Miscellaneous Projects at Christner, Inc.

Miscellaneous Projects @ Christner, Inc.
Various Works in AutoCAD R13

Images of projects I worked on for short periods of time while at Christner, Inc.
North St. Francois County; Cantwell & Central Schools prepared background drawings.
Missouri Baptist Hospital: New MOB office lobby design
St. Louis County Government Center: Customer Service Desk Planning study

North Francois School District
Bonne Terre, Missouri

I worked on the site documentation of several existing schools for this school district. I also worked on the initial master plans for the new additions.

This master plan provided a district-wide overview of facilities and space needs based on future enrollment projections, for a small school district in southeast Missouri. The district has five school sites containing a total of seven schools, some of which date to the early 1900s. A series of planning options was created for each of the sites, leading to recommended improvements at each building.
Major additions at the high school in Bonne Terre included a 17,000 sf classroom addition and a 9,000 sf gymnasium. Work at Cantwell Elementary School included a new 28,000 sf classroom wing, a 6,000 sf gymnasium, as well as extensive renovation. At Central Elementary School, Christner added a 15,000 sf classroom wing and upgraded the HVAC system.

Pictured above, the high-impact exterior design at Cantwell Elementary features two tones of brick in a striking geometric pattern.

Marketing Page

Missouri Baptist Hospital
New Medical Office Building Lobby Interior Design
Town & Country, Missouri

I was involved in an office competition to design a lobby for this new Medical Office Building our Christner, Inc, was designing. My lobby design was not picked.

North Elevation

Northeast Perspective

Elevation at end of construction

 

St. Louis Government Center Master Plan
Clayton, Missouri

I completed a space planning diagram for the redesign and additions to the St. Louis County Government Center in Clayton, Missouri. This project was designed to provide greater customer access, document retrieval and processing, and safety. All documents were hand drawn with pens on vellum. This was the plan for the street level. The project was unbuilt.

This is an old photograph of the plaza plinth and over all complex.

An image from a previous renovation by Christner, that was the model for our new Master Plan.

This was the plan for the plaza level, where most of the customer service desks were expanded to.

This was the plan for the street level, which included a transit center.

Lex Mundi Presentation

A series of space planning diagrams of recently completed St. Louis Law office projects by Christner, Inc., for a presentation to Lex Mundi. Plans were exported from AES and colored in Corel Photo-Paint.

Law office in Pierre-Laclede tower in Clayton.

Law Office in the Equitable Office tower in downtown St. Louis.

Law office in the Boatman’s tower in downtown St. Louis.

Missouri Botanical Garden Monsanto Center Architecture, Industrial Design, Interior Design

The Monsanto Center at the Missouri Botanical Gardens

St. Louis, Missouri

Size: 78,000 sf
Status: Completed 1998
Associate Architect: Louis R. Saur & Associates
Sustainability Consultant: The Croxton Collaborative

LEED Silver Certified, Existing Buildings

The Monsanto Center houses a world-class herbarium collection (containing 5 million plant specimens), library, offices, and laboratories. Christner took the lead on the multi-disciplinary design team in developing sustainable design criteria for the site development and landscaping, building envelope, operational systems, building materials, and interior finishes. Completed in 1998, the Monsanto Center predates the sustainable criteria established by the U.S. Green Building Council and serves as a seminal example of environmentally responsive design.Given the dual needs for research and preservation of the collections, Christner designed the building in two distinct vertical zones, with separate thermal and environmental controls. Research and office areas are on the south. Large windows admit light that is then reflected off the angled ceiling to reduce electric light use. The collections area (heavily insulated and without windows) is on the north. Rigorous environmental demands require storage at 62 to 65 degrees and relative humidity at 45 percent. Vestibules buffer heat and moisture migration from adjoining office space.

Cost: $19 million
Owner: Missouri Botanical Gardens

This new four story building, which encompasses 120,000 sf of space, was designed by Christner, Inc., in association with Louis R. Saur & Associates, for the Garden’s botanical research staff, herbarium collection and botanical library, each of which is world class. Each functional area has distinct thermal and environmental protection. The design incorporates sustainable construction materials and operational systems. The building contains gathering and exhibit spaces for research, display and other purposes. Preparation of final drawings for furniture, window treatment, and signage packages. Primary drafter for these documents completed in AutoCAD R13. Provided assistance in CA design of Multipurpose Area ceiling.

