BUILD BLOG

Architect Profile: BUILD LLC

Continuing with the series of Architect and Developer profiles I started earlier this week with Postgreen Homes, the second company I have decided to highlight is an architecture firm out of Seattle named, BUILD LLC. While BUILD certainly has a great profile of work, their BUILD Blog is far and away the best architecture blog I have seen in terms of posting intriguing, educational content relevant to both architects and non-architects alike, which does a great service by raising the collective design-build intelligence for everyone that reads the blog. Below is a list of some of the most popular postings in recent years.

1. The Process of Architecture  
2. Property Research Cheat Sheet
3. Defining a Construction Budget
4. The Importance of Experience
5. Statement on Sustainability

POSTGREEN ASPIRATIONS

Developer Profile: Postgreen Homes

The past few weeks as I've been pulling together an executive summary on the 'Starter Home 2.0 Project' and the larger business of Mike Benkert Architecture + Development for submission into the 2016 Architecture Business Plan competition, I've been revisiting some of the architecture and development companies I admire across the country to analyze certain aspects of their businesses I find especially appealing. Through a series of upcoming blog posts, I will profile several of these businesses, highlighting some of their best practices that I would like to incorporate into my operations moving forward.

The first of these development companies is Postgreen Homes in Philadelphia, PA. Much like Mike Benkert Architecture + Development is starting with the 'Starter Home 2.0' Project and this blog, Postgreen Homes began its business with the '100K House' Project and its own blog (which is no longer online, unfortunately). Since that time, Postgreen Homes has developed a combination of single-family and multi-family urban infill projects throughout several neighborhoods in Philadelphia and their website, clarity of purpose, and social media presence is the best I have seen from any development company. While I admit that my design philosophy and the density of the neighborhoods I work in are a bit different than those of Postgreen Homes, I would love to be able to get to the point where I have a similar portfolio of projects under my belt and am able to showcase them in such an intriguing manner, so kudos to Postgreen Homes.

DESIGN FOR MILLENNIALS BY MILLENNIALS

Responsive Home Video

I've referenced this project before in previous tweets and blog posts, and though I've been somewhat critical of its process, execution and viability, and believe the Starter Home 2.0 project ultimately does a better job of delivering a new housing product tailored to the Millennial Generation, I do applaud the efforts of the Builder Online Responsive Home project and think a lot of it is relevant to what I am doing and worth sharing. This video features some insights from potential Millennial Home Buyers about what they would like to see in their first home and gives a bit of a background into the design process (which is probably a case of too many chefs in the kitchen). 

IN PROCESS

Tax Sale Waiting Game

The purchase of the original Starter Home 2.0 Pleasant Ridge lot was a very traditional, straightforward real estate acquisition in which I found a property for sale listed on the Realtors' Multiple Listings Service, contacted the seller's agent with an offer, and after negotiations, an inspection period and closing, had the deed and ownership to the property immediately. Acquiring the SH2.0 Oakley lot, however, has been a bit of a different story.

The Oakley property was acquired through a tax sale held at the Hamilton County's Sheriff's office where properties taken back by the county due to unpaid taxes, are bid on with an opening amount being the amount of taxes owed on the property plus advertising costs. All properties are sold 'as is' and the purchase amount must be paid in full with a cashier's check within 24 hours of the sale with failure to pay punishable under law. This requires all due diligence be completed in advance of the tax sale auction, which is held bi-weekly at the Hamilton County Courthouse, and that you also have the funds lined up to pay the purchase price immediately. I made sure I had these bases covered going into the October 1, 2015 tax sale where the Oakley property was put up for bid and I also attended a couple auctions in prior weeks to get a feel for the process, which can be pretty intimidating for a newcomer.

On October 1, 2015 after a bit of a bidding war with several other interested parties, I came away with the property and was told the process to transfer the deed under my name would take upwards of 90 days to complete. Well, 110+ days later I am still waiting on all the paper work needed for me to be recognized as the owner of the property, but things are in motion and at least I've been able to keep track of the 'In Process' transaction on the Sheriff's Office website shown below. It sounds like everything should be wrapped up by the end of January and I'll be sure to provide more details on lot once that transfer is official. 

