Beyer Blinder Belle

BBB in the News: Big thanks to The Architect's Newspaper for featuring the new National Urban League headquarters! With varied facade materials and patterns, the Urban Empowerment Center is responsive to its mixed-use program as well as the surrounding neighborhood. “The whole block from 125th to 126th street is lined with brick townhomes and brownstone style buildings,” says BBB Partner Cassie S. Walker, AIA, LEED AP. We wanted to have a brick that spoke to that, but in a different blend and mix that you wouldn’t see anywhere else.” Read more about this dynamic addition to Harlem at the link below. Development Team: BRP Companies, L+M Development Partners LLC, Taconic Partners, Dabar Development Partners LLC 📷: Alexander Severin https://lnkd.in/eZ9m_JmH

Endowed with Light: Congratulations to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on winning a 2024 Candela Award, Honorable Mention, from the District of Columbia Section of the Illuminating Engineering Society! The lighting design by Chris Stroik of STROIK Lighting Design (now Lam Partners), in concert with the bright, contemporary material palette, creates a welcoming and reflective atmosphere befitting the Endowment’s mission to advance peace and international cooperation through analysis and research. Read more about this project below: https://lnkd.in/eE8Eink5 #washingtondc #interiordesign #lightingdesign

Hiding in Plain Sight: What’s so special about this duplex in Arlington? A pivotal location in the gay rights movement in Northern Virginia, the former home of activist Dr. Lilli Vincenz was recently the cornerstone of a pilot program on documenting and preserving cultural sites related to LGBTQ+ history. BBB Partner Jennie Gwin, AIA and Associate Alyssa Tope, AIA, AICP will present their pro bono work on this study next week at the Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association 2024 Annual Conference in Williamsburg. Headed to the conference? Click below for details! https://lnkd.in/eHSWchTw #historicpreservation #culturalheritage #tellthefullstory

reIMAGINE Carnegie: How can a Beaux-Arts library be renovated for contemporary use? BBB Partner Jennie Gwin, AIA will discuss the creative design and technical innovations behind the repurposed Carnegie Library at a panel hosted by AIA|DC. Check it out!

Ascension on Second: Construction crews shut down part of Second Avenue one recent evening to hoist a new BBB-designed cross atop the dome of St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral in Manhattan. The cross was designed in the spirit of Walter Cain’s 1967 cathedral, using traditional forms with a modernist interpretation. Later this month the cross will be gilded to match the faceted dome roof as part of an ongoing restoration project led by BBB. Read more from the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America: https://lnkd.in/e8FJaZrn

Ridge Hill, Re-envisioned: In a new video from NAP Atlanta, BBB Partner Maxwell Pau describes the vision for revitalizing outdoor lifestyle and retail center Ridge Hill. “One of the really exciting pieces,” Maxwell says, “is how do we deal with new interventions on the existing buildings?” The answer: targeted improvements that lay the groundwork for a greater diversity of uses and experiences. Watch the video below for more about “creating a neighborhood that feels authentic, that people want to visit and then come back again.”

Topped Out: The Brook, a mixed-use high-rise in downtown Brooklyn, has now topped out, reports New York YIMBY. Developed by WITKOFF and Apollo Global Management, Inc., the project will include 591 apartments, 30% of them affordable, as well as residential amenities and street-level retail. Click below for more photos—and congratulations to the Suffolk Construction team!

Look at That Building: In Bloomberg CityLab, Kriston Capps tours Eagle + West with design architect OMA to discover how the project brings “a touch of modern Rotterdam [to] the Brooklyn waterfront.” Read the article—and watch the video!—below.

Tech Week: To celebrate the innovative work and cutting-edge tools created by BBB and colleagues throughout the industry, our Design & Construction Technology (DCT) group hosts an annual Tech Week filled with presentations, interactive workshops, contests, and social events. This year, highlights included:   - Jared Friedman, Computational Product Manager at Walter P Moore, who described how building data can be leveraged for tracking and reducing embodied carbon impacts in the built environment.   - Murat Melek, PhD SE, Director of AI, and Denis Leff, Director of Digital Engineering at Suffolk Construction, who presented a range of technologies used to manage complexity in the office and on the job site.   - Kayleigh Houde, Computational Project Lead, and Shivanie Rambaran, Sustainability Engineer at Buro Happold, who delved into cutting-edge tools for parametric life cycle assessment that can optimize building designs for sustainable outcomes.   - And internal workshops on best practices for using virtual reality, 3D printing, and AI-generated imagery—followed by an internal competition for the best staff-submitted AI images.   Watch this space for more!   #designtechnology #architecture #design #innovation

A Signature of Loudoun: The newly restored Historic Douglass High School Education & Development Campus was named not only a Pace Setter, but also Students’ Choice in the 2024 “Signatures of Loudoun” Design Excellence Awards! A big thanks to Loudoun Economic Development, and hearty congratulations to the entire project team! Client: Loudoun County Public Schools 🌱: LSG Landscape Architecture 📷: Sam Kittner #northernva #blackhistory #historicpreservation