DLA Architects Ltd Blog

29 years ago today, Bruce and Dwain officially founded DLA Architects.

They and their partners hosted a luncheon at the office to celebrate.

In the opening speech, on behalf of all the partners, Eric Sickbert said “We understand the importance of each of you in accomplishing what we are doing here at DLA. If it wasn’t for all of you doing what you do, with such excellence, we wouldn’t have the success that we had or have. Thanks go to everyone here. Each of you do matter in making DLA successful.”

The DLA Leadership Team also took the opportunity to recognize this year’s employee milestones:

Eric Kretschmer celebrated his 5 year anniversary last year on December 11.

Eric has been part of our elite team of licensed architects leading numerous difficult projects. Eric works with Crystal Lake School District, Mendota, Westminster and Cantigny Park. For each client Eric has delivered great service and successful projects.

An Illinois School Code expert, Eric took on U46 life safety surveys for all 50 + buildings and using his outstanding management abilities did an outstanding job; not a small task.

One of the most exciting projects Eric has completed was the Birnberg residence, a multimillion dollar internationally designed residence with unique and difficult details. In all his work, the final results are satisfied clients.

Shannon Baird celebrated her 10 year anniversary last year on April 29.

Shannon is a member of our exceptional team of architects.

One of her major accomplishments was a renovation project at one of the oldest, largest buildings in School District U46. It was a very successful project with everyone very pleased with the outcome of their working environment.

Since then she has taken the lead role on the teams for ECC and FRWRD. Those projects are going well, too. 

Wendy Covich celebrated her 15 year anniversary last year on October 28.

Wendy is a social media guru, a great asset to the marketing team and her personality and fresh ideas are always welcomed and greatly appreciated.

She has a unique, creative, perspective that pushes the envelope of our standard thinking and makes us pause and think.

That is always important; Bringing new and different ideas to the table is not only important to the marketing team but to all of our office.

Alex Romanovsky as of January reached his 15 years working with DLA.

Alex operates as our resident ER doctor of graphic design.

He is ready to take on any challenge at the drop of a hat and he is prepared to dig in and make sure he can do everything in his power to see that our best image is illustrated.

Often faced with deadlines or project schedules beyond his control, Alex handles it well and maintains his cool.

Matt Stoub will be working with us 5 years in May.

Matt is a skilled job captain with many talents. He excels in managing multiple projects with multiple architects giving him direction.

Matt is very dedicated and always willing to put in the extra effort to get a project out to meet the strenuous time schedules that we sometimes have. His documents and details provide limited questions in the field indicating his talent in producing details and creating excellent working drawings.

A key contributor in the DLA Social Committee, Matt ensures office events take off without a hitch and works to keep office morale high.

A rising star in the design area of architecture, Matt played a major role in the design of our new office, as well as the new offices for MAXIMUM Independent Brokerage.

Arturo Benitez will be working with us 5 years in July.

A member of our exceptional team of architects Arturo has a magical briefcase that carries the paper correspondence answer to any contractor or client question. He is amazingly organized and detail oriented which is evident by his clients’ accolades.

Arturo has been working almost exclusively at Ridgewood School District which has been necessary in order to manage the behemoth, multi-year, multi phased, inter-governmental project.

Through it all he has seen great success and Ridgewood truly enjoys working with him. His continued responsiveness to their needs is a great reflection on DLA.

Charmaine Lowe will be working with us 10 years in June.

A skilled job captain, Charmaine is extremely flexible, able to manage multiple projects with multiple architects that are asking for her time. Her abilities allow the architects she is working for, to sleep better at night knowing she is on their job.

She was part of the team on the Aurora Early Learning Center, giving that project her all.

Recently she has completed the Lockport East addition, working very hard to create a great set of working documents. You can’t ask for anything more than a set of tight working drawings that can hold up through the “line of fire” of the construction process. Charmaine’s drawings did an excellent job in accomplishing that.

Each of these talented individuals was recognized for their service to DLA. Those celebrating a 5 year anniversary received a key chain, a glass cube for the 10 year, and a clock for the 15 year anniversary. These gifts are a symbol that reflects to each employee that they have accomplished something important during their time here with DLA.

Every year, the DLA Architects team participates in “Career Day” activities at our client schools.

We’ve had a variety of professionals from the owners of the firm to the designers to our interns speak, and while we all focus on our own personal experience and the background that helped us get where we are, the thing we all have in common is an interest in learning and a passion for what we do.

It makes you think

Developing a talk about what you do for a living is a wonderful time to step back and take stock in the choices you made that brought you to this point in your career.

For an architect, the paths to licensure are fairly direct: college, then (most likely) grad school, then the structured IDP Training Program. By the time you’re licensed, you’ve dedicated ten years or more of your life to the pursuit of your career, longer if you take the time for military service or a family.

One of the things we emphasize to the students we speak to is that a career is really about the path you take.

It takes time to accomplish your goals, but having at least a general idea of where you want to end up will be your guide as you make the choices that result in your career.

