Industry News

The City of Jacksonville selected Boston-based Cannon Design to design its $211-million, 1-million-sf county courthouse complex. Cannon provided planning, programming and design services for the project, which included conversion of the old federal courthouse in addition to the new complex.

Plans for the new Newseum facility in Washington have been completed by Polshek Partnership Architects and Ralph Appelbaum Associates. The $400-million, 531,000-sf facility will house the six-level, 215,000-sf Newseum, 30,000-sf of retail, approximately 100 condominiums, a restaurant, and new offices for the Freedom Forum, the media foundation that supports the Newseum. Tripling the space of the previous Newseum in Arlington, the facility will be constructed on the former site of the D.C.

Valero Energy Corp. has completed construction of a $50-million, 51-megawatt cogeneration plant to power its Benicia refinery. The facility came online in October 2002 and eliminates the possibility of involuntary shutdowns due to rolling blackouts, as well as returning approximately 50 megawatts to the power grid. The plant is the first of two planned cogeneration units, the second of which will fuel plant operations and supply power to the grid.

Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America has selected Albert Kahn Associates (AKA), in collaboration with local consultant Hermosillo y Asociados Arquitectos S.C. (HyAA) to provide full architectural and engineering services for a new greenfield facility for the painting of Tacoma truck beds. The project is comprised primarily of a paint shop with welding and assembly capabilities.

Nissan Technical Center North America (NTCNA) is engaged in a 126,000-sf expansion of its Technical Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan. The $38.8-million project is comprised of additions to the engineering building, prototyping, testing, and styling (PTS) building, parking lots and styling studio, as well as improvements to the facility's mechanical and electrical infrastructure.