project Mane Hair Strand, Rehovot, Israel.

standout Basic drywall, plywood, glass, and epoxy transform a predictable hair-salon progression through reception, washing, and styling into a fantastic voyage of its own.

project Murale, Montreal.

standout Far from the standard drugstore mode, glossy white lacquered shelving, terrazzo flooring, and an acrylic focal wall with inset LEDs combine to glamorize beauty-product purchases.

project Spa Chakra, Chicago.

standout In the transition zone between the bamboo-floored spa and the grand ballroom of the storied 1925 Palmer House Hilton, LED-lit acrylic columns seem to float against a backdrop of black granite.

project Eau Spa, Palm Beach, Florida.

standout With a wishing well in reception, stainless-steel chairs suspended over a shallow pool, and a cascade that guests can sit beneath, this spa brings the cleansing and rejuvenating aspects of water to the lobby level of the Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach.

project Pure Yoga, New York.

standout The facade’s ipé screen and living wall of evergreens, succulents, and grasses set the tone for an interior materials palette including twigs, palm wood, cork, and river rocks.

project Korea International Consulting Associates, Seoul, South Korea.

standout The minimal office of this hair-products company makes reference to silky-smooth hair blowing in the wind, thanks to the ventilators installed above the ceiling system.

Towels in the men's locker room were dyed to match the walnut accents

Facing the Atlantic, the two couple's treatment rooms offer mineral soaking tubs and private lounges

Warm and cool torrents stream alternately onto the rain tunnel's marble floor.

Tubs in the men's spa have surrounds clad in marble mosaic tile.

The shopping corridor's shelves display Warren-Tricomi hair-care and Tracie Martyn beauty products

Custom chaise longues lining the 75-foot pool are Turkish marble heated to body temperature

Miami Beach hotel's Lapis spa

Miami Beach hotel's Lapis spa, a neon-lit desk of frosted resin glows in contrast to reception's Carrara marble and white oak. Photo by Paul Warchol.

Pedersen and Viñoly Pair for Health Care

The projects will add a total of 704 new hospital beds to the Silicon Valley city.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 10/31/2008

View of Promenade, Stanford Hospital

As it has so often in this electoral season, health care overtook the discourse at an event in Palo Alto, California last week. But it was development, not politics, which rallied supporters for the unveiling of William Pedersen and Rafael Viñoly's expansion of Lucile Packard Children's Hospital and Stanford Hospital. At a joint reception in a downtown hotel, the medical institutions revealed display models and renderings for the projects, which will add 704 new hospital beds in the heart of Silicon Valley.


Lobby View, Stanford Hospital

The Lucile Packard Children's Hospital will address a growing need for specialized pediatric and obstetric care by adding a 104-bed addition, designed by Pedersen of Kohn Pedersen Fox. His concept centers on an "Explorer's Pavilion" that places information and patient services at the front door, with a garden-lined public trail that leads families to their destinations. Single-patient rooms are envisioned as "nests" that allow families to stay in the patient's room, along with "tree houses" that view the garden.


Level Three Corridor and Roof Garden, Stanford Hospital

"As waves emanate from a stone tossed into a tranquil pool, our design is influenced by nature radiating from a healing garden placed between architecture, which represents the present and the future," says Pedersen.


Forecourt Entry, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital

Rafael Viñoly Architects designed a new 600-bed hospital from the ground up for Stanford University's hospital, one of the nation's leading medical centers. Considering that medical and technological advances frequently originate there, Viñoly’s plans feature modular pavilions that will adapt to future innovations. Light-filled corridors that view the area's foothills figure prominently, while gardens and outdoor courtyards are utilized extensively to promote healing through nature. A sloped courtyard will organize public circulation on lower levels, and accessible roof gardens surround a public floor that offers amenities for visitors and staff.


Ground Floor Lobby, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital

"We are challenging outdated conventions in hospital design to establish a new architectural identity for Stanford Hospital that will allow it to continue to provide outstanding care for its community, as well as innovate and develop treatments that will benefit communities the world over," says Viñoly.

Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON ATHLETIC MEDICINE CENTER, EUGENE

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 12/1/2008

When student athletes first enter this sports-therapy and training facility, they're greeted by a zigzagging white Corian bench that unravels like a roll of sports tape. And that's just the beginning of the athletic imagery Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects created for this 15,000-square-foot center. A seating area features four sandblasted glass screens depicting students in various athletic poses, images made from the names of the school's former athletes, while an adjacent oak wall is branded with the names of the school's most important coaches. The school's "O" logo is depicted in a large relief comprising 3,000 aluminum rods that pierce a glass wall in the nutrition bar. Even there, the stools boast leather covers laser-cut with sport statistics.

NBBJ

project Banner Gateway Medical Center, Gilbert, Arizona.

standout Public spaces are arranged along a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, and a centralized circulation system runs down an interconnecting spine that links a patient wing and administrative areas.

Anshen & Allen

project Intermountain Medical Center, Murray, Utah.

standout The warm woods, stonelike porcelain tile, and emphasis on open space and light were inspired by the nearby Wasatch Mountains.

Graft

project Kinderdentist, Berlin.

standout A 30-by-30-foot drywall "wave" painted vibrant blues spans two floors and helps calm dentist-fearing children.

Interior Design Best of Year Awards Wrap Up at the Guggenheim

The evening's big winners included 3form, Clive Wilkinson Architects, Yabu Pushelberg, and Shelton, Mindel & Associates.

Laurel Petriello -- Interior Design, 12/8/2008

Clive Wikinson Architects took home awards for Education and Large/Office (Modern Funky).

Interior Design hosted the third installment of its annual Best of Year Awards, sponsored by Edelman Leather, at New York's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The most celebrated designers and architects of 2008 filled the museum rotunda on the evening of December 4, anticipating the announcement of the winners.

3form took home awards for Architectural Product and Innovation.

In order to create an even greater level of due diligence, and to address the close vote tallies experienced in the first two years of the program, the magazine launched a two-tiered voting system for 2008's nearly 1,300 entries. Online voting by the design community took place October 6 to 15; a subsequent judging by panel occurred the week following. This year's distinguished roundtable of Best of Year judges included Lee Mindel of Shelton, Mindel & Associates, Lauren Rottet of Rottet Studio, Calvin Tsao of Tsao & McKown, Keith Rosen and Ronette King of Gensler, Ali Tayar of Parallel Design, James Slade of Slade Architecture, and Brad Lynch of Brininstool + Lynch, who dutifully assumed the task of selecting their winning peers from a total of 240 finalists in 62 various categories.

Yabu Pushelberg took home awards for Retail/Fashion and Hotel/Domestic.

Divided into two presentations--products and projects--publisher and vice president Mark Strauss joined Cindy Allen, editor in chief, on stage to present the awards to 64 designers and manufacturers, as well as to honor the Merit award winners. The evening's major players included 3form, receiving awards for the Architectural Product and Innovation categories; Clive Wilkinson Architects, honored with awards for Education and Large Office (Modern Funky); Yabu Pushelberg, who accepted awards for the Hotel/North America and Retail/Fashion categories; and Shelton, Mindel & Associates, taking home awards for Freestanding Residence and Urban Apartment.


Shelton, Mindel + Associates took home awards for Freestanding Residence and Urban Apartment.

The ceremony was broadcast live in the atrium of the rotunda, where honorees and guests also enjoyed an after-hours exploration of the museum's exhibition "theanyspacewhatever." The New York landmark, designed by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright, will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2009. Proceeds from the event were donated to the Council for Interior Design Accreditation.

Northwestern Health-Care Facility Wins Vista Award

Health-care architect Anshen+Allen received the 2009 Vista Award, along with hospitality specialist WATG and builder Turner Construction Company.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 4/16/2009

You couldn’t blame the team at Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend for bragging—the brand-new facility in Springfield, Oregon just claimed this year’s Vista Award for New Construction, an annual prize bestowed by the American Society of Healthcare Engineering.