Construction products for the Monsanto Center were all screened for recycled content, off-gassing risk, and potential use after the product resided at the building. Exterior aluminum wall panels over shot of the project.

Street corner perspective.

Christner’s site design incorporated sustainable criteria of water retention and use of native plantings. Planners also optimized the site’s capability for future growth.

Building Section and sustainability diagram.

Optimizing natural day lighting to promote the sustainable aspects of the building and enhance the feeling of well being in the occupants was a major concern for designers.

Fourth Floor reading area.

Fourth Floor Library.

Pre-Linnaean Room: The rare book reading room requires a cool temperature-controlled environment. Bright colors were used in this space to give the impression of increased temperature.

This research lab illustrates an important lesson learned by lighting designers: uniform indirect lighting reduces the light level required to perform a given task.

Research floor conference rooms.

Use of mechanically assisted manual cranked library storage units saved energy and cost ten to twenty percent less than electrical units.

Furnishings were carefully selected for their longevity, flexibility, and maintenance techniques. Products were rejected that did not have concrete data from manufacturers to support environmental objectives.
Board room/seminar room, 1st floor.

Rare book room carpet detail. Photograph was featured in advertisement for the manufacturer in major design magazines.

Optimizing natural day lighting to promote the sustainable aspects of the building and enhance the feeling of well being in the occupants was a major concern for designers.

Herbarium cart I designed and developed.

 

1st Floor (Conference Room and Public Space) Plan

4th Floor (Library) Floor Plan

Library Light Selves.

Temperate House Masonry Investigation Missouri Botanical Garden

Missouri Botanical Garden Temperate House

Elegance and function converge at world renowned garden
Conducted an investigation of a masonry spawling issue and provided a solution.

Size: 11,000 sf
Status: Completed 1990
Awards: 1990 AIA Central States Regional Award Honor Award for Excellence; 1991 AIA St. Louis, Honor Award for Excellence

As part of the Climatron complex, Christner designed the Temperate House to complement the landmark geodesic dome without overshadowing it. As a result, the Temperate House focuses attention towards the Climatron, but also asserts a subtle identity of its own. We created a geometric volume of glass, steel and masonry that houses the Mediterranean collection and provides an inviting environment for visitors.

This is the uncompleted master plan for the Greenhouse complex. The Desert House was to be replaced to the south, while the Temperate House replaced the Mediterranean House. The Climatron represents the tropics.

Model of the Temperate House addition.

Main Entrance to the Temperate House.

Christner’s design solution evolved as a concentric ring of new buildings that partially encircle and radiate from the existing dome while providing a pedestrian connection to the Climatron.

We designed the adjacent Brookings Interpretive Center that offers visitors hands-on learning experiences

The automated HVAC system and strategically positioned glass panes create a highly sophisticated yet seamless environment for plant growth.

The water from the roof runs down this curtain wall and into the wall below. This is the issue we were trying to resolve.

The Curtain Wall aligned with the masonry joints, allowing water right into the wall.

We derived the shape of the greenhouse after studying the sun angles it would receive. The cast stone and masonry details complement the existing architecture at the Garden.

The Temperate House sits next to the world famous Climatron.

The Temperate House replaced the Mediterranean House.

Interior of the Temperate House in a Mediterranean theme.

Entrance to the Temperate House from the garden.

Project Rising Development

BILTMORE QUARTER
Sears + Roades Center Retrofit
Project Rising: Phoenix

CONCEPT

• During a nine month training program, professionals from the fields of architecture, urban planning, engineering, construction, and city management, learn the latest in the tried and true practices of sustainability in the unique bio-region they inhabit. These students collaborate on projects that will demonstrate the sustainable strategies they are researching.
• Shark Tank , an ABC hit television show where business innovators pitch their new ideas to venture capitalists for funding. Project Rising is a competition develop projects from the drawing boards of thoughtful and talented teams from the Ikoloji Sonoran Sustainable Building Advisor Program (SoSBAP).

 

• The winning pitch will receive funding for further implementation.

 

MOTIVATION

• Project Rising came together through a combined force of IKOLOJI Sustainability Collaborative and Urban Initiatives, both impassioned by progressive elaboration of their city.

