EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Openings are listed on our website for 30 days. Currently there are 9 jobs available. To view job listings visit aiaphiladelphia.org/jobs
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Member News
Archer & Buchanan Architecture, Ltd., an award-winning residential and institutional design firm, is pleased to announce that its design for a sculptural fence has been honored by the Society of American Registered Architects, Pennsylvania Council. The fence, made of three hundred, 10-foot steel blades set upright 8 inches apart, was designed for a home in Berwyn, Pennsylvania as a yard sculpture that also keeps deer out.
“The fence design was inspired by the house that it surrounds, which we designed in 2002,” said Peter Archer, AIA, of Archer & Buchanan. “The fence weaves through the property, appearing solid or reed thin depending upon the perspective.”
Made of COR-TEN, a steel alloy that eliminates the need for painting and maintains a rich, dark rust color without corroding, the fence stanchions were cut with a plasma cutter from sheets of the alloy. Gate stanchions were cut and then welded to solid machined steel bars. Rising like wetland plants, the simple, elegant fence was dubbed “COR-TEN Cattails” by the design firm.
“Each blade stands 8 feet above grade, set in concrete 3 feet below, weighs 80-90 pounds and is 5/8 inch thick,” explains Christopher Olstein, Archer & Buchanan project manager. “The profile of the blades is an irregular trapezoid with no horizontal connections or supports. Only the gate has two horizontal bars, and each leaf weighs 1200 pounds.”
The project was selected by a jury of registered architects and members of the Society of American Registered Architects. Peter Archer accepted the award at a ceremony on Sept 13th at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Essington, PA.
How do you measure and set standards for things as intangible as light, or as strong as structural steel for skyscrapers? This is the charge of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the products and services of which are used in the design of the smart power grid, satellites, lasers, atomic clocks, bulletproof vests, homes, factories, spacecraft, and cyber-security systems. UJMN Architects + Designers is pleased to announce that NIST has commissioned the firm to design exhibits for NIST’s facilities in Gaithersburg, MD, and Boulder, CO. The intricate exhibit structure will integrate glass panels, glass beams, metal posts, and lighting. Historic tools, machinery, test apparatus, videos, interviews, and photos will highlight the extraordinary contributions NIST has made over the past 110 years to the development of the U.S. as the world leader in science, technology, and engineering.
Earlier this year, Schradergroup Architecture (SGA) had the pleasure of announcing that the Mount Nittany Elementary School, designed by SGA for the State College Area School District, received an Honorable Mention from Learning by Design, the premier source for education and design innovation and excellence.
We are pleased to add that Mount Nittany Elementary School now has been selected to appear as an Outstanding Design in the 2012 American School & University Architectural Portfolio. Further, the same project also was named a Project of Distinction in School Planning & Management Education Design Showcase 2012.
H2L2 Architects / Planners has completed the schematic design for the Delaware Valley College Life Sciences Building in Doylestown, Pa. The 41,000-sqaure-foot structure will satisfy the College’s increasing demand for teaching and research space; allow for expanded community and business partnerships; and enhance the College’s presence along the Rt. 202 corridor. Ground will be broken in fall 2012 with completion expected in spring 2014.
“As Delaware Valley College moves toward university status in 2014,” said Arthur Glass, Vice President for Finance and Administration at Delaware Valley College, “this signature building will allow for continued academic rigor and fundamentally reinvent our students’ connection with the life sciences.”
Sited at a critical terminus of the historic campus quadrangle, the “front-porch” colonnade of the Life Sciences Building will fit comfortably with the surrounding modern and vintage college buildings. The main level of the new building will include six large, modern classrooms, a globally-connected conference facility, and an atrium lounge for special events and breakout sessions adjacent to a 450-seat auditorium space. The upper level design features laboratories, including a state-of-the-art Geographic Information Systems lab, and additional teaching spaces and offices. Throughout the building, collaborative niches will accommodate informal learning and socializing.
“The Life Sciences Building will be an entirely modern structure, reflecting its time and unique context,” said Douglas Steele, AIA, H2L2’s principal-in-charge of the project.
