Making Meaningful Places and Spaces

As an architect and shaper of place and space I grapple with the dilemma of how and why to integrate nature into the buildings I'm involved with and how to make them meaningful for those who use them. Designing buildings and places involve a conversation of sorts between a building site, the people who use it and required functions to fulfill the building and site program. Couple these layers of design with the needs for a building enclosure, required equipment, various building systems, furniture and finishes and you have a very complex conversation indeed which is why I like architecture so much. It's not simple, but it is extremely interesting.

With all of this inherent complexity, I see design framed within the beguiling simplicity of nature and behavior. I say this because, architecture when reduced to its essential, provides shelter from the elements and a setting for human interaction. Meaningful places and spaces are those which rise above mere perfunctory performance and speak to something extra. You know these buildings and places. They are the ones you and others cherish. They are the special places forming the rich texture of your memories and life. The house or dwelling you grew up in. The library you visited when you were a kid. The places of worship or places of meaning you experienced over the course of your life. Sometimes you had this feeling outdoors, perhaps some special hike or time spent along a stream looking a water curling around rocks.

Architecture when it's really powerful and successful, engages your body and its senses similar in a way when experiencing a great work of art or sculpture. You kind of get lost in a reverie of sorts. It's kind of hard to explain. But it is powerful. I think architecture and place-making are at there very best when they fully and completely involve nature and create compelling and memorable spaces for interaction. The other enriching aspect is all of the wonderful people you meet and the friendships you make along the way.

Doing just that is a life long process of discovery and learning.

A Design Story - My Yellow Pelikano Junior Fountain Pen

Why do I love my see through yellow Pelikano junior fountain pen so much? I'm an architect and designer and am wildly attracted to high value low cost design. This is the pen I can afford to lose and continue loving! It costs $11.50 from the Paradise Pen Company and is generally plainly affordable online and in stores.

The pen is very pleasing to look at, lightweight, easy to use and the nib is well, nimble and pliable with an easy writing style, great to sketch and draw with. It takes ink cartridges from Pelikan (those are the best fitting). It's nimble in action unlike other entry level pens with stiff steel nibs costing five times as much as this one!

The Junior is a fantastic example of a well-executed affordable mass-produced design. It's iconic rounded forms resonate with comfort along with the practicality of the shaped rubber finger hold near the nib. I like the yellow case color best because the rubber finger rest is yellow regardless of the case color. The yellow pen case and grip present a unified appearance missing in the other colors choices where its more complementary, ie bright red and yellow grip, bright green and yellow grip etc.

The translucent enclosure allows you to see how much ink is left in the cartridge and helps visibly lighten the pen. Nothing is hidden and it's very, very simple.

I was in a pen shop over the holidays browsing and looking at much more expensive pens. The cases, materials and nibs were all joys to see and behold. However, half-way through my reverie I remembered my last nice pen and how I lost it. I was watching my son play baseball, laying on a blanket. The pen fell out into the grass and was probably mowed into oblivion by a college age worker the next day. I winced at the memory and put down the expensive pens. The salesperson smiled less happily when I asked him if he had any Yellow Pelikan Juniors? I left the store ecstatic in purchasing a piece of modern art and knowing I could lose it any time I wanted.

The pen delights me and lifts my spirit. And that my friends is what I think great design is all about!

On reading Dan Pink "a Whole New Mind" as a precursor to "Drive"

Last summer at NeoCon 2009 Dan Pink lectured to a standing room only crowd in Chicago on ‘Motivation’ which I attended. There Pink expanded our thinking about what drives motivation and creativity. This is the subject of his new book "Drive", just released. Because Drive wasn't available then, I picked up his 2005 book a the conference, "A Whole New Mind", a New York Times and Business Week Bestseller to form a clearer context while reading Drive which I just now purchased. Here's an overview from his site:

"The future belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind. The era of “left brain” dominance, and the Information Age that it engendered, are giving way to a new world in which “right brain” qualities-inventiveness, empathy, meaning-predominate. That’s the argument at the center of this provocative and original book, which uses the two sides of our brains as a metaphor for understanding the contours of our times. " (from D.Pink.com)

Pink illustrates work through the ages in an apt visual metaphor of a Neanderthal hunter-gathering, to a farmer in agrarian based society of cultivation and production, leading to the factory, then to knowledge workers, a trend coined by Peter Drucker a generation ago, to today's stage showing a cultural creative wielding a paint brush and palette. (p.50). The cultural creative wields the paintbrush like a conductor of a symphony. In fact he calls it a “150 year three act drama” beginning with the Industrial Age, leading into the Information Age and shifting yet again now into the so called “Conceptual Age”. It’s a time where “high touch and high concept” form the armature around the core of information age type skills and work. In short, we need to move beyond reliance on old patterns of work and production borne from the Information Age.

