New AIA resource provides guidance for firm resiliency. In an effort to assist architecture firms with navigating adverse business conditions, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) is releasing a new resource: Architect’s Guide to Business Continuity. “Firms across the country are facing pressures from all sides—from transitioning offices to teleworking models, to work stoppages, to repositioning…
Architecture firms are undoubtedly facing many challenges and decisions as they deal with the impact of COVID-19. Most architecture firms are working remotely, either by their own choice or at the direction of local authorities. However, many construction projects are continuing. Architects and their firms that need to provide contract administration services or other contractual…
At some point in their careers, most design professionals have either heard of claims on projects with which they’ve been involved or have been directly or indirectly involved with a claim. Disputes with the owner during a project are not uncommon. When those disputes may potentially result in a claim, architects are often well-served to…
The AIA 2030 Commitment provides a considerable challenge for any firm willing to sign on. This is especially true for larger firms, which must find ways to reduce predicted energy use across a wide spectrum of clients, building types and climate zones. LPA was an early supporter of the 2030 Commitment, but energy efficient design…
In January 2020, Jonathan Moody, AIA, officially became CEO of Moody Nolan. They were big shoes to fill. His father, Curtis Moody, FAIA, was awarded the Whitney M. Young Jr. award in 1992 and AIA Ohio’s highest honor, the Gold Medal, in 2007 — among other honors. Today, Moody Nolan is the largest African American-owned…
What can architects do to prepare for financially turbulent times? The last several years have seen a major boom in the architecture business, but now a period of slower growth indicated by the Architecture Billings Index is pointing toward an impending downturn. In preparation, three firm leaders—Tim Dufault, FAIA, president and CEO at Cuningham Group; Carole Wedge, FAIA,…
The rapid development and increasing population of Austin have created a polarity within the city. While some are eager to accept changes to the urban fabric, many are hesitant about what growth may bring: traffic, overcrowding, perhaps gross and thoughtless real estate development? Regardless, the city is expanding at an unprecedented rate and expected to…
The American Institute of Architects has announced that it will issue 13 new and updated documents for its Construction Manager as Constructor (CMc) and Construction Manager as Adviser (CMa) series. The updated CMc documents will be available Nov. 15, while the CMa series will be released in February 2020. Changes to the CMc documents, used…
An architect and engineer present a case study and give advice on how to be sustainable and cost-effective at the same time. The term “net-zero” often brings to mind big budgets and expensive building systems, but this conception couldn’t be further from the truth. As architects and engineers, we have everything we need to design…
Real estate development in Houston throughout its history has been mostly unremarkable, the minimum product of pro formas and adherence to the city’s slipshod patchwork of building, site plan, traffic, and parking ordinances. The only notable interruption in the pattern of averages was during the go-go years of the 1970s and 1980s when, according to…
Ed Mazria, FAIA, is an architect who has been called “game changer” since the early 2000s. That’s when he saw, in energy data, just how much buildings were contributing to emissions. He recognized then the leadership opportunity for the architectural profession. Mazria is still crunching numbers and pushing the industry toward greater, faster impact. Today,…
Old East Dallas is a mix of historic homes, mid-century and newly built multifamily buildings, and empty lots. A great deal of empty lots. For now, the lots at the corner of Burlew and Scurry streets are relatively empty as well. In some places, they’re even prairie-like. But development signs stipple the landscape, some of…
Houston Endowment (HE), a leading Houston philanthropic organization, and design competition organizers Malcolm Reading Consultants, recently launched the global search for an outstanding design team of architects and landscape architects for HE’s new headquarters. The center, circa 40,000 s.f., will be HE’s new public face and will provide dedicated space for the organization’s team and community…
For nearly the past 100 years, Houston has been proud to be a world leader in the oil and gas industry. However, despite the recent fracking boom, there seems to be a growing sense among its entrepreneurial and political elite that this economic model is going to fail at some point, or at the very…
The first full mass timber structure in the nation to use southern yellow pine cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels is set for completion in September 2019. Designed by Gensler’s Dallas office, the First United Bank in Fredericksburg has the distinction of being the first full mass timber construction project to be completed in Texas as well…
Following an April 16 hearing, House Bill 4342 was approved by the House Public Education Committee the next day. HB 4342 now advances with the committee’s full support. HB 4342 would add a licensed architect to the Texas School Safety Center (TxSSC) Board of Directors. TxSSC is the official, university-supported research center at Texas State whose mission is to…
Equity. Diversity. Inclusion. I heard these powerful, complicated words reduced to the acronym “EDI” for the first time last week at a meeting — and while this signal of ubiquitous discussion encourages me, I felt the abbreviation packages them up a little too neatly. What does it mean for an organization to value diversity? How…
As data privacy concerns make headlines, architects should consider how much they share when specifying products Building products have always made up a significant portion of construction project budgets, and the specification of those materials takes up a large amount of architects’ time. But while product selection was once generic and took place in a…
About AUTOARCH AUTOARCH Architects, LLC is a comprehensive, woman-owned and Houston-based architectural and planning firm with more than 28 years of experience. In close to three decades, they have successfully focused on designing buildings for education and institutional clients, with projects in K-12, higher education, career and technology. Through their emphasis in their approach on…
To design for optimal energy efficiency, architects must embrace early collaboration with engineers and energy modelers. As architects, we can design our buildings in a way that celebrates sustainability and energy efficiency and best leverages the skills of mechanical engineers and energy modelers. We can find opportunity for strong aesthetics and sensitivity to users while also celebrating…
