Building

TVS Architecture

TVS' three million square foot addition to the Nation's Largest Convention unveiled

The TVS designed $882 million, three million square foot McCormick Place West expansion opened on Thursday August 2, 2007 eight months ahead of schedule and on budget. The publicly-financed West Building adds an additional 470,000 square feet of exhibit space to McCormick Place’s existing 2.2 million square feet. It also adds 250,000 square feet of meeting space, which includes 61 meeting rooms and a ballroom the size of a football field at 100,000 square feet, making it one of the largest ballrooms in the world. Lit at night, the north facade is a welcoming gesture to attendees. The west facade breaks down the scale of the building to better relate to the historic structures of Motor Row. Brick is used in addition to the architectural pre-cast concrete and glass to make the building more compatible with the historic buildings in the neighborhood. The west facade also features an exclamation point of sorts. A 90 foot lantern, with glass on three sides, cantilevers out from the face of the building and creates a canopy over the west entrance. A transportation center is also conveniently located in the heart of the building, allowing for the loading/unloading of up to 16 buses simultaneously.

Building construction

Building construction is the process of adding structure to real property. The vast majority of building construction projects are small renovations, such as addition of a room, or renovation of a bathroom. Often, the owner of the property acts as laborer, paymaster, and design team for the entire project. However, all building construction projects include some elements in common - design, financial, and legal considerations. Many projects of varying sizes reach undesirable end results, such as structural collapse, cost overruns, and/or litigation reason, those with experience in the field make detailed plans and maintain careful oversight during the project to ensure a positive outcome.

Building construction is procured privately or publicly utilizing various delivery methodologies, including hard bid, negotiated price, traditional, management contracting, construction management-at-risk, design; build and design-build bridging.

Residential construction practices, technologies, and resources must conform to local building authority regulations and codes of practice. Materials readily available in the area generally dictate the construction materials used (e.g. brick versus stone, versus timber). Cost of construction on a per square metre (or per square foot) basis for houses can vary dramatically based on site conditions, local regulations, economies of scale (custom designed homes are always more expensive to build) and the availability of skilled tradespeople. As residential (as well as all other types of construction) can generate a lot of waste, careful planning again is needed here.

The most popular method of residential construction in the United States is wood framed construction. As efficiency codes have come into effect in recent years, new construction technologies and methods have emerged. University Construction Management departments are on the cutting edge of the newest methods of construction intended to improve efficiency, performance and reduce construction waste.