Today, the distribution of left-brain dominated work overseas leaves an uncertain future for today's workers like accountants, bankers, computer programmers, engineers of all kinds, customer service professionals in call centers etc. As a work culture we saw great success honing these skills and developing new information technologies. In a sense we’ve put ourselves in a developmental box which we must figure out how to leap over by shifting to new behaviors.

He asks us to ask ourselves three basic questions; "Can someone overseas do it cheaper? Can a computer do it faster? Am I offering something that satisfies the nonmaterial, transcendent desires of an abundant age?" If you answer yes to any you might continue reading on to the second part of his book.

Working with the Right brain or R-directed thinking as Pink describes in the Part two of the book may lead us into an more empowered future. Pink identifies six creative forces to help our collective transition - Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning. Hearing Pink emphasize the importance of Design at NeoCon as a driver of business and value creation immediately peaked the audience's interest as a lead into his thoughts on what motivates us. He used this as a lead-in to how the “carrot and the stick” incentives based approach is broken and needs to be replaced by more effective strategies.

He worked us up by describing the power of design to transform brands, organizations, our built environment and eco-cultural realities. Successful design integrates functional, cultural, financial and environmental concerns together in a sometimes less than rational manner. The power of story, the ability to orchestrate complex parts in symphonic manners, to build empathy and significance, to be playful and most of all find and bring meaning to our work and the value it produces can shift the world of work firmly into the “Conceptual Age”. Using creative value adding R-directed thinking can help companies differentiate themselves in the global as well as local marketplace.

Five years after publication I see only further transformation of our nascent social media present where so many of us text, tweet, facebook and update our status on Linked-In. Nouns are now verbs in the topsy turvy world of R-directed value creation Pink foresaw five or so years ago. Shaping experience and perceptions alongside the information stream so vitally sustaining our world now tends to take precedence over the L-directed skills so relevant to the information age.

Over the last five years did Pinks book inspire companies and individuals to see their situation anew and shift their behaviors modeling on what they learned in the book and others like it? I know I’ve read other books written around that time by Tom Friedman (The World is Flat and Hot, Flat and Crowded) and IDEO’s Tom Kelly’s “Ten Faces of Innovation" sharing similar factors and trends. Taken together they must have shaped businesses and thinking around innovation. I will be looking for examples of companies and thinkers who used these ideas and see what happened. Did they find success? Did they build great brands and innovative products?

With last year’s economic disasters I wonder now how valid is Pink’s premise is that we’re in the “Conceptual Age” and success lies in R-directed creative oriented thinking? The Conceptual Age as Pink described was based on a time of abundance and prosperity. That evaporated over the last year and a half. When it’s not so easy to do business is this kind of thinking essential or expendable? Times like now require rapid adaptation, invention and a flexibility and willingness to try new ideas and strategies. In short, it demands a desire and passion to innovate and motivate, to make moves outside of the box.

I’ll be looking for answers to these questions both near and far and hope to report back over the next few months about what I find. I’m looking for companies and entrepreneurial types who read Pink’s book and for better or worse worked with “A Whole New Mind’s ideas”? Contact me with your suggestions. As an architect and designer I hope they proved useful and I’d like to learn more about the realities of working with them.

Net Zero Low-Income Modular Homes in Colorado

I wanted to spread word of a model net-zero affordable housing project located in Lafayette, Colorado, a city located in Boulder Country about 40 miles from Denver and 10 miles from Boulder.

(image courtesy of BCHA)

The Paradigm Pilot Project, a single family home and a duplex showcase a mix of super-insulated building envelopes, smart site orientation and use renewable energy sources, combined with passive solar design strategies. The building design use a fairly straightforward modernistic vocabulary of 13 rectilinear boxes easy to manufacture in a factory setting. What's hopeful is this is an experiment of sorts to be studied and leveraged into a much larger 153 Unit housing project in the planning stages in Lafayette. It uses geothermal

The project was designed by HB&A Architects,and built by All-American Homes for the Boulder County Housing Authority. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory / Department of Energy were also partners on the project.

You can find out more about the project on the Green Building Advisor and later covered at Jetson Green. You can see helpful information about it at the Housing Authority's Website.

Here's a link to a powerpoint about the project from the BCHA site. The site also shows the construction process with highlights being the installation of the modular factory built units and solar system installation. One interesting note is the project used both evacuated tube type solar hot water and solar electric panels as part of the system. The jury's out here on the efficacy the evacuated tubes but it's interesting this technology was used on the project.

