News

• Springfield Literacy Center Receives CAE Educational Facility Design Award, June 7, 2011

  The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE) has selected 13 educational and cultural facilities for this year’s CAE Educational Facility Design Awards. The purpose of the design awards program is to identify trends and emerging ideas, honor excellence in planning and design, and disseminate knowledge about best practices in educational and community facilities. Thirteen awards were issued in three categories: Citation, Merit, and Excellence.

   

  The Springfield Literacy Center in Springfield, Pennsylvania, was recognized with an Award of Merit. The design response for the new, 50,000-square-foot Literacy Center is singularly focused on enhancing literacy instruction. The building is situated on a site that is a natural oasis within the suburban community context. The building design is infused into the landscape, naturally stepping with the topography, while engaging with the tree canopy. The natural material palette of the design complements woodlands with transparency blurring the line of interior and exterior. The built environment specifically responds to the rigorous literacy curriculum. Sustainable design practices not only reduce the facility's impact on the environment, but also provide a basis on which to educate students on sustainable technology.

• Springfield Literacy Center Receives Grand Prize Award, May 3, 2011

  Burt Hill, a Stantec Company, received the Grand Prize Award for outstanding educational facility design in the 20^th Anniversary Spring 2011 edition of LEARNING BY DESIGN, the premier biannual guide that showcases innovative school and university design and construction projects. Recognized for the innovative design of Springfield Literacy Center (Springfield, PA), Burt Hill, a Stantec Company, is one of only four firms to receive a Grand Prize Award in the Spring 2011 design competition.

   

  Judges were impressed by the Springfield Literacy Center’s upstanding dedication to promoting literacy. The school library is prominently situated inside the front entrance, and the fact that the library is showcased "speaks to the mission of the literacy center," said the judges. "Even in this digital age, the library is still seen as a source of knowledge."

   

  LEARNING BY DESIGN judges also commended the school, which serves up to 450 kindergarten and first-grade students, for its cutting-edge educational program. “In addition to being just an outstanding project, we’re recognizing this very innovative program,” said the judges. “It’s a literacy program, it’s geared toward viewing literacy as the most important undertaking of the district as students enter, and they’ve committed the first two years of the educational curriculum specifically to that."

   

  The site plan also earned accolades from the judges, who commented on its thoughtful use of space. The layout includes small breakout areas both inside and outside the classrooms, paired with abundant use of sliding glass walls and doors for optimal transparency. “It really fosters interactions, between the children and even with the environment. It supports and fosters the process and value of that… so you can have different kinds of instruction at the same time,” they noted.

• CMU's Doherty Hall Wins Building Excellence Award, March 10, 2011

  Carnegie Mellon University’s Doherty Hall, Phase II, was honored at The Construction Industry Evening of Excellence ceremony hosted by the Master Builders Association of Western Pennsylvania with a Building Excellence Award for Best Renovation Project Over $10 Million. The award is based on design and craftsmanship, excellence in project teamwork, innovation in construction techniques or materials, customer satisfaction, meeting the challenges of a difficult job, and integration of green building practices. 

   

  Designed by Burt Hill, with Jendoco serving as the construction manager, the project included the renovation of approximately 100,000 square feet within the existing science building, as well as 20,000 square feet of new construction featuring a glass-enclosed, epistitial bay, vertical circulation, and mechanical space topped with an occupiable roof garden.  New large and bright laboratories support a variety of chemical engineering research groups including Solid State Engineering, Bioengineering, and Colloids, Polymers and Surfaces.  The project has received a LEED Silver Certification from the USGBC.  

   

  “The new labs and offices will help us to recruit the top graduate students and faculty, and the domino effect of excellent research and teaching will lead to greater acclaim for the Department and the University as a whole," said Rosemary Frollini, Associate Director of the Colloids, Polymers and Surfaces Program.  According to Jill Swensen, AIA, LEED AP, principal-in-charge of the project, “The success of the project is largely due to the collaborative spirit among all those involved in the project.”

   

  The MBA Building Excellence Awards are the highest and most sought-after commercial construction industry awards in Western Pennsylvania. Since its inception in 1994, the Building Excellence Awards program has portrayed the positive impact of the construction industry in our region.

• Architect Returns to His Roots at Burt Hill / Stantec, March 7, 2011

  Pittsburgh native Jeff Young, AIA, has returned to the region where he will lend his management expertise to Burt Hill, a Stantec Company. 

   

  “Our team is thrilled with the opportunity to expand our staff and will greatly benefit from Jeff’s leadership, experience, and unique skills,” said Barbara Cain, Principal.  “We look forward to working with Jeff as he applies his expertise to the local market.”

   

  Having earned a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997, Young spent the past 14 years at the New York office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), where he started as a designer and most recently served as associate director in project management.  Throughout his career, Young has developed a depth of experience leading multiple large-scale, public and private sector projects, totaling more than two million square feet with a construction cost of over $1.6B.  His portfolio includes notable projects such as the $750M International Gem Tower, a commercial office building and retail podium designed specifically for the diamond industry in midtown Manhattan; the John Jay College Expansion Project, a $340M academic building; and North-Shore LIJ Women’s Hospital, a $300M replacement facility and inpatient bed tower.  Young’s diverse knowledge also includes K-12 education, mixed-use, residential, and airport facilities.

   

  In his new role, Young will utilize his experience in design, project management, and business development, leading the firm’s regional efforts in the corporate / commercial market.

