OPX Complete's the Washington Hilton

Article from Hospitality Design Magazine-- Photo's provided by Ryan Langlois- OPX

Three-Year Restoration of Washington Hilton Complete

The Washington Hilton has completed its three-year, $150 million makeover that highlights the hotel's mid-century modern style while introducing contemporary touches. The property's 1,070 guestrooms have all received new color schemes, window treatments, bedding, flooring, wallcoverings, and flat-panel TVs, as well as updated bathrooms. The refreshed 110,000-square-foot function space now features a new 30,000-square-foot multi-purpose addition named Columbia Hall. The new Heights Executive Meeting Center includes nine high-tech meeting rooms, while the expansive International Ballroom complex underwent extensive modifications, as did the lobby, restaurants, and all public areas. OPX handled the interior design. The hotel is owned by Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds, and Lowe Enterprises.

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Newest Frank Gehry Building....

by Frank Gehry

Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health

Photographer Matthew Carbone has sent us his photos of Frank Gehry’s latest project, the recently-completed Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas.

The research centre for degenerative brain diseases is divided into two separate buildings connected by a courtyard.

The first forms a jumble of swooping stainless-steel arcs and houses events spaces to rent.

The second contains clinics and research facilities dedicated to preserving memory, and consists of white stacked boxes.

All photographs are copyright Matthew Carbone.

Here’s some more information from the organisation behind the centre, Keep Memory Alive:

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“Located at the intersection of I-15 and I-95 in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health holds the distinction of being the first organization to open for business in Symphony Park, the city’s 61-acre arts and science redevelopment program.

Designed by Frank Gehry, the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health’s facility is the perfect venue for accomplishing the organization’s two main goals:

• Preserving memory: With both administrative offices and medical research and clinical operations, Keep Memory Alive and its medical partner, the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, provide a full-service approach towards preserving memory.
• Creating memories: Housed under an undulating stainless steel canopy, illuminated by natural light from 199 windows, our event space or Life Activity Center is available for rental—a truly unique space in which to host a wedding, bar mitzvah, business meeting, and create memories for your friends, family, and colleagues

While Gehry’s design incites varied reactions from observers, the one consistent response is a desire to come inside its walls and learn more. In this respect, the building is an unwavering marketing tool, driving awareness to the work conducted by those inside.”

Gehry deftly manipulates space and materials to create stunning structures that captivate the imagination. His design of Keep Memory Alive’s headquarters at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health has been nothing short of remarkable. The Gehry teams have created a masterpiece of architectural design, blending strong visual impact with superior efficiency in patient care.

Gehry wanted to create a place in Las Vegas that will be memorable.

He explains, “The mantra is Keep Memory Alive. I’m trying to make a building that people will want to visit, remember, talk about, and enjoy, and ultimately will want to partner with us at the Center to help cure some of the neurodegenerative diseases.”

Gehry is putting a lot of his own heart into the building, and acknowledges a personal connection.

The wife and three brothers-in-law of Dr. Milton Wexler, Gehry’s longtime analyst and friend, were stricken with Huntington’s disease, a devastating neurological affliction that is now supported by Keep Memory Alive.

For roughly 35 years, the architect has served on the board of Wexler’s Hereditary Disease Foundation, established to study Huntington’s, which is why this project with Keep Memory Alive is so close to Gehry’s heart.

Gehry’s design of the Center will be the focal point of the new 61-acre Symphony Park arts and science development in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, and will undoubtedly be a lasting signature for the master architect.

