Tour: The Reach at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Steven Holl Architects’ expansion of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. officially opens on September 7. Known as The Reach, the expansion is located on 4.6 acres immediately south of the original 1971 structure by Edward Durell Stone. Rather than build onto the existing structure, the architect has designed a series of pavilions sited on the largest green roof in Washington, DC. The pavilions and connecting underground spaces house rehearsal rooms and classrooms, a lecture hall, multipurpose meeting rooms, and an event space. Holl envisions his design as a means to connect the expansion with the landscape and the adjacent Potomac River.
Holl employs titanium white, board-formed concrete and backlit clear and etched glass windows as the primary exterior materials for the three pavilions.
The pavilions sit within a four season landscape of expansive lawns, wild grasses, sedum varietals, and a ginkgo grove. Pathways are defined by bluestone pavers.
Welcome Pavilion
Welcome Lobby
The entry lobby features a visitors desk, coffee bar, and a Wall of Gratitude recognizing leadership donors.
Justice Forum
The Justice Forum, named after one of the five ideals commonly attributed to President Kennedy, is a 144 seat lecture hall with the capacity for film screenings and small-format performances. Primary finishes include cherry wood and “crinkle concrete” that diffuses sound waves with its faceted shape created by the unique formwork.
Multipurpose Studios
Skylight Pavilion
The Skylight Pavilion serves as a public atrium space that can accommodate special events, seated dinners, and receptions. Acoustic plaster covers the walls and ceiling within the 36-foot tall space, while a large curved glass opening allows for views out to the river, lower lawn, and reflecting pool.
River Pavilion
The River Pavilion serves as a flexible interior and exterior space with dramatic views of the Potomac River, the River Plaza and reflecting pool.
Sculpture
The Bridge
A pedestrian bridge spans Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, connecting the Kennedy Center campus to the Potomac riverfront.
Construction Tour: Asbury Ocean Club
Northeast corner from Ocean Avenue.
Just 70 minutes south of New York on the Jersey Shore, Asbury Park is undergoing a renaissance of culture and real estate development. Adding to the recent boom in live music and restaurants, a new hotel and residential condo development from iStar is under construction at the oceanfront. The Asbury Ocean Club is part of iStar’s 10-year, multi-billion-dollar redevelopment plan for the Asbury Park oceanfront which includes the Asbury Hotel, a bowling alley and music venue at Asbury Lanes, and Monroe’s 34 condo homes.
Southeast corner from Ocean Avenue.
The 17-story Asbury Ocean Club is designed by Handel Architects and occupies an oceanfront site at Ocean Avenue, between 3rd Avenue and 4th Avenue. A 54-room boutique hotel will anchor the four story podium, with the condo residences in a tower on the north half of the site.
Southwest corner.
Northwest corner.
Looking west from the beach.
Sales Gallery
Model.
Model.
Model Residence
Residences will range from one to three bedrooms, each with ocean view outdoor terraces. Interiors feature floor-to-ceiling glass and a light palette including bleached white oak engineered hardwood flooring, white lacquered custom kitchen cabinetry by Spazzi of Spain, and polished porcelain Marvel Calacatta bathroom walls.
Living/dining room.
Kitchen.
Dining room.
Living room.
Private terrace.
Bedroom.
Bedroom.
Bathroom.
Amenities
Hotel guests and residents will share indoor-outdoor amenity spaces on the fourth floor which will include a terrace and pool, pool bar and grill, a garden pavilion, and an outdoor lounge. Other amenities will include an ocean view fitness center designed by the Wright Fit, a yoga room with meditation terrace, spa, children’s facilities, entertainment and meeting spaces, a 17-seat cinema screening room, library and game room, event room, and storage rooms. A private members-only beach club with pool, cabanas, bar and grill, restrooms, and changing facilities will be built nearby and open in 2020.
Future amenity terrace.
Future amenity deck with pool.
Residences
Penthouse Residence
Southeast corner of the penthouse residence.
View north from the penthouse residence.
Architect: Handel Architects; Creative Lead/Design Director: Anda Andrei Design; Garden Designer: Madison Cox; Landscape Architect: Melillo + Bauer Associates; Developer: iStar; Program: Hotel, Residential Condo; Location: Asbury Park, New Jersey; Completion: 2019.
Construction Update: International Spy Museum
Southwest corner.
Construction has wrapped up at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners’ new home for the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. Previously located in a 19th Century building in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of DC since 2002, the museum will open in its new building at L’Enfant Plaza this May. The three-story exhibition space is located in a pleated “black box” that angles out towards 10th Street and accented by red steel fins. A glass veil at the west facade encloses an atrium and double height ground floor lobby and museum store. A setback two-story event space with views of the city sits above the angled exhibition volume, the roof of which allows for a rooftop terrace.
South entry.
Ground floor lobby.
West facade.
Looking up at the west facade.
West entry.
Northwest corner.
Closeup of the north facade.
Tour: Miami Design District Museum Garage
Miami Design District’s latest garage has opened to the public. The project is a collaboration between WORKac, J. Mayer H., Clavel Arquitectos, Nicolas Buffe, K/R Architects, and Sagmeister & Walsh. Each firm has designed a portion of the garage’s facade to produce the effect of a collage spanning the entire enclosure.
WORKac’s facade consists of a four foot thickened space that allows for a vertical progression of public spaces, including a graffiti art gallery, children’s play area, a garden, a DJ platform, lending library, listening lounge, fountain, bar, car washing/charging station, and space for pets.
Architects/Designers: WORKac, J. Mayer H., Clavel Arquitectos, Nicolas Buffe, K/R Architects, and Sagmeister & Walsh; Program: Parking Garage; Location: Miami, FL; Completion: 2018.
Construction Update DC: Midtown Center
Southwest corner from L Street NW.