• Gordon Honored for Exemplary Work in High-Performance Design, February 28, 2011

  Harry Gordon, FAIA, LEED AP, a senior principal with Burt Hill, a Stantec Company, is the recipient of the annual Greg Franta Memorial Award presented by the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC). The award recognizes a person or organization that has demonstrated an outstanding contribution to high-performance sustainable building design and construction. Gordon was honored as part of the 2010 SBIC Beyond Green High Performance Awards Program on February 24, 2011. In conjunction with receiving the award, he presented his firm's work in high performance sustainable buildings to the High Performance Buildings Congressional Caucus in a Capitol Hill briefing. 

   

  The Greg Franta Memorial Award was created with the support of the BASF Corporation to honor the work of the late Greg Franta, FAIA, an architect and dynamic leader in the field of sustainable building. Franta held leadership positions at the Solar Energy Research Institute (now NREL), the Rocky Mountain Institute, and ENSAR (the architectural firm he founded), and served on the Boards of the SBIC (former chairman), the AIA, and the American Solar Energy Society. 

   

  Gordon’s and Franta's work often took similar paths. Both were founding members and served as chairman of the National AIA Committee On The Environment. They also worked together on prominent projects such as the Greening of the White House, the Greening of the Grand Canyon National Park, and EcoVillage, an environmental co-housing community in Virginia. Both Gordon and Franta were recognized for their contributions to the architectural profession with election to the AIA College of Fellows. Gordon's work in high performance sustainable buildings and communities was also previously recognized with a President's Citation from the American Institute of Architects and the U.S. Green Building Council Leadership Award. Several of his high performance projects have received major awards from the AIA, ULI, ASLA, USGBC and the federal government.

   

  Since 2001, the SBIC Beyond Green Awards have recognized exemplary innovations and innovators in the sustainable building industry. The awards encourage building professionals to develop a more holistic approach to design and construction — an approach that promotes energy, water and material efficiencies, while ensuring indoor environments that are healthy, productive, and comfortable. Additionally, the awards provide a platform to showcase forward-thinking buildings and initiatives that embody the definition of a high-performance building.

   

• Staff to Present at 2011 SCUP Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, February 28, 2011

  The 2011 SCUP Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, “Managing Planning, Managing Change: Transforming the Academic Landscape,” is taking place March 6-8 at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.  The program features three educational sessions presented by staff of Burt Hill, a Stantec Company.      

  
  “A Campus Without Faculty: Creating a Distance Learning Hub” will be presented by Wayne Nickles, Senior Associate, and Mark Safferstone, Executive Director of the University of Mary Washington Dahlgren Campus, and convened by Dorothy Verdon, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Bruce E. Brooks & Associates.  The program will focus on the University of Mary Washington’s new Dahlgren Campus and how it represents a new model in higher education: a facility that allows many institutions to come together to provide instruction in an underserved area.  Through the programming and design process, and the involvement of partner institutions, what had been a loosely defined facility revealed itself as a magnet for distance learning.  

   

  David Capelli, Principal; Brian DeWitt, Vice President of The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company; and Jack Nye, Director of Facilities Planning at Towson University are presenting  “Quadruple Bypass Surgery: Maintaining Functionality During Master Plan Implementation.”  Convened by Mark Sullivan, Senior Associate at Michael Graves & Associates, the session addresses how institutions of higher education have come to recognize the value of a master plan in identifying priorities and setting guidelines by which to achieve campus growth.  Using Towson University as an example, the presenters will discuss how to maintain the viability of pedestrian circulation, vehicular circulation, service access, and utility infrastructure in the heart of a functioning university campus. 

   

  “A Community College Campus – Reinvented, Not Just Relocated” will be presented by John Knickmeyer, Principal; Terry Jones, Provost of Tidewater Community College Portsmouth Campus; and John Massey, Director of Facilities Planning and Development at Tidewater Community College Norfolk Campus; and convened by David Zaiser, Partner at KSS Architects, LLP.  The new Portsmouth Campus of Tidewater Community College (TCC) represents a landmark initiative undertaken by the City of Portsmouth and the college to relocate its founding campus in the City of Suffolk to an underutilized site closer to the city’s underserved population.  By transplanting and reinventing its campus, TCC adopted the idea of the “learning college” that informed the development of new academic programs and student services, and ultimately, the transformational vision of the new campus.

• Gordon Appointed to GBCI Board of Directors, January 10, 2011

  Harry T. Gordon, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, was appointed to the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) Board of Directors.  Established in 2008, GBCI is an independent, third-party organization committed to ensuring precision in the design, development, and implementation of the processes used to increase and measure green building performance (certification) and green building practice (credentialing).  GBCI is responsible for administering project certifications and professional credentials and certificates within the framework of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating Systems™.

   

  Throughout his career, Gordon has focused on developing energy-efficient, environmentally-responsive solutions for a full range of clients, and has been active in promoting sustainable, high performance design within the building industry.  He is a nationally-recognized expert in green building design and has held prominent positions with the USGBC including serving as a founding member of the board of directors, co-chairman of the finance committee, and member of the LEED NC V 2.2 core committee.  He is also the recipient of the USGBC’s prestigious Leadership Award. 

   

  “I look forward to this exciting opportunity to assist the GBCI in its efforts to create global change that is economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable and lasting,” said Gordon.  “By partnering with others who share my passion and philosophy for furthering excellence in green design and construction, we can have a greater impact on the building community and demonstrate the partnership of sustainable design with good business practices."