Residential Architect - Volume 3 2015

7232019 Residential Architect - Volume 3 2015

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullresidential-architect-volume-3-2015 2552

Residential Architect

983157983152 983142983154983151983150983156

A new map made public in May is designed to make

neighborhood noise a little easier to quantify and

compare at least if you happen to be house-hunting in

Los Angeles and Orange counties The map HowLoud is

like Walk Score for noise It assigns a numerical value to

the noise level of a property taking into account factors

such as vehicle and air plane traffi c

To expand this prototype to the rest of the United

States and Canada HowLoud has also launched a

Kickstarter (At press time the campaign had raised

nearly $20000 of its $38000 goal with a little less than

four weeks to go) On the Kickstarter page HowLoud

founder Brendan Farrell explains how the model works

ldquoWe donrsquot plant millions of microphones throughout a

city We build a 3D model of a city with typography 3D

buildings and roads and model the traffi c on those roads

We determine the sound profile that a certain volume

of traffi c has at a certa in speed and the n use physics

to propagate that sound through a neighborhood as it

gets blocked and reflected by buildings This allows usto determine the noise level for each side and story of a

building at any hour of the day We add to this noise from

airplane traffi c and unique local sources like gas statio ns

24-hour supermarkets bars and restaurants All of this is

then presented in a one-page report that includes a local

contour map and a graph displaying Soundscores for the

entire neighborhoodrdquo

The application to the residential market is obvious

Such a map could reveal that planes frequently pass

overheadmdashsomething that a prospective buyer might

overlook if no planes happen to pass during a house tour

From a sellerrsquos perspective a property rsquos Soundscore

could become a tout-able stat like Walk Score which

real estate websites like Trulia and Zillow already use to

promote listings Sites like these ldquoare our real targetrdquo

Farrell says ldquoWe would like to see the Soundscore appear

next to [the listing for] an apartment or homerdquo

HowLoud also plans to offer detailed reports

on individual propertiesmdashon request for a fee The

Kickstarter campaign offers these reports as part of the

donation levelsmdashthe costlier the level the more reports

These reports can also be generated for unbuilt projects

using a 3D model such as a CAD file according to Farrell

Farrell says his company is working on including

tractor-trailer traffi c and factor ing for traffi c lights

Helicopter traffi c bus routes and smaller airp orts

are other noise-sources that HowLoud wants to addin the future This future would start with the rest of

Southern California then the whole state Next would

be Massachusetts because of that statersquos availability of

geographic information system data

ldquoThere are handful of companies that have noise

modeling softwarerdquo Farrell says But nobody ldquohas a

consumer-oriented productrdquo mdash983155983137983154983137 983146983151983144983150983155983151983150

Noise Pollution Walk Score for Sound

Severe Peaceful

LA Soundscores Residential Areas

983112 983151 983159 983116 983151 983157 983140 983113 983150 983139

give your

clients mo

space for

living

To find local awning

fabricators visit

sunbrellacomloca

7232019 Residential Architect - Volume 3 2015

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullresidential-architect-volume-3-2015 2652

7232019 Residential Architect - Volume 3 2015

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullresidential-architect-volume-3-2015 2752

7232019 Residential Architect - Volume 3 2015

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullresidential-architect-volume-3-2015 2852

MILGARD Moving Glass Wall Systems

copy2014 Milgard Manufact

Try our new CEU ndash Maximizing Design Potential of Patio Doors

milgardcomDoorCEU

7232019 Residential Architect - Volume 3 2015

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AIA Architec

August 2015 AIAVoices 27 AIAPractice 28 AIAPerspective 30

AIAVoices

P H O T O G R A P H Y V I N C E N T R I C A R D E L

Garrett Reynolds AIA the recipient of the2015 AIA Seattle Emerging ProfessionalsTravel Scholarship is conducting researchin Copenhagen New York Stockholm

and Tokyo on innovative design strategiestoward living small in urban environmentsReynolds an architect at Mithun in Seattle

will investigate shifting relationshipsbetween public and private space inresidential buildings and the integrationof multiunit housing into the city ldquoUrbanfabricrdquo he says ldquois about the character of acity as it relates to individual buildingsrdquo

Irsquom looking at innovative housing strategiesthat respond to the evolving needs of peopleliving in our cities and how architecture canrespond to meet these needs My interestin this started when I moved to Seattlefour years ago at a time when it was thefastest-growing city in the US and whenmicro-units were seen as a response to theaffordable housing demand

The research in each of the four citiescenters on the scales that govern our

urban experiences public private andcommunity Irsquom looking at unit mix forinstancemdashbuildings that have multipleunits at multiple scalesmdashbut Irsquom alsolooking at market-rate affordabilitydensity and how the design of communalspaces like shared kitchens in buildingscan allow smaller micro-units Itrsquos asociological question approached throughdesign Irsquove broken up the research intothree tripsmdashNew York 1047297rst then Europe

and then Japan In New York therethe My Micro NY projectmdashthe winproposal in the adAPT NYC compthat allows for a zoning exception units under 400 square feet the cminimum size for a unit there Itrsquos just about designing small units brecognizing that life happens insidunits and outside in public space t

