BD&C Presents Building Team Project Awards

Building Design and Construction , a sister publication to CSE, recently presented its annual Building Team Project Awards. Four projects were Grand Award winners:

Emerson College's Tufte Performance and Production Center, Boston. An 80,000-sq.-ft. structure sitting on a 7,000-sq.-ft. footprint, the Tufte Center abuts existing buildings on three sides and is separated from buildings on its fourth side by an 18-ft.-wide alley. Though tucked away, the building argues its case for icon status with an 11-story, computer-choreographed LED light display in a glass stairwell at the end of the alley. While design staff at Elkus/Manfredi Architects were able to turn a traditionally dark and uninviting space into a free, public light show, they felt the alley wasn't an appropriate entry point to the facility. The solution was to provide access via an adjacent, Emerson-owned building.

Southfield Public Library, Southfield, Mich. Chief Librarian Doug Zyskowski envisioned a "gateway to everything we know or have dreamed of knowing." His vision is realized in a 127,000-sq.-ft., three-story library that, besides books, houses a café, thematic childrens' exhibits and more than 250 different types of lighting fixtures. One standout element in a building full of them is a three-story glass tower that acts as an entrance from the southeast and houses an executive conference room-within-a-room on the top floor. Despite its unique features, the building is quite practical, as staff services, computer labs, study rooms, restrooms and fireplaces are stacked in the same spot on each floor.

Walt Disney Concert Hall at the Music Center of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles. Frank Gehry's signature curving, metallic style comes to life once again, this time in the form of a 293,000-sq.-ft. concert hall built as the new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. One of the project's key requirements was for the general contractor and major subcontractors to be able to use CATIA (computer-graphic aided three-dimensional applied application) software, which Gehry's office uses.

Soldier Field and North Burnham Park Redevelopment, Chicago. Aside from the 64 Doric columns that have defined the stadium for decades, pretty much everything else in this controversial renovation is new, including a seating bowl of 61,700 seats, 8,000 club seats, 133 luxury suites, enlarged concourses and vastly improved fan amenities. Additionally, the 66 acres of parking lots and pavement that used to surround the stadium have been replaced with 80 acres of park land and public space, and the majority of parking has been directed to two underground garages.

The Ford Rouge Visitor Center in Dearborn, Mich. and Stax Music Academy and Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis, Tenn. both won Merit Awards.

For more on these projects go to www.bdcmag.com.