Archive for the ‘architecture’ Category

March 06, 2012

Rainwater Harvesting at the Castaway House

by: Cavin Costello

Tweet Today’s post is by Cavin Costello, the designer of the Castaway House: The Castaway house is nearing completion and the central focus of the design, the landscape, is currently being installed. Jeremy Stapleton of Synergy Design Lab worked in collaboration with us from the very beginning to create a design that focused on desert indoor/outdoor living. The result was a beautiful and functional landscape design, which Jeremy describes as an “Edible, Medicinal, Sensory & Wildlife Garden.” This garden expands the interior of the house into nature and its neighborhood; all while being water efficient. There are numerous active and…

February 09, 2012

ASU Design School Explores how Designers can Solve Social Problems

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet One of the most onerous but beneficial parts of architecture school is presenting your work to a panel of guests, faculty and the rest of your classmates. I remember these reviews being the source of great anxiety before hand and sometimes angst and sometimes joy afterwards. Having to put yourself out there was an emotionally harrowing experience, but one that taught us how to learn from criticism and input for the rest of our careers. Last week Friday I was a guest reviewer at ASU for a fourth year architecture class, taught by one of my former teachers, Scott…

December 21, 2011

My First Semester in Architecture School…

by: Jennifer Gunther

Tweet Today’s post is a glimpse into the world of a first year architecture student by contributing writer Jennifer Gunther. Jennifer Gunther is a design management sophomore at Arizona State University. She has written for NAU’s The Lumberjack and ASU’s own State Press, as well as for Modern Phoenix. Though she may prefer writing to drawing, architecture school will probably always loom over her future. If I could describe my first semester of architecture school in one word, I would use the adjective that was on everyone’s lips in the studio: intense. The unique lessons of craftsmanship and spatial relationship…

December 12, 2011

Will Bruder Wins Residential Architect Magazine’s Hall of Fame Award

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet Last week on Thursday Will Bruder won top honors at the 2011 Residential Architect Leadership Awards Luncheon held at the Biltmore Resort & Spa as part of the Reinvention Conference sponsored by Hanley Wood. There were three awards for residential architecture given out at the luncheon, one for Rising Star, which was given to a firm out of New Haven, Connecticut called Gray Organschi, one for Top Firm, awarded to Marlon Blackwell and Meryati Johari Blackwell from Fayetteville, Arkansas, and the most prestigious, the Hall of Fame award given to our very own Phoenix-based Will Bruder + Partners. The…

November 23, 2011

The Guts of the Castaway House

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet I love it when the guts of a building are hanging out for all to see because it gives you an appreciation of all the systems that are in place to meet our HVAC, electrical and plumbing needs and not to mention all the work it takes to build a structure that is sound, water-proof, and air-tight where you want it to be. The Castaway House is at a stage where you can see all its guts hanging out, which presents an awesome opportunity to share what a house’s electrical and plumbing systems look like, as well as what…

November 02, 2011

Energy Efficiency at the Core of Castaway House

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet It’s always exciting for an architect to see her plans coming to life, to see the lines she drew transformed into actual walls, trusses and floor slabs. And so you can imagine how excited I was to visit the Castaway House this morning and see it taking shape! I’m sure Cavin Costello, the project’s designer, feels much the same way and it’s exciting to be partnering with RC Green Builders in making the Castaway House into a reality. The 1000 square foot addition to the house is erected and all framed in, giving us an idea of what the…

October 31, 2011

Bring Back the Ho

by: Will Novak

Tweet Today’s post is by contributing writer Will Novak: There have been recent rumblings on Facebook that Ben Bethel, the man behind Midtown’s Clarendon Hotel, may be acquiring the old Valley National Bank building and finishing its conversion to the Hotel Monroe. That would undoubtedly be great news for Downtown, as a hip boutique hotel would be a welcome addition to Downtowns amenity portfolio. The last few years have seen a fair amount of activity in the Downtown hotel market; new hotels like the Sheraton and Westin have been built, others like the Wyndham and Lexington are set to rebrand,…

October 18, 2011

Win 2 Tickets to the 2011 Grand Avenue ReDapt Tours!

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet I am a big fan of Grand Avenue, it’s biggest proponent – Beatrice Moore, and all the artists and small businesses that choose to be on this great, mysterious, sometimes sketchy, yet always fascinating and fun diagonal avenue of Phoenix. What gives Grand Avenue it’s edge is that it’s hub for talented artists, architects, crafts people, and a number of other unique and funky small businesses AND it’s a hub for homeless people, up to no good teenagers and other people with questionable intentions. So, it’s a mix. But don’t be scared off by the dark side of Grand,…

October 11, 2011

Castaway House Begins Construction

by: Taz Loomans

Tweet I am happy to announce that the Castaway House, a project that I’m working on with The Ranch Mine, Jeremy Stapleton and RC Green Builders, began construction last week! I am also proud to say that it is the very first project to get permitted through the Phoenix Green Construction Code which is a voluntary program recently adopted by the City of Phoenix that aims to take a holistic approach to rating sustainable projects. I’ll be posting updates on the construction to keep you posted on the progress. Here’s what’s happening on site right now: Demo: All the existing…

September 28, 2011

An Essay by Will Bruder: What Can We Aim For?

by: Will Bruder

Tweet This week I am posting Will Bruder’s excellent essay for the 98th Arizona Town Hall meeting, “Capitalizing on Arizona’s Arts and Culture”. I’ve posted the essay in 3 parts. In today’s post, which is the third and final part, Will gives us a 6-point plan on how to move forward in Arizona in ways that we can tap into our unique local resources and plug into the sustainability progress happening globally. Make sure to read Part I and Part II of this essay if you haven’t yet. If you’d like to read Will’s entire essay in one sitting, you…