Architecture Billings Drop to All-Time Low

Business conditions at architecture firms continue to deteriorate, with the Architecture Billings Index posting its lowest level nationwide since the survey began in 1995 for the second month in a row, according to the American Institute of Architects. Also, the Midwest scored worst in the nation.

A score below 50 indicates a decrease in billings, and the November ABI rating was 34.7, down from the 36.2 mark in October. The inquiries for new projects score was 38.3, also a historic low point. The Midwest came in at 31.4.

“With mounting job losses, declines in retail sales, and travel cut-backs the need for new commercial facilities has dropped considerably recently,” says AIA chief economist Kermit Baker. “What’s just as troubling is that the institutional sector—schools, hospitals and public buildings—is also beginning to react to tighter credit conditions and a weakening economy.”

As the overall U.S. economy continues to struggle, nonresidential construction spending is expected to decrease by 11% in 2009 in inflation adjusted terms, the AIA says.

Commercial projects including office buildings and retail establishments will see the most significant decrease in activity. On the positive side, prices have dropped for key construction commodities.

Chicago Brings Home Two National AIA Awards

Two projects in Chicago were among the 25 recipients of the American Institute of Architects’ Institute Honor Awards. They were selected from more than 700 submissions.

• The Gary Comer Youth Center (John Ronan Architects) is a recipient of 2009 Institute Honor Award for Architecture.

The 74,000-sq-ft youth center, located in one of Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods, demonstrates a commitment to social progress in providing a constructive environment for youths to spend their after-school hours. The center provides support for the programs of a 300-member drill team/performance group for children of ages 8 to 18 and provides space for various youth educational and recreational programs for disadvantaged children to better their chances of success in life.

• Southworks Lakeside Chicago Development (Sasaki Associates, Inc. and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP) is a recipient of the 2009 Institute Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design.

Located in Chicago’s Southeast Side, the former South Works steel mill site is the largest vacant site for redevelopment in the city. At more than 600 acres and with 1.5 mi. of Lake Michigan shoreline, the site offers a milestone opportunity to create an innovative and sustainable new community that will be compact, pedestrian-oriented, and closely tied to transit, which will connect people to the lakefront for the first time in over a century.

The 23 recipients are located outside the Midwest. The award recipients will be honored in April at the AIA 2009 National Convention and Design Exposition in San Francisco.

Neighborhood Design Preferences Shift to Infill Housing, Transit

Due to the prolonged decline in housing construction and increasing commuting costs, consumer preferences for community design are shifting from areas removed from metropolitan hubs and towards infill sites that have greater access to public transportation options, according to the American Institute of Architects’ Home Design Trends Survey.

Traditional neighborhood design with homes close to the street, sidewalks and smaller lots is being replaced by developments focused around denser areas. With the struggles in the overall economy ongoing, households are also placing a higher emphasis on simpler exterior furnishings, with durability a chief consideration.

Billings at residential architecture firms continue to tumble, with the home improvement market flattening out as well.

Mixed-use developments are still gaining in popularity, but at a slower rate than recent years because these additional uses may already be present in infill locations. The same holds true for dedicated open space and recreational facilities as part of existing developments for the same reason.

The result of a design strategy predicated around pedestrian friendly neighborhoods by clustering residential units around existing retail, entertainment and transit options promotes a healthier and more vital community. A recent report published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine has shown that green neighborhood design can help mitigate growing childhood obesity, diabetes, asthma and hypertension rates.

Christy WebberProject Wins National Architecture Award

The Christy Webber Landscapes Greenworks project in Chicago has earned national recognition in the 2008 Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steel awards program.

For more than a century, a 12-acre parcel just west of downtown Chicago was used for industrial purposes, serving as the home to one railroad company, then another, then a rock-crushing operation and finally a city impound lot.

The principals of Christy Webber Landscapes proposed a new vision for the site, and the focus was on a thoroughly integrated design approach to make the most of free, renewable and recycled resources to achieve a LEED Platinum building.

The project is a Merit Winner in the category of Projects Less than $15 million, making it one of only three around the country to earn an award in this classification.