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Energy Efficiency Analysis Program for Hotels Unveiled

Company Develops New Energy Efficiency Program for the Hospitality Industry ROBBINSVILLE, N.J. – EcoGreenHotel President, Scott Parisi, announced the launch of his company’s new Energy Efficiency Analysis program, or E2A, designed to help green hotels assess their exact energy usage and develop cost-effective ways to reduce it. “As other industries look to reduce their negative impacts on the environment, hotels have struggled to do the same without it having an adverse effect on the guest experience and the bottom line. Energy efficiency programs that have been good for other industries have not necessarily been applicable to hospitality for those reasons,” Parisi said. “Our goal was to develop a hospitality-specific program for evaluating and increasing the energy efficiency of hotels without sacrificing guest satisfaction or the hotel’s financial wellbeing, and we’ve achieved that with E2A.” The energy efficiency process begins with EcoGreenHotel analyzing a year’s worth of each property’s utility bills using ENERGY STARS benchmarking system. An EcoGreenHotel E2A professional conducts an on-site visit to evaluate the property’s operations and efficiency. EcoGreenHotel then creates a customized, cost-effective energy efficiency strategytaking industry-specific factors, property specifics and region into account. Once the analysis is complete, each hotel receives a comprehensive report, a cost-benefit breakdown for each of the recommended Energy Conservation Measures (ECM’s), a five-year cash flow analysis for each of the ECM’s, and a list of federal, state, local and utility-sponsored rebates, grants, incentives and loans that will help pay for them. “Our mission is to encourage greater energy efficiency throughout the hospitality industry, and our new partnership with EPA’s ENERGY STAR Program will greatly enhance that effort,” Parisi said. “Another thing that sets EcoGreenHotel’s E2A program apart is that it’s completely vendor neutral,” Parisi said. “Our recommendations for products, services and technology are based solely upon our clients’ best interests, and nothing more. We guarantee that each E2A program will result in an actionable plan that will save our clients money, lessen the impact on the environment and improve cash flow.” To learn more about EcoGreenHotel’s E2A program, visit Energy Efficiency Analysis for Green Hotels. Source: EcoGreenHotel

From Inhabitat.com- VA TECH news

Virginia Tech’s Lumenhaus Wins the 2010 European Solar Decathlon!

The US may have lost in soccer over the weekend, but we pulled out an incredible victory in the European Solar Decathlon in Madrid! Virginia Tech's elegant shape-shifting Lumenhaus received the grand prize for the most efficient solar home after ten days of competition against 16 other brilliant homes. Over the course of ten different contests, the Lumenhaus steadily pulled ahead, earning a total of 811 points out of 10,000. It was a tough battle, and it's likely that the Lumenhaus' win in the Architecture competition pulled them through -- they barely beat out Germany's IKAROS house by one point!

This the second time in one year that the team from Virginia Tech has competed with the Lumenhaus. Back at the US Solar Decathlon in October, the team finished 13th overall out of 20 teams with 704 points. In the ensuing months between October and May, the team tweaked and improved their overall design and even had atest run in Times Square before crossing the pond to Madrid. The design of the Lumenhaus is fantastic and was well received in DC as well as Madrid, taking home first place for architecture in a three-way tie and receiving a maximum of 120 points.

However overall, the Lumenhaus didn’t blow away their competitors in the other nine contests. Their well-roundedness is what brought home the win for Virginia Tech, although the University of Applied Sciences Rosenheim was hot on their heels with their IKAROS House and only lost by a single point. Jurors decided that the architecture of Lumenhaus was stronger than the IKAROS House, which earned them enough points to clinch the win. The IKAROS house earned superior marks for electricity balance and the use of their solar system.

In the end however, Virgina Tech’s European Solar Decathlon win came in 100 points less than Team Germany, who won the US Comp. It seems the competitors in the Europe competition are slightly behind in terms of sophistication, engineering and architecture, but then again, this is the first time the competition has been held in Europe. Regardless, the event was a stunning success and over 190,000 people visited Villa Solar in Madrid over the past two weeks to tour the houses. Congrats to Virginia Tech and the Lumenhaus team along with all of the other competitors!

Article Source Here: http://inhabitat.com/2010/06/28/virginia-techs-lumenhaus-wins-the-2010-europe-solar-decathlon/2/