A 47000 square meters office building is set to rise in Newark, NJ — and once complete, it will be the largest mass timber office structure in the U.S. Designed by Vancouver firm Michael Green Architecture (MGA). The proposed Newark office will consist of three interconnected volumes and it will be more than double the size of the nation’s current largest mass-timber building, the T3 North Loop M building in Minneapolis. Mass-timber construction is growing in popularity across the U.S. and is lauded for fast construction, strength, and eco-friendly benefits. Though the building will be built on a concrete foundation, the structural components will be mass timber and will be treated to be fire resistant. The building comprises three stepped volumes ascending from six to eight and then 11 stories. The exterior will be clad in either brick or metal panels, while the interiors will feature exposed wood and be bathed in natural light thanks to ample glazing and a central atrium. Workers will also enjoy access to rooftop gardens. Described by the developers as the city's "most ambitious mixed-use project", the Riverfront Square proposal will include a total of 186000 square meters of office spaces, 2,000 residential units, a hotel, public space and cultural facilities.

Interest in the construction of large wind farms is growing from year to year in Armenia. This business also attracts the emirates company “Access Infra Central Asia Limited”, which installed an 80-meter tower to measure wind flows in Gegharkunik region. It will be put into operation in the next few days, and in April it is planned to install another tower, but on other location. On March 30 last year an agreement was signed between the Emirates company and the Republic of Armenia on leasing land plots in different regions of the country with total area of 1,250 hectares for the construction of wind farms with total capacity of 150 MW. Another company which is interested in building of wind farms in Armenia is the Spanish Acciona Energia Global S.L. In March last year the Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of the Republic of Armenia signed with this company a memorandum of understanding on construction of wind farms with total capacity of 100-150 MW. The company already began work on assessing the potential of winds and installed two monitoring stations with height of 80 meters each and one “Sodar” system. The first, not only in Armenia but also in all Caucasus, wind farm with total capacity of 2.6 MW was putted into operation on Pushkin Mounting Pass in December 2005. On this site, it is planned to build wind power stations with a total capacity up to 50 MW. In 2003, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the United States compiled a map of wind energy potential of the Republic of Armenia, according to which the economically justified wind energy potential is estimated at 450 MW with electricity production totaling 1.26 billion kWh/annum. The program also identified the main promising regions where it is advisable to install wind turbines. According to some other estimates, theoretically the capacity of wind power farms in Armenia can be up to 5000 MW. In order to build wind farms, another company, Zod Wind, completed monitoring on the territory of the Sotk Pass. The company intends to build the wind farm “Zod” with a capacity of 20 MW. In turn, the Armenian-Italian company Ar Energy completed monitoring on the territory of the Karakhach Pass in the Shirak region and received a license to build the wind farm Karachach-1 with capacity of up to 20 MW. In the future Ar Energy plans to increase total capacity up to 140 MW. As well as within the framework of the European Union's TACIS program “Supporting Armenia's Energy Policy” monitoring was launched at the Semenovka Pass of lake Sevan region on the basis of which a preliminary feasibility study was prepared for the construction of a wind farm with a total capacity of 35MW.

Amazon has finally opened its stunning new downtown Seattle office, and it’s unlike any workspace we’ve seen before, reported The Bloomberg. The Amazon Spheres are three glass geodesic domes that provide office and greenhouse space. Designed by NBBJ, the US$ 4 billion “mini-rainforest” campus will house over 800 Amazon employees in addition to more than 40,000 plants in an ecosystem built to emulate a verdant cloud forest. Amazon’s giant geodesic domes are made with a steel frame holding 2,643 laminated glass panels made up of four-layered low-iron glass to minimize heat loss. The largest of the three domes measures 27 meters tall and 40 meters in diameter with five floors (and a four-story-tall living plant wall that grows 200 plant species). Retail space occupies the ground floor and part of the first floor. Over 400 species of plants from more than 30 countries are represented in the domes and are cared for by a full-time horticulturalist. Nearly all of the plants were grown in a suburban greenhouse for the Spheres project. The flora centerpiece is a 17 meters-tall Ficus tree (nicknamed Rubi) that weighs almost 16.300 kilograms and was craned into the space through the roof. The plantings are mostly organized in either the Old World garden that features African and Asian plants, or in the New World garden with a focus on the Americas. An architectural highlight is undoubtedly the “bird’s nest,” a timber tree house suspended 9 meters in the air that serves as an intimate meeting space. The interior temperature will be stabilized at 69 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit with 60 percent humidity, and the climate will vary throughout the space. Recycled heat from the nearby data center is used to heat the Spheres. The project is on track for LEED Gold certification. The public is welcome to take a free tour of the facilities but must first book with Spheres Discovery at Understory.