Architects Anshen+Allen and WATG, and builder Turner Construction Company, are the triumphant triumvirate behind the $547 million, 1.2 million-square-foot complex. But sharing in the victory is PeaceHealth Oregon Region, Sacred Heart’s parent, which asked hospital staff and community members to be part of the design process. More than 500 physicians, nurses and caregivers responded, and together they formed more than 60 planning teams. "Working together, we had the chance to turn an empty field in a uniquely beautiful location into an integrated, technologically advanced hospital that will redefine health-care design and patient care," says PeaceHealth CEO, Mel Pyne.

Intended to evoke the grand lodges of the Pacific Northwest, the brick complex sits on 181 acres, framed by rolling hills, groves of Douglas fir trees, a meadow, and the McKenzie River. Visitors are greeted by a stone-and-timber porte-cochere that leads to a two-story atrium. With a stone fireplace as its center, the atrium also features an expansive skylight, a grand staircase and an open-beam ceiling made with repurposed wood from the few Douglas firs that were sacrificed during construction.

The interior detailing—custom handcrafted iron and brass railings, custom lighting, natural stone masonry and porcelain tile—is carried throughout the facility, from registration areas and nursing stations to patient rooms and dining facilities. Even the emergency room can’t escape residential touches. "You don't feel that you're in a hospital," says Anshen+Allen principal Todd Tierney. "The idea is to provide health-care without it feeling institutionalized."



All images courtesy of Anshen+Allen. Photos 1-4 by David Wakely; Photo 5 by Carlos Rubio.

AIA Honors College and University Designs

Schools with winning projects include Harvard University, Princeton University, and Yale university.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 8/11/2008

Designers of higher education institutions are netting high praise from the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) and the American Institute of Architects Committee on Architecture for Education (AIA CAE) as the groups laud the winners of their annual Excellence in Planning, Excellence in Landscape Architecture, and Excellence in Architecture awards.

Elkus Manfredi Architects took home the prestigious Honor Award for Excellence in Planning for a District or Campus Component for Harvard University's Graduate Commons, built on the site of former parking lots. The complex includes a residence hall that is one of the first buildings in Massachusetts to be certified LEED Gold.

Payette, another Boston-based architectural firm, bagged the Excellence in Planning for a New Campus Honor Award for their master plan of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences building at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan.

Other winners include Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners, honored for Excellence in Planning for an Established Campus for the campus plan of Princeton University, and Towers/Golde, winner of the Excellence in Landscape Architecture Honor Award for their residential college courtyard renovations at Yale University.

Gwathmey Siegel Completes Yale Arts Complex

The iconic architecture building, originally designed by legendary Yale architect Paul Rudolph in 1963, will be rededicated on November 7 and 8.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 10/20/2008

Yale University arts complex, 2008.

How often does an alumnus get the chance to reshape the educational institution that helped form his professional vision? Just ask Charles Gwathmey, who seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by designing a major new arts complex for Yale University, where he collected his Master of Architecture in 1962.


Yale University, Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, basement; view of the Great Hall,2008. Yale University, Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library; stairway, 2008.

The Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects principal is preparing to return once again to the Ivy League school, now to be feted for his renovation of legendary Yale architect Paul Rudolph's Art & Architecture building, which opened the year after Gwathmey graduated. Beginning on November 7, the two-day celebration in New Haven, Connecticut will feature three major panel discussions, as well as the first scholarly exhibition of Rudolph's work.


Yale University, Jeffrey H. Loria Center for the History of Art, seventh-floor terrace, 2008.

Gwathmey restored the building's formerly fractured open spaces, and revived views that had were long blocked by prior renovations. He also introduced new air conditioning technology, and windows made with updated materials. In addition to the refurbishment, Gwathmey also completed the school's department of art history facility, and created an expanded library for art, drama and architecture.


Yale University arts complex, view from the east, 2008. Yale University, Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, basement; view of Great Hall, 2008.

"To see Rudolph's masterpiece restored to its original glory and to see students once again working in its light-filled spaces, is exhilarating,” says Robert A.M. Stern, the prolific architect and dean of the Yale School of Architecture. “We hope that the restoration of this building—designed by one of the most talented, inventive, and important architects of the last century—will call attention to the pressing need to preserve both Paul Rudolph's work in particular, and great modern architecture in general.”