MAKING PLANS

Initial Room Layout

Although I am still very much in the early design stages of the Starter Home 2.0 Oakely project, I feel like I've arrived at a plan layout that is starting to make sense from a site and programmatic standpoint. Below is a screenshot of the most up-to-date first and second floor plans with the different room names identified. The next step will be adding in casework, appliances and furniture to better define the size requirements of the different spaces, which I hope to get in the model in the next week.

NAPKIN SKETCH

The Elusive Hand Drawing

As an Architect in 2016, I would say 95%+ of the drawings I do are either in the computer, or on my tablet with my stylus. However, I do still do the occasional hand drawing and while out of town this weekend, I took some time to do a quick 'napkin' sketch of the Starter Home 2.0 Oakley project to help think through a few ideas.

BUS TO WORK

Alternative Transit

A while back I came across a quote to the effect that an indicator of a great urban environment is not one where people have the means to drive a car to work instead of taking public transit, but instead, a great urban environment is one where people have the means to drive a car to work, but elect to take public transit anyway. I was reminded of this Tuesday as I woke up to falling snow and snow covered streets, deciding rather than take the extra time and effort to shovel the driveway, I would just walk to the bus stop a minute away and take one of the buses that passes by every 8 minutes to my work 2 miles down the road. It was quite liberating to be in a situation where I was not dependent on my car to maintain my livelihood and there was something about this unique level of freedom that made me really happy, validating what the Starter Home 2.0 project is all about.

PERMITTING IMPROVEMENTS

City Opens New Permit Center

As an architect and developer, one of the biggest frustrations I have had with the City of Cincinnati the past few years is the length of time it takes to get projects through the permitting process. Buildings that once took 2-3 weeks to get a permit on now take 2-3 months, which has a dramatic impact on construction projects large and small. That is why it felt almost like a Christmas present of sorts when I came across this article on the Soapbox Media Website about the City opening up it's new Permit Center to make the development chain easier to navigate. According to Cincinnati officials quoted in the article, the city will be able to provide plan review and building permit issuance on the same day for more than 50 percent of applying development projects.

LET IT SNOW

First Snow at Starter Home 2.0

With temperatures in the 50's and heavy rains throughout the day Saturday in Cincinnati, it was definitely a surprise to wake up to the season's first snow accumulations this morning. I took the opportunity to snap the picture of the house shown below as I was shoveling and putting down salt on the porch steps and drive, which I think turned out pretty nice.

MILLENNIAL TAKEOVER

Millennials Now Largest Segment of Workforce

2015 was a big year for Millennials as it marked the tipping point where Generation-Y became the largest segment of the workforce. This milestone certainly puts the onus on employers to consider modifying their work environments and policies to attract and retain this demographic, but should also serve as a wake-up call to home builders that Millennials will soon be the dominate force in the home buying market (more so than they already are) with the purchasing power that goes along with full-time employment. Articles on the Millennial Labor Force make mention of how the constant digital connectivity of this group and desire for flexible work hours results in more work taking place outside of the office, which suggests house designs should be programmed with a variety of settings where out-of-office work can occur.

TALKING ABOUT THE RIDGE

Urban Cincy Podcast on Pleasant Ridge

One of the sites I frequent to get my information regarding local Cincinnati Development news is UrbanCincy.com, which is complemented by a Podcast series where the different contributors to the site discuss various urban development topics in a round table style forum. This week's podcast featured a segment on some of the recent development projects in Pleasant Ridge (no mention of Starter Home 2.0, unfortunately) and speculation of future growth opportunities for the neighborhood moving forward. The Pleasant Ridge segment begins at the 16-minute mark for those not wanting to listen to the entire podcast at this time.

OLD HOUSE TO NO HOUSE

Oakley Site Street View History

With Google Street View having been in existence for almost 10 years now, it is interesting to use the timeline feature to see how different places have changed over the last decade, especially in places with a lot of new development activity. This tool should prove quite useful as I move forward in the design process for the Starter Home 2.0 Oakley project as it helps give me a better idea for where old foundations, utility lines, and poor soil conditions might be found on site by looking at images of where the old existing house was situated on the lot before it was demolished.

NEW YEAR & NEW DESIGN

SH2 Oakley Massing Model

This week I began design work in the computer for the Oakley project trying to get a basic understanding of massing and how the different spaces might be organized. The single car garage at the front of the house pretty locked in place, so the challenge is how best to arrange the areas and volumes around that element. Below is a conceptual massing model I developed in Revit of what the exterior of the home might look like.