“If we can solve for Phoenix, we can solve for anywhere …”

• The City of Phoenix has been criticized as, “the least sustainable city in the world” by many people.
• In the year of Arizona’s 100 year statehood anniversary, it’s important to make distinctions between where we’ve been and where we’re going. The City of Phoenix and Maricopa County as a whole have a golden opportunity to rise from the ashes of the past … beyond SB1070 and the collapse of the real estate boom …

 

Table of Contents
The Pulse …

APRIL 11, 2012 Mayor’s State of the City Priorities
1.2012 double amount of solar voltaic cells on COP rooftops
2.National leader in green and sustainability
3.Sustainability as the thought process throughout COP
4.Solutions for vacant lots
5.Advancing the downtown area
6.Demanding new and innovative thinking
7.Neighborhoods, elderly, poverty, homelessness

Table of Contents
1. CSBA Investigation
2. Retrofit Strategies
3. Over the Hump Development
4. Case Studies
5. Acknowledgements

Executive Summary

BILTMORE QUARTER RETROFIT
Our project is a set of responsible design principles to revive the heart of the Camelback East Village Core into retrofitting the Camelback Colonnade shopping center into a thriving, creative, urban neighborhood, with diverse choices for living, working and playing. The heart of the proposal is the adaptive reuse of the abandoned Mervyn’s department store, and parking field, into an urban, co-working business incubator, where Phoenicians can regenerate our economy with new products, services and ideas. As businesses outgrow their space, new buildings would infill the parking area, with pedestrian connections to the surrounding neighborhoods and developments, creating demands for a light rail extension. The final result would create a neighborhood similar to: West Village, Uptown, Dallas, Texas, 2000;
Mockingbird Station, Dallas, Texas, 1997; Cherry Creek District, Denver, Colorado; Huntington
Village, Houston, Texas; Buckhead, Atlanta, Georgia.

Executive Summary

• Peter Newton, Associate AIA, CSBA
  • Market Comparisons
• Eric Voise, CSBA
  • Adaptive Reuse Plan for the Mervyn¡¦s
• Bruce Lovegrove
  • Sustainability & Business Plan

 

CSBA Investigation

• Existing Conditions: how we got here
• Competitive Creative Economic Urban Areas
  • Phoenix
  • Dallas
  • Denver
• Comparative Upscale Markets
  • Biltmore District
  • Park Cities
  • Cherry Creek

CSBA Investigation

• Existing Conditions: how we got here
• Competitive Creative Economic Urban Areas
  • Phoenix
  • Dallas
  • Denver
• Comparative Upscale Markets
  • Biltmore District
  • Park Cities
  • Cherry Creek

 

Establishing Market Presence
Growth & Development

• Westcor acquires center, several renovations follow, and name changed to Colonnade Mall
• Recession & Oppertunity

Mervyns files for bankruptcy and shutters its stores in 2009, leaving a huge vacancy.

Phoenix, Arizona
20 miles of Light Rail
1 State University
1 Airport
4 Art Museums
Fortune 500 Companies
8 Performing Arts Facilities
700,000 SF Convention Center
Tallest Builgin: 483 ft.

CSBA Investigation

• Existing Conditions: how we got here
• Competitive Creative Economic Urban Areas
  • Phoenix
  • Dallas
  • Denver
• Comparative Upscale Markets
  • Biltmore District
  • Park Cities
  • Cherry Creek

Phoenix, Arizona
Area
Pop: 4.2 mil
Density: 252.9/sq mi.
Area: 16,573 sq. mi.
City
Pop: 1.4 mil
Density: 3,072/sq mi.
Area: 518 sq. mi
Biltmore District
Dallas, Texas
Area
Pop: 6.7 mil
Density: 634/sq mi.
Area: 9,286 sq. mi.
City
Pop: 1.2 mil
Density: 3,518/sq mi.
Area: 385.8 sq. mi.

