NYC2012 Holds Design Competition

NYC2012, the committee leading New York City's bid to become the host city of the 2012 Olympics Games, is holding a competition to create a design study for the 2012 Olympic Village.

A request for qualifications was issued inviting architects and designers to participate in the design study. Five finalists, who will be announced Dec. 4, will be invited to participate in a 15 to 20 week planning and design study.

The proposed site of the Olympic Village is Queens West, directly across from the East River from the United Nations. During the Olympic Games, it would house 16,000 athletes and coaches. Following the event, it would provide world class residential housing for up to 18,000 New Yorkers.

Thornton-Tomasetti Wins Design Awards

Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers' design of the new, mixed-use Random House World Headquarters/The Park Imperial in Manhattan has been recognized with three industry awards from the New York Association of Consulting Engineers, the Concrete Industry Board and New York Construction.

The $170 million, 840,000-sq.-ft. building consists of a 25-story concrete, luxury residential building, The Park Imperial, atop the 25-story headquarters constructed in steel as well as two levels of underground parking and ground-floor retail space.

The project design was honored by NYACE with the organization's highest honor, the Diamond Award, during its 2003 Engineering Excellence Awards gala. The design was also recognized with awards of merit from the Concrete Industry Board and New York Construction in 2002.

Group Seeking Input for Elevated Railway

Public input is being sought to create design goals for a 1.5-mile-long, 7-acre elevated freight railway, called the High-Line, in the West Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

The area will be rezoned as open space and $15.75 million has been committed in city funding for the project over the next four years. Because of the rigorous schedule established for the project, a design master plan must be completed by fall 2004. Friends of the High Line, a non-profit group dedicated to seeing the land preserved as open space, held a public forum on the project.

The High Line was built in the 1930's as part of the West Side Improvement Project, one of the New York City's largest investments in transportation infrastructure. No trains have run on the structure since 1980. In 1999, neighborhood residents founded Friends of the High Line with the mission of converting the structure to an elevated public space - a greenway or promenade.

Two Camden Schools Under Design

Schoor DePalma has been awarded a subcontract for the site design of two elementary schools in Camden, N.J. Gensler is prime architect on the project awarded by the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation.

The company will provide the site design of the new Thomas H. Dudley Elementary School and H.B. Wilson Elementary School, including preparation of site plans, which indicate layout of the school building, parking lot, pathways and utilities. Both schools will be approximately 90,643 sq. ft. and are expected to hold more than 500 students in grades K-6. Design of both schools will be completed in early 2004. Construction of both schools will go out to bid in summer 2004, with construction expected to be completed in summer 2006.

Schoor DePalma to Design Athletic Field Improvements

Schoor DePalma will design athletic field improvements for West Orange High School in West Orange Township, N.J.

The project includes the design of a new all-weather synthetic track, a synthetic turf football field and the replacement of visitor bleachers at the high school's football stadium.

Schoor DePalma will work with an independent manufacturer for materials and specifications for the site improvements and will be responsible for implementing construction drawings and specifications that will be advertised for public bids. Construction of the track and associated athletic field improvements is expected to be complete in spring 2004.