Richard Meier's Cornell Research Center Lands LEED Gold

A living roof designed to abosorb rainwater and provide insulation covers over 50 percent of the $162 million Weill Hall.

Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 10/22/2008

When Richard Meier won the commission to design Weill Hall, the new interdisciplinary research facility at his alma mater Cornell University in Ithaca, New York his colleagues in the architecture world were surely green with envy.

Meier, however, had a different kind of green on his mind and now the master architect's eco-awareness has led to a LEED Gold designation, the second highest environmental certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Richard Meier & Partners' green design for the $162 million facility includes a living roof covering over 50 percent of the building. The roof both absorbs rain water and provides insulation; light, temperature, and air flow are regulated via motion detectors. The center also boasts high-tech mechanical systems projected to save energy at a rate of more than 40 percent above American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards, as well as systems to minimize light pollution, water use, and material emissions. As a whole, the building is projected to consume 30 percent less daily energy than comparable buildings.

"Environmental sustainability and energy efficiency have been fundamental to both the design approach and construction process of Weill Hall," says Renny Logan, associate partner in charge of the project. "LEED Gold Certification recognizes Richard Meier & Partners' and Cornell's substantial commitment to the creation of environmentally responsible buildings that make the most efficient use of the earth's natural resources."



Images courtesy of Cornell University.

Building a "High Performance School of the Future, Today"

The school is is intended not only as a vision of what is to come, but also as evidence of what is possible today.

From Building Design + Construction -- Interior Design, 11/24/2008

Rendering of the "High Performance School of the Future, Today" courtesy of Project Frog.

From Building Design+Construction:

Building Design+Construction magazine [was] part of a unique building demonstration, the ''High Performance School of the Future, Today'' at the 2008 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in Boston.

Designed by the design firm Project FROG of San Francisco, the high-performance green building system is a fully functional classroom that showcases advanced technologies and sustainable systems now available for the educational sector in North America.

The “School of the Future, Today” project is intended not only as a vision of what is to come, but also as evidence of what is possible today.

Rendering of the "High Performance School of the Future, Today" courtesy of Project Frog.

“The finished project will be a dynamic demonstration of the initiatives championed by USGBC and its LEED certification programs, and discussed throughout the three-day Greenbuild event,” said Building Design+Construction Publisher Dean Horowitz.

The 1,282-square-foot “learning space” incorporates the latest concepts in eco-friendly, sustainable features and products. Multiple building industry sponsors were selected to showcase the benefits of LEED certification, while also complementing the design concepts of the building.

Rensselaer and SOM launch the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology

CASE researchers are currently developing a more efficient way to harness wind power to yield greater energy generation

Laurel Petriello -- Interior Design, 11/24/2008

Rendering of the integrated concentrating solor facade developed by CASE director Anna Dyson.

On the heels of Greenbuild 2008, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in collaboration with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, officially launched the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE). Recognizing that the global building sector accounts for 35 percent of the world’s energy consumption and close to 40 percent of its carbon production, CASE aims to tap into a new generation of building design industry students and professionals to evolve current building practices and generate solutions for today’s environmental challenges.

The school, which has been operating for approximately a year, resides within SOM’s New York office in Manhattan, housing roughly 15 masters and doctoral students working alongside building professionals and researchers to provide alternative methods for challenges currently facing the building industry.

Rendering of the integrated concentrating solor facade developed by CASE director Anna Dyson.

“Through the development of innovative systems and materials that will shift building performance toward sustainable and energy self-sufficient models, researchers at the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology will demonstrate to the world the power that lies at the nexus of art, design, science, and technology,” said Rensselaer president Shirley Ann Jackson. “Two leaders with long histories of innovation in their fields—Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill—will work together to create ecologically sustainable design through cutting-edge technological experimentation and architectural work.”

CASE researchers are currently working to develop a more efficient way to harness wind power atop aerodynamically shaped buildings to yield greater energy generation; a smart solar technology for windows; and an architectural method to aid in the conservation of potable and non-potable water in the world’s dry climate regions.