Silvan Architects’ Post

Our quarterly newsletter is out now! 👏 Known as ‘TCFC Talk,’ our newsletter is a way we can keep our employees, customers & suppliers up to date with everything TCFC! This quarter covers the following: ·      Charity & sponsorship 🫴 ✨ ·      Director in Focus: Kane Tunaley 🔎 ·      The importance of company values 💭 ·      Office refurbishment case study 🏢 To read more, please visit our website: https://lnkd.in/ergiKMQZ #TeamTCFC #TCFCTalk #companynewsletter #Q3newsletter #Q3 #businessupdates

I received quite a few questions about my upcoming trip to El Salvador and wanted to share the answers. Are you actually going to build the house…no offense, but you’re not the handiest guy around. -Haha, no offense taken and yes, I will be helping build it! They have quite the efficient way of putting the homes together, and Shelter has a team of people that help us with building the homes and the language barrier. They say I cannot screw it up :) How much does it cost to build a house? -Each home costs $3,800 to build. Why are you raising $4,500 if a house costs $3,800? -We are aiming to raise enough to build 40 homes between the 34 of us that are going to El Salvador between our two teams. $4,500 would be my share of the 40 homes. Thanks to generous donors this week, I now have raised $1,950 so far, so I am hoping to find 26 people to donate $100 to help me reach my goal. Does any of this money cover your expenses? -No, all of the money raised goes direct to building homes for the families. I have covered all of my own expenses including flight, accommodations, food etc. How long does it take to build a house? -We will be building one house in the morning, and another in the afternoon. The organization we work with, Shelter Canada has been at this since 2002 and has found the most efficient and cost effective way to build the homes. What do the houses look like? -Check out a time-lapse video of one of the houses going up. We will have a scale model version of the house set up at Trinity soon if you want to come see it. https://lnkd.in/gH9DiHXx Where exactly are you going in El Salvador? -We are going to Berlin, yes, it’s named after the German city. It’s up in the mountains and sounds like it has a lot of coffee farms. It’s their first time working in this part of El Salvador; apparently they do not have any running water or power. Somebody really donated up to $20,000 in matching funds? -Yes, we are very grateful a private donor has stepped up and will match the next $20,000 we raise. So right now, your donations have double the impact! How can I donate and do I get a tax receipt? -Any donation over $50 gets an instant tax receipt. The Shelter Canada site can be a little tricky, so please follow the steps below to make sure your donation goes to our team. 1) Click the Trinity team fundraising link (https://lnkd.in/gd45EgAE) 2) Do not click on the red “donate” button in the top right, that goes to their general donations. 3) Instead, scroll down to the “Trinity Church Kelowna 2024” donation section. 4) Enter your donation details. 5) In the bottom “Designation” box, please put my last name and indicate it’s for house build costs “Ungaro – House Cost”.

As we tackle the needs of housing it is the perfect time to include building and remodeling with a Universal Design centered approach.

I'm currently reading the 2006 book, "The Architecture of Happiness" by Alain de Botton. I highly recommend it. It's a personal look at how design/architecture connects us to our emotions -- namely happiness and misery. It's particularly poignant in light of the fires in and around Los Angeles and the devastation so many have experienced. Many of the recent news reels I've watched on social media are about one's connection to the house, the home, they lost. Their home was everything to them -- memories made there, the life lived there, the photos, mementos, the windows, doors, floors, and more. Many recounted how they had renovated and remodeled the house, preserved a historic house, and, with profound grief, acknowledged that their work, real intense creative work, was reduced to rubble in a matter of hours. It reminds me of some of the passages in Botton's book. One of the sentiments from the book that sticks with me is the act of noticing how sunlight hits the walls or floors of a house's interior and the beauty that light brings to the surface -- the color of the wood, the hue of a tiled floor. This is not to say, however, that everyone loves where they live or live there because they think it's beautiful. It's not necessary to honor the play of sunlight or value interior colors or be in awe of exterior landscapes. Homes are more than their designs. They are places of shelter and refuge, examples of hard work, a necessity. Yet all those who have suffered loss from these fires were familiar with their neighborhoods, the trees that lined the streets, the vegetation at the intersections, the local retailers they frequented, the crosswalks -- everything they saw and did daily that is now gone. Community has been lost. They were drawn to the neighborhood they lived in or the neighborhood became, over time, as familiar as a friend. There are many in need of help in southern California. Here is a link to verified fundraisers assisting those impacted by the fires or by fighting the fires: https://lnkd.in/evTKDNPU

