Designs Completed for Queens Borough Hall

Kouzmanoff Bainton Architects has completed the final design phase of an $18 million, multi-phased renovation of Queens Borough Hall. The design required elaborate attention to construction phasing since the building remains in service while renovations are taking place. The contracting agency for the project was the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.

The primary goal of renovating the 191,000-sq.-ft., five-story 62-year-old building was to relocate several city agencies presently renting private office space. When the six-year, multi-phase renovation job in completed in the winter of 2004, almost half of the building will have been renovated and occupied by various city agencies, including the Department of Buildings, the Queens District Attorney, the City Planning Commission and the Departments of Transportation, Environmental Protection and Housing Preservation and Development.

Fox & Fowle Designs Housing From Shipping Containers

Fox & Fowle Architects has found a practical use for the millions of shipping containers that pile up at ports across the United States: Housing units. The firm's innovative solution was a winner in a nationwide competition sponsored by the Boston Society of Architects.

Calling their design, "Gloucester Green: Renew Recycle Rejoice," Fox & Fowle proposed the reuse of abandoned shipping containers into low-cost modules for 351 new live/work housing units. The design responds to the growing surplus of these excess containers. Last year, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey reported a surplus of nearly 950,000 containers in New Jersey's Newark Elizabeth Port due to the growing trade deficit.

Led by principal Mark Strauss, the Fox & Fowle team responded to the challenge put forth by BSA to transform, on paper, a 20-acre, high-density area adjacent to the commuter rail station in Gloucester, Mass. into a better place to live. Gloucester Green addresses economic, environmental and social issues. Live-work housing is supported by business incubators; existing woodlands and open space are protected by consolidating development and a new central green defines a gateway to the city and creates a focus for community activities.

EYP to Design Engineering Systems

FleetBoston selected EYP Mission Critical Facilities, Inc. in New York, N.Y. to design engineering systems for its new Enterprise Operations Center in Albany, N.Y.

The 5,000-sq.-ft. center will replace FleetBoston's existing Command Center nearby. EYP's design challenge is to seamlessly integrate complex systems into the historic structure, constructed in 1889. The project was scheduled for completion in fall 2003.