VSBA

We’ve broken ground on Philadelphia’s new Health and Literacy Center!

Here’s a photo from yesterday’s event. From left to right: En Jung Kim, Chase Community Equity; CHOP board member Lynne Garbose; Brian Hudson, Commonwealth Cornerstone Group; John Grady, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC); CHOP president Madeline Bell; Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter; CHOP patient Courtney Simmons; CHOP chief executive officer Steven M. Altschuler, M.D.; Councilman Kenyatta Johnson; Senator Larry Farnese; Representative Jordan Harris; CHOP associate medical director of primary care, Lisa Biggs, M.D and Siobhan A. Reardon, president, Free Library of Philadelphia.

Here’s a link to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s press release: http://www.chop.edu/news/chop-and-city-philadelphia-break-ground-health-and-literacy-center#.VJnnwl4M_KM

Here’s an article about the groundbreaking from Philly.com: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140919_Joint_library__health_and_rec_center_coming_to_S__Phila_.html

And for more information on the project, check out VSBA’s project page, http://www.vsba.com/projects/community-health-and-literacy-center/

VSBA recent completed an exciting planning project for Wellesley College. We worked closely with the College to develop a program plan that consolidated a number of ongoing studies.

For campus photos, drawings, and a full description, check out our project page: http://www.vsba.com/projects/wellesley-college-consolidated-program-planning/

For all our friends and colleagues, we have an important announcement:

After 26 years at 4236 Main Street, Nancy Rogo Trainer has left VSBA to become Drexel University’s Associate Vice President of Design and Planning!

Nancy writes:

“The opportunity to work for a rapidly changing institution in the city I love most is a once-in-a-career opportunity, and I’m looking forward to my new role. Still, I’ll miss the people and projects of VSBA, and will always be grateful to Bob Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, the late Steven Izenour, and colleagues and clients too numerous to mention. Dan McCoubrey, president and principal of VSBA, LLC, has my eternal admiration for his talent and integrity, and my thanks for his collegiality and friendship. There isn’t another architecture firm in the world I’d rather work for.”

While we’ll miss her very much, please join us in wishing her all the best in her new career!

Dan McCoubrey
President and Principal
VSBA, LLC

Fay House of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard is the country’s oldest LEED certified building!

VSBA completed a major renovation of the building in June 2012, and it was LEED Gold certified in April 2013.  According to the US Green Building Council, in addition to being the oldest LEED certified building in the United States, Fay House is the second oldest in the world.

For more information, check out Fay House’s listing at Harvard University’s Office of Sustainability and VSBA.com.

VSBA has designed a signage system for the West Jersey Time Traveler Initiative — an exciting blend of technology and graphics highlighting a number of historical sites around Cumberland County, New Jersey.

Each sign provides a QR code linking to an interpretive podcast for that particular site.  Just scan with a smartphone or other device.  Our signs have been installed at fifteen historical locations– including residence, a bank, a church, and a shul.  And the signage template was design to be applied easily to other sites in the future.

Recently completed, the project has been won an Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History and was presented as a case study at the New Jersey History and Historical Preservation Conference.  For more information, see VSBA’s project page.  And also check out Cumberland County’s website for background and podcasts on the featured locations.

The Camden Children’s Garden is an important and beautiful civic place designed by Steven Izenour and others with Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates. It’s one of the last and greatest examples of Steve’s love for bold graphics, playful architecture, and engagement with the arts.

The State of New Jersey has announced that it’s taking the Garden’s land to redevelop it. But you can help preserve the Garden — as a vital community resource and as a part of Steve’s legacy.

Start by reading up on the issue:   read Inga Saffron’s article and Virginia A. Smith’s article.

Then participate!:  Join the Save the Camden Children’s Garden Facebook group and
sign the Save the Camden Children’s Garden petition!

Thank you!

The Curtis Institute of Music’s Lenfest Hall has won the 2012 best higher education / research project award from Engineering News-Record! It was awarded to INTECH Construction.

Here’s a link to ENR’s article, “Best Overall: Lenfest Hall Team Hits a High Note.”

Also see ENR’s blog: http://tinyurl.com/ats7hms

And for more info on the building, see VSBA’s page on Lenfest Hall.

Change Over Time flyer

Check out Nancy Rogo Trainer’s article “Drawing Identity from Change: Planning for Haverford College” in the latest issue of Change Over Time, a journal published by the University of Pennsylvania.

To subscribe to the journal, go to http://cot.pennpress.org and select Subscribe.