Today the University of Colorado Boulder dedicated the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building. The 337,000-square-foot Caruthers Biotechnology Building is pavilionated to organize labs and faculty offices into neighborhoods that encourage collegial interaction; the neighborhoods, in turn, are connected by a central "main street" to shared support spaces and double-height meeting rooms. The new building's palette of local sandstone, brick, and red barrel tile echoes the university's original buildings by Charles Z. Klauder, whose 1920 master plan called for an idiosyncratic "Tuscan Vernacular Revival" expression to take advantage of the campus's extraordinary site in the foothills of the Rockies, and establishes the architectural character of RAMSA's master plan for the University's new East Campus (2008), holding down one side of what will become a gateway quadrangle.

"The building brings together under one roof the brightest minds in the many disciplines of the biosciences to advance health and patient care in unprecedented ways," said CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip DiStefano. The Colorado Initiative for Molecular Biotechnology, the Department of Biochemistry, and the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering will share the facility.

The building is named for former CU molecular biology researcher, Jennie Smoly Caruthers, the late wife of Marvin Caruthers, a biotech pioneer who co-founded Amgen Inc. and is a nationally acclaimed CU-Boulder researcher.  Mr. Caruthers donated $20 million toward the building’s construction in 2007, and a total of $48 million has been donated for the building to date, including $15 million from federal stimulus funds.

RAMSA partners Paul Whalen and Sargent Gardiner worked with Mr. Stern on the project. HDR Architecture, Inc was the Associate Architect. The Caruthers Biotechnology Building is on track for LEED Platinum Certification.

The Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities (SPLIA) presented Robert A.M. Stern Architects, LLP, with a 2012 Design Excellence Award for the East Hampton Town Hall in East Hampton, New York. 

Our design for the East Hampton Town Hall took a collection of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century timber-framed vernacular structures, preserved by a couple as a residence and then donated to the Town, and organized them as a new campus for local government.  The project has also been honored with a Citation for Design from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) New York State Chapter.

As an advocate for historic environments on Long Island, the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities works to promote the appreciation and protection of the region’s cultural heritage.  To encourage standards of excellence and raise public awareness, the Preservation Awards recognize individuals, organizations, and projects that demonstrate extraordinary achievement in the field of historic preservation on Long Island.

Photo courtesy of SPLIA.

Today Harvard Law School dedicated the new Wasserstein Hall, Caspersen Student Center, and Clinical Wing.  The LEED Gold, 266,000-gross-square-foot building houses classrooms, legal clinics, an 875-seat conference center, lounges, and dining, all above a 700-car underground parking garage.  The building's three wings form a "C" wrapping around a landscaped courtyard raised to the second level to conceal a ground-level loading dock.  An east-facing glass wall that opens to the courtyard brings light into a double-height main gallery. The building's south wing connects to Harkness Commons (Walter Gropius, 1951) and will open to a new quadrangle to be completed in 2013.

“Welcome to the Law School’s living room, welcome to the new shape of legal education,” said Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow, who saw the project to its completion

“My sense,” said Elena Kagan, former HLS Dean and now Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, “is that it has succeeded beyond anyone’s dreams.”

"For the Law School we worked to imbue this new building with the character of what went before, so we hope you will find that the Wasserstein-Caspersen-Clinical building seems to belong here yet to be its own thing," said Robert A.M. Stern.  "I hope that this new building will be embraced as the physical embodiment of the Law School's march forward far into the 21^st century."

RAMSA partners Melissa DelVecchio and Graham Wyatt worked with Mr. Stern on the project. 

The East Hampton Library broke ground today for a new children's wing, which will accommodate additional shelving for children's books and make the library's existing lecture hall accessible.

According to the Library's executive director Dennis Fabiszak, the new wing is expected to open in May 31, 2013. The library has raised at least $3.2 million for the estimated $4 to $4.5 million project. The official fundraising campaign has not yet begun, but the library has secured donations from donors, such as Alec Baldwin, who gave $250,000 to the project.

The design for the new children's wing has been in the works for over a decade. Robert A.M. Stern Architects began its work at the library in 1992, completing a major addition and renovation project in 1997. The firm's work has carried forward the character of the original building, which was designed by Aymar Embury and first opened in 1910.

RAMSA Partner Randy Correll continues to lead the firm's work at the library.

Rendering by Michael Berardesco Studios.

The Wake Forest Schools of Business held a topping-out ceremony for Farrell Hall, which will become the schools’ new home in 2013.  The building is designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, led by Robert A.M. Stern and his partners Graham S. Wyatt and Kevin Smith.

