ELEVATIONS

(Los Angeles) December 10, 2013 ― The University of Southern California (USC) has selected DLR Group to conduct a Master Facilities Renovation and Development Feasibility Planning Study for the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The study will commence immediately. The USC Trojans have been a continuous tenant of the Coliseum since its opening in 1923. USC recently signed a long-term lease to operate the Coliseum and be the home field for Trojan football. DLR Group’s Feasibility Study will develop a plan to guide capital improvements and ongoing fundraising support for the project.

"DLR Group believes the Los Angeles Coliseum is the most iconic sporting venue in the United States," said DLR Group Sports Designer Don Barnum, AIA. “Our aim is a strategic modernization of the Coliseum to elevate the game day experience for USC fans and create the most dominant home field advantage in college football for the Trojans."

The aim of the study is to transform the Coliseum into a modern home for USC football while maintaining the program’s traditions and the historical significance of the venue. DLR Group will collaborate with USC to identify new revenue streams to finance and sustain operations to assist the university in meeting the capital improvement obligations of its Master Lease.

“It’s an honor to be selected by USC for this assignment,” said DLR Group Principal Andrea Cohen Gehring, FAIA, and USC graduate. “The Coliseum is a Los Angeles and USC treasure. DLR Group looks forward to creating an enhanced family friendly experience to ensure that the Coliseum remains an important university and community asset for the next 100 years.”

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has been the home for the USC Trojan football program since 1923. It has hosted two Olympic Games, Super Bowl I and VI, a World Series, a multitude of professional and amateur sporting events, and will host the 2015 Special Olympics.

Built in 1923, the Coliseum was upgraded in 1932 and 1984 prior to hosting the Olympic Games, and it was designated a National Historic Registered Landmark in 1984. A series of improvements were made from 1993-1995, including structural repairs following the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

Designer Jason Lembke, AIA, to lead K-12 design in Chicago; Public safety expert Jake Davis, AIA, will lead Justice+Civic practice.

K-12 education designer Jason Lembke, AIA, LEED AP, and public safety expert Jake Davis, AIA, LEED AP, have joined DLR Group. The pair adds experienced design leadership for the firm in Chicago. Each is charged with leading and growing the firm’s K-12 Education and Justice+Civic practices in Illinois and throughout the upper Midwest.

A proven client leader, Lembke brings 14 years of experience in planning, programming, and design of new construction and facility modernizations/ renovations for a variety of school districts. During his career, Lembke has led successful referendum campaigns and authored winning grant applications to secure funding.

“Jason Lembke brings a bold vision for innovative learning environments and is an expert in 21st Century school design,” said DLR Group Senior Principal Tom Gerster, AIA, North Central Regional Leader. “His relationships, portfolio, and commitment to sustainable design elevates DLR Group’s presence in Chicago and the state of Illinois.

“Schools are examining creative ways to develop their students into future leaders through instruction and curriculum,” said Lembke. “Thoughtful design is the best response to foster those vital, yet sometimes subtle, nuances in local educational needs.”

In the roles of business development leader, client leader, and project manager, Davis has led project teams to program and design a variety of public safety and justice building types. He will collaborate with clients to design sustainable, flexible facilities to meet the needs of communities in Illinois, Indiana Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.

“Jake Davis understands that communities must receive a return on the investment made in public facilities,” said Gerster. “He understands how to build consensus and get large, multi-functional justice center projects moving forward for clients.”

“The Justice and Public Safety sector has pent up demand,” said Davis. “DLR Group has the resources and expertise to deliver highly functional, yet flexible law enforcement facilities that clients can operate more efficiently than existing facilities.”

United Launch Alliance Centennial, Colorado

The Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin combined their Delta and Atlas rocket programs in 2006 to form United Launch Alliance (ULA). Management, engineering, test and mission-support functions for this new enterprise were scattered in multiple buildings in Denver, with some locations being as much as 40 minutes apart.

When ULA decided to unify this dispersed network of 2,100 employees together onto a single campus, it turned to DLR Group.

“ULA is a relatively young company and this was a unique opportunity for DLR Group to help them lay the groundwork for a brand new culture,” said DLR Group Principal Angela Castleton.

Three buildings were identified in a Centennial, Colo., commercial property. A fourth building on a separate property but within easy walking distance completed the new ULA campus.

