As a professional architect, I wear many hats. Designer, artist, draftsperson, construction manager, client advocate … It takes years of training to develop the skills an architect needs and years of experience to hone them. For me, it started in childhood, as I learned to really look at the structures around me and ask myself
Post-frame construction has been around since humans first started building spaces to live in, but it is becoming a more popular option for new home and commercial construction, thanks to its flexibility, sustainability and cost-effectiveness. What Is Post-Frame Construction Post-frame construction is an engineered-wood-frame building system that meets Uniform Building Code (UBC) and International Building
As a female architect, I was interested to see the New York Times address the dearth of women in architecture in their December 18 article “Where Are All the Female Architects?” A few important points from the article: Until 1972 (and Title IX), most U.S. architecture schools didn’t admit women. Currently, half of all American
Make energy efficiency part of your 2019 New Year's resolutions. January is typically a time to take stock of ourselves and our goals. Many of us ask ourselves, “What do I want to achieve this year?” Along with going to the gym five times per week, eating less meat, or finally finishing that novel
Human-centered design is a process that focuses on human needs and problem-solving. In the architecture field, it is a collaborative undertaking, a partnership between architect, client, and the client’s end-users that takes into account multiple perspectives to create spaces that are functional and inspiring. Benefits of Human-Centered Design A central goal of human-centered design is
For the past two decades, coffee shop design seems to have been dominated by The Big Green Sign. Yes, Starbucks has been phenomenally successful – for a while there was even one near China’s Tiananmen Square – due, in part, to the coffee giant’s ability to combine a consistent aesthetic with nods to the
Retail design is the art of creating a space that makes customers want to engage with and purchase your products and services. A thoughtfully designed space can help increase your sales, while a poorly designed one can lose you both current and future sales. Focusing on a few key elements during the planning stages
Over the past decades, business owners have increasingly shifted to open office design in the hope that it would save money and increase collaboration, creativity and productivity among workers. While open plans do generally save money – more workers per square foot means the cost of space declines – recent research suggests that they
Does your tasting room reflect your brand? One of the great pleasures of living in the San Fransisco Bay Area is visiting the wineries of Napa and Sonoma Valley and beyond. But sometimes I find myself sipping fabulous wines in spaces that are … less than fabulous. Why? Winemakers put an incredible amount of
As an architect, I’ve long been drawn to modern design, both in my work and my personal life. Modern design is more than an aesthetic, it’s a way of approaching design from the standpoint of how we live now. Clean, Simple, Elegant Technically speaking, modern design is a form that evolved as a counterpoint to
