The Austin Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) presented an Outstanding Construction Award to Workman Commercial Construction for one of our projects, Dell’s EGD Photo Studio. The project is an interior remodel for Dell’s Industrial Design team’s 11,000 sf photo studio at the Dell Parmer South campus in Austin, TX. The project was completed in June of 2011 with a construction budget of $650,000. Previous to the remodel, most of Dell’s EDG product photography was handled through contracts with outside photographers at remote studios. Through the renovation of existing space on campus, Dell was able to move this scope of service in house and save millions in operational dollars per year for the team.

Congratulations to Sheri Blattel, who served as Designer and Project Manager; and Leslie Wilson who shepherded the project through Bid Negotiations and Construction Administration. The client loves the new studio space and has been extremely complementary of their work which led to a follow up project to remodel the remainder of the Industrial Design team’s studio this year. That project is currently under construction by the same contractor with a scheduled completion of next month.

Great Job Sheri & Leslie!

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I just returned from a work trip to Bangalore India, an urban region of 12.5 million people. The city grows by 1000 people every day.  The photo above is commonplace for construction around town and given the city growth there was many more like it.  Interesting things to note are; wood logs supporting the concrete form work, wood logs lashed together for the hoist, and concrete pours occurring while businesses are occupied below.

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artwork by Amber Root, Stacey Campbell, Joel Anderson, & Jim Beal

Discovering the “Vision” for a design happens in the nebulous area between Research and the Exploration of ideas.   

The above sketches from the Silicon Valley Research & Development Center design process represent an analysis and synthesis of program information, and also begin to explore solutions to the analysis.  The Team used the illustrations to identify patterns of words and ideas that became the building blocks to the design “Vision”.

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Universal Design Phases

“Being process-oriented, and not product-driven, is the most important and difficult skill for a designer to develop” – Matthew Frederick

 Whether you are creating door knobs, websites, RFP’s, or buildings, there are 8 universal steps to the design process and they begin and end with research.

 Initially, research is focused on gathering information that informs the exploration, discovery, and evolution of ideas to create solutions for our clients.  Examples are establishing goals, vision, program, budget, schedule and analyzing precedents and context.

 Toward the end of the cycle, research is focused on evaluating solutions and the process to generate them with the intent of improving future work.  Examples are post-occupancy interviews, measurement and verification of the HVAC system, and monitoring utility costs.

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I designed the Meeting in the Mountains poster again this year.  The architectural conference is on April 27th 2012 in downtown Billings.  Visit the Billings Architecture Association website for registration and more information.

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looking down from the second floor of the gathering space at Sheridan College

The past couple weeks we’ve been studying the interiors for Sheridan College’s Academic Center gathering space.  The Gathering Space is a central collector for students and faculty that connects them to a courtyard, bookstore, coffee shop, student services, restrooms, computer stations, and main arterial hallways.  The space can also function for large events as a serving kitchen is nearby.  The image above is an update of where we are today in the design process.

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