DLA Architects Ltd Blog

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 »

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:

Generally people think of a Program as an overview or outline of an overall production, including a cast and what their role is. At least that’s what you get when you go to the theater…

Architecturally, it’s the background research and decisions that all come together to define the Scope of Work for a project. While, I guess you could start a design/construction project saying “I have ‘x’ dollars to spend” or “I want a project completed by a certain date,” when all is said and done, the ultimate judge of success is “does it meet my needs?” Designing something within budget and on-time is important, but it’s a useless waste of time and money if it doesn’t solve client needs. Rather than starting a project blind, it’s important to have a strong Program established at the outset. The Program is really about the “Why” and “How” and since building systems are so interrelated with many decisions affecting others, it really helps to define and prioritize what the client is looking for.

This is something we were very aware of in the design of our new DLA Architects’ corporate offices. In this project we took on the role of client and the programming process gave us the opportunity to take a close look at our current needs and farther into the future.

Sharing a brand story by weaving it into the office environment

One of the most important aspects of our program was Branding. We looked to our Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re interested in sustainability, you might want to check out the GreenTown: The Future of Community Conference.

The event brings together the public and private sectors in a dialogue about creating healthy, sustainable communities. They had 3 events in the region and more than 1,000 attendees last year.

DLA Architects’ President Bruce Dahlquist, AIA, LEED AP will be participating on a panel at the next GreenTown, on April 28, 2011 in Elgin, Illinois. Others who’ll be participating in the session titled “The Elgin Community Sustainability Plan” are the City of Elgin’s Sustainability and Grants Coordinator Aaron Cosentino and Historic Preservation Planner Jennifer Fritz Williams, along with Al Zelaya, an Urban Forester with Davey Tree Experts.  

Registration and other conference details can be found at the GreenTown website: http://www.greentownconference.com/register_2011_elgin.asp

Fulton Elementary School, a new building designed by DLA Architects, is featured in the new issue of Design Cost Data (DCD) Magazine. 

Here is a sneak peak at our new space. We’ve moved both of our offices over, but you’ll notice that there are some superficial construction items that still need to be finished;. In addition, we still have a great deal of unpacking to do.

We put a lot of thought into where things would go, but we still have to organize it and combine things from the two offices. For instance, if our file system is numeric by project number and some files were at each office, we need to go through the files and shuffle them together in order. So please forgive the clutter and boxes everywhere, there is much work to be done. Enjoy!

Our clients and friends know DLA Architects for sustainable design. In fact, many of our recent projects have earned USGBC LEED Certification… or LEED Silver… or LEED Gold. With that in mind, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the design for our new office utilize “green” principles! As we are quickly approaching our big move, we thought we’d share how we’ve applied this thinking to our new place.

One of the first considerations in a green project is the site. So that’s where we’ll start.

Since we weren’t constructing a building from the ground up on a brand new site, we didn’t need to concern ourselves with many of the site issues that might present themselves. We did, however, get off to a good start by choosing a building that is Energy Star rated.

Since covered parking minimizes the heat-island effect, the 3-level parking garage at 2 Pierce Place was another factor that influenced our site selection process.

It was also important that we choose a site that was within a short distance to services; the on-site deli will make it easy to grab lunch and the surrounding business park includes a driving range, a two-and-a-half mile long walking path around ponds and trees, and open fields throughout the park.

We’re not too far from public transportation and since our new building also has bicycle parking and showering/changing facilities, our employees have a variety of transit options.

The overall look of our new office will be contemporary with refined, natural finishes. Here’s a preview of the finishes our Design Team selected for the space.

The crew at the site has been flying. Here is a summary of the last couple weeks progress.

Things are moving very quickly at our construction site over at 2 Pierce Place… and thanks to that handy countdown clock on our blog, we can see that we have less than 2 months before we’re in our new home. This means we have a LOT of work to do!

To prepare for our mass migration to Itasca, Read the rest of this entry »