Park Cities
Denver, Colorado
Area
Pop: 2.6 mil
Density: 303.3/sq mi.
Area: 8,414 sq. mi.
City
Pop: 0.6 mil
Density: 3,874/sq mi.
Area: 154.9 sq. mi.
Cherry Creek

CSBA Investigation

• Existing Conditions: how we got here
• Competitive Creative Economic Urban Areas
  • Phoenix
  • Dallas
  • Denver
• Comparative Upscale Markets
  • Biltmore District
  • Park Cities
  •   Cherry Creek

Retrofit Strategies

• Co-Working
  • Gangplank
  • Workhaus
  • Creative Density
• TOD
  • Valley Metro
  • Mockingbird Station
  • City Center, Englewood, Colorado
• Town Center
  • Scottsdale Quarter
  • West Villages
  • Belmar

Retrofit Strategies

• Co-Working
  • Gangplank
  • Workhaus
  • Creative Density
• TOD
  • Valley Metro
  • Mockingbird Station
  • City Center, Englewood, Colorado
• Town Center
  • Scottsdale Quarter
  • West Villages
  • Belmar

Co-Working ¡V

• A workspace for the creative class, comprised of local independent artists, designers, writers, photographers, etc.
• Spaces leasable long-term, or for as little as one day.

Gangplank
Another creative-class, cooperative workspace, much like ¡§In Co+Hoots¡¨, bringing together like-minded individuals and businesses in the spirit of shared ideas and collaboration.
Workhaus, Dallas
Another creative-class, cooperative workspace, much like ¡§In Co+Hoots¡¨, bringing together like-minded individuals and businesses in the spirit of shared ideas and collaboration.

Creative Density, Denver
Retrofit Strategies

• Co-Working
• Gangplank
• Workhaus
• Creative Density
• TOD
• Valley Metro
• Mockingbird Station
• City Center, Englewood, Colorado
• Town Center
• Scottsdale Quarter
• West Villages
• Belmar

Transit Oriented Development

• A workspace for the creative class, comprised of local independent artists, designers, writers, photographers, etc.
• Spaces leasable long-term, or for as little as one day.
• Valley Metro
• A workspace for the creative class, comprised of local independent artists, designers, writers, photographers, etc.
• Spaces leasable long-term, or for as little as one day.
• Mockingbird Station, Dallas
• A workspace for the creative class, comprised of local independent artists, designers, writers, photographers, etc.
• Spaces leasable long-term, or for as little as one day.

City Center Englewood, Colorado
Retrofit Strategies

• Co-Working
  • Gangplank
  • Workhaus
  • Creative Density
• TOD
  • Valley Metro
  • Mockingbird Station
  • City Center, Englewood, Colorado
• Town Center
  • Scottsdale Quarter
  • West Villages
  • Belmar

 

Town Center
Scottsdale, Arizona
West Village, Uptown, Dallas
Belmar, Colorado
Next Steps
Camelback Colonade
The Future
The Future: A New Beginning

• A new business plan and a fresh start to inject needed life into an aging strip mall.
• No more “big box” chain retail in the space.
• A communal business environment, subdivided, but with a common sense of both place and purpose within the community.
• A space for both established and “start-up” businesses to collaborate, share ideas, and grow together.
• Leasable sub-spaces with an eclectic and diverse mix of shopping, dining, and services.

THE CAMELBACK CO-OPS
“An Adaptive Re-use Plan for the Mervyn’s”
Case Studies
Blankspaces
Mockingbird Station
Belmar
Case Studies
Blankspaces
Mockingbird Station

Belmar
Examples of Similar Local Spaces:
1.) “POOL Together” – Mesa, AZ
Unfortunately shuttered in February, 2011, but was never properly promoted and was sited at a poor location. Could be successful at Camelback Colonnade. Also a former Mervyns.
POOL Together (cont.)
POOL Together (cont.)
POOL Together (cont.)

Case Studies
Blankspaces
Mockingbird Station
Belmar

Mockingbird Station
Where the In Crowd Flocks

Mockingbird Station
Adaptive ReUse

Mockingbird Station
Transit Oriented Development

Case Studies
Blankspaces
Mockingbird Station

Belmar

Belmar
Adaptive Redevelopment

Belmar
Master Plan

Belmar
New Town

Belmar
New Town

Credits & Acknowledgments:
Thank you to the following for information and permissions:

• Pam Paes of “POOL Together”
• Tony Felice of “In Co+Hoots”
• Westcor
• Retorfitting Suburbia, Ellen Dunham-Jones & June Williamson
• Mark Stamp, ASU Master’s of Real Estate Development

