• middle colleges,
• a Suffolk University restoration, 
• mission driven planning,
• UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center,
• landscape urbanism,
• Gordon College science center,
• a new housing project at URI,
• taking stock of existing buildings,
• campus heritage, and more.

An upturn for commercial construction is expected in 2012, but institutional construction is projected to be steady, according to AIAarchitect:

The nonresidential construction market is expected to recover this year, but late enough in the year that 2011 spending levels are unlikely to see any growth over 2010 levels. A consensus 2 percent construction spending decline in 2011 will hopefully indicate the bottom of the recession trough and set the stage for a recovery in 2012. After falling around 30% on an inflation-adjusted basis last year, commercial construction is expected to see a modest decline this year, while the downturn for manufacturing should be greater. Institutional building activity is projected to stay near 2010 levels.

As the nonresidential recovery strengthens, 2012 is expected to produce stronger gains. Overall building construction should rise around 5 percent, with growth twice that rate for the more cyclical commercial sector. Spending on institutional buildings is projected to increase a more modest 1.6 percent.

This new book, The Owner’s Dilemma: Driving Success and Innovation in the Design and Construction Industry, is by SCUPer Barbara White Bryson, Associate Vice President for Facilities, Engineering & Planning, Rice University. 

Every manager of facility acquisition as well as the architects, engineers, construction managers, and builders who work for these new leaders should read this insightful book. --Charles Thomsen

The Owner's Dilemma should be required reading for anyone involved in the A/E/C industry -- owners, architects, and construction managers alike. It offers a clear diagnosis about what's wrong with the industry and a compelling vision about how to move forward. --Scott Simpson

The Owner's Dilemma asks us to understand that two things are crucial. First, that each of its five elements is considered individually and given equal weight and second, that the five elements are considered collectively and this collective thinking must be maintained throughout the entire project. If the individual keys are managed well, the collective group will clearly be successful. --Michael Graves

Book Description

The design and construction industry is one of the most inefficient on the planet, wasting billions of dollars a year of public and private owners' money. Architects, engineers, builders, and developers have struggled in this environment for years. Architects are commoditized, and contractors struggle with the same risk they have carried for centuries; critical design information is withheld until the submittal process; no practical risk management instrument has been developed; and buildings are still created one brick at a time. Owners have played their part in this inefficiency. Some continue to believe in the value myth of competitive bidding, sentencing themselves to be eternally locked in inefficient processes. But it is owners who can impact the industry most deliberately and aggressively. It is owners who can drive innovation on their projects and create profound change in the industry. In fact, it is owners who are uniquely positioned to innovate. By planning the design and delivery process, becoming team leaders, collaborating deeply throughout the industry, and applying key elements documented in The Owner's Dilemma, owners can summon meaningful and lasting change. The Owner's Dilemma explores how best to use the power of the owner and how that power can recreate the building industry.

According to Engineering News Record:

Owner outsourcing of management and operations work has increased dramatically since 2006, according to a new survey of owners. The survey of 191 owners was released on Nov. 3 and conducted by Raleigh, N.C.-based management consultant FMI Corp. and McLean, Va.-based Construction Management Association of America. It found that outsourcing at the program-activation phase increased by 60% between 2006 and 2009 and by 30% in the operations and maintenance phase. It also found that over the next five years outsourcing will continue to increase in nearly all phases of the construction process.

You can download the PDF of that study, which has many more implications, here (PDF), from the CMAA website.

We missed this article from the Village Voice when it was published in late July. It's a nice survey of the various campus building projects in New York City, with some introspective commentary. 

But will these schools really need all of this space once it comes online? Ten years from now, will we be downloading courses via Facebook apps onto iPads? Could all that classroom space end up being about as useful as the new home once planned for the New York Stock Exchange? In 2002, the Big Board walked away from a $1.1 billion deal with the city, realizing advances in technology meant it no longer needed a physical trading floor.

It’s easy to understand why New York’s universities are optimistic. Last year, NYU saw a record 38,000 applications for freshman admission, four times what it received 20 years ago. Nationwide, college enrollment is predicted to grow 13 percent by 2018, but the U.S. Department of Education cautions that its forecast doesn’t factor in such potentially disruptive forces as the rising cost of college, the changing economic value of a degree, and “the impact of distance learning due to technological changes.”