ottery St Mary attended.

On arrival there was a fire within an outdoor gazeboand nearby log store.

Crews got to work with a thermal imagingcamera, one hose reel jet andtwo drag forks to put the fire out.

The gazebo was twenty per cent damaged by fire and the log store one hundred per cent destroyed by the fire.

This is believed to have been accidental.

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Blaze totally destroys wood store & spreads to gazebo in Tipton St John garden - East Devon News.co.uk

On the banks of the River Mole, at the outskirts of London, is this striking house looking for a new owner.

Its not often that we feature overtly modern houses in Country Life. When we do, its generally because they offer something really very striking and different.

That could certainly be said of this house close to Hampton Court Palace in south-west London, a contemporary home on Matham Road thats for sale via Knight Frank at 2.495 million.

From the outside, number 9 is a pleasant building, but its only when you go past the front door that you realise its a very stylish home indeed.

The present owners clearly have a strong vision that theyve been utterly confident in making real, and its hard not to admire the great strokes both in design and decoration.

This extends even to the colour-co-ordinated bookshelves. Weve always been slightly suspicious of those who arrange their books like this if theyre to be used rather than for show, shouldnt they be on the shelves via theme or author? but you cant deny that it looks pretty marvellous when done on this scale.

Among the highlights of the house are the two enormous bi-folding doors which open out at an oblique angle from the living/dining/family room out onto a garden laid out by a Chelsea Flower Show gold medallist.

Theres even a garden studio (with power and even broadband, for working-from-home purposes) in a pretty open space which runs all the way down to the River Mole.

Once you get to the water, there is still another feature. There is no small jetty with an apologetic rowing boat; instead you find a beautiful wooden gazebo with a huge dining table beneath. Its not hard to imagine the long summer evenings enjoying a glass of wine by the water.

Matham Road offers a majestic amount of space for its semi-urban setting, with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, five reception rooms and the aforementioned 34ft by 34ft open-plan kitchen/dining room.

The house is finished to an exceptionally high standard with all sorts of modern toys. There is a sound system throughout, a cinema room and underfloor heating.

Upstairs, meanwhile, the four bedrooms are equally bold and the large master bedroom with separate dressing room area and en-suite enjoys views down the garden.

Matham Road is for sale via Knight Frank at 2.495m see more details and pictures.

Catch up on the best country houses for sale this week that have come to the market via Country Life.

The indispensable guide for getting into the country without ending up out of touch with the town.

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A incredibly stylish home with studio and waterside gazebo, just down the river from Hampton Court - Country Life