The opinion of the architect Sashur Kalashyan The Kumayri museum-reserve was created by the decision of Armenian government in 1980 to preserve the original historical and architectural heritage (about 1200 buildings) of Gyumri. In the late seventies of the last century city was using its last free lands for new developments within its administrative borders. To continue development program, it was necessary to demolish historical one-story buildings in the center of the city. But demolishing them meant depriving the Gyumri people of historical memory. Each of these buildings was talking about whole era, a stone witness of the past. The earthquake in 1988 and the following years left their destructive trail on these buildings: abandoned, cracked, with some weird additions, they resembled those that had lost the former glitter of beauties. In 2017, the program for the development of the historical center “Kumayri” was developed and implemented, and work began on the restoration of some buildings. Will Gyumri find its former spirit and brilliance? We represent the opinion of the honored architect of Armenia, the chief architect of Gyumri in 1976-1994, Sashur Kalashyan. At the behest of fate, I was one of the authors of the establishment of Kumayri museum-reserve. In 1976, I was appointed the chief architect of Leninakan (the former Soviet time name of Gyumri). In accordance with the five-year urban development plan, it was necessary to determine the locations of new developments for factories, residential and administrative buildings. The number of land plots, free of buildings, was limited in Leninakan. We would have completed their development in the next two or three years. But for the continuation of the development plan, we would have to demolish the old buildings in the central part of the city. I, as an architect, could not allow the demolition of buildings of cultural and historical value. True, cultural tourism was not developed in those years, but in some cities of Russia, Georgia, the Baltic republics, steps were taken at the legislative level to preserve the historical and architectural environment. I and a group of like-minded colleagues decided to study their experience and legislatively consolidate the preservation of old buildings in Leninakan. I visited these cities (Nizhny Novgorod, Tbilisi, Tallinn), got acquainted with the contents of the relevant legislative packages, understood what they were aimed at. Then we decided to take an unprecedented step to give the whole administrative district the status of the museum-reserve, prepared a large legislative package and submitted it for approval to the Armenian government. In 1980, the government approved the establishment of Kumayri museum-reserve. Large-scale restoration and improvement works began. The wide media coverage of this work led to the fact that in two or three years groups of specialists from Yerevan, Tbilisi, even from Russia and the Baltic republics began to come to see and understand how we do it. And it is quite natural that the result of the work done in 1985 was marked by a high state award of Armenia. Unfortunately, the earthquake of 1988 and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union interrupted our noble mission. The museum-reserve for obvious reasons was abandoned: the staff of the administrative staff was reduced, the buildings-monuments handed over to the directorate, some were privatized, many damaged buildings were demolished. However, the collective concept of the museum-reserve, to the credit of Gyumri people, retained its cultural appeal. In 2017, the business program for the development of the historical center Kumayri, developed by a local project team, was launched. To implement this program an investment fund was established for capital repair and modernization of the street network, as well as large-scale works on the restoration of some major historic buildings. However, the whole trouble is that none of the people involved in this work are fully aware of the legally established rules of ownership and, especially, of the restoration and use of cultural and historical monuments. Although the initiative group has developed a project for the functional use of the territory of the experimental block, it does not refer to the requirements of the current legislation for historical buildings and therefore there is no guarantee that new owners of monuments will fully preserve the architectural appearance of the buildings. I confess, it's not at all pleasant to me to speak loudly about this. Maybe we can somehow get out of this deadlock? In the meantime, we still have to hope and support the honorable citizen of Gyumri, the Italian Antonio Montalto, whose efforts and modest investments have been used for several years to acquire, restore and exemplarily use of some historical and architectural monuments in the same historical part of Gyumri.

A new green-glass skyscraper will soon transform the Taipei city skyline, reported The Dezeen. Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel (ACPV) unveiled designs for the Taipei Sky Tower, a 280-meter-tall building that, like Taiwan’s tallest tower, draws design inspiration from bamboo shoots. The mixed-use development will house two Hyatt-branded luxury hotels—Park Hyatt Taipei and Andaz Taipei. Commissioned by Riant Capital Limited, ACPV’s Taipei Sky Tower design was selected from a shortlist of seven international firms. Billed as “Taiwan’s first large-scale lifestyle-driven development,” the sleek 54-story tower will be set in Xinyi, the city’s financial district flush with new modern construction projects, including the carbon-absorbing Agora Garden. In addition to Taipei Sky Tower’s two hotels, the mixed-use building will also feature a luxury retail podium. Taipei Sky Tower will feature curved edges, a segmented facade, and an angled roofline to mimic a bamboo shoot with notched sections. The design also draws inspiration from the pleats of Greek columns. “ACPV aims to create an ultra-modern 280 -meter tall skyscraper by blending some of the oldest elements from the East and West in modern harmony,” reads a press release. ACPV will lead the design for Park Hyatt Taipei, while the design for Andaz will be given over to Neri&Hu. The project is slated for completion in 2020.