2904 Sometimes you get what you pay for, and then keep on paying

I often wonder what the unintended consequences will be for some of the modern "green" designs. A school board in Illinois is suing the architect of their new $1.5 million multipurpose room at the school that is unusable. The concrete construction was supposed to be cheaper and more energy efficient, but instead, the sound is deafening.

"The Pontiac-William Holliday school board voted Tuesday to sue the architectural firm that designed its new multipurpose concrete dome building.

At issue is a deafening echo and reverberation in the $1.5 million circular building that houses a gymnasium and band room at William Holliday Elementary."


Full story Archi-Tech Magazine. The dome shape was one of the reasons the bond issue passed. Story here. Still listed on the architectural firm's resume.

Isn't there a way to test this stuff ahead of time? When Frank Lloyd Wright began using concrete block and ran into structure and water problems, you could say new material and methods were to blame. But in 2004?