Davis Kane Architects, P.A.’s Post

Quality input = quality output 👏👏👏

#AdaptiveReuse architect & gerontologist, Drew Roskos @PerkinsEastman, explains that considering population #aging needs is crucial for successful designs that include community spaces within the buildings #buildequity https://lnkd.in/gpjTq34b

Thank you to the Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design for hosting this interesting event last week. Sheetza McGarry, a former Hines NYC intern (one of the best) currently seeking her masters in architecture and a research assistant at the Healthy Materials Lab, invited me to speak alongside my great friend Charlotte Bell (she/her) with Habitat for Humanity New York City and Westchester County, Drew Vanderburg with RiseBoro Community Partnership and Brandon Pietras with Bernheimer Architecture about design techniques for affordable housing to create spaces people want to live, feel safe and feel healthy. My career has not been in affordable housing and I am certainly not an expert in affordable housing design, but I do have extensive experience having worked with Habitat for Humanity New York City and Westchester County through ASHRAE NYC Chapter along with deep experience in seniors housing design and how designing spaces purposely built for those that are going to use them with extremely thoughtful design can turn a project from ok into exceptional. The Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design has built quite a data base of different materials and techniques that is available for everyone to utilize. Sheetza McGarry and the co-founder of the Healthy Materials Lab Alison Mears have also started and built an impressive database of ACTUAL healthy, affordable projects all around the United States as part of the Building Healthy Homes initiative. They already have about 8000 units of housing in the data base and are looking for more! Check it out and see if adding your building would make sense.(https://lnkd.in/eqjPhpjt) I enjoyed hearing from and learning from the other speakers. Some takeaways 👉 Exceptional design does not have to be expensive or use the highest ends materials. It needs to be thoughtful to ensure the end user, regardless of wealth or class, is able to efficiently, effectively and comfortably use and live in their space. 💰 Keeping utility costs low for those that can least afford it is critical (especially for Habitat for Humanity New York City and Westchester County). A constant balance between construction costs and energy saving/zero carbon/healthy material design techniques and systems is key. 🚃 Many factors including supply chain disruption, manufacturing source, performance, aesthetics and cost can impact the materials chosen for a project. When selecting materials, find levers you can pull for the 'biggest bang for your buck' with cost, impact on the tenant (directly and indirectly), embodied carbon, durability and energy performance. A few home runs can make up for a lot of strikeouts. 🙍♂️ 🙍♀️ Stakeholder and community engagement is critical. Make sure what you're choosing to build and the materials utilized are something the potential or current tenants WANT rather than what you THINK they want

Imagine a city where houses hide behind tall walls, isolating residents from each other and the street's energy. This has been the reality for many urban areas. #Walls provide #security and #privacy, but they also disconnect communities. Thrilled to announce that my article, "Walls to Walkways: How Open Public Spaces Foster Connection," has been published in the proceedings of the IIA AP Chapter Apoorva: Architects Conference & Build Expo! In this article, I explore how open public spaces can bridge this gap. By designing walkways, plazas, and parks, we can create opportunities for interaction and a stronger sense of community. What are your thoughts on the role of architecture in fostering connection in our cities? #PublicSpaces #Architecture #CommunityBuilding #urbandesign #IIAAPChapter

Anthony Harris AIA, LEED AP, CDT, a senior architect at Quinn Evans, shares his insights on the transformative renovation of the Capital One Arena in a recent article by the Washington Business Journal. The piece highlights how local architects would reimagine the arena and its adjacent areas. In the article, Anthony emphasizes the area's significance as a focal point for civic and social infrastructure while also highlighting the opportunity for sustainability initiatives. "Sports teams, at their best, can be points of pride and connection, acting as civic institutions as that contribute to a city's identity. This can be especially vital to a city as diverse and transient as the District...[A] modernized Capital One Arena provides an opportunity for the building and the site to embrace its role as a civic asset – contributing not just to the commercial revitalization of the area but also to the civic and social infrastructure of a neighborhood. Capital One Arena could fundamentally reimagine the role of the sports arena by becoming a locus of social life and activity beyond game days or special events, providing a function for residents as well as fans and concert-goers." Learn more about our mission to discover design solutions that enrich lives and make a long-lasting, positive impact 🔗 www.quinnevans.com/mission Subscribed to the WBJ? Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/3TTh2Rr #QuinnEvans #Architecture #UrbanDesign #Sustainability #CommunityDevelopment #CivicInfrastructure #SportsArena #WashingtonDC #WashingtonBusinessJournal

