Architecture

U-M Law Quadrangle to get $39 million refurbishing

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April 6, 2011

The stone-and-Gothic Law Quadrangle, an area of the University of Michigan campus that personifies the university's "Public Ivy" cachet, is now due for a $39 million recasting. At its meeting last month, the U-M Board of Regents approved upgrades to the Lawyers Club dormitory wing and the John P. Cook buildings. The Lawyers Club was erected in 1924 and the John P. Cook Building in 1931. Their makeover will be part of a larger expansion project at U-M's law school that also calls for a new academic building to rise on the corner of State and Monroe streets. Just over half the cost will be funded through a $20 million gift from U-M alum Charles T. Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corp. The balance comes from investment proceeds and the Lawyers Club's own funds.The fixes in both buildings (with a combined total of about 159,000 square feet) will be largely mechanical. Plans call for new HVAC and fire detection and suppression systems, plumbing, and high-speed internet. In the Lawyer's Club, where approximately 260 students reside, separate "townhouse-style" entries to dorm rooms will be replaced with interior hallways and the club wing will get a new roof. The facilities' energy performance is expected to beat national energy efficiency standards by over 30 percent. The project designers will be Hartman-Cox Architects and SmithGroup. A schematic design is forthcoming.Source: University of Michigan Board of RegentsWriter: Tanya Muzumdar

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Ann Arbor’s Sora House remodel shoots for LEED Platinum

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March 30, 2011

Ann Arbor has gotten off the gold standard when it comes to achieving the loftiest level of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. LEED Platinum in whole home remodeling projects is the new black. In fact, Tree Town has one of the highest concentrations of such homes in the U.S. According to the U.S. Green Building Council. As of mid-March 2011 only 27 LEED Platinum remodeled homes exist in the nation and three are in Ann Arbor. And a fourth may soon be added to that list. All four homes have had the same Ann Arbor-based architect-builder team of Architectural Resource and Meadowlark Builders. Their latest collaboration, Sora House, a mid-century modern built in 1959, is undergoing a complete revamp and is scheduled for completion by June 21. Features include a building thermal envelope system design that uses a new technique of putting insulation on the exterior of the wall assembly; a geothermal heating and cooling system; and rain water harvesting.The home also had a large living room sunk two steps below the first floor – impractical for the aging or disabled. "One of the core concepts of deep green design is the idea of long life and loose fit," explains Michael Klements, principal of Architectural Resource. "And by that we mean that it's not a very green strategy to build a super high-performance home if you've built into that home obsolescence in terms of its usability due to physical constraints." Klement also points to the home's new standing seamed metal roof, which reduces cooling loads in the house due to its high solar reflectivity aspect. In the future, solar energy collecting devices, be they for hot water or electricity, can be added to the roof with a special clip system that won't affect its water-shedding performance."Deep green" design is a term coined by Klements and Doug Selby, principal of Meadowlark Builders. Selby thinks you've entered the deep green realm "when you start getting to that point where you're cutting the energy use of a home by 70 or 80 percent..."Take the 3,400-square-foot Sora House*. "It's going to heat and cool on average for $52 a month. That blows people's minds... But who says a house is not supposed to do that?" Klements argues.Sources: Michael Klements, principal of Architectural Resource; Doug Selby, principal of Meadowlark BuildersWriter: Tanya Muzumdar* On Sunday, April 3, the public is invited to tour the in-progress Sora House, 1045 Chestnut Street in Ann Arbor. The event is free, but registration is required.

