Tag: architectural design specialist (5)

Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd | Preserving Character

LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD | PRESERVING CHARACTER The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Minneapolis had begun to turn the page into a new chapter, which called for an adaptation to their sacred space to meet contemporary needs. Originally built over 65 years ago, the renovation aimed to uphold the historic integrity and respectfully adapting the Vic Gilbertson, FAIA mid-century modern church to meet current programmatic needs. The Kodet Team understood the importance of this historic restoration and through carefully studying sketches and the building’s artwork we were able to develop a better understanding for the back-story and connection to the details. Integral to the renovation was the idea of strengthening the bond between the church and the congregation, which reflects the celebration of their faith and community. The ever-present theme was preservation + improving functionality to serve current and future generations. ARCHITECTURAL SOLUTION The renovation and restoration looked how to make the best use of the buildings great art and architecture. A key element was to connect the existing sanctuary to the existing courtyard originally separated by brick wall with stained glass windows. By removing the south wall of the nave, we were able to expand the space by creating large custom wood sliding doors. These grand doors open the worship space to the new catwalk, which features a balcony overlooking the updated exterior courtyard. The worship expansion and inclusion of these custom doors incorporated the relocated original stained glass and allows a full view over the courtyard and introduces natural light into the sanctuary. Most importantly, we were able to creatively save and utilize the existing stained glass panels. By using materials original to the building and combining this with the glass, the changes transformed the church from an introverted interior focused space to a […]

Drones in Architecture

ELK RIVER WATER TOWER Problem: How do you field measure a water tower in the middle of a Minnesota winter? A.     Risk your life to climb an icy freezing slippery ladder and use a tape measure and laser pointer to get an approximation of size. B.    Fly a drone and take pictures and use these images to create a point cloud and Revit family with exact dimensions. Answer:   B: Fly a drone.   Working with the City of Elk River and CAD Technology Center (CTC), an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV aka Drone) was flown the morning of February 8, 2018.  The drone set-up and flight only took a few hours and the flight created a photo scan of the water tower by taking hundreds of digital photos.  CTC processes the data and created a point cloud file in Revit.  From this file, a Revit family component was created that is a full sized three-dimensional digital representation of the water tower After Kodet received the Revit model, some detail had to be added to the model, but the basic dimensions, size, shape, and heights were a part of the model created from the photo scan. Kodet used this model to create drawings for contractors to estimate renovation costs to repaint the historical water tower. Countless hours were saved in field time and modeling time. In the end, a much more accurate set of drawings were created because of the use of the drone. The documentation process to get contractors to be able to bid the project became very simple and cost effective. The client was also pleased with the results and accuracy of the drawings that were created by the UAV Scan. Our office looks forward to using this highly advanced technology, which is constantly changing on future projects. Flying […]

Kodet Construction Observation Twin Cities Academy

Adapting To AXP

July brought more than fireworks and BBQ’s this summer for those on the path towards becoming an architect. A complete overhaul of the experience requirements to become an architect was put into motion, which has the potential to be a game changer for how those in the program gain and record experience. Formerly known as the Intern Development Program the new Architectural Experience Program (AXP) will require architecture firms to adapt in order to keep young talent advancing towards becoming licensed architects. In 2012 , NCARB conducted a national survey to review the old program and realized changes were needed in order to strive for better independent performance of required tasks at the completion of the program. The new AXP allows licensure candidates the opportunity to be more flexible with the number of hours needed for a particular task. This allows for greater time spent on a challenging task and less on ones candidates find easier, which is a major change from the static hours required in the old highly prescriptive system. Below are some of the biggest changes within AXP: 17 specific IDP experience areas are now 6 broad AXP experience areas These 6 areas align with the ARE exams and project phases, essentially WHAT YOU DO FOR AXP = WHAT YOU STUDY FOR ARE’S = WHAT YOU DO IN THE REAL WORLD! There are 96 listed tasks that licensure candidates are expected to have competency in at the completion of AXP. Reduction of supplemental experience in favor of firm-related project experience.   5 TIPS FOR FIRMS ADAPTING TO AXP To efficiently and effectively support those on the path to licensure Broaden Impact of Tasks Firms should encourage those in AXP to broaden the impact of their particular task into a greater network of interconnected tasks. By understanding how […]

District Facilities Planning Process

Is your district considering embarking on a District-Wide Facilities Comprehensive Planning process? Or, is your district experiencing facility accommodation, capacity, efficiency, and/or space utilization challenges? If so, this is a very exciting time for your district! But it may also be a bit daunting if you’re unsure of where to start. Through our experience working with schools, districts, and other educational facility master planners, we have developed a brief overview of the first steps in our District-Wide Facility Comprehensive Planning process for your reference (shown below). We hope this overview helps to clarify what the beginning of this process would look like once the design team has been hired by the district. All design teams and districts are different, so keep in mind that all steps are flexible to adjust to the unique characteristics, needs, and preferences of the team, district, and community. 1) Educational Visioning Event A one-day event that invites the community to envision the future of education in their community. This event kicks off the comprehensive planning process as a community-wide endeavor. Potential discussion topics include:   2) Steering Committee Formation Establishing a Steering Committee, or a Task Force, helps to guide the comprehensive planning process. The committee’s responsibilities include: Represent the district and community in the planning process Review and discuss Educational Visioning Event findings Formulate questions for Community Dialogue meetings Provide feedback to design team throughout process Develop a recommendation to the Superintendent 3) Community Dialogue #1 The first Community Dialogue focuses on creating an educational framework for the district. The educational framework developed will guide the planning process by attempting to define: Grade configuration Class size Number of facilities Criteria for determining facility lifespan Strategies for building and site disposition 4) Community Dialogue #1 Findings The design team will assess and present the Community Dialogue #1 findings to the Steering […]