sustainability

For last week’s Design Review, we visited the First Ave project located in the Avenues neighborhood, a local historic district in the heart of Salt Lake City.

While the exterior work was completed some time ago, the owners recently completed the interior work. Here are a few thoughts from everyone in the office after visiting the home:

1. Architects create solutions.  After initially visiting the site a few years ago (see here for the before photo and the story of the project), Aaron and Warren came up with the idea to carve out the center of the house to let light and conversation pass between the two levels.

2. Small additions such as a dormer, a skylight, a light well, and a little insulation can create big changes. These particular additions made a cold, dark uninhabitable space into a hidden gem and cozy bonus room.

3. The project illustrates how it is possible to live both responsibly and comfortably.  The owner utilized a small existing building footprint, created minimal square footage and did not require a large garage. Reducing square footage is the basis of a sustainable house.

4. We enjoyed seeing how the clients put their own touches into the design by using creative finishes and modifying furniture to fit their needs and budget.

5. The existing housing stock of our historic neighborhoods is a key to the vitality and sustainability of our cities.  Capturing even modest spaces in existing houses extends the livability of the home.

It’s no small thing to go from this:

to this:

Undertaking a home remodel or new construction project is a daunting task, but there are many resources available that help clarify the entire process.  Several informative posts from around the blogosphere have caught our attention in recent months.   As we move into a new year, we’d like to share several of them.

We love Build LLC’s blog.  They’ve taken the time to document details of construction and several of their posts last year have focused on specifics, like demolition, everything you ever wanted to know about a concrete pour, and notes on what to watch for when using an existing foundation. (Admittedly for most of us, none of this is terribly interesting until it’s your concrete pour and your dime.)  To see all of their technical posts, visit here.  Perhaps a little more fun to dream about–especially as we are enveloped in a winter wonderland here in Utah–is how to create a landscape plan.  (One of my favorite discoveries when we moved to Utah from Seattle a decade ago was Red Butte Garden. Visit their website for information on native Utah plants.)  And the reality check? Construction IS expensive, though a potentially great investment if done right that will yield priceless benefits for years to come. For the grand finale of the year, Build Blog posted an evaluation of a case study home they wrapped up, complete with costs and timeline.

We recently learned of this blog, an online photo library of construction details with an equally extensive index to browse, i.e. cedar shingles, radiant flooring, and even a green wall is documented. Because this blog is out of the Northwest, some construction practices will be different due to the climate, but it’s still a very helpful resource in understanding the level of detail in a well designed construction project.

Houzz.com also has several idea books and articles on topics of interest to homeowners.  Their photo library continues to grow, now approaching 1 million, up from 250,000 earlier this year.  We’ve blogged about them before, but are including a few links here that may be of interest to our residential clients, including contractor tips, elements of green building, and tips on how to work with an architect.

Residential Architect recently published an article on the color forecast for 2013 and top design trends of the past year–fun to browse through.  A couple of other color resources we’ve discovered in recent months, both from Sherwin-Williams: chip it that allows you to take any photo from around the web and create a color palette from it,  and this color tool app. Though colors often look different on a computer monitor, it’s at least a starting point.

And a little food for thought if launching into a residential project.  Though we missed the Wall Street Journal’s article about a recent study of how families live in their homes, Dan Gregory  blogged about it here.  Seriously worth considering before drafting up a wish list for a new home.

In November, we heard a seminar from these Canadian architects at the Residential Architect symposium in Chicago. They are producing an entire video library with advice on just about everything to do with home design. We love their “slow home” design philosophy in response to the mass produced “fast homes” of the past few decades.  Pretty entertaining stuff and we’re amazed (and grateful) at their stamina and commitment to educating the general public about basic design principles.  Kudos to them.

If you have any favorite online resources related to home remodeling and construction, we’d love to know about them.

Happy New Year!

While rehabilitating an old warehouse in downtown Salt Lake City a few years ago, we came across some unique salvage materials that were just too interesting to ignore.  The contractor on the Westgate Projects, Chris Nielson of Evergreene Construction, uncovered a few different types of doors that have been cleaned up and put to use in current projects. (more…)

Is urbanism more than the lifestyle of city dwellers?

This question was raised during a recent discussion with some local planning and design minds in relation to defining the vision for the Utah Center for Architecture. The architects, planners, landscape architects, urbanists, educators and community leaders that make up the board of the UCFA defined their mission as “a catalyst for creating better places by increasing knowledge of how the built environment shapes our lives, communities and culture.” (more…)

On Friday afternoons, we meet as an office for design review meetings.  We each take a turn coming up with the topic for the week, whether it’s presenting a project on the boards, developing an idea on our minds, or visiting a project under construction.  Basically, anything that helps us gain new perspectives for our work is fair game.  For last week’s design review, we left the office to attend Salt Lake Mayor’s Green Team Meeting. Here’s what was e-mailed to us in advance:

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Setting: This single-story Victorian cottage is located in the Avenues Historic District, the oldest residential neighborhood in Salt Lake City. It’s a short walk to the Cathedral of the Madeline and downtown area from the home.

Clients: A married professional couple, Adam & Lee, who lived in the house for several years prior to starting their remodeling project.

Background: Because of the home’s location within a local historic district and a previous owner’s detailed listing of modifications over the years, Adam and Lee were able to find out many details about their property.   (more…)

Setting:  A residential neighborhood in the Richmond Beach area of Seattle.