U-M’s $56 million Alice Lloyd dorm revamp underway

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March 16, 2011

The idea that a college dorm is simply a place to bed down has been given the boot. With major renovation projects come the chance to transform the bunkhouses of yore into complete live/learn communities of today, delivering all the mod-cons that students can buy with their housing dollars. This spring the University of Michigan is starting on a $56 million renovation of the 1949-era Alice Lloyd residence hall, according to documents from the university's Board of Regents. The retooled 176,000-square-foot property, where approximately 560 students live, will include rooms for music and dance practice, an art studio, and gathering areas. The former dining hall and kitchen (students now eat in the communal Hill Dining Center) will be repurposed, and student rooms and bathrooms are set for a makeover. Included in the laundry list of items are new HVAC systems, insulation, plumbing, fire detection and suppression systems, and Wi-Fi. Work should be done in time for the 2012 fall term.Representatives from U-M and from Troy, Mich.-based architectural firm Integrated Design Solutions, which did the schematic design, declined to comment.The planned new face of Alice Lloyd can be likened, albeit on a much smaller scale, to the university's new $175 million North Quadrangle Residential and Academic Complex, which opened in fall 2010. In addition to dorm space for 450 students, it houses academic offices, multi-cultural learning communities, and a TV production studio. North Quad will be hosting a public open house on March 31.Source: University of Michigan Board of RegentsWriter: Tanya Muzumdar

Chelsea’s downtown headed for National Register of Historic Places

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March 9, 2011

In what could mean a lift to tourism and economic development in the city of Chelsea, portions of the city's 19th-century downtown are expected to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places this spring. The proposed historic district covers Main Street from Orchard to North Street, the 100-blocks of Jackson and West and East Middle Streets, and also the First United Methodist Church and the Rockwell Building, according to Ellen Thackery, Southeast Michigan field representative of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The short explanation of what this means is that the National Park Service has deemed these properties worthy of preservation. The designation is often a boon to downtown revitalization, as commercial property owners in the district can qualify to have up to 20% of their rehabilitation costs refunded in the form of a credit against federal income tax liability. "It spurs private investment so one building gets rehabilitated and it starts to catch on in the community," Thackery explains. Many Michigan communities have made good use of the federal program, including Royal Oak, Rochester, Detroit, Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Holland, Linden, Lowell, Calumet, and Menominee. Owners often package the federal tax credits with the Michigan Historic Tax Credit, Thackery says, which reduces state income tax liability by up to 25% of expenditures. However, Chelsea may not qualify for Michigan's tax credit, which is limited to communities with a population of 5,000 or less. Chelsea's estimated population is 5,032. If 2010 census estimates are revised downward, that may change; however, Gov. Snyder's recent budget proposal calls for eliminating the Michigan Historic Tax Credit altogether. One point on which people are often confused, Thackery says, is that being named to the National Register is strictly an honorary designation. "In a national register district you can do whatever kind of work you want to do to your property, and there is no review process. If you choose to participate in that federal tax credit program, then there is a review just to make sure the buildings are treated kindly and with respect," she explains. Along with encouraging rehabilitation, Thackery adds, a "heritage tourism" opportunity exists. Chelsea will be included on the National Park Service's list of travel destinations and agendas."It's a very charming, very attractive downtown so I think being listed on the National Register is going to help draw more people to it and Chelsea commercial property owners in the district can put it in their materials as a little feather in their cap."Source: Ellen Thackery, Southeast Michigan field representative of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network and the National Trust for Historic PreservationWriter: Tanya Muzumdar

Chelsea DDA hires consultants, seeks ideas for downtown makeover

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March 2, 2011

The city of Chelsea's (pop. circa 5,000) quaint downtown is perhaps best known for the acclaimed Purple Rose Theatre, Chelsea Milling Company (Home to Jiffy Mix) and Common Grill restaurant. Most recently, the city has contracted with architectural consultants Howard Deardorff of Howard Deardorff Design Resources and Lincoln Pollay of Lincoln Pollay Architects, who, for a cost of $50,000, are working out a plan for the re-development of downtown Chelsea. Thus far they've held an open house for businesses and have scheduled another to obtain input from residents on March 9 at the Chelsea District Library. Of focus are certain vacancies on Main Street, such as the former post office and UAW hall, the Longworth Building, the mothballed Federal Screw Works plant, and, eventually, the police station, which will move to a new building. The Chelsea Downtown Development Authority may also redo the parking lot behind the Purple Rose Theatre and is considering purchasing the parking lot of the former Palmer Ford, which could hold a farmers market in warm weather and a skating rink during the winter, says Mike Jackson, chairman of the DDA and president of the city's chamber of commerce. One desire residents expressed at the first open house, Jackson says, was to see more "active" businesses with a steady flow of clientele, such as retailers, rather than "passive" businesses, such as offices."There's a whole block we're looking at to see if we can be of assistance to promote the revitalization of those areas," Jackson says.The city will be able to borrow about $2 million to implement the development plan, says Jackson. Although there is no official date as to when work would commence, he estimates the Purple Rose Theatre parking lot work could start this fall.Source: Mike Jackson, president of the Chelsea DDA and the Chelsea Chamber of CommerceWriter: Tanya Muzumdar

