Design Collective

A Baltimore architecture firm beat several other American firms to win a competition to design residential and commercial buildings in Shanghai. Design Collective, a 70-person firm with offices on Pratt Street, was chosen by a jury of Chinese and American architects in a process that lasted a year and a half, company officials said yesterday. The firm won a $100,000 prize and the right to negotiate a contract with the Chinese developer that is building the site, said Richard Burns, a principal with the firm.

The Howard Hughes Corp. moved closer this month to firming up plans for an 817-unit residential development in Columbia's town center by naming two partners who well help carry out the project. Howard Hughes announced that it will be working with Kettler, of McLean, Va., a privately held company with a strong record of multi-family housing development.. Also involved with the partnership is Orchard Development of Ellicott City, founded in 1979 by Maryland home builder Earl Armiger.

Seeking to make a strong statement about the way its business has grown and changed, the 15-year-old architectural and urban design firm known as Columbia Design Collective is changing its name and moving from Columbia to downtown Baltimore.Principals of the company signed a lease this month to occupy the 14th floor of 100 E. Pratt St., an office tower that overlooks the Inner Harbor.From their drafting tables, employees will be able to see many of the projects on which they are working, including 100 HarborView Drive, the 28-story first tower of the HarborView community; the conversion of the Pier 4 Power Plant to a sports-oriented museum and entertainment complex; and a new health sciences library for the University of Maryland's Baltimore campus.

The Howard Hughes Corp. moved closer this month to firming up plans for an 817-unit residential development in Columbia's town center by naming two partners who will help carry out the project. Howard Hughes announced it will be working with Kettler of McLean, Va., which specializes in multi-family housing development. Also involved with the partnership is Orchard Development of Ellicott City. Howard Hughes officials announced in October that they were seeking county approval to build a mixed-use development containing up to 817 residences and more than 75,000 square feet of retail space next to the Mall in Columbia.

The Fitzgerald, a transit-oriented apartment and retail project in midtown Baltimore, won the Grand Design Award this month in the annual Excellence in Design program sponsored by the Baltimore chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Design Collective of Baltimore was the architect of The Fitzgerald, developed by The Bozzoto Group and named for writer and one-time Baltimore resident F. Scott Fitzgerald. The building is located at Mount Royal Avenue and Oliver Street, on the former Bolton Yards property next to the Mount Royal Cultural Center stop of the light rail system.

Five Maryland-based architecture firms are on the short list of teams vying to serve as lead designer for the $24 million renovation and modernization of the Baltimore Museum of Art , museum officials said Tuesday. On the list are firms headed by Ayers Saint Gross, Design Collective, GWWO, RTKL Associates and Ziger/Snead. The project architect will be selected by early May and improvements will be completed in phases over the next three years. Museum trustees have said they would consider only Maryland-based design firms to lead the project.

You've heard of man-bites-dog stories? Elvis sightings? How about this one: "Columbia firm relocates to downtown Baltimore."Shocking, but true, as they say in the tabloids.The Columbia Design Collective, a successful architectural shop of 40 employees, has decided to drop "Columbia" from its name and move from its home of 15 years on Broken Land Parkway in Howard County to a new high-rise tower overlooking the Inner Harbor.The firm, which has been involved in the design of many center-city projects, felt that moving downtown would lend a vibrancy and energy to the operation that's hard to grasp in the suburbs.

No more indecision. No more trailers. Baltimore has settled on a site for a permanent visitors center, and the glassy pavilion should open its doors to the Inner Harbor for the 2003 tourist season. Architects at Design Collective Inc. outlined to a city design panel yesterday their vision for a center on the grassy knoll just south of Harborplace's Light Street Pavilion. Eventually, the city will redo the entire stretch on the west bank of the harbor as a park. The see-through, boxlike center will invite tourists inside to collect information on the Inner Harbor and other Baltimore attractions.

The following companies were honored at the 20th annual awards ceremony of the Sales and Marketing Council of the Home Builders Association of Maryland Wednesday at the Mechanic Theater.AWARD OF EXCELLENCESingle-family detached$150,000-$189,999: The Jefferson, Mueller Homes, Woods at Winands, Randallstown. Architect: GMA&D.$190,000-$219,999: The Worthington, Thomas Builders, Villages of Winterset, Owings Mills. Architect: J. W. Henneman & Associates.$220,000-$234,999: The Revere, B. Andrews & Company, Castle Blaney, Forest Hills.

FOR MORE than a decade, the architectural firm of Ellerbe Becket has been a leader in the design of sports arenas for professional and collegiate basketball and hockey teams, including the MCI Center in Washington, the First Union Center in Philadelphia and the Fleet Center in Boston.Now it's part of the team that has been commissioned to design a $90 million, 17,000-seat arena to replace Cole Field House at the University of Maryland's College Park campus.The Kansas City, Mo., office of Ellerbe Becket is working with Design Collective of Baltimore to design the arena, which will be used primarily for men's and women's basketball and campus events.

