100% Local, 100% Success!

5th December, 2011 by Mandilee Newton | 0 comments

Recently, the Building & Construction Magazine in the Trinidad Guardian published an article by the Trinidad & Tobago Institute of Architects, hailing a local team of architects, designers, contractors and suppliers. It was a highly positive, highly motivating article for the local construction industry that has been hard hit by the goverment's predilection for using foreign skill and labour. Read the article here. 

An Architect’s View of Port of Spain

30th November, 2011 by Mandilee Newton | 2 comments

The latest issue of the Trinidad Guardian's Building & Construction magazine has an article on downtown beautification by acla:works director Gary Turton. Gary offers a ten-point perspective: [1] improved drainage and underground services, [2] better sidewalks and tree lined streets, [3] mass transit system within city limits (see: Transit Oriented Development), [4] multi-story car parking on perimeter of city, [5] maximise retail shop frontage, [6] green roofs, [7] public art, upgraded museums and a museum of modern art (see: Percent for Art program), [8] preserve and protect built heritage, [9] higher density, mixed-use, mixed income developments, and, [10] planning. Read the article here.

Court Design in Session

15th November, 2011 by Gary Turton | 0 comments

Recently, Directors Junior Thompson and Gary Turton participated in a workshop entitled Court Facilities: A Primer for Planning, Design and Construction. The workshop was delivered by a partnership of the National Center for State Courts in the US and the Judiciary of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Junior and Gary are currently engaged in acla:works projects involving the design of court facilities. Junior is involved in completing the final report for the CDB funded Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Halls of Justice Project in 9 jurisdictions in the OECS; acla:works won this commission in the final quarter of 2010. Gary is involved in refurbishment works and accessibility upgrades to the Hall of Justice in Port of Spain, originally designed by UK architect HKPA in collaboration with Anthony C. Lewis Associates [now acla:works] back in 1981.

The workshop provided acla:works with up-to-date information on the latest trends in court facility planning and design, as well as an opportunity to do an in depth review of a case study: the St. George West, Magistrates Court in Port of Spain. The workshop was equally useful for members of the judiciary, and other key users of court facilities in Trinidad and Tobago. It afforded the participants a broad view of the complex issues related to users, security, spatial adjacencies, and support systems, which are required for the proper function of a modern court. Whilst acla:works holds considerable experience in this area, the firm constantly welcomes opportunities to improve its expertise, and therefore is grateful that the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago invited the firm to participate in the workshop.

(above) Hall of Justice, Trinidad 

A Forum [or Two] for Good

17th March, 2011 by Melanie Archer | 0 comments

We're honoured – acla:works has been asked to speak at two forums, both of which take place next week. If you're in Trinidad, we hope to see you there. Here are a few details:

Director Gary Turton will speak at the first ever Caribbean Construction Forum [on Reconstructing Haiti]. This forum takes place March 21 and 22 at the Hyatt Regency, and will address "issues and challenges facing the sector regionally with specific focus on the situation in Haiti."

Gary is participating in Session Five – Emerging Trends in Design – which takes place Tuesday March 22 from 10.30 am - 12.15 pm. His focus, along with co-presenter, Josh Bone, will be how Integrated Project Delivery/ Building Information Modeling can be used to help in reconstruction efforts.

Later in the week, acla:works associate Mandilee Newton will speak at the EMA's Green Business Forum, which takes place March 23 and 24 at the Trinidad Hilton. This forum's main objective is "to develop viable options for developing a greener economy for Trinidad and Tobago."

On Thursday March 24 at 3.00 pm Mandilee will serve on a panel with the theme, Increasing Economic and Competitive Advantages through Environmental Improvements. She will deliver a 10-minute presentation on the Green Building Council’s strategies to encourage architects, developers and planners to implement green technologies in their plans and codes.

Have a question about either of these presentations or forums? Feel free to leave us a comment here and we'll answer as best we can.

And, as usual, watch this space for post-event reports.

Green Motivations

16th February, 2011 by Melanie Archer | 0 comments

The Trinidad and Tobago Green Building and Energy Efficiency Workshop formed a part of the TT Energy Conference 2011, which was held last week at the Hyatt. acla:works associate Mandilee Newton spoke alongside Barry Giles [www.buildingwise.net] and Greg Upwall [www.upwallarchitects.com].

Barry laid the context for the green movement, speaking about LEED® and other related trends in the USA. Greg spoke about his pedagogy and practice of architecture and his motivations towards green; and Mandilee spoke about the Trinidad and Tobago Green Building Council [TTGBC], the carbon context, going green and looked at a case study, the EMA building.

The audience of about 70 was represented by various stakeholders in the industry – architects, engineers, the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards and the Ministry of Energy, among others.

After the presentations, the audience broke-out into two groups, one led by Barry, the other by Greg and Mandilee. The discussions were focused towards finding a way forward for greening existing and future construction. Coming out of the discussion, both groups emphasised the importance of proper policy and framework for green construction and the need to lobby the government towards developing a green building code.

Also, reference was drawn to the OSHA trends in the industry and how one can apply the urgency of health and safety and translate that into the importance of going green. The TTGBC was identified as a major player in the development of a green policy for the country.