$90M theory pays off in new EMU Science Complex

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February 16, 2011

Scientific advancement planted its footprint on Eastern Michigan University's campus last December with the opening of its new Science Complex. Constructed as a five-story addition to the Mark Jefferson building, the complex is part of a $195 million capital plan – the largest in EMU's history. The next component of the $90 million project, a top-to-bottom renovation of the Mark Jefferson building, commenced last month and is expected to be complete by the summer of 2012, according to EMU Associate Provost Wade Tornquist. The LEED Silver-certified addition was built over a former loading dock and parking area to minimize its environmental impact. The terraced complex has a green roof that uses rainwater for surface vegetation. And energy-efficient new electrical and HVAC systems in the 80,000-square-foot addition and planned for the renovated 240,000-square-foot Mark Jefferson building balance out the 30% increase in space, neutralizing the effect on utilities costs, Tornquist says.The physics and astronomy, geography and geology, chemistry, biology, and psychology departments have a presence in the new addition, whose most notable feature is an open atrium with views up to a spherical planetarium cantilevered between the third and fifth floors. The complex also contains study areas, a computer teaching lab, modernized classrooms and 63 instructional and research labs that can be shared by faculty and students in all branches of the sciences. "One of the goals for the project was to try to break down some of the disciplinary borders," Tornquist explains. "We've moved more towards interdisciplinary laboratory design rather than designing laboratories for specific departments."A groundswell of interest also rises on the first floor with its collection of rocks native to Michigan, some of which are three billion years old. Geologists handpicked the rocks and consulted with the architects on placement, Tornquist says. The two groups were initially at odds, with the geologists wanting the rocks sorted by age and the architects prizing aesthetics: "In the end the geologists still are telling me that they have them arranged by age, so they're good with it. I'm sure the architect will tell you they're arranged by massing and color, so he's happy too. Real interdisciplinary, right?" he jokes.Tornquist sees the project as a key recruiting tool for training more Michigan-based scientists.In past years tour groups of potential students "always bypassed the science building, and I always wondered, 'What does that do for us in terms of recruiting science students?'" he poses. "Now it's on the campus tour so I'm hopeful that they're getting a different message. They'll be thinking that science and EMU go together."Source: Wade Tornquist, associate provost at EMUWriter: Tanya Muzumdar

U-M Museum of Art wins worldwide architectural award

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February 9, 2011

The architectural design of the University of Michigan Museum of Art has been deemed on par with that of the Horizontal Skyscraper in Shenzhen, China, and the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece – all members of a select group of ten projects worldwide bestowed with the 2011 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honor Award for architecture.The museum now sports a 53,000-square-foot addition and a full restoration of its 1910 Beaux-Arts building. Designed by Allied Works Architecture, with Integrated Design Solutions serving as the associate architect. The finer points of the $42 million project include more than double the display space for collections and temporary exhibits, open-storage galleries, a 225-seat auditorium, and a curatorial research center.In Michigan, it seems, innovation in museum design is not a rare artifact. The Grand Rapids Art Museum is the first LEED-certified new construction art museum in the nation.What sets the U-M Museum of Art apart and enabled it to garner the award, says Executive Director Joe Rosa, is "[The architect's] massing from the existing to the new works quite beautifully, as well as the notion of transparency through the new addition, juxtaposed to a Beaux Arts building which has no sense of transparency. So you get this compositional feel when you walk around the building that makes both worlds work quite well together, and of course as our collection is historical in scope, from Asia onto tomorrow's makers, we have a mission to show a breadth of art and our building allows us that."The museum is now 100,000 square feet in size, about half the size of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Rosa notes. "We are quite a large university art museum and one of the oldest and now...we can really go into the 21st century as being a leading institution for how we envision art in the future and educate our students to have the edge culturally and also ask those questions that might not happen in a free-standing museum."Source: Joe Rosa, executive director of the University of Michigan Museum of ArtWriter: Tanya Muzumdar

