The Leading European Architectural Forum (LEAF) Awards, sponsored by Emirates Glass, were presented September 16 at the Landmark hotel in London and glass was a prominent feature in a number of the winners. In their ninth year, the awards were created to honor architects designing the buildings and solutions that are setting the benchmark for [...]

Migratory bird populations colliding into the glass facades of tall buildings is a growing concern in the building industry. Architectural glass fabricator Viracon has published a new technical document titled Bird-Friendly Glass. Designed to divert birds away from collision with glass and contribute to sustainable building practice, Viracon says silk-screen patterns help birds distinguish glass [...]

Daylighting can improve indoor comfort and that was a key consideration for Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects LLP (ZGF) in designing the new J. Craig Venter Institute in La Jolla, Calif. The 45,000-square-foot laboratory facility is located within the University of California, San Diego campus and will include features such as a wood window curtainwall and [...]

The Evelyn Grace Academy, a new secondary school in Brixton, south London by Zaha Hadid Architects, won the £20,000 (approximately $30,000 USD) Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize 2011 for the best new European building built or designed in the United Kingdom. This is the second year running that Zaha Hadid Architects has [...]

More than 6,500 windows were upgraded as part of the Empire State Building’s recent retrofit and renovation. Now, the building has been awarded LEED Gold for Existing Buildings certification as further recognition from the $550 million Empire State ReBuilding program. According to the announcement, the retrofit conducted by Johnson Controls and Jones Lang LaSalle is [...]

Glass played a significant part in the design of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects’ newest completed office tower, Ocean Financial Centre in Singapore, which opened yesterday. The 43-story tower features a curving glass-and-metal exterior wall and is the first office building in Southeast Asia to achieve a LEED Platinum rating for its core and shell as [...]

The American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have issued a joint statement urging policy makers to take immediate steps to create jobs in the design and construction industry. On the eve of the Obama Administration’s major jobs initiative, the AIA and AGC said [...]

The winners of the 2011 myMarvin Architect’s Challenge, sponsored by Marvin Windows and Doors in Warroad, Minn., vary widely in design, from a rural farmhouse in Maine to an ultra-contemporary mountain home in Oregon, but all feature doors and windows from Marvin. The company says its annual contest recognizes the best in architecture. This year, [...]

Architect Bob Borson has joined the blogger line-up on the Architects’ Guide to Glass & Metal website and bi-weekly e-newsletter. Borson will provide insight into working on different projects, offering attention to the surrounding glass, glazing and other fenestration details. In his first blog Borson talks about ways architects can find inspiration for their many projects. [...]

Key Communications, publisher of the Architects’ Guide to Glass & Metal magazine, has hired Sahely Mukerji to join its staff. She will serve as an assistant editor of the Architects’ Guide’s sister publication, USGlass, and editor of Key’s fastest growing publication, Solar Glazing as well as editor of www.USGNN.com™, USGlass’s daily electronic newsletter. Mukerji worked [...]