Project Rising Pitch

BILTMORE QUARTER
Sears + Roades Center Retrofit

CSBA Investigation

• Existing Conditions
• Competitive Creative Economic Urban Areas
  • Phoenix
  • Dallas
  • Denver
• Comparative Upscale Markets
  • Biltmore District
  • Park Cities
  • Cherry Creek

Establishing Market Presence

Decline & Bankruptcy

• 1988, Squaw Peak Parkway bisected the site.
• 1990s, demalled into big box strip mall.
• Sears sub-divided into retail spaces.
• 52,700 sf section of the mall demolished
• A parking garage was built
• Joskes sub-divided into a 2nd floor leased office space and a retail ground floor.
• 59,800 sf Fry’s added
• Additional out buildings added.
• Now CAMELBACK COLONNADE
• 2009, Mervyn’s bankruptcy.

Competitive Creative Economic Urban Areas

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
-Charles Darwin

Phoenix Creative Assessment

Phoenix, Arizona
Metro
Pop: 4.2 mil
Density: 252.9/sq mi.
Area: 16,573 sq. mi.
City
Pop: 1.4 mil
Density: 3,072/sq mi.
Area: 518 sq. mi

Dallas Creative Assessment

Dallas, Texas
Metro
Pop: 6.7 mil
Density: 634/sq mi.
Area: 9,286 sq. mi.
City
Pop: 1.2 mil
Density: 3,518/sq mi.
Area: 385.8 sq. mi.

Denver Creative Assessment

Denver, Colorado
Metro
Pop: 2.6 mil
Density: 303.3/sq mi.
Area: 8,414 sq. mi.
City
Pop: 0.6 mil
Density: 3,874/sq mi.
Area: 154.9 sq. mi.

Retrofit Strategies

• Co-Working
  • Gangplank
  • Workhaus
  • Creative Density
• TOD
  • Valley Metro
  • Mockingbird Station
  • City Center, Englewood, Colorado
• Town Center
  • Scottsdale Quarter
  • West Villages
  • Belmar

 

Retrofit Strategies

• Co-Working
  • Gangplank
  • Workhaus
  • Creative Density

Co-Working –

• Coworking is the social gathering of people, who work independently, but share values, and are interested in the synergy that can occur when working with talented people of differing fields in the same space.
• Attractive to telecommuters, independent contractors, and travelers.
• The coworking model is a social collaborative, that allows for the cross pollenization of ideas with a strong focus on community.
• Coworking communities are formed by organizing Casual Coworking events in public places such as cafes, galleries or multi-functional spaces.

Gangplank

• Gangplank is a group of individuals creating an economy of innovation and creativity in the Valley. They envision a new economic engine comprised of collaboration and community, where industries come together to transform our culture.
• A place for creators, where diverse backgrounds and ideas collide, providing the necessary fuel to innovate.
• Gangplank believes that the creative class focuses on collaboration over competition, and that ideas should be shared freely.
• Offers one-on-one meetings with mentors specializing in marketing, financial management and business planning.
• Weekly brownbag presentations by local business leaders.
• Member-lead workshops.
• The youth arm of Gangplank, Gangplank Junior, seeks to augment a struggling education system, through after-school programming focused on hands-on learning and encouraging creativity, preparing future generations to operate in a world beyond what their schools prepare them for.

Workhaus, Dallas

• Workhaus Co-Working Lodge is a better, more efficient, green, mobile, and connected worklife in Dallas, TX.
• A simple concept where independent professionals work together for the purpose of collaboration and the ability to focus on their work in inspiring spaces.
• Membership-based co-working also provides a professional environment to meet clients, receive mail, socialize and talk shop with other professionals.
• We provide rental opportunities for a desk space, private workspace, and amenities businesses need to run efficiently.
• We create a dynamic culture of mentorship, incubation, leadership, networking and most importantly creating.

Creative Density, Denver

FROEBEL ATELIER

• relating to a system of education to develop the importance of free play
• a workshop or studio, especially of an artisan or designer.
• 1830–40;: literally, pile of chips

Membership has its privileges

To Subscribe to the Atlier simply contact us. BUT, a subscription does not mean you get to work in a collaborative and creative space, you must become a part of the community of freelancers, mobile workers, and start-ups.

Bringing Mobile Workers Together

Coworking Communities provide a space for mobile professionals to work together. Coworking is proving that independent professionals do better together in a community rather working alone. The physical density of people and lack of barriers creates a collaborative environment alone. The physical density of people and lack of barriers creates a collaborative environment where people can focus on their work independently but also share experiences and work together.