The Fitzgerald, a transit-oriented apartment and retail project in midtown Baltimore, won the Grand Design Award this month in the annual Excellence in Design program sponsored by the Baltimore chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Design Collective of Baltimore was the architect of The Fitzgerald, developed by The Bozzoto Group and named for writer and one-time Baltimore resident F. Scott Fitzgerald. The building is located at Mount Royal Avenue and Oliver Street, on the former Bolton Yards property next to the Mount Royal Cultural Center stop of the light rail system.

Five Maryland-based architecture firms are on the short list of teams vying to serve as lead designer for the $24 million renovation and modernization of the Baltimore Museum of Art , museum officials said Tuesday. On the list are firms headed by Ayers Saint Gross, Design Collective, GWWO, RTKL Associates and Ziger/Snead. The project architect will be selected by early May and improvements will be completed in phases over the next three years. Museum trustees have said they would consider only Maryland-based design firms to lead the project.

The new Towson elementary school will be designed to hold about 450 students, contain about 69,000 square feet and be built with "green" features in mind, according to a presentation yesterday evening to a Baltimore County school board committee. A few months after recommending the construction of what is being called Towson West Elementary School, board members had the opportunity to get a sense of what the new building would look like. The building, to be built next to Ridge Ruxton School on Charles Street, is on track to open in 2010, according to the report from Design Collective Inc., a Baltimore firm.

As a tenant with a long-term lease, the Columbia Association is competitively poised to solicit developers to build it a new headquarters, according to an urban economist. Don Zuchelli, a contract worker for Design Collective Inc., has suggested that the homeowners association allow developers to compete over buying land for a new headquarters and constructing the building, which could also house restaurants and entertainment. "Let private enterprise come in and make some offer to you," Zuchelli told the association's board of directors Thursday night.

At the beginning of the intensive design gathering about the future of Columbia's Town Center, residents were handed pens and paper and told to dream about their visions for the planned community's downtown. They talked about better pedestrian access, more cultural amenities and a destination park. Their dreams have been turned into a draft master plan that aims to transform Town Center into a bustling urban environment. And the county and Baltimore firm Design Collective Inc. are working to move that vision - unveiled to a crowd of residents last weekend - a few steps closer to reality.

The county-sponsored, weeklong charrette for the future development of Columbia's Town Center was billed as an all-access pass for residents to be involved with planning the vision for the community's downtown. But a meeting behind closed doors with the Columbia Association and one of the design team members - during which the idea of tearing down the association's current building was discussed - has some crying foul. On Thursday, Columbia Association Board Chairman Joshua Feldmark hastily called a meeting of the group with a Design Collective Inc. contract worker to discuss the future of the association's headquarters.

You've heard of man-bites-dog stories? Elvis sightings? How about this one: "Columbia firm relocates to downtown Baltimore."Shocking, but true, as they say in the tabloids. The fact is the Columbia Design Collective, a successful architectural shop of 40 employees, has decided to drop "Columbia" from its name and move from its home of 15 years on Broken Land Parkway to a new high-rise tower overlooking the Inner Harbor.The firm, which has been involved in the design of many center-city projects, felt that moving downtown would lend a vibrancy and energy to the operation that's hard to grasp in the suburbs.

The Howard Hughes Corp. moved closer this month to firming up plans for an 817-unit residential development in Columbia's town center by naming two partners who will help carry out the project. Howard Hughes announced it will be working with Kettler of McLean, Va., which specializes in multi-family housing development. Also involved with the partnership is Orchard Development of Ellicott City. Howard Hughes officials announced in October that they were seeking county approval to build a mixed-use development containing up to 817 residences and more than 75,000 square feet of retail space next to the Mall in Columbia.

After a week of brainstorming ideas about the future development of Columbia's downtown, residents yesterday saw the product of their work at the conclusion of an intensive design gathering sponsored by Howard County. Baltimore firm Design Collective Inc. unveiled a draft master development plan for Columbia's Town Center that aims to turn the area into a bustling urban center with additional homes and businesses, pedestrian walkways and a destination park. The meeting process, known as a charrette, began Oct. 15 with residents invited to map out their visions of what Columbia's downtown should look like.

Large sheets of white paper filled with Columbians' visions for Town Center line the hallway leading to the Spear Center at General Growth Properties' downtown headquarters. Written in red, black, blue and green markers, they list the hopes and concerns residents expressed at the start of the weeklong intensive design gathering that began Saturday and will result in a master development plan for Columbia's downtown. A few samples: "We don't want giant office buildings outlining the crescent area - we want award-winning architecture!