Another great example of how vertical deflection can be used on arterials! Bainbridge Island has joined the ranks of Cincinnati, Honolulu, Philly, and others, who are all piloting using raised crossings, speed tables, and speed cushions with great success in slowing speeds and reducing crashes on arterial streets! https://lnkd.in/gyXqXyED

What a strange world we live in! Apparently, fifteen different Chinese individuals woke up this morning and decided to form a company. But not just any old company. Oh no. They each wanted a company that fulfilled the following requirements: Manufacture of soft furnishings Manufacture of veneer sheets and wood-based panels Manufacture of other products of wood; manufacture of articles of cork, straw and plaiting materials Manufacture of other furniture So they chose the four relevant SIC codes, accordingly. But not just that. They all decided to use virtually the same company name, so they are all called xxxxxxx Wood Industry Limited. But not just that, they all decided to register them to exactly the same address. EDIT: As at 10:30 on 8 January, the number has risen to 28! As in:

Like many of us who run small businesses, design colleagues Nancy Keatinge and Stanley Felderman have successfully led an exceptional practice in California, and as designers and artists, prioritized their life experience and home life as an integral part of their careers. Like most of us operating small practices, we sometimes find ourselves using our own savings to support our payroll and business at those times when work is lean versus business loans or sitting on huge reserves like large commercial practices. In the normal cycles of business feast and famine, we have to rely on ourselves and our own investment to keep things going. Unfortunately, like thousands of others in Los Angeles, Nancy and Stanley have found themselves without a home and studio due to the fires in Pacific Palisades taking everything from them within a few hours. As two individuals who both have given more to their local community AND the interior design profession, I am posting this to request that our design community now come together, and help them. Here is the link, organized by their daughter Sara, as of course, and like me, they would never ask for help, and yet, find themselves in this tragic situation. Come on industry, it's time to step up...Let's do this! I understand there are many in need, but I also know there are many with means in our industry who can do so, and I am not ashamed to ask. Now it the time: IIDA Illinois Chapter International Interior Design Association American Society of Interior Designers - ASID ASID Illinois Chapter The American Institute of Architects (AIA) AIA Chicago AIA Los Angeles Gensler HOK HDR SBID® - Society of British & International Interior Design Interior Design Magazine Metropolis Architectural Record The Architectural Review Perkins&Will Cheryl Durst, Hon. FIIDA Dr. Vanessa Brady OBE IIDA Southern California Chapter Joel Berman Joyce Romanoff Michael Gutwaks Karen Herold Herman Miller Steelcase MillerKnoll Davis Furniture Haworth KI FURNITURE Momentum Carnegie Interface Gunlocke Okamura Christopher Stulpin Reva Revis Rob Kirkbride

#ChangingPlaces are possible at heritage sites, listed buildings and #conservation areas. Here’s a great example from Grimm & Co — an #adaptation within a Grade II #listed building: https://lnkd.in/dyhFicaD

when you are dealing with homes with foundation problems just remember that there are more things you need to deal with after the foundation repairs. Please give me your comments on this #foundation #structuralengineering #homerepairs #homebuyingtips #homesellingtips #homeownertips #coloradorealestate #davidnovak #davidnovakhomes #davidnovakrealtor #davidnovakremax

Skip the renovation regrets! Get a home inspection to avoid post-move-in blues and unexpected repairs. It's like a crystal ball for your new house – invest in peace of mind! #homeinspection #homeinspectionservice #homeinspector #foundation #roofinspection #peaceofmind