Cannon Design Blog

Colleen McKenna - 20 May 2013

Keystone Edge, an online publication focused on the people, places and companies driving the state of Pennsylvania forward, recently released a list of the Top 5 Coolest Green Buildings in the state and included the Gettysburg College Center for Athletics, Recreation and Fitness. Four of the buildings – two office buildings, a private residence and the Gettysburg facility – are new construction. The fifth building on the list is a reuse of an old industrial building.

The Gettysburg College recreation center offers students 55,000 sf of gym space with green features that maximize daylighting, glass expanses that heat the building and ventilation systems that draw in cool air. The building’s defining architectural feature, an 85′ glass tower creates a campus icon and a place for the center’s dramatic climbing wall.  The tower is built of high-performance glass segments, each rotated 15 degrees from the one below. The tower acts as a thermal chimney that enhances the building’ natural ventilation and reduces energy consumption. Convection air is heated by the sun and discharged at the top of the tower through dampers activated by temperature sensors, drawing in cool, fresh air at the bottom.

Learn about all five of the cool, green buildings in PA and see photos via this link.

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Chris Whitcomb - 17 May 2013

Inspiring? Scary? Fascinating? There’s a lot of things to feel / think as you watch this bird’s eye view of the topping of One World Trade Center. A fascinating look at the topping of the landmark building.

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@cannondesign - 17 May 2013

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@cannondesign - 16 May 2013

Christian Long and Trung Le of The Third Teacher+ team recently visited Denmark for a week of exploring school design and creativity. Below are a number of images from their travels.

Le and Long were able to meet with the amazing global school architect and creative extraordinaire Rosan Bosch. Her team’s Vittra School project(s) speak to the very soul of what is possible when you design for the spirit of young imaginations.

The TTT+ team delivered the co-keynote for the “Campaign Drøn på Skolegården” summit in Vejle, Denmark. It gave them the chance to explore the relationship between children and outdoor learning / play environments, as well as how teams of diverse creative professionals can spark innovation across entire cities.

The TTT+ duo take a “Systematic Creativity” challenge with the LEGO Foundation today at LEGO HQ in Bilund, Denmark.

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@cannondesign - 16 May 2013

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Nick Cameron - 15 May 2013

A stunning time lapse video of One World Trade Center’s construction – can’t wait to see the completed video.

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@cannondesign - 15 May 2013

Julie Iovine has penned an informative piece for The Wall Street Journal entitled, “The Library’s Future Is Not an Open Book,” that looks at the role of central public libraries in today’s world. As Iovine notes, “the central library is fighting for survival. The relevance of these gloriously inflated book boxes is being questioned in an age that looks to the Internet for its intellectual resources.”

The piece then goes on to highlight how central libraries in Boston, St. Louis and Seattle have been re-imagined in recent years to solve new social purposes. Of the St. Louis project, Iovine writes, “In St. Louis, you can get a preview of what New York Public Library might look like if its plan is realized. The central library is a 1912 Beaux Arts stunner by Cass Gilbert, celebrated architect of New York’s Woolworth Building. It reopened in December after a 15-year, $68 million makeover that included the same surgical removal of a seven-story stack tower envisioned in New York. Now tiers of balconies, pressing almost right up to the narrow slot windows of the rear facade, hold desks loaded with computers. Bold graphics etched in glass or painted in red denote rooms dedicated to “Training” and “Meeting”—more like a corporate headquarters or community hall than a citadel of intellectual inquiry. Voices travel up from the ground floor in a smokestack effect and ricochet around the preserved glazed-white brick walls. (The “new” library prefers buzz over the code of silence of the old library.) How different from the older sections of the library where, for instance, one reading room has restored its carved plaster ceiling reproducing Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library in Florence.”

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Lisa Adams - 15 May 2013

Congratulations to Brian Wolf, CCS, CSI, CPE, LEED AP – the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) selected him for participation on their 2014 National Technical Committee.

Brian has more than 26 years of experience on various building types through design and construction phases, including estimating and contract document preparation. He received certification as a Certified Construction Specifier (CCS), and is an active member of the Construction Specifications Institute’s Baltimore chapter. He has received both national and regional awards for his work and innovations.

The technical committee provides coordination, guidance and quality assurance for the content of all CSI technical programs and publications. Additional committee responsibilities include identifying and documenting trends that affect the primary practice areas of CSI, recommending product/service development, and the coordination with technical task teams.

“Cannon Design leaders are at the front of key issues facing the building industry, whether developing measurement protocol for reducing carbon emissions as part of the AIA 2030 Challenge or in serving on industry committees,” said Brian. “I wanted to join my Cannon Design colleagues by offering my service to the CSI organization.”

CSI is a national association of 13,000 volunteers of specifiers, architects, engineers, contractors, facility managers, product representatives, manufacturers, owners and others who are experts in building construction and materials. CSI’s mission is to advance building information management and education of project teams to improve facility performance

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Phil Dordai - 14 May 2013

It’s an exciting day as Coppin State University is set to break ground on the university’s new Science and Technology Center (STC).

The four-story, $80 million STC will include 150,333 sf of collaborative teaching labs and research space for the departments of natural science, biology, physics, chemistry, general science, math and environmental sciences. The building also helps support programs for dentistry, pharmacy and medicine while offering a comprehensive technology-based learning environment. Other features include an IT department center, computer labs, exhibit space and a 100-seat lecture hall.

“The new Science and Technology Center reflects a remarkable transformative power at Coppin, the new state-of-the-art-facility will enable access to cutting edge, high performance sciences and technology education that would allow the wide range of teaching, learning and research activity,” says Dr. Patel Maqbool, associate vice-president for Administration and Finance.  “It is designed to integrate fields of study with high social and community impact, a major addition to our beautifully growing urban campus.”

Our team has helped site the building to create a dramatic presence on North Avenue with a striking stair tower and glass building element floating over the main building entrance. The building creates collaboration zones for students, faculty and researchers to work together which will accelerate learning and discovery on campus. The project is expected to complete in January 2015 and the university is pursuing LEED Gold certification for the facility.

“The Science and Technology Center will be a transformative building that harmonizes the campus with the surrounding community and helps revitalize its location in downtown Baltimore,” said Phil Dordai, Cannon Design Principal. “This building is designed to create a rich day-to-day experience for the Coppin State student; giving them access to the incredible resources in this new facility and connecting them to the campus and the city beyond through a variety of inviting outdoor spaces and by providing views from the building the campus quad and gardens outside.”

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Rand Ekman - 14 May 2013

The news is everywhere across the media – the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has exceeded 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time in 55 years of measurement – and probably more than 3 million years of Earth history. According to the National Geographic story, “the last time the concentration of Earth’s main greenhouse gas reached this mark, horses and camels lived in the high Arctic.”

This lead us to conclude that while the building sector is heading in the right direction when it comes to implementing sustainable measures – the planet is rapidly headed the wrong direction.

So, what does this mean for design professionals? I’m thinking the term “regenerative” will take on real meaning very soon. It will be an imperative, not a choice.

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