AFH in the BAC Sustainable Design Program

BAC Master of Design Studies Sustainable Design from The Boston Architectural College on Vimeo.

I wanted to take a moment to share this video, put out by the BAC’s sustainable design program. The beginning shows our Artists for Humanity project, the shots taken during a tour I gave for students in the sustainable design degree program.

For more information, see the BAC’s page on the program.

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Rock Spring in the News

Rock Spring Centre, a mixed-use development in Bethesda, Maryland, was recently featured in the the press at REBusiness Online. The development – a joint project of The Peterson Cos. and DRI Development Services and master planned by Arrowstreet – is planned for LEED certification and will include retail, a 200-room hotel, residential units, and office space.

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AFH Canopy Wins Best Installation Contest

Artists for Humanity has a new entry canopy, which has just won an award from 3-Form. The original design of the building included structural points of support, but at the time of its construction there was not enough funding to build a canopy. Now, just in time for their 20th anniversary, they’ve got one, funded by the Brown Fund and design/built by the AFH students, under guidance by a group of MassArt students taught by Sam Batchelor. Pat Cornelison and I helped in the design charrettes and supported the project in various other ways.

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L.L. Bean Openings

L.L. Bean had a busy fall opening three new stores, and at Arrowstreet we helped them develop some new store models along the way. King of Prussia Mall, just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was L.L. Bean’s first venture into a smaller (16,000 SF) in-line store, and opened on September 30th. On October 20th, they followed with a more typical stand-alone store (22,000 SF) in Westchester’s Ridge Hill in Yonkers, New York; L.L. Bean & Arrowstreet modified previous layouts to make this floor plan much more flexible for their various seasonal displays. Their last opening at Paramus Park Mall was a bit of a combination of the two models – a mall store with both a mall entrance and exterior face; the store (15,000 SF) opened on November 18th…

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Nordica Theatre at Freeport Village

The new Nordica Theatre is sure to provide an exciting evening alternative in Freeport, Maine, where spending a night out at the movies hasn’t been possible in many years. Less than 10,000 people live in Freeport, but with a regional draw from outlying areas there has long been strong interest in bringing a movie theater to the center of town. The only challenge has been…everything. Who would build it? Where? Who would operate it? Most importantly, who would come…

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Arrowstreet Design Forums

Each month, AST holds an in-house Design Forum where we get together as a firm and discuss relevant design related topics. The forums provide a great outlet for critiquing current and completed AST projects as well as discussing general topics important to the design community…

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KIPP Academy Lynn Update

The New KIPP Academy Lynn project is being delivered using the “CM at Risk” procurement method. Consigli Construction Co. is the Construction Manager for the project, and we have been working with their team during construction to leverage the Building Information Model (BIM) that was originally used to design and document the project…

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LEED for Homes: Multifamily Midrise

In late 2010, the United States Green Building Council expanded the LEED for Homes certification with a new Multifamily Midrise category, in order for 4-6 story residential buildings to pursue LEED certification. As the original LEED for Homes certification was designed for single family and low rise multi-family, the program did not accommodate the special demands of the slightly taller projects, especially with the increased density of living units…

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Fun with Foam Core Mock Ups

We recently took somewhat of an unconventional approach to creating a mock-up room for one of our hospitality clients by actually creating furniture out of foam core so we can quickly get a feel for the space. Since all of the furniture pieces we’ve selected for this renovation project are custom, and the design and construction schedule for the renovation is very tight, we didn’t have the time to do a traditional model room with actual manufactured furniture (which is why we’re calling it a mock-up instead of a model room). This was especially important as the hotel is upgrading from queen beds to king beds, so we want to be sure the client is comfortable with the layout.

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ULI TAP: Jefferson Street Extension

I will be participating in a ULI TAP (Technical Assistance Panel) on October 11 in Fall River. The panel has been asked to examine the Jefferson Street Extension, comprised of several redeveloped mills and privately owned property zoned for industry. The Fall River Office of Economic Development (FROED) has marketed the area for a variety of uses and is looking for suggestions on how to best package these parcels for highest and best use.

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