Construction has wrapped up at Midtown Center, an office complex in downtown Washington, D.C. Developed by Carr Properties, the 12-story, 862,000 RSF complex is built on the site of the former Washington Post headquarters.
Southeast corner from L Street NW.
SHoP Architects has designed the complex with a c-shaped footprint, with retail wrapping around a public plaza and office floors above. The east and west office blocks are connected by a network of pedestrian bridges at multiple floors. A 5,000 SF rooftop terrace and shared conference space caps the office building.
Close-up of the west façade of the west tower.
The office block is clad in a glass-and-copper façade designed with panels that gradually rotate outward to provide solar shading without compromising views. Over time, the copper elements of the curtain wall will gradually patina.
Criss crossing pedestrian bridges above the public plaza.
Detail of the pedestrian bridges.
Pedestrian bridges connecting the east and west tower.
Transbay Transit Center and Salesforce Tower
Following the official opening of the Salesforce Tower in May, Pelli Clarke Pelli's adjacent Transbay Transit Center has now officially opened. The 1.5 million square feet multimodal transit hub spans five city blocks and is topped by a 5.4 acre public park. Due to the skyscrapers which flank either side, a stroll on the rooftop park feels similar to the experience of the High Line. A perforated aluminum screen composed of 4,486 conjoined panels clads the exterior above the ground floor, creating a lantern like effect at night.
Seismic joint.
Salesforce Tower.
Salesforce Tower.
Tour: Institute for Contemporary Arts at VCU
East facade from West Broad Street.
Steven Holl Architects' latest museum, the Institute for Contemporary Art's Markel Center, has opened on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth Universityin Richmond, Virginia.
Looking up at the performance space volume.
The centerpiece of the design is the 33 foot high forum located at the intersection of West Broad Street and North Belvidere Street. Off of this main forum volume, visitors can access the 240-seat auditorium, sculpture garden, and the four contemporary art galleries that fork into multiple volumes along West Broad Street.
Looking up at the forum and performance space volumes intersection.
Pre-weathered titanium zinc, the primary cladding material, was selected for its environmental friendliness as a 100% recyclable material and its flexibility in cladding the curved shapes of the museum.
Northeast corner from West Broad Street.
Other sustainable features of the design include the use of 7,500-square-feet of green roofs on three of the four galleries and the use of geothermal wells for the central heating/cooling system. The wells are drilled down to approximately 460 feet and use the earth as a heat source in the winter and a heat sink in the summer for the building's climate control system.
Sculpture Garden
North entry.
Northwest corner at the sculpture garden.
Entry door hardware detail.
Forum
South entry.
Ground Floor Gallery
Stair railing detail.
Sculpture Terrace Garden
Second Floor Galleries
Third Floor Gallery
Performance Space
Cafe
Basement
Architect: Steven Holl Architects with BCWH Architects; Structural Engineer: Robert Silman Associate; Mechanical Engineers: Arup, OLDS; Landscape: Michael Boucher Landscape Architect; Client: Virginia Commonwealth University; Program: Museum; Location: Richmond, VA; Completion: Spring 2018.
Construction Update: Jade Signature
East facade.
Construction has finished at Jade Signature, Fortune International Group's 57-story, 192-unit residential tower in the Sunny Isle Beach neighborhood of Miami. Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the tower features a parallelogram footprint that minimizes the skyscraper's shadow footprint on the beach. The orientation also maximizes the sun exposure for the ocean-facing units. The concrete structure provides balconies along the east and west facades that increase floor area in most units by approximately 30 percent. Corner balconies feature the tower's signature sculptural concrete columns, with glass railings that tilt outward to minimize reflection.
Close-up of the southwest corner.
East facade.
Close-up of the tower balconies.
Looking up at the north facade.
Northeast corner from Collins Avenue.
West facade from Collins Avenue.
Looking up at the west facade.
Architect: Herzog & de Meuron; Interiors: PYR; Landscape Design: Raymond Jungles; Developer: Fortune International Group; Program: Residential; Location: Sunny Isle, Miami, Florida; Completion: 2018.
Construction Update: Faena Arts District
Faena Forum (center), Faena Bazaar (right), and Faena Park (far right) from Collins Avenue.
Faena Forum
South facade of the Faena Forum.
Southwest corner of the Faena Forum.
West facade of the Faena Forum.
Looking up at the west facade of the Faena Forum.
Northwest corner of the Faena Forum.
Northwest corner of the Faena Forum.
Plaza.
Plaza entry.
Assembly hall.
Assembly hall.
Assembly hall cylinder.
Looking up at the ceiling of the assembly hall cylinder.
Faena Bazaar
East facade of Faena Bazaar.
Looking up at the south facade of Faena Bazaar.
Northeast corner of Faena Bazaar.
Faena Park
East facade of Faena Park.
Looking up at the east facade of Faena Park.
Close-up of the facade of Faena Park.
United States Courthouse Los Angeles
Looking up at the north façade from West 1st Street.
Construction is wrapping up at Skidmore Owings & Merrill's new United States courthouse indowntown Los Angeles. The building is designed as a glass clad cube that hovers over a stone base. As part of the sustainability strategy to achieve LEED Platinum status, a serrated curtain wall cladding will help to drastically reduce solar heat gain and maximize views. Inside, the 633,000-square-foot facility will contain 24 courtrooms and 32 judges’ chambers.
U.S. seal glass frit close-up.
Tower base close-up.
Façade corner close-up.
East façade with the Los Angeles Times Building in the foreground.
West elevation from South Olive Street.
Looking east from South Grand Avenue and West 2nd Street.
Southwest corner from South Hill Street and West 2nd Street.
Façade close-up.
Façade corner close-up.
U.S. Courthouse with the Walt Disney Concert Hall in the foreground.
