Winning bid of $4.5 million less than original estimates

The Farmington School Board approved a contract Thursday for its new elementary school with a Cabot construction company.

GAG Construction was the apparent low bidder a week ago, bidding $4.5 million to build the 53,700-square-foot building. Construction could begin before the end of the month.

The school will be built on a 15-acre tract south of U.S. 62 and west of Double Springs Road. The district plans to open the new school for kindergarten through second grade in August 2008. Read more…

Energy plays more of a role in building and design than ever before, and it has just as much to do with health and the environment as it does with operations and the bottom line. We have entered an era in which a building’s energy productivity looms ever larger as a factor in business and global competition.

The global industrial sector accounts for 27 percent of the total projected increase (57 percent) in the world’s liquid energy demand between 2004 and 2030, as IMT noted last week based on the recently released Energy Information Administration (EIA) “International Energy Outlook 2007” report. Only the transportation sector surpasses industry’s projected demand.
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San Diego County housing projects won three Gold Nugget and 19 merit awards last week at the annual PCBC-The Premier Building Show in San Francisco, where the latest products were on display and various industry issues were discussed.

PCBC, which previously stood for Pacific Coast Builders Conference, attracts home builders, mostly from the 14 Western states, who this year submitted 577 entries in 51 categories for review by a panel of architects and industry veterans. Read more…

Cables taut, the yellow crane swung its 8,200-pound load through the humid morning air.

And the Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair’s building plans, while not falling into place, came together just the same.

Friday at the fairgrounds, the crane lowered onto a cinderblock foundation the second unfinished half of a 28-by-44-foot structure that will house the fair’s security force and emergency medical services. Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology carpentry students, who built the sections plunked down in a pasture along Boone Street, will add the roof and siding next week. Read more…

Two and a half years after the historic landing of ESA’s Huygens probe on Titan, a new set of results on Saturn’s largest moon is ready to be presented. Titan, as seen through the eyes of the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe, still holds exciting surprises, scientists say. The results are presented in a special edition of Planetary and Space Science Journal and at a press conference held today (June 1st) in Athens.

On 14 January 2005, after a seven-year voyage on board the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini spacecraft, ESA’s Huygens probe spent 2 hours and 28 minutes descending by parachute to land on Titan. It then sent transmissions from the surface for another seventy minutes before Cassini moved out of range.
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They aimed for silver, will likely get gold - and in the process, ended up with a prestigious Innovation in Architecture Award from the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada.

That’s a quick summary of the accomplishments Manasc Isaac Architects Ltd. of Edmonton chalked up through its work on the $28-million Greenstone government of Canada building in Yellowknife, N.W.T.

Designed in its geographic context and reflecting the city’s mining heritage, the building is touted as the first structure north of the 60th parallel to achieve gold status via the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program established by the Canada Green Building Council.

With that certification process not quite complete, partner Richard Isaac stops short of saying the gold standard is in the bag. But he will say the firm surpassed its initial aim of silver certification - and has more than enough “points” for gold status.

Isaac also admits that a booming economy means the firm, well-known for its focus on energy-efficient designs and healthy workplaces, is “so busy that we actually don’t take on projects anymore with clients that don’t have an interest in sustainability.”
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When Brad and Lily Unroe first saw the home, the original oak floors were hidden under carpeting; woodwork and walls had to be repainted; and the only full bath in the house needed updating.

But the couple were attracted to the home’s period details, including the moldings and the hand-carved flourishes on the staircase, and to the neighborhood, which offered a diversity of homes as well as downtown convenience.
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In a move to diversify, Clearwater based architectural firm, Design Styles, Inc. has announced that it is continuing to grow its services into the commercial arena.

“We will continue to develop the residential architectural designs that our firm is already so well known for” said Peter Fertig, AAIA, partner of Design Styles, “we have diversified our commercial architectural services to better serve the growing needs of our clients.”
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The Metropolitan at Reston Town Center is a new high-rise luxury apartment building with plenty of amenities and high-end finishes.

The chic interior design is enhanced by tasteful contemporary works by Washington area artists. The most striking feature is the rooftop — a combination of open-air pool and terrace, along with a 12,000-square-foot enclosed entertainment, fitness and lounge area.

The apartments are at the western end of the pedestrian-friendly Reston Town Center, a multi-block mixed-use development that includes an outdoor shopping mall, homes, offices and outdoor entertainment space. At the center of it all, an open-air plaza holds a large ice skating rink in winter and music and other events the rest of the year. Read more…

ALBION — The Orleans Economic Development Agency is planning a new building for the Medina Business Park.

But right now that facility, a proposed light manufacturing and warehousing business, is pixels on a screen because it is being virtually constructed for the time being, according to Village of Medina Zoning and Code Enforcement Officer Martin Busch.

“This is a unique project,” Busch said Thursday at the Orleans County Planning Board meeting. “It’s as much a marketing tool as it is a site plan. You will be able to virtually tour the building.” Read more…