Strengthening unity and social cohesion in a healing nation. transforming spaces, enriching lives. #16th #architecturedesign #propertyflipping #claimyourtimeback #architecture #earlyretirement #16thdec2023

2023 Year In Review As the global social and environmental landscape continues to change, so too has our approach to designing the built space. In continuing to create architecture that enriches and elevates the human condition, we have been focused on shaping spaces to be even more accessible, equitable, and inclusive to better meet the needs of the communities we are designing for – from extensive Indigenous consultation at the Atlantic Science Enterprise Centre to engaging young Black architects in the renewal and expansion of Black Artists’ Network in Dialogue’s (BAND) Toronto gallery and cultural centre. Environmental considerations on our projects continue to be a priority. Even the most challenging of typologies that have specific temperature, humidity and storage requirements, can be ambitiously envisioned as sustainable buildings. The Art Gallery of Ontario’s Dani Reiss Modern and Contemporary Gallery is being designed to net-zero carbon operating standards; and the new Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health is being clad in Building Integrated Photovoltaics that will not only positively influence its appearance, but contribute a significant amount of renewable energy towards the building’s operation. As architects and planners, our role in guiding and facilitating a future vision for urban living involves designing mixed-use developments and social infrastructure that responds to the contemporary needs of our growing communities, like the transit-focused Pickering City Centre. The masterplan development takes advantage of existing commercial, retail, and institutional sites, integrating them with residential living, abundant verdant spaces and active pedestrian walkways to create a thriving new urban centre. As we say farewell to 2023, we reflect back on some of Diamond Schmitt’s highlights from the past year, and look ahead to what is in-store for 2024.   #DiamondSchmitt #designtotranscend https://lnkd.in/eneMwyX4

#Natureinthecity was the topic of an excellent panel discussion hosted by Tate + Co Architects last night. It's a topic that on the surface seems like a no brainer, but in reality is far more difficult to achieve with the current metrics of cost/ return being applied. Here is what i took away: 🌲 The amount of land covered by cities will double in the next 30 years - rich, natural urban environments must become the norm - we need to start retrofitting nature into existing urban environments now. 🌳 We don't have time to wait for government legislation to mandate nature as part of development. Responsible development MUST put a greater value on nature and the returns it delivers for people and profits. 👨👩👧👧 Working with existing communities to understand how they CURRENTLY use space sets the baseline of what can be done. It's essential to welcome local people into the process to ensure we are providing spaces that everyone feels a sense of connection to and agency and ownership over. 🌿 Nature is massively undervalued - we need to find new ways to capture and measure the value of including nature in any new/ retrofit development. 🥝 We can save hundreds of millions of pounds in healthcare costs by investing in spaces where people can take time out and be connected to nature - £390 million in 2022 alone, to be precise!! Thank you Jerry Tate for being a great host, and to the panel for your insight: Symon Bacon from British Land, Katharina Erne from HTA Design LLP, Dan James from the Eden Project, Katie Mills from Forest & Family and Sarah Parsons from the London Borough of Waltham Forest. 👏 #natureinthecity #urbanism #development #ethicaldevelopment

"A WELL-DESIGNED SPACE IS WHERE THE RIGHT THINGS HAPPEN.” - Sally Augustin Our proposal has gone through many different scenarios but by retaining a focus on community and culture we wanted our proposal to encapsulate and create this unique network of hubs around the City of London. By using the existing buildings and grid of the city we designed our proposal to optimism all the activities and users the City could encounter. By not only creating this network of canopies that the community could activate but also these organism-like structures that would embed themselves into and onto the structures above. Allowing them to be activated by the needs of the producers. Whether that be production facilities, greenhouses or housing, the structures could accommodate. Together, these structures create a subversive community that disrupts and breaks away from the established formalities of the City of London and from Capitalism as a whole. _ Academic Project, University of Westminster _ Space + Identity (Design Project) _ January 2024 #architecture #architectstudent #maarchitecture #archlover #archdaily #architectjobs

The question raised in the attached article are of primary importance to how we as architects practice our craft. Do we want a civil society that respects the community or just focuses on the individual. Do we want to live in cities with projects like Rockefeller Center or Hudson Yards?