“The challenge was to create a campus feeling across four different buildings,” said Castleton. “Except for the lobbies, the majority of spaces required a full demo and renovation. Our challenge was to move 2,100 employees into 478,000 square feet of office space in four different buildings across 15 floors over the course of 24 months.”

To begin, DLR Group conducted a workplace discovery process, which included immersion workshops; visioning and goal setting; workplace assessment surveys; interactive workshops; benchmarking; workspace standards development; and an image study.

The design team visited existing locations to observe people at work and how space was utilized. To ensure everyone, from executives to administration, had a stake in the final result, they developed a decision-making structure consisting of an executive review committee, a ULA project manager, a core team of 20 (facilities, finance and procurement), and an extended team of approximately 50 that included at least one representative from each ULA department.

“These teams provided a very effective way of communicating to all employees about what was going on and making them feel a part of the design process,” Castleton said.

The design team ultimately developed an organizational concept dubbed Neighborhood Fringey. This scheme was applied to each building to fulfill ULA’s vision for a unified workspace. This concept allowed for smaller neighborhoods within each spaces that promote the sense of team they valued. The sea of workstations often seen in highly open office environments was diminished by strategically placed, high-walled support areas.

The DLR Group team also learned a little something about the process of building and launching rockets. “It’s a very exact science that requires a lot of coordination between various departments,” said Castleton. “Every project requires ERBs—engineering review boards. These are meetings where the different disciplines present where they are in the launch process. Everyone else has to pay close attention as this information affects their own area of expertise. These meetings occur frequently with a large number of people and can be very time consuming. To enhance the experience, we placed large conference rooms in the center of each the floor in every building. Meeting rooms are adjacent to elevators so attendees don’t distract other employees as they move through the space for the ERBs.” 

Once its go-time for a launch, everyone involved gathers in the Denver Operations Support Center – mission control – to communicate with the launch pad. ULA’s core client list included the Department of Defense, NASA, the U.S. Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office. Security and access control was a priority. There are four different Sensitive Compartmental Information Facilities) totaling 10,000 square feet on the campus, each with its own set of security specs.

Once the planning and design were completed and build-out underway, phased approach was used to move ULA staff into their new facility. Phase One comprised three floors of one of the buildings and a total of 110,000 square feet. This included general office space and a 40,000-square-foot avionics lab. The design team solicited feedback from this first group of employees in terms of workspace and finish standards, and made tweaks as needed during later phases.

Google Kirkland, Washington

The scope of work for this project encompassed 30,000 SF of improvements at Building A on Google's Kirkland (Wash.) Campus. Google sought to quickly effect a paint-and-carpet refresh of workplace spaces to accommodate expanding teams. DLR Group’s design capitalizes on additional opportunities to make spatial impacts within the original schedule and budget parameters.

By removing a significant number of existing interior walls, the design dramatically opens spaces and creates a fluid connection across the open office environment, both around and through the secure building core. While the scope of work included preserving existing workstations, perimeter offices and conference spaces using DIRTT wall systems, the design team took opportunities to re-plan collaboration areas, social spaces and privacy rooms for improved accessibility, visibility and experience of space.

DLR Group and the Institute for the Built Environment (IBE) at Colorado State University have released the findings of a research project that evaluated the effect of green school design on occupants and long-term building performance.

The overwhelming perception of school staff is the learning environments within DLR Group schools have a positive impact on health, achievement, and behavior. The findings also show schools designed by DLR Group are more energy efficient, provide more space per student, and are constructed for less cost compared to regional averages for schools constructed during the same year.

“Design does not stop when the school opens. The design process must include coming back to a project to measure building performance,” said DLR Group Senior Principal Jim French, AIA, the firm's national K-12 practice leader. “If both the tangible metrics of energy efficiency and the intangible metrics of student and occupant satisfaction are not being evaluated, then as design professionals we are not truly meeting the needs of our K-12 clients.”

The complete report, titled, Linking Performance & Experience – An Analysis of Green Schools, can be downloaded here.

DLR Group’s First LEED Platinum Project College of St. Benedict achieves LEED platinum certification

The new resident townhome project at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn., is more than a place for students to live; it is a place that will prepare them for their futures. Developed specifically for college seniors, the townhomes are designed to foster independence and increase understanding of the responsibilities of ‘real-world’ living. Students are responsible for maintaining the homes, monitoring utility use and helping with everyday tasks such as snow removal.