What if you could blend the benefits of working from home, the coffee house, and the corporate office?

• Flexible workspace, with Open concept offices so you can feed off the energy and build relationships
• Community of brainstorming buddies
• Organized events to learn about design and techniques, business trends, and the next ‘big idea’
• Amazing coffee, printing, and other essential business requirements
• – besides awesome people to be around.

According to a the Global Coworking Survey:

• 42% of coworkers reported an increase in revenue, only 5% saw a decline
• 85% were more motivated
• 88% have better interaction with people
• 60% said they are more relaxed at home now
• 57% work more teams for projects

Philosophy

We aim to connect individuals and small businesses creating an economy of innovation and creativity. We envision a new economic engine comprised of collaboration and community, in contrast to the silos and stodgy dependence on the next tourism and land development boom. Our ideas are based on the Creative Economy work of Economist Richard Florida and the (re)New(ed) Urbanism work on Retrofitting Suburbia by Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson. We studied their work to discover methods for Phoenix to live up to its nom du plume.

We have the talent in this Valley to create an economy to compete with the Atlantas, Denvers, Houstons, Austins, and Dallases, we just need to work together to create it. Different environments need to overlap, connect and interact in order to transform our community to be economically and environmentally sustainable. The community we seek to create is based on the idea of the 4 Es:

1.Equity
2.Economy
3.Environment
4.Aesthetics

This new economy cannot thrive without engaging the larger business, creative, entrepreneurial, governmental, and technical communities together. We believe that innovation breeds intension. We will transform our culture into one supportive of the entrepreneurial spirit, of risk taking, of pioneering into the unknown territories as the founders of our municipalities once did. This requires education, entrepreneurship and creative workspaces.

Likely Subscribers

• Game designers
• Graphic Designers
• Sole Practitioners
• Architects
• Engineers
• Web Designer
• Independent Insurance Agents
• Real Estate Agents
• Digital Artists
• Freelance Programmers
• Financial Planners
• Hobbyists
• Day Traders
• Internet Sales
• Web Production
• Web Publishers
• Start-Ups
• Authors
• Technical Writers
• Digital Artists
• and more!

Subscription: PREMIUM

• No long-term contract, subscriptions are month to month, and includes Listing in our member directory.
• Professional Reception services for subscribers deliveries and customer calls to your dedicated LAN line and voicemail: Personalized answering, greeting, and arranging (handsets available, or we can ¡§wire¡¨ your number to your cell).
• Professional Executive Secretarial services available to assist subscribers with editing and proposal/presentation preparation.
• Open, cubicle and private studio offices; ¡§Phone Booth¡¨; & Comfortable, open seating, with patio seating, in the Lounge area.
• Fully equipped Conference Center for teleconferencing, pitching, ideation, client meetings, and community events.
• WiFi/Internet, coffee, Print/Fax/Copy services (discounts on large reproduction runs), mailboxes, and 24-hour access, are included for monthly subscribers.
• Work tables, mobile white boards, flip charts, software license seat library (pricing may vary) , webinar, on line organizational platforms
• A room dedicated for long phone calls or webinars.
• A fully equipped Cafe with flavored coffee, refrigerator, microwaves, snack/soda machines, plates, silverware, dishwasher, available for breaks, networking and catering.

 

Subscription: FRINGE

• All Inclusive access to Salon Talks, Lounges, and networking.
• Special Discounts to local Conferences and Professional Society events.
• Extra Perks like arranging Speaking at events.
• All Amenities & Included Services are available to monthly subscribers, regardless of level.
• Walking, biking and a short transit distance to numerous restaurants and bars for client entertaining, with a conference kitchen available for catering.
• Located in a community of business, with easy access to retail and networks.
• Affordable housing close by.
• Professional mentoring and counseling seminars and discounts on private sessions for you and your business.
• Professional magazine, periodicals, newsletters and newspapers Reference Center, available both in on line and in the lounge area. ALL subscriptions included in dues, with selection made by subscribers to the space.
• Discounts on events and CDU courses.
• Members can cowork around the world for free with the coworking visa.
• Quarterly Innovation Charettes to encourage collaboration and new ideas for puzzling problems.