Copenhagen and Stockholm haI call ldquolivabilitiesrdquomdashor street life p

infrastructure and transportationaffect housing as well as a culturesupports co-housing Urban fabricis about the cross-section of the hothe corridor and the street The ciwhere small housing projects havesuccessful is where there are amenand thoughtful in-between commuspaces nearby everyone AIA

As told to William Richards

The Globe TrotterChronicling micro-units and livability

7232019 Residential Architect - Volume 3 2015

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullresidential-architect-volume-3-2015 3052

All InMillennials wonrsquot take no for an answer says recent research on client trends

By Ben Ikenson

AIAPractice

VOLUME 3 2015 AIA PRACTAIAArchitect

28

7232019 Residential Architect - Volume 3 2015

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Long before the housing market crashed in2008 the architecture and design industrywas facing trouble says Ann Voda 983105983113983105

a principal at BentzThompsonRietowin Minneapolis and president of AIAMinnesota The ldquoso-called traditionalpractice of architecture was enduringpressure and revealing stress cracks wellbefore 2008rdquo she wrote in the forward to a2012 AIA Minnesota report commissionedto help architects navigate the unsurepost-crash market

ldquoEven during the expansive timesleading up to the crash the architectrsquos rolein a project was perceived as erodedrdquo shecontinues in the Architects in Commerce

Research Initiative report ldquo[and] there

were concerns that we were undervaluedoverworked and underpaid The writingwas on the wall for medium sizedarchitectural 1047297rms with a general designpractice who didnrsquot develop a specialtyrdquo

One of the things that made thisreport meaningful is that it re1047298ected theinput of clientsmdashowners and developerscontractors and owner representativesmdashalong a spectrum of trends from theperceived role of architects to third-partyadvocates for property owners

Jean Dufresne 983105983113983105 co-principal atChicago-based Space Architects+Planners

and a member of the AIArsquos Small FirmRound Table adds that the increasedreliance of clients on representatives andof architects on contractors sets a difficultprecedent to reverse

ldquoWe have left others to erode our skillsand servicesrdquo says Dufresne ldquoWhen is thelast time you saw an architect on HGTVor TLC One that clearly showed valueand return on investment on the projectNever And that is horriblerdquo

But Michele Russo senior directorof research for the AIA sees potential in983142indings of the Architects in Commerc e

Research Initiative report ldquoThe emergenceof third-party representatives is animportant trend to understand andone that has led to some frustration fordesign professionals who feel they arebecoming distanced from their clientsrdquoshe says ldquoHowever the research thatAIA Minnesota conducted suggeststhat clients want architects to be theirpartners understanding their needs andoffering solutions versus just acting as a

service provider or trying to impose theirown vision

ldquoNot only does this emphasize

the importance of a 1047297rm to developmeaningful and productive relationshipswith clients and to understand all thepotential possibilities that clients maythemselves not even know exist it alsosuggests the time is ripe for architectsto expand the lsquopartnerrsquo function theybring to ownersrdquo Russo says ldquoInaddition to delivering design servicesarchitects are analytic problem-solversThe opportunities for them to capitalizeon those skills could open up newopportunities that take the professionin exciting new directionsrdquo

Indeed recent research supports thisAnother instructive report commissionedby the AIArsquos Large Firm Round Tablethe 2014 McGraw-Hill ConstructionSmartMarketrsquos ldquoManaging Uncertaintyand Expectations in Building Design andConstructionrdquo ranked owner-relatedissues such as accelerated scheduleunclear project requirements lack ofdirection and involvement and programor design changes among the leadingdrivers of uncertainty on buildingprojects The report concluded that bettercommunication and integration among

project team members represent the mosteffective approach to reducing both thecauses and the impacts of uncertainty

Survey results from architects andcontractors in the report reveal thatthe ldquotop drivers of uncertainty-relatedproblems hellip are owner-driven changesand the need for clearer direction fromowners as well as more active leadershipby ownersrdquo

Yet several owners foresee whatone describes as ldquoa big opening for thearchitectural community to step up andhelp outrdquo by providing greater leadership

and evolving toward a deeper relationshipwith owners that the ldquoManagingUncertaintyrdquo report calls a ldquotrustedadvisor participating a lot more and alot sooner really doing an integratedproject design around that clientrsquos missionand that clientrsquos culturerdquo The reportrsquosauthors predict it can be ldquoa whole newparadigm for the architectural world nota transaction based on lsquoYou tell me whatyou want and Irsquoll tell you how itrsquos going to

bersquo but more of an ongoing particprocess where theyrsquore continually you get to where you need to gordquo

Jean Leathers president of PraClarity a national consulting 1047297rmhelps architects build their busineagrees ldquoChanges in project delivemethods from traditional designbuild to designbuild and integratproject delivery mean that oftentimmembers of the design and constrteam are involved early with clienshe says ldquoChanges [can be] madeahead of constructionmdashIrsquove hearditrsquos cheap to change ideas costly tup concreterdquo

