All over the country, the cost of housing is soaring, while the availability is dropping. Boise is far from the exception here, more like leading the race for housing shortages. Converting 88 fairly unused hotel rooms in a rundown Howard Johnsons into brand new efficiency studio apartments is the next wave of housing. Soon to be The Prospect, we’ll be improving the property, adding in more trees and landscaping, BBQ areas, bocce ball, cornhole. And on the inside, doing a full gut and remodel. Rearranging things a bit to get a small sink in the bathroom so that the vanity can become a kitchenette, With the adaptive reuse of this structure, the cost savings over building from scratch are enormous. Not to mention the savings on raw materials and diversion of potential landfill. Focusing also on resident health, safety and welfare, providing new high efficiency, high rating air conditioning units, seals on doors and windows along with greater sound attenuation, long-term retention of residents being the focus. Installing products and materials that don’t have harmful off-gassing, no formaldehyde, low VOC’s, new Low-E glazing.
Read MoreThe Cost of an Architect /
What I've noticed these potential clients are most interested in is: Can it be done and for how much? In fact, my Google Analytics point to as much.
These are both questions I am more than happy to discuss & propose on and often times I do, at my expense, for hours per client.
Read MoreLo and Behold! A Hidden Message in Erik Hagen's Architecture! /
Do you know where the internet was started? Or when the first internet connection was made?
Well, neither did I until I started doing research for a new Student Creativity Center in a palm court breezeway underneath the Henry Samueli School of Engineering & Applied Sciences Boelter Hall in 2011. And what I found out inspired me to sneak a hidden message into the project.
When the campus architect at the time, Jeffrey Averill FAIA rejected my idea for an undulating facade with a strange mixture of punched openings, I pushed the idea to the bottom of a drawer and almost forgot about it. But I held on to if for some reason. And when the opportunity came last minute to try and tie in new floor tile within a decades old existing pattern (hint, it can’t be done, they’ll never match!), I dug down and pulled out my idea and was able to implement it into the floor tile pattern. And then I got busy on the next project and promptly forgot about it. Until several years later, the phone rang and there was a reporter from the UCLA Newsroom.
http://magazine.ucla.edu/exclusives/boelters-buried-secret/
https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/a-coded-message-hidden-in-floor-247232
Video of the discovery by a curious computer science major: https://youtu.be/fiVOr-SqeN8
Pandemic at the Office! /
How is COVID changing the practice of business.
Toxic black mold, something that we have been trying to address in our buildings for years. Trying to accommodate an aerosolized virus is not unlike trying to accommodate toxic mold. A lot of the same measures, air control, containment, etc. come into play.
In a reversal of environmental concerns, we’re seeing reusables being denied and single-serving utensils, flatware and disposal items are now sadly overflowing our garbage cans and gutters. This as an opportunity for that sector to fully embrace biodegradables. And maybe, once and for all, the US and Idaho in particular will learn how to recycle ALL the recyclables.
This is all leading to a downsizing of office space or readjusting offices into a more of a shared, traveling desk scenarios allowing for more hiring and expansion without expanding office space.
Read More