Subscriber Mentoring
Seeing opportunities in unlikely places, maximizing profitability through planning and detail efficiency is the intrinsic value of good maturation of business incubation. The ability to marry economic sensitivity with design accountability while navigating the myriad challenges and constraints ubiquitous to development is a skill set unique to Alloy.

• Budgets
• Cash Flow Models
• Concept Ideation
• Consultant Team
• Financial
• Market Analysis
• Marketing Programs
• Legal
• Pro Formas
• Boiler Plate Template Documents
• Sources & Uses Statement
• With self-directed and community developed programs to benefit subscribers and a 2 mile neighborhood radius

 

Subscriber plans
Mobile Membership ($98 per month)
For the developing business that needs a professional workspace, but not an office.

• Access to any open desk
• Discounts on CDU Classes
• Ability to Stay Late

Dweller Membership ($395 per month)
Set desk
All services listed above

Resident Subscription ($900- $750)

• Great for office startups or small business teams.
• Full access to the coworking floor, conference room, kitchen

 

Decanter plans

Lounge Pass (FREE)
For those needing a quick stop to check email.

• Access to any seat in the lounge
• Free WiFi
• Coffee is 50 cents.
• Printing and other services additional

Transit Pass ($25 per day)
For the interloper who works from home, is visiting the area, or developing a side business

• Access to any open desk
• Additional cost to use conference spaces and Professional Services.

Day Pass ($25 per day)
For the interloper who works from home, is visiting the area, or developing a side business
Access to any open desk

• Additional cost to use conference spaces and Professional Services.
• Conference Room Rentals.

You don’t have to be a member. Members get the conference room for free or 50% off.

• Half Day – $75
• Full Day – $100

Proposal

Proposal

 

 

Ross vs. Gamage

Packed house tonight, every chair filled, and plenty standing along the rear walls. Not too many fire works, except for when Ross called Gammage out on his presumptions of “we”. They could have gone on just talking. It was interesting, and proves that our biggest issue is that of personal economics, much as the fall campaign will play out.

Phil Weddle, Mark Lehmer, Christina, Louise, Taz Loomans, and I saw a couple of other AIA folks there. Deffinantly worth watching, and to keep exploring the ideas. I am seeing a dialectic subtext that I think needs to be more explored: the preconditions for progress by the multi-generational natives and the preconceptions of the migrants. This in and of itself would be a week of discussion and was an interesting, if unmentioned, interplay of: Sloane McFarlane and the Downtown Phoenix authors; the Lincoln Institute’s film and the panel discussion; and Ross v Gammage. I have to check out the Zocalo Public Square from Tucson for more.

Tomorrow, the all day session.

Pheonix Urban Design Week 2

They are taping the events this week. They had at least 2 cameras and multiple mikes. I don’t know if they will be cyncing the presentations with the talks, or if the film will just show the presentations from across the room. Tonight is a film and panel discussion. I don’t know where ASU will be storing the videos at this point. Taz was Tweeting, and I tagged folks on Facebook. I did not write a report, beyond what I wrote last night. I apologize for neglecting to mention that last night. But, it would be good to put a link on the AIA web site to the discussions, as we should to the Zocalo Public Square, KJZZ and DVC forums earlier this winter. I will check with Aaron about the location of videos and post to the Linked In group, as I have for the other discussions.

PURL is looking at inviting Richard Florida for next year. He is aware of this year’s events through Tweets. I have been in conversation with him about coming to Phoenix to speak. Aaron, at PURL, is working on that.

I should mention that Wednesday night, the City, Arch, River project in St. Louis is holding a public forum. If taped, it would be good to watch watch other cities are doing. To that point, perhaps, I can search the web for links to urban discussions, regardless of community. I subscribe to and have streamed numerous podcasts and live shows about local and general discussions about urban and architectural design from several stations over the past decade. It might be possible to include these in the “Mayor’s Vitural Library”, with Greg approval of course.

Will, while you are in Columbus, document Will Race Park by Stanley Saitowitz and Michael van Volkenberg. It is a great example of adaptive flood plain and public park design, and it could be a model for the canals, Salt River, and the deck park. For adaptive reuse, I am curious to see what has happened to Pelli’s mall in downtown. And I’d love to see the Irwin house. I think Eero’s bank has been adapted to a different use. Almost any project in Columbus is a GREAT example of how a public/private partnership can create great design to share with Greg. The urban plan is not so great, but the idea of creating a museum of american architecture is. Perhaps, we can develop a Flickr stream of great urban and architectural design photo ideas from our travels for the Mayor?

