One of the largest power distributors in the Upper Midwest, Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative recently opened its Williston, N.D. headquarters featuring an expansive curtainwall. The four-story, 85,000-sq.-ft. Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative (MWEC) building was designed by JLG Architects to achieve a LEED Gold certification with an emphasis on highlighting the efficient use of electricity, while creating a beacon for mwec on the north side of Williston. MWEC’s and JLG’s shared over-arching design goal for the new headquarters was focused on “looking to the future,” said Nick Lippert, AIA, project manager, JLG Architects. “The entire design aestheti

When erecting a new student commons between historic Hutchins Hall and another academic building at the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor, designers discovered that the building code required a 2-hour fire-rated barrier. However, the 80-year-old Hutchins Hall façade was adorned with aged limestone and historic stained glass windows. In order to transform the existing wall into a fire-rated assembly, the building team needed to remove the stained glass and limestone, install custom designed Safti SuperLite II-XL 120 glazing and EZ frames, then painstakingly re-assemble the stained glass and limestone. “The first step was to carefully remove the existing stained glass window

Florida’s Aventura Mall recently completed a new wing expanding the Miami-area retail destination by 315,000 sq. ft. to 2.7 million. Providing a sunlit experience with indoor conveniences, a custom, vaulted skylight was installed. Opened in 1983 at less than half its current size, Aventura has grown steadily through the decades. The newest addition on the eastern edge was completed in March 2018. “Retail is certainly evolving and we’re always innovating to stay ahead of the curve,” explained Jackie Soffer, co-chair and CEO of Turnberry Associates, owner and managing entity. JPRA Architects served as the project’s architect of record, working with general co

For years the privately-owned Lovejoy Wharf was a missing link in the HarborWalk that extends 46 miles around Boston’s waterfront. Revived in 2015, Lovejoy Wharf is now home to a new pedestrian walkway and a reinvented 200,000-sq.-ft., circa 1904 office building—the new global headquarters for iconic footwear company Converse. A unique mix of retail, entertainment and commercial office space, Lovejoy Wharf hosts 600 corporate employees; Converse’s non-profit sound studio, RubberTracks, that helps non-mainstream artists record an album; a yoga studio; fitness center; café/commons and materials library. Embracing multiple old and new exposed hard surfaces, building materials