Archive for July, 2009

Teaming for a new CSU Engineering Building

Earlier this year RATIO Architects was fortunate to be selected from a field of over 50 teams to design a new engineering building on the campus of Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins, CO. The building will be approximately 100,000 square feet and will exceed LEED Gold standards with a goal of being a zero energy facility.  Our team includes the Denver firm of SLATERPAULL Architects.  Think of this as the first of several posts regarding this, with this as the “announcement” version.

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Tags: architecture, CO State, collaborative design, Design Architect, engineering building, Go Green, Higher Education, LEED, RATIO Architects, Rob Proctor, Sustainable Design

Prairie – So Cool, But Takes Patience!

A one year old prairie at Mulberry Fields Park in Zionsville, Indiana.

It probably doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone that lawns composed of cool season grasses take more resources and time to maintain than areas planted with native forbs (flowers) and grasses. Consider a ten acre park planted in turf. At an average maintenance cost of $500 per acre, that’s $5,000/year. Over ten years, that’s $50,000. By contrast, meadows and prairies – once established – require only yearly mowing in the early spring. Better yet, if the prairies can be burned by trained and qualified personnel, the ground can be re-charged with beneficial nutrients and burning will do an even better job of keeping invasive plants at bay. It’s also just cool to see a prairie on fire.

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Tags: Landscape Architecture, native prairie, parks, Sustainable Design

Photogenic – Moving Metal

This month RATIO employees took a look at Indianapolis’s newest art installation  George Rickey: An Evolution. This is the fourth in line of the city’s ongoing temporary public art exhibits. Our favorite photo (and top vote getter) was the photo taken by Jennifer Higginbotham, of the “ANNULAR ECLIPSE V, 2000″ sculpture.

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Tags: Arts Council of Indianapolis, George Rickey, Indianapolis, Mobile, Photography, public art, Urban Art

Outside the Box (on a ledge, anyway)

When it comes to scouting the best spot to watch this holiday’s fireworks displays, The Ledge at Sears Tower in Chicago takes the cake.  Really, it’s multiple ledges, each a glass box cantilevered about four feet from the face of the tower – on the 103rd floor. According to a story on NPR, The Ledge can support up to 5 tons, but I wouldn’t want to test it.

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