Pheonix Urban Design Week 1

Greg should REALLY attend the ALL Day session on Thursday more than listen to “Duke”, Grady and Ross banter. Sprawl repair is what we NEED to be doing, not listening to hoi paloi. I am interested in the debate, however, since I heard in on WBUR 3 months ago. The role of Duke was played by Tom Ashbrooke, who has family in the valley, and William DeBuys of Santa Fe joined the for a discussion on water. You can listen to the interview at Onpointradio.com (William still wants to debate Grady, and he did not get that opportunity when he was at ASU in February.) But, I think we need to steer Greg to the future, not a restatement of a 6 month long discussion.

We should get copies of Ellen and June’s book for the AIA/Mayor’s reading table at the Library for people to review. Retrofitting Suburbiais a GREAT book about what other cities are doing and we are behind on. I got my copy a few years ago at the AIA Arizona Convention Ellen keynoted, and have continued to follow their work on Facebook, TED, Twitter and electronic communications. We used the text as the basis of our Retrofiring Camelback Colonade project for the Sonoran Sustainable Building Adviser program last year. We used the Belmar Mall transformation in Lakewood, Colorado, as our model. (BTW, La Grande Orange is featured in the book). The book is FULL of examples and ideas we can use to develop Stanton’s Mayor’s Institute Project.

I have reviewed Galina’s book as well, but I am ALWAYS skeptical of DPZ’s projects. Typically, the analysis is solid, but the design response is Truman Show, Town of Rockridge, Patrick McGoohan distopia of faked pleasantries. But her book is more analysis. What is interesting, is the CNU debate. DPZ is the vacation community east coast whites, while Ellen comes from the west coast greys of urban retrofits. I did enjoy Ellen’s critique of CNU back in the 90s, before she went to Georgia Tech. It would be good for Greg to see this debate. It is easy to choose the stage set of DPZ, but miss the vitality so needed to make a place sustainable, vibrant and livable beyond the fad stage. It is the struggles of Calthorpe and the west coast CNU people that have been more successful. I have not heard of many cases of foreclosure in these developments, as we have heard in those of DPZ. It is the latter that better attain Nan’s ideas of an Integral Urbanism.

Mayor Stanton’s State of the City Address

The main takeaways I got, we need to schedule that meeting ASAP:

          * Gateway Community College is developing a business incubator. It would be good to have a Revit/CAD/Design-Build/start-up business program apart of the effort to

                   assist the development of materials science, Green Construction practices, and architectural/interior/engineering/industrial design professions.

          * Phoenix Solar 2, a program Mayor Gordon launched at Made Boutique to kick off Green Build (I’m in the video somewhere), is going to be expanded to city,

                   commercial and additional residential facilities, doubling it in size. AIA/COTE should be there for the announcement, and we should offer a news release to 

                   explain why this type of design matters for Architectural, Urban and Sustainable design.

           * Panels are to be installed on the roof of HKS’s Car Rental Facility. Now, for shading the top decks at City Hall and the rest of Sky Harbor.

          *  Collier is going to fill in the plot of land at Indian School and Central with gardens and urban farms as temporary use. Good for VA therapy, the history and the foodie

              establishments popping up along Central. Greg is looking for for more opportunities.

          * Electronic Permitting is coming to the city.

          * Emphasis on Local purchasing. Let’s make sure this includes local design firms.

          * no more superblocks.

          * Need a downtown of people. I think this is true of all cores, sub-cores, streets and the sevens.

          * A new Downtown Organization. Sounds like Downtown Now! We need to join as a major stakeholder. AIA St. Louis can talk about how they got involved with 

                  Downtown Now in the 90s.

          * Regional transportation: bus, rail, multimodal, walking & biking expansion and improvement.

          * Bringing an advocate for schools into the Mayor’s office: Early childhood, Science and Arts. Mayor’s round table on education.

          * Homelessness Advocate to work in the mayor’s office. Perhaps a charette for quality low income housing.

The event was streamed on the internet and should be available on Channel 11 cable, the City Channel. Hopefully, Greg and the Chamber will also make it available on the City’s You Tube for review.