Nbbj Group

One of the key partners of Los Angeles-based NBBJ Sports & Entertainment--one of the nation's largest designers of stadiums and athletic facilities--said he will be leaving the architectural practice to start his own consulting firm. Michael Hallmark announced his resignation only a few months before his firm's most prominent local project--Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles--will open as the home to the Lakers and Clippers basketball team and the Kings ice hockey franchise.

In ancient Rome, when great amphitheaters were built for public displays of mortal combat, the term "arena" referred to the layer of sand that was spread on the ground to absorb gladiators' spilled blood. In the late 20th century, "arena" conveys a different image: an entertainment machine, a multipurpose complex hosting sports, music and other events. Fun, yes? Great design, no. Architecturally, arenas have always been considered the poor relation to stadia.

The architectural firm that will design the $200 million downtown arena has agreed to donate its services to the Cal State Northridge stadium project. Over the next three weeks, NBBJ, which also is designing the San Francisco 49ers' new stadium as well as baseball stadiums in Seattle and Milwaukee, will settle on a stadium site and gain feedback from potential users. The multiuse stadium is projected to cost $1.

One of the key partners of Los Angeles-based NBBJ Sports & Entertainment--one of the nation's largest designers of stadiums and athletic facilities--said he will be leaving the architectural practice to start his own consulting firm. Michael Hallmark announced his resignation only a few months before his firm's most prominent local project--Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles--will open as the home to the Lakers and Clippers basketball team and the Kings ice hockey franchise.

LPA, one of Orange County's largest home-grown architects' firms, said Monday that it is merging its Los Angeles office with a big Seattle firm. That firm, NBBJ, said that under its agreement with LPA it would probably buy the Los Angeles office outright after three years. NBBJ is ranked as the nation's second-largest design firm by the magazine Building Design & Construction. One of the firm's specialties is the design of hospitals, one of the few construction markets that isn't moribund.

In ancient Rome, when great amphitheaters were built for public displays of mortal combat, the term "arena" referred to the layer of sand that was spread on the ground to absorb gladiators' spilled blood. In the late 20th century, "arena" conveys a different image: an entertainment machine, a multipurpose complex hosting sports, music and other events. Fun, yes? Great design, no. Architecturally, arenas have always been considered the poor relation to stadia.

Irvine-based McCarthy/Pacific has been selected as general contractor for the first phase of a planned, $110-million replacement facility for Pomona Valley Community Hospital in Pomona. Construction of the $20-million, 150,000-square-foot first phase of the project is expected to be completed in 1991. It will include a women's center with post-delivery and neonatal-care facilities, outpatient services and a power plant. Plans for later phases aren't yet completed.

A $75,000 planning study that began as a result of the Navy's proposal to build a massive office and hotel complex along the San Diego waterfront will not specifically focus on the Navy's proposal but will instead evaluate general development plans along a broad swath of the bayfront, the study's authors said Wednesday.

Children's Hospital on Tuesday unveiled plans for a $58.4-million addition that is designed to relieve a space crunch that has forced administrators to turn away more than 100 patients during the past year. The San Diego City Council on Tuesday approved zoning changes for the three-story wing that would be the largest building project in the 35-year-old hospital's history.

A study initiated in response to the Navy's proposal to build a massive office and hotel complex along San Diego Bay has found that "the major problem on the (central) bayfront is the lack of clear, comprehensive and publicly agreed-upon vision for future development."

The architectural firm that will design the $200 million downtown arena has agreed to donate its services to the Cal State Northridge stadium project. Over the next three weeks, NBBJ, which also is designing the San Francisco 49ers' new stadium as well as baseball stadiums in Seattle and Milwaukee, will settle on a stadium site and gain feedback from potential users. The multiuse stadium is projected to cost $1.

LPA, one of Orange County's largest home-grown architects' firms, said Monday that it is merging its Los Angeles office with a big Seattle firm. That firm, NBBJ, said that under its agreement with LPA it would probably buy the Los Angeles office outright after three years. NBBJ is ranked as the nation's second-largest design firm by the magazine Building Design & Construction. One of the firm's specialties is the design of hospitals, one of the few construction markets that isn't moribund.