{Re}habitat

No matter where you live, you are bound to find a unique building material that is made close to home.

Generally speaking, I’m not much of a shopper. Like a lot of guys, I like to dodge into a store, make a quick purchase, and then skedaddle. Things change a little when I head to my local home center or hardware store. More than once I’ve come home from what was supposed to be a short jaunt to pick up some lumber to hear my wife ask, “What took you so long?” OK, maybe I was perusing the new LED lighting or trying out a new multi-tool. I was definitely NOT shopping.

What are some of the challenges – and pathways to success – when it comes to designing commercial architecture?

Stuart Silk Architects, based in Seattle, Washington, has more than 25 years of experience producing residential and commercial architecture. We spoke with John Adams, AIA, Principal of Stuart Silk Architects, to learn more about the latest challenges associated with commercial design. Although commercial design certainly has its nuances, his firm has successfully bridged residential and commercial design with a simple and unified insight: the client is always passionately and personally invested.

Contractor to Contractor: Follow professional interior contractor Robert Thimmes as he demonstrates how to frame-out openings. This third installment in a series of articles, Framing Walls With Light Gauge Metal Studs, visits the common practices for the framing of window and door openings.

When plumbing your openings and transferring your layout to the top track, turn your stud 90 degrees and attach your level high on the stud flange. Align the bottom edge of your stud with the edge of your opening, get the bubble "dead-on" and mark the top. Attaching your level to the flange rather than the webbing gives you a straighter surface that is less prone to bow, thus reducing variables and improving quality. Since one side of your opening has been plumbed, now just measure over the actual width of the opening and mark to establish the top of the other side.

You’ve been reading about BIM. It’s being used by all of the big companies, and they’re talking about the benefits they’ve reaped.You know that BIM will be coming to your workplace soon, too, but how and from what direction? Are you just supposed to buy a software suite and hope for the best?

As it turns out, that’s an approach not even the product makers and suppliers would recommend. Building information modeling (BIM) is increasingly being described as a "disruptive" technology, even by its biggest promoters, for a reason.“Most people now understand that BIM is a process, not a product,” says Catherine Palmer, Sr. Industry Marketing Manager, AEC Solutions at Autodesk. “It’s a paradigm shift.” When asked how small to medium sized firms should handle the move to BIM, Jim Lynch, Vice President, Building Product Line Group at Autodesk recommends education as a first step. “Position yourself by beginning with the concept,” says Lynch, “Then embrace it.”

Jimmy Prokopeuff, like many Alaskans, needs to replace his outdated wood-frame home, which is ill suited to the rigors of Alaskan weather conditions. The Cascadia Green Building Council, in partnership with the Aleutian Housing Authority, plans to help.

The Living Aleutian Home Design Competition challenges architects and engineers to design a “creative, livable, affordable” three-bedroom, one-bath, single-family home. The home must be between 1,150 and 1,350 square feet and must have a construction budget of $400,000 or less. The challenge may sound simple enough to a seasoned architect or engineer, but there is a catch—the home must be environmentally sound and be able to withstand Alaska’s roughest conditions.

The Aqua Tower in Chicago brings the fresh perspective of a young architect, Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects, to bear upon century-old skyscraper design challenges.

The Aqua Tower, looming over 1.9 million square feet, is an 82-story mixed-use high-rise complex that includes 55,000 square feet with a hotel, apartments, condominiums, offices, and parking. This aesthetically pleasing Chicago skyscraper is the tallest building designed by a woman-owned architectural firm and the first skyscraper from Jeanne Gang, principal and founder of Studio Gang Architects (SGA), which is based in Chicago.

Welcome to the On Site channel’s Construction Administration Column. What should you do if a contractor fails to ask for a change order in a timely manner? Here David A. Todd, P.E., CPESC, gives his opinion.

Columnist David A. Todd, P.E., CPESC, has 37 years of experience in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry and has performed much construction administration during that time. He will answer questions from our readers or from his own practice and will provide answers based on his understanding of the construction process and administration of the construction contract. The focus will be on the customary duties of the owner, contractor, and design professional as typically described in the contract documents.

SubCat Studios by Fiedler Marciano Architecture

The addition of an independent recording studio was an ideal fit for Syracuse, New York’s burgeoning local arts scene, but who would consider building a recording studio on a site surrounded by noise?

Although it is situated between downtown Syracuse’s Armory Square district and the Near Westside, two artsy neighborhoods on the rise, the Redhouse Arts Center is physically isolated. The 89-seat theater occupies a "private island" of sorts, severed from the urban fabric by highly trafficked roads and a freight rail overpass. Now it is no longer alone. When the adjacent three-story masonry structure known as 219 West became available, a benefactor of the Redhouse Arts Center, who is also an associate of the owner of SubCat Studios, saw a mutually beneficial opportunity to cement this little island’s status as a cultural destination.