Shortlist announced for the highly anticipated Los Angeles Federal Courthouse
After remaining on hold since 2005, the General Services Administration (GSA) has reinstated plans to construct a new U.S. Courthouse in downtown LA. The 3.7 acre dirt lot at 107 South Broadway, down the street from Morphosis’ Caltrans building, LA’s City Hall, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall, has remained dormant since 2007; shortly after the GSA abandoned Perkins + Will’s estimated $1.1 billion conceptual design due to rising costs. Now, plans for the courthouse have been scaled back and the GSA has just released the shortlisted teams competing of the project. Continue reading after the break to see who made the cut.
Orchard Library / HMC Architects
Architects: HMC Architects
Location: California, USA
Project Year: 2011
Photographs: David Wakely
First People’s Hospital / HMC Architects
The design for the First People’s Hospital by HMC Architects aims to create a sustainable healthcare architecture, an idea new to the practice of the region. The project, which was the winner of the national AIA Academy of Architecture for Health 2011 Unbuilt award, features green design elements which optimize building performance. In addition, these elements create a healing environment, further its mission for community outreach, and evolve with cultural uniqueness. Its iconic architecture engages the local historical values and building industry/material. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Top 100 Architecture Firms
Architect Magazine‘s third-annual ranking of American architecture firms takes a look at three factors: profitability, sustainability, and design quality. This whole picture approach provides an opportunity for small and large firms to go head to head, with a result of the best architecture firms, not necessarily the biggest.
Some of these practices have been featured on ArchDaily like Perkins + Will, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Cannon Design, and Frank Harmon Architect.
Take a look at the complete rankings after the break.
Flex: Flexible Learning Environments / HMC Architects
In 2010, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) held a design competition for a flexible solution to replace portable buildings across the district, and HMC Architects accepted the challenge. The district asked them to ignore their standards and put an emphasis on an ideas-based approach. They wanted creative, progressive responses to their problem, not dressed-up modular buildings. They challenged the traditional box shape of the classroom by looking at how the room is used and how it is currently under utilized. Although their design solution, which they named Flex, did not win the competition, their end product is a portable classroom solution that can be used at any school, with hope that their design can inspire other school districts to think differently when it comes to portable classrooms. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Kaohsiung Port and Cruise Service Terminal Competition proposal / HMC Architects
Los Angeles-based HMC Architects shared with us their proposal for the Kaohsiung Port and Cruise Service Terminal Competition in Taiwan. They were selected as one of the five finalists. More images and press release after the break.
Frontier Project / HMC Architects
The Frontier Project, located in Cucamonga, Southern California, is a 14,000 square foot demonstration building that will educate all in the community about the latest information, technologies and approaches regarding environmental friendliness. The project will make resident consumers, commercial builders, and sustainable advocates aware and informed of the alternative building methods to encourage sustainability. HMC Architects’ building will not just be something for visitors to look at and admire; rather, the building will become more of a learning experience as visitors are welcomed into its spaces and sustainable strategies are pointed out with their importance explained. “Everything from material and plant selection, the layout of space, and the maintenance regime will have a purpose, demonstrating the principle of green design for home owners, consumers, contractors, design professionals, sustainability advocates and the general public,” explained the Frontier Project founders.
More about the demonstration building, including a video and images, after the break.