It brings you down to earth

Speaking at Career Day can be challenging, and unless you have an especially exciting profession, a bit humbling. The challenge here is engaging the students and finding that connection that will keep them interested.

It’s important to have an outline of what you’ll discuss, but keep it simple. With any luck, there will be questions that take the conversation on interesting tangents. The more interactive, the better, but come prepared with stories that they can relate to.

We often discuss a project in the very building we’ll be talking in. Explaining how technically challenging it is to suspend a running track above a gymnasium and how the green roof next to it counteracts the forces of the load makes a whole lot more sense when you’re familiar with the space.

Students are often surprised Read the rest of this entry »

Sustainability and Green Design are the buzz words of the day, especially in reference to architecture.

What’s it all about?

Well, the way we talk about it is a great place to start; language can be a challenge because each of us might think a term has a different meaning. Three terms commonly used interchangeably in reference to the building and construction industry are Green Design (GreenBuilding), Sustainable Design (Sustainability) and High Performance Buildings. Definitions of these vary by who is defining them, for instance:

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines “GreenBuilding” as:

“The practice of maximizing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use resources – energy, water, and materials – while minimizing building impacts on human health and the environment, through the complete life cycle – from siting, design, and construction to operation, renovation and reuse.”

The US Green Building Council defines “Green Design” as:

“Design and construction practices that significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impact of buildings on the environment and its occupants. This includes site planning, safeguarding water and the efficient use of water, promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy, conserving materials and resources, promoting indoor air quality for the benefit of current and future generations.”

The United Nation’s 1987 “Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development” (The Brundtland Principles) defined “Sustainable Development” as:

“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

In the book Cannibals with Forks, author John Elkington defines “Sustainable Development” as: Read the rest of this entry »

DLA Partner Steve Wright usually keeps a busy schedule, but this week he’s taking some time to get away from the office and get his hands dirty.

He and his daughter have hit the road to New Orleans. This is their second trip to help rebuild the Lower 9th Ward which was inundated with 12 feet of water after the levees broke during Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005. He helped rebuild 2 homes three years ago and this year they are working to complete a church in time for Easter this spring.

Believe it or not, after 6+ years there is still a great deal of work to do down there.  When he was last in the area, there was literally nothing left except foundations and a few homes that had been constructed by Brad Pitt. It will be interesting to see how much progress has been made in the last three years.

For those interested, there will be daily progress updates posted on the website www.restoretrinity.org  and the log for the mission trip he’s on is at http://www.restoretrinity.org/january-2012-mission-trips/jan-8-14-daily-log/.

When he returns, he’ll update the DLA Architects team on an overview of where things stand to date in NOLA and what progress has been made since he was last there.

We’re proud to share that DLA Architect’s new Multi-Purpose Classroom Building for Elgin Community College has been awarded the Merit in Architecture for Preservation and Adaptive Reuse from the Northeast Illinois Chapter of the American Institute of Architects’ at the biennial Design Awards. Congrats to all involved!

Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20111007/news/710079811/#ixzz1a8Ii02EA

Excerpt from the article:

“We took something that was basically a couple of rectangular buildings and transformed them into a facility that meets the needs of today’s students,” said Paul Dawson, the college’s managing director of construction projects, in a news release. “This was a great accomplishment for our college.”

UPDATE

AIA Northeast Illinois 2011 Design Award Winner: Preservation / Adaptive Reuse – Merit in Architecture Elgin Community College Multi-Purpose Classroom Building…

ECC’s Multipurpose Classroom Building garners design award for … Chicago Sun-Times Sun-Times Media File Photo ECC-ECN-1111-001.jpg ELGIN — DLA Architects Ltd. has described the addition that turned two formerly light-industrial properties …

Architectural organization honors ECC for building design TribLocal The organization gave Itasca-based DLA Architects, which designed the building, … William Templin of Itasca-based DLA Architects said competition judges …

We thought we’d share some of the tunes that have been playing here around the office lately. Enjoy!

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.

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 »

Be sure to take a look at the latest issue of American School & University Magazine.

DLA Architect’s new Multi-Purpose Classroom Building for Elgin Community College is recognized as an Outstanding Design for Interior Renovation. Congrats to all involved!

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/8c62a0fd?page=68

In the latest issue of Illinois ASBO Update, our team discusses how school districts can prepare their facilities for the future. In “From-the-Field” our own Dwain Lutzow, AIA asks “How do your facilities measure up?” and discusses how existing schools can rethink space to “keep up” with new schools.

The cover article “Forward Thinking Schools: Shaping Schools to Invigorate Student Learning” was written by Bruce Dahlquist, AIA, LEED, AP, BD+C. In it he discusses how 21st century schools face the challenge of adapting existing infrastructure to meet current and future technology and educational delivery methods. He explains how creative architectural design, sustainable design and classroom remodeling can shape inspirational environments that are the focal point of the community.

Take a look: