Interior Design & Architecture News

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9/11 Memorial already has more than one million visitors

New York City—9/11 Memorial Chairman and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and 9/11 Memorial President Joe Daniels announced the National September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site has reached a major milestone of welcoming more than one million visitors since opening to the general public on Sept. 12, 2011.

The 9/11 Memorial pays tribute to the victims of the September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 attacks. The Memorial was dedicated for victims' families on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 before it opened to the general public the following day.

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Community center LEEDs the way

DULUTH, Ga.--CxGBS® announced that the community center for Rocksprings Park in Athens, Georgia, for which the company performed commissioning and LEED Project Administration, has achieved LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

The firm employed their Holistic Commissioning® approach to provide guidance throughout the design and construction phases of the project in addition to providing training for the project team, owners and operational staff. The $2.1 million project involved the replacement of an outmoded, 1960s era structure with a new, 8,100-sq.ft.-building.

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Illinois sees courthouse

ROCKFORD, Ill.—Federal and local officials dedicated a United States Courthouse in Rockford’s central business district in January. Located on 5.5 acres in the Rockford’s central business district, the courthouse contains five courtrooms and will house offices for the U.S. Courts and other court-related agencies.  The building’s sustainable design features include energy/building management technology, a laser scanning fire detection system, building-controlled window shading systems, Energy Star ‘cool roof’ technology, high efficiency HVAC, electric vehicle charging stations, and high efficiency lighting systems.

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Fermi Lab gets research facility

WASHINGTON, D.C. –The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) is opening a research facility in Batavia, Illinois. Supported jointly by the state of Illinois and DOE, the construction of the Illinois Accelerator Research Center (IARC) will provide a state-of-the-art facility for research, development and industrialization of particle accelerator technology, and create about 200 high-tech jobs. DOE’s Office of Science Director William Brinkman participated in the groundbreaking ceremony.

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Utah State gains self-powered observatory

LOGAN, Utah—Utah State University’s solar-powered Environmental Observatory is the first of its kind on a university campus and will provide a model for self-powered observatories in remote locations throughout the world. The cutting-edge observatory measures all standard weather conditions, five components of solar radiation, carbon dioxide in the air and seven conditions underground. A state-of-the-art atmospheric visibility sensor measures the clarity of the air in Cache Valley, a unique feature of particular interest to local residents.

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GSA awards contract

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), on behalf of the Department of Homeland Security, awarded a seven-year task order to General Dynamics to develop an integrated network infrastructure for the consolidated Department of Homeland Security headquarters at the St. Elizabeth’s campus in Southeast Washington. The award helps ensure that DHS's Technology Integration Program, or TIP, is developed in concert with construction of the campus, which will bring together 22 DHS agencies in one central location.

GSA's Federal Systems Integration and Management Center awarded the task order as part of the Alliant government-wide acquisition contract. The task order has a ceiling of $876 million if all options are exercised. FEDSIM will continue to provide project, acquisition, and financial management support to DHS throughout the duration of the project.

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VA starts healthcare campus

LOS ANGELES—The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (GLA) posted the Master Plan for the West Los Angeles (WLA) campus, which includes plans to expand the homeless program by renovating buildings on the historic campus.  

The WLA Master Plan, introduced for public comment in January 2011, outlines potential modernization projects that provide direct benefit for Veterans through VA programs and services on the WLA campus.  The plan calls for an expansion of GLA’s homeless program through the renovation of Buildings 205, 208, and 209. This renovation will create additional opportunities for long-term therapeutic and supportive homeless programs at the WLA campus focusing on the most chronically homeless disabled Veterans. 

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