Building 12 at Pier 70 in San Francisco has a long history that continues evolving. The building was originally constructed in 1941 and was used by Bethlehem Steel for shipbuilding in World War II. The building continued to be utilized for the construction of ships after the war and later was used to build the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) tunnels that cross under the San Francisco Bay. Unfortunately, in the recent past, the building has been essentially abandoned and fallen into disrepair until this project came to rescue it (Figure 1).

The Efficient Form of the David Rubenstein Forum

The David Rubenstein Forum at the University of Chicago is a new center for intellectual exchange, scholarly collaboration, and special events. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (Architect of Record) and Brininstool + Lynch (Associate Architect), in collaboration with LERA Consulting Structural Engineers, the 97,000-square-foot structure consists of a 2-story podium and a 10-story tower of meeting room and social space neighborhoods, which are staggered to varying degrees. Conceived as a scholarly retreat from the hustle-and-bustle of downtown Chicago, the bold new conference center shifts the paradigm from traditional sprawling conference centers and hotel ballrooms.

The $160 million New Patient Facility at the Hawaii State Hospital is a four-story, 144-bed, 196,944-square-foot secured psychiatric facility on an existing psychiatric hospital campus. At the foot of the Ko’olau Mountain Range, this facility includes patient care units, a rehabilitation mall, multiple office spaces, a standalone central utility plant, a separate gymnasium for recreational therapy, and a site elevator with a walkway bridge structure. Due to the ever-increasing patient population and a high percentage of high-risk forensic patients, the existing hospital could not keep up with the demand, and a larger facility was needed. The project was executed using the design-build delivery method led by Hensel Phelps.

The old Social Science Building at Weber State University, located in Ogden, Utah, was constructed in 1970. Programmatically, the building has been one of the most heavily used on campus, serving the social sciences, humanities, and many other departments throughout its life. One would be hard-pressed to find a graduate of the University who had not taken a class there. The concrete building, consisting of one floor below grade and three floors above, remained largely unchanged in its 45-year useful life.

A New Era for the James A. Farley Building

Redevelopment transforms an outwardly grand but mostly functional 20^th-century postal building into a 21^st-century transportation hub that is elegant, both inside and out.

San Francisco’s new Fireboat Station No. 35 is a floating two-story, 16,000-square-foot building at Pier 22 ½ supported by a 173-foot-long by 96-foot-wide by 9-foot-deep steel float moored by four guide piles behind San Francisco’s historic Fire Station 35 building. The station includes a new steel pier and associated steel support piles adjacent to the Embarcadero and historic timber pier, a vehicular and pedestrian ramp between the steel pier and float that supports the building, and a gangway between the float and historic timber pier for the firefighters (Figures 1 and 2).

Park Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (design architect) and Arup (engineer of record), the Park Union Bridge opened to pedestrians in July 2021, connecting the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum to America the Beautiful Park and Downtown Colorado Springs. The bridge is called the rip curl for its cresting design; the footbridge spans 250 feet over active rail lines (Figure 1).

The Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company Flume No. 6, also referred to as the McElmo Creek Flume (the Flume), located near the City of Cortez in Montezuma County, Colorado, is the last remaining flume of a water delivery system designed to irrigate the flat, open Montezuma Valley. The Flume is historically significant as an irrigation system of early Euro-American settlement.

Structures for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures opened to the public in September 2021, promising to “invite the world into an unparalleled experience of the arts, sciences, artists, and social impact of moviemaking.” Designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop with Gensler as executive architect, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures comprises a significant renovation and seismic improvement of the 1930s May Company Building, renamed the Saban Building, with the addition of the new spherical shaped Geffen Theater.

The Art Deco-inspired Clinical Sciences Building (CSB), located on the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Parnassus Heights Campus, originally served as the school of dentistry when it opened in 1932. In the 80 years since, CSB has been in continuous service, providing much-needed clinical, office, academic, and research space for the campus. Unfortunately, being approximately 5 miles from the San Andreas Fault, the building is expected to experience significant earthquake ground shaking, which it was not originally designed to withstand. To reduce this risk, UCSF recently completed a seismic rehabilitation of CSB to extend the life of this vital building for at least another 80 years.