Tips and Stories
Industry meetings are a wonderful way to become familiar with and immersed in the organization’s mission. There are also presentations to increase awareness of new products and research. These are 4 of my takeaways from the Green Building Initiative User Summit held Atlanta this year. Everything is Iterative Iterations and revisions lead to better solutions. […]
January 24, 2019, I was in my last semester of architecture school at Penn State, and enjoying a band in downtown State College when my friend got an eerie text. “There’s a shooter downtown, please be safe.” At first, we didn’t know if the warning was real, as we did not receive a University phone […]
With the coming of the holiday season it is important to look at gathering space. In restaurants, there is always a need for tables to seat eight or more people. Communal tables are long, shared tables where people are typically sitting near someone they do not know. They can be used for high-turn around seating […]
Building permits! Are they just a piece of paper stating you can build a specific design? Some may feel this way, but they are designed to ensure your project’s plans comply with local standards for land use, zoning and construction. In Philadelphia a building permit is required before beginning projects to enlarge, repair, change, add […]
Clients love glass buildings and high skyscrapers because glass provides more natural light and prestige. Architects have a growing affinity for glass too. However, this building with glass creates problems with bird mortality. US Fish and Wildlife has estimated 750 million birds perish annually from flying into glass. (1) Other statistics dispute that staggering number […]
The environment and climate change are big topics in today’s world. These topics are important to architects who are designing new homes and buildings every day. As more and more people commit to environmental and energy conservation, they are looking for more sustainable options when it comes to building their homes and renovating their offices. […]
“Escape rooms” are popping up everywhere and have become the thing to do with friends and workplace colleagues. These are not rooms for affluent homeowners to retreat to in the event of a home invasion. For a fee, these attractions are designed to challenge people to escape from a locked room — using puzzles, clues […]
Who remembers getting the JC Penney’s Christmas catalog as a child? Besides having more than enough toys to go around, big department stores had something for everyone no matter the shopping occasion. A family could easily spend an hour or so browsing the store’s shelves, and that’s even before going to the toy section. Today, […]
The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) held its annual regional conference in Philadelphia last week. Attendance was down, but there were deals being done and new contacts made. The conference included: A tour of developments in the Convention Center area, such as PREIT’s redevelopment of the Gallery, rebranded as The Fashion District, and National […]
Eighteen years ago, on September 11, 2001, tragedy struck the USA when the World Trade Center was attacked and destroyed by the militant Islamist network, al-Qaeda. As a memorial of this tragic event, New York City held a design competition for a memorial and museum to be constructed at the location of the collapsed towers. […]