DLA Architects Ltd Blog

Great to be a part of the L-Way Transition House project. It’s a wonderful addition to the Lincoln-Way Area Special Ed Cooperative’s program.

From the article in the Joliet Herald News:

“Our focus is on increased independence,” Barb Luoma, the transition house’s supervisor, said. “We need them to be as independent as possible.”
And what better place to learn than in a real-life setting. Otherwise, it would be like “teaching mechanics without a car,” Luoma said.

Read more:

Lincoln-Way Transition House helps give special-needs students a brighter future – Joilet Herald News.

Hopefully you’ve read my previous post that included a shopping list and you’ve had a chance to sample the wines.

So thinking about how both architecture and wine have a character, my tasting notes look at the varietal and compare them to an architecturally significant house design.

Like wine tasting in general, this is very subjective, so I’d love to hear your take on these wines, too.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you know me, you know that I’m passionate about both Wine and Architecture. In fact my friends and I actually started our own wine club where we get together quarterly and taste certain varietals and give a presentation on them – I love it! Hopefully, the Architecture should be obvious as to why it is a passion of mine.

So why wine and architecture – what do the 2 have in common?

• Architecture is a culture frozen in time much the same way wine is, wine is influenced by everything that is happening while those grapes are growing and architecture is the same way.
• They both continue to live and give pleasure to people long after they are created.
• They are subjective, someone might say that a building (or a wine) is bold and sexy and someone else might just say they hate it.
• They are fragile and must be maintained correctly or they will be ruined.
• They both have the potential to be priceless works of art.
• They can be paired with other things to compliment them.. or fight them.
• They can be Famous.

So let me tell you a good wine story… Read the rest of this entry »

Choosing the right bit of real estate and where on that site a building should be located can make or break a project. For schools in particular its important to consider things like whether the public will have easy access to the building. How safe is the area not only from a security standpoint but also pertaining to geographic features and, if it was previously developed, environmentally. Speaking of the environment, how will the building impact the site and its neighbors. The list goes on and on.. and new federal guidelines for the location of school facilities make this more important than ever!

Next week we’ll be participating in a continuing ed program that will certainly be of interest to schools and other governmental bodies who are interested in the policies and practices that affect the well-being of a community. The webinar is available to anyone and information can be found at the Council for Educational Facilities Planners (CEFPI) website. Hosted by the National Center for Safe Routes to School, the presenters will be discussing how decisions for siting schools play a role in the health of the students, local residents and the surrounding neighborhood. Read the rest of this entry »