A two-story wall of glass topped by a clerestory “lantern” will flood the common areas with natural light. The auditorium design features a similarly large “window to the world,” that will be clearly visible from Rt. 202 and a key campus entry. The size and siting of the building will reflect the emphasis that the College places on academics.
“The design employs sustainable systems that are unique to the industry but fairly standard to H2L2’s practice,” according to David Bisbee, AIA, H2L2 project manager. “We’ve included super-insulation techniques, high-performance fenestration, and totally automated mechanical and electrical systems.”
Consultants to design architect H2L2 include Remington Group – program manager; HERA Laboratory Planners – lab designer; Mark Ulrick Engineers – MEP/FP engineer; Gilmore Associates – site/civil engineer; KS Engineering – structural engineer; Metropolitan Technologies – technology consultant. The design / build team includes Kimmel Bogrette Architecture + Site – architect of record; Arris Engineering – MEP engineer; Reuther + Bowen Engineering – structural engineer; IMC Construction – design/build contractor.
Delaware Valley College is an independent, multi-disciplinary college with more than 1000 acres of college land between its properties in Bucks and Montgomery Counties. Founded in 1896, it features individualized attention, small class sizes and an applied as well as theoretical approach to learning. The College offers rich programs in the sciences, as well as a variety of programs in business and the humanities, offering more than 25 undergraduate majors, five master’s programs and a variety of complementary adult education courses.
Affiliate News
Skanska USA announced that its Special Projects Group has been awarded a contract from Temple University to renovate 30,000 square feet of the 8th and 9th floor and perform infrastructure upgrades to the 4th floor and roof of the school’s College of Engineering building.
To foster a safe, productive learning environment for Temple University’s students and faculty, Skanska will create new faculty offices, laboratory and conference spaces for Temple’s bioengineering department, throughout the renovation process.
The newly improved conference rooms will incorporate smart technology and clean rooms, which are commonly used for scientific research that contain an extremely low level of natural environmental pollutants such as dust. Skanska will also update the bathrooms to be handicap accessible.
Construction is scheduled for completion in November 2012. The architect is Stantec Consulting Services.
Skanska formed its operational Special Projects Group earlier this year to focus primarily on general contracting, tenant improvements, corporate and commercial interiors work and renovation projects in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
Acentech Inc. announced that Perry J. Artese has joined Acentech’s Trevose, Penn. office as a senior consultant in the audiovisual systems design group.
Building on the firm’s audiovisual systems design expertise, Acentech is excited to apply Mr. Artese’s broad experience to projects in the mid-Atlantic region. Mr. Artese has many years of experience designing, specifying, and commissioning audiovisual systems for higher education, government, non-profits, and corporate/commercial facilities. His design work, coupled with his practical experience in the field, makes him qualified to envision projects from conception to completion. His years of experience have afforded Mr. Artese many opportunities to design a wide variety of current audiovisual technologies, including display, video, and audio conferencing, control, audio/video transport, lecture capture systems, and digital signage systems in signature facilities such as the FAA Headquarters and Temple University’s Fox School of Business.
As a senior consultant at Acentech, Mr. Artese focuses on advising, overseeing, and maintaining the client’s vision for the project from the initial kick-off meeting to the final commissioning of the completed systems. Mr. Artese is currently working on projects for Westminster Choir College New Academic Building, Temple University, The Shipley School, and Louis Brown Rutgers Athletic Center Expansion Project.
“We are thrilled to add Perry to our growing audiovisual systems design practice in Trevose,” said Richard I. Closs, CTS-D, director of Acentech’s audiovisual systems design group. “Perry’s depth and breadth of experience in audiovisual systems design is an enormous asset to our team and to the clients we serve.”
Mr. Artese received an Associate of Science in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University and a Bachelor of Science in Professional Studies with a minor in Applied Supervision from Widener University. In 2010, he became a CTS-D certified technology specialist in design and a Creston certified digital media designer. He is also certified as both an Extron AV associate and Polycom associate while participating in AMX Bull’s Eye Technical Track.
Michael Paul is pleased to announce the opening of Built Form LLC, a structural engineering firm specializing in service to architects: www.builtform2.com.
With over 30 years of experience, Michael is proficient in the engineering of steel, concrete, masonry, wood, and cold-form for buildings of all types, plus systems and elements of the building envelope. Michael’s expertise includes engineering for historic structures, and forensic investigations.
Michael mostly recently served as lead structural engineer for Duffield Associates (where he remains a senior consultant), and he led the Philadelphia office of Thornton Tomasetti.
Michael is a long-time volunteer and past co-chair of the Community Design Collaborative, and he is active in several professional and technical organizations.
Michael serves as course coordinator for Senior Design, the capstone course in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Delaware, which won the NCEES Engineering Award Grand Prize in 2010.
Upcoming Events
The LEED rating system was developed to recognize excellence in sustainable design and to transform the design and construction industry. Now that LEED has successfully become a familiar guideline, what new benchmarks are leading sustainable design and construction? How is the next generation of green rating systems promoting new standards for building performance, architectural products, and regenerative site design? Our expert panel will explore the aspirations and strategies behind the Living Building Challenge, SITES and Passive House.
Speakers:
- Scott Kelly, Principal In Charge, Re:Vision Architecture
- Margot Taylor, Principal, Land Ethics
- Laura Blau, Principal, BluPath
If you are already implementing the basic principles of environmentally-conscious design or are interested in further exploring the potential of sustainable design projects, join us for this great event.
Stay after the presentations to network with fellow architects, landscape architects, construction managers, engineers, and green product manufacturers and to take a tour of the Vertical Screen Headquarters Building. The building is a 50,000 square foot state-of-the-art, LEED NC Platinum building. With a score of 58 points, the Vertical Screen building is one of the highest scoring LEED certified buildings in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Urban Land Institute's Place Making 2013 will convene the diverse players necessary to make mixed-use and transit-oriented develpment work. You will find partners for new porjects, practical examples of what is working in today's economic climate, and the cutting-edge research on demographic and financing trends for which ULI is known.
Please join us for
Books, Boats, Bricks + Lines: CHAD Students as Innovators
Honoring Distinguished Leaders who Prepare Tomorrow's Leaders for Designing the Future:
Individual CHADvocate of the Decade
Rob Fenza, COO Liberty Property Trust
Institutional CHADvocates of the Decade
American Institute of Architects, Philadelphia Chapter
and the General Building Contractors Association
New CHADvocate of the Year
The Independence Seaport Museum
The July ARE Study Session will focus on the vignette of the Building Systems exam (CDS) for the first hour. There will be no second hour this month. If you would like to connect with us online, please RSVP to yafphilly@gmail.com for the login info. If you have a Building Systems vignette attempt, please email it to us before hand. We would like to use real examples of vignettes to help others study. Still have questions or need more information? Please use the same email.
Are you struggling to get it all done?
Have you lost the ability to relax and enjoy life?
Do you feel stuck in the same old patterns that are not getting you to your goals?
Stress plays out in our lives in many different ways and is called the silent killer. But stress is also critical to our survival. Yes, really. Come learn the benefits of stress in your life and how you can harness it to YOUR advantage!
Come learn about:
• What’s good stress, what’s bad stress
• The latest research on stress and how it is affecting our bodies and brains
• The different ways in which women and men react to stress
• Why stress makes you gain weight
• Easy techniques for stress reduction and renewed energy
Expert Alice Dommert, CEO of Deliver Me Wellness, will lead us into a fun evening of tips and tricks, an introductory Yoga session, and healthy snacks.
