9.5.08 | Chicago, IL | The Inland Steel Building, a landmark building in Chicago, IL, is in the planning stages of a $40-million overhaul. An investment group including New York-based Capital Properties LLC and celebrity architect Frank Gehry has asked two city panels to sign off on the renovation plan for the glass-and-steel structure, originally completed in 1958. One goal is to restore many elements of the building to their original appearance. The ownership group plans to have the tower
LEED-certified.

9.4.08 | London, UK | Charlie Paton, creator of the Seawater Greenhouse, Michael Pawlyn of Exploration Architecture,  and engineer Bill Watts of Max Fordham & Partners,  launched the Sahara Forest Project. The Sahara Forest Project combines two technologies, Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Seawater Greenhouses, to produce renewable energy, water and food in an area of desert known to be one of the hottest places on earth. 

9.4.08 | Norwalk, CT | EMCOR Group, Inc. announced that its EMCOR Government Services unit will provide full building management services at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse in Boston, MA. EMCOR Government Services will be responsible for a range of building management services including operations and maintenance, energy management, elevator maintenance, boat dock maintenance, janitorial work, and management of the public realm program.

9.4.08 | Phoenix, AZ | Syska Hennessy Group will design the building systems for an addition to the Maricopa County criminal justice complex for in Phoenix, AZ. When completed in 2011, the  building will provide 32 additional courtrooms, secure judicial chambers, office areas and support spaces with several additional secured spaces designed to serve the entire complex.  

9.4.08 | Dallas, TX | IA Interior Architects will provide interior design services for two American International Group, Inc. projects in Dallas, TX. AIG plans to relocate its regional office to two sites, a six-floor location at Plaza of the Americas and an office in North Dallas. IA designed AIG’s new offices to be consistent with corporate standards and to better meet its functional needs. 

9.3.08 | Brooklyn, NY | Gran Kriegel Associates completed a project converting a former Brooklyn court house into two high schools. The interior was completely gutted and reconfigured to accommodate the new schools, the Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice, and Urban Assembly School of Math and Science for Young Women. 

9.3.08 | Norwalk, CT | EMCOR Group, Inc. subsidiary, Gowan, Inc. will build and install the mechanical infrastructure for Rice University’s Duncan and McMurty colleges in Houston, TX.