Garden Plans Major Renovation

Key consultants are on board for the largest overhaul in the 37-year history of Madison Square Garden. The midtown Manhattan sports and entertainment venue's management team has named Brisbin Brook Beynon as project architect, San Francisco-based Gensler Associates as associate architect, and Jones Lang LaSalle as project manager for the renovation, scheduled to begin in 2006.

The renovation will encompass concourses, suites, seating, locker rooms, staging areas, and employee facilities. Published reports have placed the cost at $300 million.

Selected for the redesign from a field of six candidates, Toronto-based Brisbin Brook Beynon was also architect for the Madison Square Garden Training Center, a satellite facility that opened in 2002 in Greenburgh, N.Y. for the New York Knicks and Liberty basketball teams and the New York Rangers hockey team. The firm's sports arena credits include renovations in Calgary and Edmonton and new facilities in Toronto, Helsinki, and Hamburg, Germany.

As project manager, Jones Lang LaSalle's New York office will work with Madison Square Garden staff to develop the strategic plan, master budget, and schedule. Last September, the Chicago-based company acquired Quartararo & Associates of New York, which previously had managed several facilities and ventures for the Garden.

AIA-NY Lauds Syracuse Design

The New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects recognized a 1 million-sq.-ft. sustainable technologies research facility with a 2004 Design Award.

The chapter presented the award to Swanke Hayden Connell Architects for its design work on the master plan for DestiNY USA, a developer planning a major redevelopment in Syracuse, N.Y. The plan would incorporate labs, offices, conference spaces, support areas, and testing facilities for the complex, all on a brownfields site. The design includes a "biosphere" buffer zone that reduces heat loss in winter, collects solar radiation for energy use, and eases passive ventilation.

Upstate Center Gets LEED Status

The Patrick H. Dollard Discovery Health Center in Harris, N.Y., near Monticello, has won Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The 27,000-sq.-ft., wood and glass center became only the second LEED-certified healthcare building in the nation, according to a press release. The center provides a variety of medical and therapeutic services to residents and outpatient clients.

The honor recognizes the efforts of the nonprofit Center for Discovery and Guenther 5 Architects of New York for incorporating sustainable siting, water efficient landscaping, a geothermal heating and cooling system, and indoor air quality.

Interior Designer Snags Four Jobs

Andres Escobar & Associes will design the lobbies, common areas, and interiors of four residential condominium projects scheduled to start construction this year in New York. Led by principal Andres Escobar, the Montreal-based firm will design projects at 100 Jay St. in Brooklyn and at three Manhattan locations: 24 East 21st St., 119 East 23rd St. and 59 John St. Escobar's highest-profile New York commercial project is the Duvet Supper Club & Lounge.