All in all, this project is an inspiration to those of us in cold-climate regions and of use to others close to home here in Vermont. Perhaps some of the lessons learned from this project can be used here on our affordable housing projects. I know Efficiency Vermont is doing it's best to partner with other non-profit and for profit developers and housing authority's to continually upgrade our housing stock, whether new construction or renovation. It's Multi-family Housing Design Checklist is a very thourogh guide helping with efficiency measures and low-energy usage. They also provide financial incentives and technical assistance to clients and project teams to extend the value of the check-list.

Perhaps with the far-away inspiration of the Colorado example and the close to home specifics of the Efficiency Vermont's checklist this will help move us forward!

"Workplace Matters"...a design and organizational process resource

I ran into Kevin Kelley from the GSA public building service at NEOCON East in Baltimore last fall.

He mentioned Workplace Matters, a GSA applied research design book published in 2006 as a great resource for those interested in the design of the high performance and sustainable workplace. Kevin was a principal author along with Kevin Kampschroer, Kevin M. Powell, Judith Heerwagen and Intern: Patricia Cheng. Though it's a few years old now it offers an in-depth overview and explanation of the GSA's design process along with a variety of case studies illuminating best practices in application in the field at GSA projects around the country.

The book explains why the workplace matters in Government (or private settings). It identifies on page 8, "The emphasis of workplace design should be on the people and the work they accomplish. The cost of people in a building is typically 10 to 12 times the cost of the building’s infrastructure." So often, in designing, conceiving and constructing workplaces, the focus is on first costs rather than long-term operational costs and the soft-costs of human capital. This is unfortunate as much can be done in the design and implementation of workspace positively affecting long-term organizational effectiveness, while serving the public good. This is the heart of the message of this book and it's case studies.

Some Key GSA processes which emerged from the book:

• Using a Balanced Scorecard in the design process: The system is a mission driven measurement and management tool developed by two Harvard professors. Specifically it analyzes key financial, business process, human capital, and customer outcomes and creates a “balanced” perspective on how well the organization is performing and helps guide improvements.
• Quantitative and Qualitative Discovery Toolkit. GSA’s WorkPlace program develops design concepts and proposed solutions by seeking to understand how organizations tick, their mission, goals anFeedback Loop. GSA’s WorkPlace program uses a modified version of Deming’s “Plan, Do, Check, Act” continuous feedback loop. The hallmarks of this process are clearly identifying connections between business/workplace goals (plan), designing solutions (do), measuring organizational outcomes (check), and improving upon the originally identified business/workplace goals (act). objectives, the make-up of the people, their clients etc. The GSA uses quantitative analysis of space use, turnover rates, absenteeism, and costs. The complement this by using qualitative tools such as a Web-based workplace satisfaction survey. They also conduct visioning sessions focused on seeking out organizational goals, behavioral norms and workplace expectations.
• Change Management: The GSA cast a wide net involving as many employees in the process with surveys, workshop and targeted focus groups. They gather information to influence thinking and build consensus about new ways of working and organizational behavior. This helps shift the organization from a entitlement to needs based space- allocation culture.
• Feedback Loop: Their program modified Peter Deming’s “Plan, Do, Check, Act” continuous feedback loop process which identifies links between business/workplace goals (plan), designing solutions (do), measuring organizational outcomes (check), and improving upon the originally identified business/workplace goals (act). (paraphrased from p.14)

Workplace Matters also tackles other issue such as dealing with "Generations at Work" where Millennials, Generation Y, Generation X and Baby Boomers all work together in the topsy turvy world of the blended workplace. Each generation has its own work /life expectations and proclivities in the workplace. It's part of the story and any considered design process. Steelcase provides an interesting white paper on this subject as well entitled Millenials at Work.

For those interested in specifics on their process check out the chapter/ section on "Deep Dives", the workshop driven, data collection, brainstorming process so important to involving key stakeholders and deriving key design constraints.

All in all the book provides a very helpful complement to other Workplace Design resources written about on prior blog posts. It's a great find and better yet it's freely available online!

Give me your feedback on how valuable or informative resources such as Workplace Matters are to you in your work developing the high performance workplace!

Thanks!

Getting to Zero: Aspiring to the Zero Energy Home

Going into the new year I'm naturally in a reflective mood. What can I do to impact the greater world as we head into the unknown promise and potential of a new year? Sharing ideas which matter is a place to start!

What if more Zero Energy Homes became more prevalent in the coming year? What's a Zero Energy Home you ask? It is a home which produces the same or more energy than it uses over the course of a year. The specific design and make up of the Zero Energy Home adapts to its regional and micro-climate, siting and the needs and budget of individual homeowners. There is no single solution but rather a common approach to design which starts with shifting behaviors and motivations of all those involved.