Millennials Remaking the Marke

The notion that residential projectan ongoing participatory process inarchitects and clients bodes well fohomeowners namely millennialspopular belief a Zillow survey revethat members of this demographicmore strongly than previous generthat owning a home is necessary torespected member of society Evenhave accrued more student debt ableaker economic prospects than o

millennials represented the largesof recent buyers for two consecutivaccording to the 2015 National Assof Realtors (NAR) ldquoHome Buyer aGenerational Trendsrdquo study In 20millennials purchased 32 percent ohomes sold in the country in 2013percentage was 31

ldquoOver 80 percent of millennialGen X buyers consider their homepurchase a good 1047297nancial investmand the desire to own a home of thwas the top reason given by millenfor their purchaserdquo wrote NAR Ch

Economist Lawrence Yun in the stldquoFixed monthly payments and theterm 1047297nancial stability homeownecan provide are attractive to youngdespite them witnessing the housidownturn and subsequent slow recthe early years of their adulthoodrdquo

Pegged as socially conscientiomillennials by and large seem to vprinciples of New Urbanismmdashwalkconnectivity and what the Congre

AIA PRACTICE VOLUME 3 2015 AIAAr

7232019 Residential Architect - Volume 3 2015

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AIAPerspective

The news this summer about housing

seems encouraging Prices for new andexisting houses have risen smartly in mostareas foreclosures are down job growthcontinues and at press time mortgagerates remain historically low Whatrsquos notto cheer about The residential market hassettled back to normal Or has it

ldquoNormalrdquo would mean the nextgenerationmdashthose between 25 to 34 theprime demographic for 1047297rst-time homebuyersmdashwill soon grow tired of rentingand like their parents before them shopfor a place of their own

But what if itrsquos not business as usual

what if wersquore seeing a new normal as theUrban Institute did in a report issued earlierthis summer Their claim The rate ofhomeownership has been falling since lastdecadersquos housing boom and will continueto decline until at least 2030 Contrast thatwith the 1047297ndings of the National Associationof Realtors study (in the previous article)mdashMillennials purchased 32 percent of allhomes in the country in 2014 up from 31percent in 2013mdashand you have to wonder

whatrsquos going on here We seem to begoing through a period of transition in thmarketplace where different data sets atelling different stories

One thing is certain though In the

United States homeownership is an engiof community building Having onersquosown home builds social capital It fostersinteractions with others in everything frothe quality of schools to engagement in thpolitical process If the Urban Institute isright and what seems to be emerging is na temporary blip but a fundamental shiftin how we live attention will have to bepaid to thinking about renters not simply consumers but as citizens invested in thehealth of their communities This will reqa major shift in how our society thinksabout private property common space

infrastructure and the rights of developeLeft to itself the market will not

accommodate such a shift It will likelyrequire the leadership of architects andurban planners working with elected officto advocate for policies that promote theinvestment of renters in the public realmWithout such an investment the center ohealthy democracy will not hold AIA

Elizabeth Chu Richter FAIA 2015 AIA Preside

AIAPracticeCONTINUED

of New Urbanism calls ldquotraditionalneighborhood structuresrdquo that includede1047297ned public centers discernible

boundaries between neighborhoodsand a sense of urban diversity Amongthe biggest factors in choosing a housewas the neighborhood according tothe NAR study ldquoMillennials weremost in1047298uenced by the quality ofthe neighborhood (75 percent) andconvenience to jobs (74 percent)rdquo

In order to better understandthe members of the millennialdemographic entering architecture anddesign professions the AIA partneredwith McGraw-Hill Construction toconduct two studies which together

are revealing of the group as a wholeincluding prospective home buyersOne of the studies targeted architecturestudents and recent grads and the otherfocused on existing architecture 1047297rmsBoth were part of the basis for the 2012McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarketreport ldquoConstruction IndustryWorkforce Shortagesrdquo which pointedto one irreducible fact There is a sizablegap between current industry thinking andthe values of the next generation

Taken together the studies also implythat millennials entering the profession

value sustainability very highly whichin1047298uenced their motive to pursue greendesign through a deeply personal sense ofresponsibility Millennials were also foundto rely on technology and social media forbasic networking or job searches far morethan other generations of practitionersThe SmartMarket reportrsquos authors notethat ldquoit is more likely that the architectureindustry will need to adopt these tools asan important means of networking thanstudents will abandon their userdquo

This of course isnrsquot a revelation Manystudies reports and media outlets have

covered this shift deeply and broadly overthe past decade What is important to notehowever is that technology sustainabilitypersonal responsibility and social valuendashdriven decisions are no longer brewingtrends among the children of prospectiveclients They are in fact the foundationof the current and future client base forarchitects AIA

Learn more about research at aiaorgpracticing

A New NormalCalculating the shift

AIAArchitect

30

VOLUME 3 2015 AIA PERSPECT