| Volume 11, No. 4 - May 3, 2017 |
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 Woodside Residence, by David Jameson Architect, Inc. (more info) |
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This issue of BLAST is sponsored by Bobrick / Architectural Resources |
| 2017 Design Awards Update |
The submissions are in and the celebration is set for Thursday, June 15 at the recently completed Alexandria Renew Enterprises Environmental Center, designed by Rust | Orling Architecture. We are pleased to announce that our jury, from the Denver area, has been selected. There will be two separate juries again this year, each with their own categories to review. Jury I - Residential Architecture, Historic Architecture and the Herlong Memorial Award
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| ArchEx Call for Presentations Proposals due May 21, 2017 Celebrating its 30th year, Architecture Exchange East will be held November 1-3, 2017 in Richmond. AIA Virginia is looking for exciting and engaging topics and speakers to make this historic ArchEx, a truly special one. Their goal is to bring together the brightest minds and most engaging speakers to present talks that are future-focused on a wide range of subjects and to provoke important conversations among design professionals. Presentations can range from a one-hour session to a full-day workshop. Creative approaches to content delivery, including panel discussions, tours and guided collaborative conversations, are encouraged. Details are available here. Canstruction 2017 at Reagan Washington National Airport on October 27  Help feed your neighbors in need. During the last 13 years we have donated tens of thousands of cans to the Arlington Food Assistance Center. AFAC is counting on us and we are counting on you to help. Please consider forming a team this year, within your firm or partnering with others. Team registration will open soon.HGA Architects and Engineers - Best Design & People's Choice The Heart of America is Feeding our Families Photograph © John A. Burns, FAIA |
| Revised AIA Contract Documents Released at AIA Conference on Architecture |
| To keep up with industry trends and important court decisions, every 10 years AIA Contract Documents are reviewed and updated. This year, the new revised core set of AIA contracts and forms were released at AIA Conference on Architecture 2017 (A'17). You can sign up for free samples of the 2017 owner/architect agreements, including the new Sustainable Project Exhibit. Learn more about the new documents here. Find out how the 2017 contract revisions may impact your practice by registering for a free webinar on May 11 from 2:00-3:00p. |
| Where We Stand: Climate Change |
 The AIA recently issued a press release outlining eight principles governing how architects can mitigate climate change and urged the government to protect policies designed to conserve energy and reduce carbon in the built environment.In the document, AIA President Thomas Vonier, FAIA, states "Architecture and design can mitigate climate impact while simultaneously reducing operating costs for building owners. We need the federal government to keep and even expand incentives that are already producing major advances in energy efficient design and cutting the carbon footprint of buildings." Read the full press release and the AIA's Climate Change Policy Statement. Architecture Billings Index Gains in March  Architecture firm billings bumped back up in March, with the national ABI score standing at 54.3 in March. For the first quarter of the year, the ABI averaged 51.5, down a bit from the fourth quarter 2016 average of 52.4 but above the 2016 annual average of 51.2. That suggests that design activity is off to a solid start for the year, pointing to healthy levels of construction activity later this year and into 2018. Project inquiries and new design contracts also remained strong in the March survey, suggesting that design activity will continue to grow.The monthly Architecture Billings Index (ABI) is a leading economic indicator for nonresidential construction activity. Learn more here. |
| Awards and Opportunities Due May 8 – Washingtonian Award Submission Deadline Due May 11 – Re-defining Home: Home Today, Home Tomorrow Competition Due May 21 – Architecture Exchange East Call for Presentations Due June 19 – Jason Pettigrew Memorial ARE Scholarship Due June 30 – Religious Art and Architecture Design Awards Due August 13 – 2017 I Look Up Film Challenge Join the AIA's Home Design Trends Survey Panel surveymonkey.com/r/HDTSjoin |
Design News
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| Job Board As a benefit to our members, we maintain a Job Board of local postings. Pay us a visit for new postings from: Karl Riedel Architecture, Project 308 Design, Maginniss + del Ninno Architects, Moser Architects, MTFA Architecture, Hughes Group Architects, Bowie Gridley Architects, Jacobs, Helbing Lipp Recny Architects, Kerns Group Architects, RRMM Lukmire Architects and BDA Architects, Inc. |
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Woodside Residence |
Situated a half-mile from the San Andreas Fault and enveloped in a stand of live oak trees, the project is conceived to amplify the natural and experiential forces at work on the site and beyond. Built to withstand extreme seismic events, the project explores juxtapositions of the heavy and light, public and private, and the refined and raw, while revealing the hand of the artisan and the forces of nature. Organized as a portal that frames views to San Francisco Bay, Stanford University, and the Santa Cruz Mountains, a concrete armature wraps and cradles wooden cartridges inserted within. Spatial fissures between the rough concrete structure and refined wood volumes allude to the tension between the earth's surface and tectonic plates shifting beneath. The project's design pedagogy is further coupled to the sustainability practices employed. The concrete structure not only protects the home from wildfires and provides solar shading to living areas, but acts as a thermal mass heating system. Fresh air marine layers from San Francisco Bay are utilized to cool the home via motorized windows and foundation louvers as well as whole house fan systems that create thermal chimneys through the spatial fissures. Warm air is exhausted at the stair tower and hot yoga room located at the buildings apex. Localized air conditioning is only provided at the private bedroom cartridges and rarely utilized. A 20KW solar array feeds recycled electric car batteries that power the house. LED lighting fixtures and variable speed Energy Star equipment is utilized throughout to minimize power loads.  Photography © Bruce Damonte Photography |
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MAY CALENDAR 5 | Small Firms Roundtable - Sustainable Siding Options 11:00a, Alexandria. [info] 8 | AIA Northern Virginia Board Meeting 4:30p, Washington, DC. [info] 12 | Architecture in the Schools Exhibit 6:00p, Alexandria. [info] 16 | Fellowship Information Session 12:00p, Alexandria. [info] 16 | Integrating Workplace 'Wellness' within Transit Agencies 6:00p, Alexandria. [info] 17 | Fair Housing Accessibility FIRST Design & Construction Training 8:00a, Annandale. [info] 18 | WIA & YAF Happy Hour 6:30p, Washington, DC. [info] 22 | CRAN: High R-Value Wall Assemblies 12:00p, Washington, DC. [info] 23 | Golf Committee Meeting 12:30p, Alexandria. [info] 25 | Small Firms Roundtable - Light Frame Construction & Energy Efficient Building Envelope 11:00a, Alexandria. [info] 25 | Design Awards Committee Meeting 12:00p, Alexandria. [info] Upcoming Dates to Note: June 15 - Design Awards Celebration June 25 - Golf Tournament AIA Northern Virginia Calendar | AIA|DC Calendar | AIA Potomac Valley Calendar | AIA Virginia Calendar | Branch Museum Calendar For additional information on any of these events, please contact the Chapter House at (703) 549-9747 or aianova@aianova.org. The Chapter House is located at 1101 Duke Street, Alexandria 22314. |