High tech firms Quantum Signal, Reactor Zero move into Saline classrooms

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January 26, 2011

Who's to say that the ziggurats of a bygone era can't be remade into high-tech operations? Last November, R&D player Quantum Signal, together with its gaming and simulation division Reactor Zero, moved their joint headquarters into the circa-1930 Union School building at 200 N Ann Arbor St in Saline. Quantum Signal purchased the the 43,000-square-foot brick facility, complete with the original gymnasium and corridors of lockers.In addition to sporting ample desk space for about 35 employees, the rooms have been deployed as vehicle and robotics labs. An SUV, truck, car, and a mule (a small vehicle for robotic controls) are housed in spacious former art classrooms. "We were looking for a place that could handle all those different uses, and this building certainly gives us a lot of flexibility," explains Matt Toschlog, president of Reactor Zero.The facility was in decent shape at move-in, he says; only small renovations, consisting of roof and other mechanical repairs, have been done. In the game plan is a new entrance way and reception area.The companies were formerly housed in the Airport Plaza business park in Ann Arbor. "It is nice to be in something that's a little bit distinctive instead of being in something that was entirely generic previously," Toschlog adds.Source: Matt Toschlog, president of Reactor ZeroWriter: Tanya Muzumdar

Ypsilanti DDA awards $30K in renovation grants for downtown businesses, more planned

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January 26, 2011

The historic buildings in downtown Ypsilanti are putting their best faces forward through the receipt of a new round of December grants from the Ypsilanti Downtown Development Authority (DDA). Three grants of $10,000 apiece were awarded for interior and exterior renovations at businesses located at 517, 701, and 729-735 W Cross St. The grants are jointly funded by the Eastern Leaders Group and the Ypsilanti DDA, and replicate a similar program in effect in downtown Kalamazoo, says Tim Colbeck, director of the Ypsilanti DDA.The Crossroads bar and nightclub will use the money to expand into the vacant neighboring 517 W Cross St. A sliding glass garage-style door is planned for the facade. At 701 W. Cross St. the funds are going towards facade improvements, new signage, and brickwork repair at the Tower Inn.And at 729-735 W. Cross St., the former Ted's Campus Drugs and an art store will be renovated by the developer, O'Neal Construction, Inc. (the owner-operator of Kerrytown) to an as-yet undetermined commercial use, likely a dining venue, Colbeck says. Currently the properties are also home to 11 second-floor efficiency apartments. Those will be consolidated into four 2-3 bedroom units. Interior work has already started.The 517 and 701 W. Cross St. projects have no fixed start dates per se, Colbeck adds, but are expected to start by March, notwithstanding weather-related or other reasonable delays.The Eastern Leaders Group has approved a second $15,000 round this year, pending DDA board approval of matching funds. This will result in another $30,000 in grants for three more projects, Colbeck says.These grants are expected to have a big multiplier effect. Based on the construction budgets specified in the grant applications, Colbeck says, "By putting out $30,000 in public funds, we're leveraging about $700,000 worth of improvements."Source: Tim Colbeck, director of the Ypsilanti DDAWriter: Tanya Muzumdar

Green design firm Architectural Resource receives awards, plans hires

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December 1, 2010

Architectural Resource knows it's more than a leader when it comes to green, residential architecture. The Ann Arbor-based firm is responsible for the first, second, and third platinum-level LEED homes in Michigan and is starting on its fourth."Its going to be pretty stunning," says Michael Klement, principal of Architectural Resource. "We're going to have it open for tours during construction."The 19-year-old firm has held its own during a near nuclear winter for architecture firms in recent years. Architectural Resource's staffing stands at five employees and independent contractors. It is looking to add one position now and another two within the next year."I hire very slowly," Klement says. "It takes me about a year to find somebody. I have been looking for a designer for the last six months."Klement thanks mostly repeat business for his firm's growth, plus a number of awards received over the years, including mentions in Detroit Home Design and Best of the Midwest Design.Source: Michael Klement, principal of Architectural ResourceWriter: Jon ZemkeRead more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.