Clients:  If you read the previous post on this house, you may remember this renovated beach bungalow.  At the time of the remodel a decade ago, the clients had two children; they’ve since welcomed two more children to their family. (more…)

One recurring theme in recent years at conferences sponsored by the American Institute of Architects is the adaptive reuse of historic buildings, a smart approach to construction both for its green elements and the preservation of history.  Warren has worked on a number of these preservation projects in Salt Lake City.  The first such project, The Westgate Lofts, was completed a few years ago, and involved converting an old warehouse building to mixed-use housing and retail spaces. (more…)

In 2008 Warren launched one of our most ambitious remodeling projects ever, that of our own office building. As his wife, to say I was a little concerned would be a bit of an understatement, but happily his vision won over my worries (be sure to scroll down to see the “after” photo). The most recent issue of Utah Style and Design features the story of our office remodel (see pages 44-46). Utah Style has also posted a “behind-the-scenes”  narrative of the photo shoot on their blog.   To see photos of the finished interior,  visit the portfolio section of our website.  Better yet, if you are in the area, give us a call to schedule a tour of the building.

Salt Lake Modern and the Utah Heritage Foundation are featuring Taylor Woolley and the Yale Ave House, a home that we remodeled in 2008.  We’ll be there to share some sustainable aspects of this remodel and would love to see you there!

Note: Our summer intern, Nate Russell, is heading east to attend Syracuse U for graduate work in architecture.  While at our offices, he worked on the schematic design for an interactive web design firm that is relocating to a renovated historic building in the downtown area of Salt Lake.  Here are Nate’s thoughts on the area:

I walk down Floral Street (roughly 50 E and 250 S) and look at all the historical remnants  that have the feeling of a back alleyway. Ornate lion heads now blackened and worn look down on me from several stories above. An old water tower watches over the area from the top a building. It makes me feel like I have stepped back to the turn of the 19^th century. New graffiti battles for room with old advertisements painted on the sides of the aged brick exterior walls and I wonder what the future is for such an interesting place. (more…)

When I moved to the Salt Lake Valley four years ago I noticed, as many visitors do from the East Coast, that Salt Lake is an exceptionally well manicured place.  This, of course, makes the area an attractive, comfortable place to live.  However, being accustomed to seeing factories, trains, and various modes of infrastructure intersecting, sometimes presumptuously, with homes and businesses, I wondered where all that stuff was kept in Utah.  I discovered a path through the infrastructure I was seeking and an invigorating architectural experience by commuting on Trax. (more…)

On week one of the Clear The Air Challenge we at Lloyd Architects are re-connecting with our bike-friendly streets.  I am glad to have 600 East on my morning and evening commute path.  Perhaps one of the greenest streets in Salt Lake City, the 9-block stretch of 600 East from South Temple to Liberty Park is a great place to see from a bicycle or on foot. (more…)

Today begins one of the most relevant and enlightening annual activities in Salt Lake City and the Wasatch Front that I am personally aware of: the Clear The Air Challenge. For the next four weeks those of us that normally fill Utah’s roads and freeways in single occupant vehicles–generally for good and productive purposes–have an opportunity to evaluate how we get from point A to point B and back. I believe this will be the third year that my office has participated in the challenge. Last year, Lloyd Architects was awarded the Clear The Air Challenge Small Business Award, largely on the backs (or legs) of two of our intrepid team members, Aaron Day & Liz Yonashiro.  They spent much of the month commuting north and south from Davis & Weber Counties via Frontrunner and bicycle. At 37 miles each way, that is a considerable reduction of carbon emissions.

My morning commute is much more modest at about 2.3 miles, basically from Sunnyside Park to Trolley Square. I do find, however, that once at the office with a bike, I can still generally handle my daily trips to my typical destinations: the City/County Building, the AIA Utah office, and our local project sites in the Lower Avenues and over to the Granary District. As we start this year’s challenge, the office crew and I will be tracking miles, but we will also be opening our eyes to see parts of the City that we miss from our windshields. Re-connecting with our city from on foot or on bike may well be a bonus reward, on top of clearer air, stronger legs, and dollars saved at the pump.

Here’s to a healthy challenge!

Advocating sustainability in historic neighborhoods is often like preaching to the choir: the people who live in these neighborhoods have made housing and lifestyle choices that include living on smaller lots and in a smaller building footprint, and the streetscapes favor pedestrians over cars. For much of the last decade, my architectural practice and community service have been focused in the older neighborhoods of Salt Lake that greatly contribute to the vitality and sustainability of the city. Three of these neighborhoods provide an interesting backdrop for a discussion about liveability, adaptability and sustainability.

University

The University District is a group of neighborhoods that, depending on who you ask, would include Douglas, Reservoir Park, East Bryant, part of South Temple and Federal Heights areas. Sharing a common border with the University of Utah, these neighborhoods are blessed by the the richness and diversity of academic circles– as well as the challenges of parking and the transiency of student rental housing. The University and South Temple Historic District provide regulatory review over development and renovations, but community councils have been pushing the City to expand this local historic designation to include several blocks of East Bryant,  an area targeted for multi-family and commercial development expansion in recent years. Bike lanes in the grass median along 200 South are another sure flashpoint in this neighborhood. (more…)