"Farrell Hall will be a world-class home worthy of the exciting future of the Wake Forest Schools of Business," said Steve Reinemund, dean of the Schools of Business.  "A building does not make a program, but this state-of-the-art facility will provide the platform for inspiring scholarly work and social dynamism."

The 130,000-square-foot Farrell Hall will unite undergraduate and graduate programs now scattered in three separate buildings.  Restrained Georgian fronts facing the campus to the north and a new quadrangle to the south will bookend a dramatic triple-height Founders' Living Room, which will connect all the building's levels, with balconies stepping back to allow views from the first floor to the third. Terraces off the Founders' Living Room will cascade out to a lawn with a series of informal outdoor gathering spaces and a grove of mature pin oaks.  The project will seek LEED Gold certification.

Michael A.J. and Mary Flynn Farrell donated $10 million toward the building's $53 million cost.  Mike Farrell is chairman and chief executive of Annaly Capital Management and the parent of a 2010 Wake Forest graduate.  In naming the building, the Farrells are paying tribute to Mr. Farrell's late father, Michael John Farrell.

RAMSA partners Graham Wyatt and Kevin Smith are working with Mr. Stern on the project. 

Rendering by Jeff Stikeman.

Robert A.M. Stern Architects' LEGO® model of 15 Central Park West joined the National Building Museum’s exhibition LEGO® Architecture: Towering Ambition, joining models of fifteen of the world’s most iconic buildings created by LEGO® certified professional Adam Reed Tucker, one of only 11 LEGO® certified professionals in the world. The 15 Central Park West model was designed and built by RAMSA Graphic Design Director Jonathan Grzywacz.

“We are thrilled to showcase the creative spirit of those who have demonstrated their support of our mission by participating in this unique experience,” said National Building Museum executive director Chase W. Rynd. “We invited our corporate supporters to be a part of the cityscape of LEGO® Architecture and were honored when these industry powerhouses invested their time and talent to design and build models that illuminate the innovation and creativity of the building arts and science and wow the Museum’s visitors.”

The Museum’s LEGO® Architecture exhibition is among the most popular in Museum history and has had more than 214,000 visitors since it opened in July 2010.  LEGO® Architecture: Towering Ambition is on view through Labor Day, September 3, 2012. The National Building Museum is open seven days a week, from 10 am to 5 pm Monday through Saturday and 11 am to 5 pm on Sunday. Admission fees apply.

Today Webster University dedicated the new East Academic Building.  Located at the southeast corner of their St. Louis campus, the building defines a new campus green space.  Our firm prepared campus master plan guidelines for the precinct and designed the 95,000-square-foot, three-story building, the first of a new generation of academic buildings to surround the quadrangle.  The East Academic Building will accommodate the George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology and other of the University’s programs. 

“The East Academic Building is an important milestone in Webster University’s history,” said Webster President Elizabeth (Beth) J. Stroble. “This building serves as a bridge that links the historic Webster University with the future of the institution as we move toward completion of our new campus master plan, which will help direct future development of our St. Louis campus for the next 15 years and beyond.”

RAMSA partners Graham Wyatt and Kevin Smith worked with Mr. Stern on the project. 

The Robert A.M. Stern Collection introduced New York Home, its first line of residential furnishings, at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show today.  The line, which brings the firm’s sophisticated design approach to handcrafted pieces built in local workshops, is inspired by historical precedents and updated with clean lines and elegant detailing.  Each piece in the New York Home collection is scaled to bring comfort and style to contemporary residences.

"New York Home offers a line of tailored furnishings with the level of design and craftsmanship we bring to those we design for our custom residential clients," said Alexander P. Lamis, who leads the program as managing partner of Robert A.M. Stern Interiors, LLC, and Robert A.M. Stern Designs, LLC. "New York has been an important center for furniture-making since the days of Duncan Phyfe, and we're pleased to be working with local artisans to create the heirlooms of tomorrow."

New York Home debuted with nine pieces, including: a tête-à-tête with two chairs—one L-shaped, the other C-shaped—and a coordinated ottoman in a ceruse finish and distinctive cross-braced decoration inspired by 18th-century English armchairs; a tall cabinet inspired by traditional armoires but slimmed down to conceal a bar or entertainment center; a wingback chair with abstracted detailing; single- and double-tiered tripod tables offered in lacquered wood or bronze finish with inset mica surfaces; an occasional table modeled on early 20^th century French precedents, in an oil-rubbed finish with bronze details; and a bedside table in parchment and lacquered wood with a semicircular well.

New York Home was named an ASID Top Pick for Furniture at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show.  For more information, please visit www.ramscollection.com.