A Zero Energy Home is valuable for a number of reasons. It can be an extremely comfortable, healthy and pleasant place to live. It can be carbon-neutral and good for the environment. It also can deliver future energy cost predictability by committing to upfront investments in a super-insulated building envelope, high performance internal heating / cooling systems, renewable energy sources, energy star appliances, lighting and healthy interior materials/ furnishings. As we head into the new year we don't know what our energy costs will be going forward but know intuitively they will continue to escalate with fossil fuel scarcity and growing demand. (See IHS Data, DOE calculator). There will be no magic energy solution I believe. Just hard slogging...

Thus, Zero Energy Homes can form part of the solution going forward, reshaping how we think about our homes into long-term investments which steady-state our energy costs into the future. Their lighter footprint on the earth and in our communities can only be an asset to strengthening them.

How and where does one start?

Read as much as you can: Visit informative web-sites such as....

• Building Science Corporation and it's information on Low-Energy Buildings.
• The Dept. of Energy's Building America website and it's Building Technologies Program has superb and accessible Builder's Guides which are organized by regional climatic zones.
• National Home Builders Toolbase site and it's Seven Steps to a Zero Energy Home.
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory and it's insulation fact sheet. It's a little clunky but useful.

Hire and Organize a Great Integrated Design Team: Contact your local American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Homebuilder's Organizations and look for standout professionals who have experience designing and building low-energy use and/or zero energy homes. They can assist you in early stages of site selection, construction strategies and project delivery methods which best adapt to your needs, budget and schedule. Depending on your project's complexity and your goals your Architect may suggest hiring an Energy Consultant and other specialized sub-consultants/ team-mates to really look at your needs and help optimize building envelope, heating-cooling systems, lighting, building controls and interior design.

Be Prepared to Learn and Grow Over the Course of Your Project: It's a journey with lots of learning along the way and exposure to new ideas and concepts. With the right team, it will be an enjoyable and never dull experience!

Investing in the Future: Remember, you're doing something which will benefit generations to come by looking beyond the present!

Happy New Year!

What I want for the New Year: "The Green Workplace", Leigh Stringer's new book

Two Greenbuild's ago in Boston in November 2008, I saw Leigh Stringer, the Author of "The Green Workplace: Sustainable Strategies that benefit employees, The Environment, and the Bottom Line." who participated in a social media oriented seminar with other green luminaries of the blogosphere. I blogged about it in November of 2008. It was a fascinating session.

Last August her book named after the blog she originated and oversees became available. It's what I want going into the New Year. Apparently The Green Workplace Blog provides much of the material she and others cultivated there into a transformative book about the ins and outs of greening your workplace. Reading reviews of it on Amazon indicates usefulness to workplace sustainability managers, human resource personnel, designers of all kinds among others.

I'm going to sample some of the review words and phrases I saw there to tantalize.

------------

"alternative work options"

"replacing destructive behaviors"

"a good compilation of the issues facing corporations today"

"help(s) businesses improve their ecological footprints"

"(the book) informs, educates and inspires..."

"illuminating, accessible, and comprehensive"

What I'd like to know is how others who have read the book used it in their workplace design and sustainability efforts in the last couple of months? What effects do resources like this have on workplace culture and facilities management, design process, materials selections and operational effects, user satisfaction etc.? What kinds of changes has this inspired for others? Do people who bought the book use the blog and vice versa? At Maclay Architects we're always on the look out for inspiring ideas to help us with our work with our environmentally and socially conscious clients and partners.

Of course, I've got to go read the book and I'll let you know how it folds into our work and design process as well.

In the meantime, tell me how this book has affected you. Or, if you have other books or articles you suggest I take a look at and perhaps share with others, please let me know. I'm happy to take a look. 

Interested in learning more? 

You can find us at www.arocordisdesign.com, the website of our Montpelier, Vermont-based residential architecture firm practice Arocordis Design. If you want to contact us there, click on this link. 

#netzero #homedesign #arocordisdesign #vermont #vermontarchitect #architecture #climateaction

Apply Now for 2010 Top Small Company Workplaces

Winning Workplaces, a Chicago-based nonprofit that helps small businesses, is teaming up with Inc. Magazine to recognize "Top Small Company Workplaces." This yearly competition attracts the best of the best of small business entrepreneurs, especially those active in the socially responsible business sector.

Applications for 2010 are now being accepted at: https://tsw.winningworkplaces.org Winning organizations will be featured in the June 2010 issue of Inc. Magazine.

Winning Workplaces says a benefit of applying is the opportunity to think about your employee practices in a formal way, to help develop a people strategy that aligns with your business strategy.

Learn more about Top Small Company Workplaces 2010 by reading Winning Workplaces' FAQ at: http://www.winningworkplaces.org/topsmallbiz/2010/faq.php