The Construction Specifier Express

January 24, 2023

Boston University’s new building is a shimmery, translucent landmark

PCI announces 2023 precast/prestressed concrete design awards winners

The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) has announced the winners of the 2023 PCI Design awards. Three panels of jurors awarded 25 winners, including eight honorable mentions for the special buildings and transportation categories.

Design proposal unveiled to reconcile Texas theater to Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision

A design proposal aims to restore Kalita Humphreys Theater in Dallas to its architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision, bringing the building in line with Wright’s theory of organic architecture.

NYC mayor proposes reimagined Fifth Ave following Open Street success

In December 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams launched a new visioning program for Fifth Avenue—from Bryant Park at 42^nd Street to Central Park at 59^th Street—to transform it into a pedestrian-friendly hub, following the success of the holiday season Open Streets program.

Connecticut firm advances projects team leader into assoc. principal

Full-service architecture firm Svigals + Partners, based in Connecticut, has advanced Alana Konefal into the associate principal role, in recognition of her exceptional leadership, organizational, and project management skills.

Features

How insulated metal panels help achieve protection and aesthetics

The team responsible for bringing any building to life faces increased pressure to deliver on energy efficiency and design innovation. Construction professionals today must consider a wide array of variables when selecting the optimal building envelope product, such as climate in the region and how the building will be used.

Absorption and diffusion: Creating optimal acoustic spaces

Acoustic issues as to the richness and functionality of sound in a space manifest themselves in many ways, and from many different causes. Covering all the possible iterations of sound problems, their sources, and their solutions would be beyond the scope of this article. However, it becomes much more manageable by narrowing the focus down to those issues which one can mitigate with diffusion and absorption.

DISCUSSIONS OF THE WEEK

CCS

I am interested in forming a group interested in taking the Spring CCS exam. Included in this would be looking at how to qualify, registration, and preparation. Please let me know if interested. Thank you!

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MOVE TO DELTEK SPECPOINT

We are reaching out to see if anyone else has started the transition to Deltek's new platform, Specpoint? We've done all the training videos, but we are struggling with the transition of writing the specs by “system” instead of by “sections.” Sections such as thermal insulation are created in pieces (wall, roof, ceiling) and when they get compiled, we still aren't seeing all the information we put in. I'm open to any suggestions or ideas from others who have tried the new platform.

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