To Register On-line: http://www.cvent.com/events/aspe-2013-estimating-academy-annual-convention/event-summary-8cfe683687da480fbd2c0a062e1e45c0.aspx
NATIONAL ESTIMATING ACADEMY OVERVIEW
The ASPE National Estimating Academy offers two-day, two track sessions aimed specifically at estimators covering all the hot topics of the construction industry and how they impact estimators. This year’s estimating academy offers the following training tracks:
• Target Value Design (TVD)
• Evaluating Project Risk for Contractual Partners
• Concept & Theory of Model Based Quantity Analysis & Pricing Validation
• Avoiding MEP Traps on Bid Day: Plumbing/Sprinkler, HVAC, Electrical
• Estimating for Success in a Tight Economy
• Ethical Bidding Considerations for GC’s
• The National Estimators Forum
The Academy is designed to promote professional development through education, sharing experiences, knowledge and resources, while exploring emerging technologies and issues for continued job performance improvements.
Estimating Academy Classes are registered through AIA and offer CEU’s to attendees.
ANNUAL CONVENTION OVERVIEW
The Annual Convention offers cost estimators the opportunity to expand their professional knowledge and network. The convention will feature several Construction Estimating focused programs and professional speakers exploring the most important issues facing the industry.
The ASPE convention is also an ideal opportunity to interact with colleagues and exchange ideas – learn about new products from our exhibitors; develop new business ideas with other convention attendees; and to reward key employees and give them the opportunity for professional development.
However, the ASPE Annual Convention is not all work…..packed in between all the educational and business sessions will be loads of fun with the Welcome Party, the Awards Banquet, and the President’s Party.
For more information please contact: tanya@aspenational.org, or call 615-316-9200.
All are welcome for the meeting of PAUG (Philadelphia AutoCAD Users Group). We are the oldest AutoDesk related users group still in existence that discusses all topics relating to the design trades. The meeting is Free with free food and drinks for all who attend, but Registration is required with your full Name, If you would be interested in a webinar, and if you require free parking (Free Parking is first come first serve).
For this meeting, we will be discussing:
6:00 - 6:25p Networking Reception
Arrive early & mix it up with Print – O - Stat Software Solutions and PAUG experts! Food and refreshments will be served.
6:25 – 6:30p Welcome & Introductions
6:30 - 7:30p 3D Printing at Home and for Business
Have you ever had an idea created in CAD that you wish was easy to recreate in real life? Now, if you can create a 3D model you can print it at home or at work. The printers to create these models are appearing on desks throughout the world, both in homes and at businesses. Instead of spending hundreds and thousands of dollars to create physical prototypes or building models, many can afford to purchase a machine to sit on a desk. There are also numerous service companies, local or online, that can print a model for you. Find out what’s necessary to design and print these models!
7:30 – 8:30p From Rendering to Interactive – A short trip into recent Interactive Visualization, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Reality developments
Reviewing non-architectural visualization projects and the challenges and advantages of working with an Interactive 3d world, explore recent advances in Input/Display technologies and interesting communication tool possibilities that are rapidly becoming cost effective.
8:30 – 9:00p Door Prize Giveaway & Meeting Wrap Up
Marvelous Prizes Galore!
TO REGISTER: E-mail Full Name, Interest in the Webinar, and if you need Free parking (First come first serve)
See you there!
All are welcome to attend the newest Associate Committee event and fundraiser!
The BIG EVENT Benefit is hosted by the Associate Committee of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Philadelphia Chapter. Every year, the Associate Committee organizes many events and programs to benefit emerging professionals, from design competitions and construction tours, to exhibitions and receptions, networking events, and a DesignPhiladelphia festival feature, to name just a few! Funds raised will support these and other events, and also provide grants towards Associate AIA Membership for two deserving young professionals. The BIG EVENT Benefit is the first of its kind for the Associate Committee, and will hopefully become a must-attend summer event for years to come!
The 2013 BIG EVENT Benefit will be held on the evening of July 25 at 2129 Chestnut Street, the beautifully restored historic showroom of CFI: Corporate Facilities Inc. This year’s BIG EVENT theme is “Summer Blockbuster,” complete with a Red Carpet, raffle prizes, food, drinks, and attendees dressed up as their favorite movie characters! Costume awards will be given for Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Ensemble.
Come one! Come all!
If you would like to become a sponsor for this event, please proceed through "Register Now!" For additional information, click here.
Sponsors confirmed by June 19th will be included in the Press Release.