The complex is designed to reflect a typical residential environment and blend in with the growing neighborhood while providing a direct connection to the main campus. The townhomes are organized around a courtyard to help foster a community attitude and provide a neighborhood identity. Outdoor porches, fire pit and outdoor kitchen also contribute to community sensibilities. The commons building, located between the main campus and the new neighborhood, is designed as an iconic transition point between the two entities.

Dan Murray in Kenya to finalize pro-bono design of vocational campus.

Architect Dan Murray and several employees in DLR Group’s Seattle office have launched a pro-bono design project with Kizimani, a grass roots organization established by Kenya natives that is based in Portland, Ore.

Kizimani provides assistance to impoverished areas of Kenya. Murray and the Seattle team are designing a vocational school campus to support the impoverished Kangundo community in Kenya.

The concept for the vocational school campus responds to trades and industries prevalent in central Kenya. The overarching goal is to help people in Kangundo become self-sufficient and end the cycle of poverty that today defines the community.

The campus plan includes two classroom buildings, a clinic, and a retail space to sell items made on site. Phase I will establish a scalable prototype for classroom buildings and provide an overall site design for outdoor programs as well as future campus development.

Murray will be in Kangundo from January 24-31 to complete the pro-bono design efforts. His trip was funded through a grant program administered by Senior Associates in the Seattle DLR Group office. His trip is model for future international pro-bono projects. As the work continues, the project team will track their time and effort, and also catalog how design can have a positive impact on a global environment.

“This project has shown many of the next generation staff in our office, myself included, the value our profession and education truly provides. We’re not one of a half dozen architects clamoring to get a fee to do this work, where the value of our skillset is clouded by the need to compete for fee. In our pro-bono effort, the value we bring to Kangundo and Kizimani is seen in stark relief, and it is powerful,” said Murray.

Thanks to everyone who attended our session on the School of 2025 at the Learning Environments Conference in Orlando January 30.

Below are three concepts discussed in the breakout groups. Parent University: One group discussed Parent University, a concept to offer resources and tools for parents to re-educate themselves and be actively engaged in their child’s learning and lessons. In this scenario, learning would occur 24/7, not just during the traditional school day setting of 2013. Center of Community: Another group talked about how schools would become the center of the community and should reflect real world lessons. This group discussed whether or not a school building would be necessary in 2025, but the group ultimately decided a building would support the concept of the community hub and gathering spot. School City: One group of higher education professionals and designers proposed a School City that would create an environment that pairs personal interests with local businesses and organizations in a master planned community. The campus would be interwoven with the local community and leverage partnerships with businesses, restaurants and organizations. In this scenario, a student interested in culinary arts would spend part of their day in various restaurants learning the craft of cooking, as well as the business of operating a restaurant.

Watch for more detailed information about our session and photos soon.

KANGUNDO VOCATIONAL SCHOOL PROJECT

Public Building Commission- Engine Company 109 Firehouse

Under Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Neighborhoods Alive program the Chicago Fire Department and the Chicago Public Building Commission are jointly bringing advanced new fire houses to every part of Chicago.

Engine Company 109 Firehouse is a new, a new one-story, 14,670 SF facility consisting of steel framing with exterior brick veneer, a burnished block interior, and terrazzo flooring replaces a station that dates back to 1907.

Certified LEED Gold, examples of sustainable features include:

A green roof that reduces storm water runoff.

On-site storm water retention system repurposes water for washing fire trucks and irrigation Permeable paver parking lot aids in the management of storm water on site.

Drought tolerant landscaping

Geothermal heat pump mechanical system

Click the headline. 

Patterson Technology Center Effingham, Illinois

Patterson Technologies is a national company providing software solutions, equipment, and supplies to the health care profession. The start-of-the-art building enables Patterson to simulate dental, veterinary, and rehabilitation environments that showcase the newest technology and seamless integration capabilities to its clients. A software usability lab allows developers to observe direct participant feedback and how users interface with the software in real-time simulations. The 100,000 square foot facility includes food service and fitness amenities and is designed to house 540 employees.

Patterson Technology Center sits at the edge of a natural birch forest and the building is tucked into a natural slope. There is continuous glazing from desktop to ceiling to provide views to the forest. The ecologically restorative landscaping concept utilizes low-maintenance buffalo grass and native prairie plantings with bioswales for storm water run-off.