Thanks to everyone who attended the Oculus Inc. annual open house!

Thank You!

We would like to thank everyone who was able to attend our annual open house on Friday July 5th, 2013. We had many great friends, clients and future clients to share the festivities with. Here are some photos taken from the balcony of Oculus Inc. of fireworks and air shows.

Fireworks Under the Gateway Arch!

 Click th is link for additional photos

Business is Booming at Aldi's new store in Creve Coeur Missouri

Thursday, May 2, 2013  was the Grand Opening of the new Aldi's location at 11745 Olive Blvd, Creve Coeur, Missouri. If the brisk movement of cars in the parking lot was any indication, the store opening was a success, and the new store will do a robust business. The Trader Joe's store in Creve Coeur, owned by the same company, is always busy and people appeared to be flocking to the Aldi’s grand opening. Oculus Inc. played a key role in getting this new store open for Aldi.  Oculus worked closely with the City of Creve Coeur to develop exterior renovation designs that are in compliance with their design guidelines. At the same time, Oculus was working within the constraints of the building owner to develop the White Box tenant space and exterior renovations within budget for other tenant locations in the existing structure. While the location was very desirable, the building presented some internal layout and operational challenges for Aldi’s. Oculus developed interior store plans and layout options that met Aldi’s store planning requirements in a non-prototypical way. We are confident the new location will generate solid sales for our client.



New Aldi's Location in Creve Ceour, Missouri. Very close to the City Place Development

New Aldi's Main Entry

Aldi's Creve Ceour - Grand Opening Story in the Patch

What are Seniors and Their Families Looking for in St. Louis Senior Living Facilities?

At a recent SMPS St. Louis chapter gathering, that was part of the discussion by the panel of executives from local senior living providers, including Mark Schoedel, Vice President of Construction and Technology at Lutheran Senior Services; Joshua Jennings, Owner of Cedarhurst Living; Jill Frein, Corporate Project Manager at Bethesda Health Group, Inc.; and Diane Meatheany, Chief Operating Officer at St. Andrew’s Management Services. 

The three factors discussed most had to do with:

• Delivering value for seniors
• Creating a home like environment
• Offering specialized care to the residents

Seniors today are very concerned with getting value for their dollar.  Many are supplementing their children in some way due to the ongoing sluggish economy.  For that reason, LEED certified designs are not a driving force in senior housing design today.  Developers are not willing to force higher initial costs onto the residents.  So for now, look to sustainable products and construction methods that can deliver a quick return on investment and improve indoor air quality. 

 

Creating a feeling of home and a more spa-like environment are what are on the minds of senior care providers these days.  The de-institutionalization of the facility is the trend that is creating more hospitality-based designs.  Most providers agreed that this is spurring new construction, as well as, a concerted effort to maintain older buildings with refreshed finishes.  Evaluation of existing facilities should be undertaken carefully to determine whether replacement is a more cost effective solution.

 

The final trend in senior living is the increased demand for specialized care and services.  This demand keeps Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) attractive to potential seniors, since these organizations have a full range of services on-site that can meet residents' now and down the road.  Skilled Rehab wings with dedicated physical and occupational therapy areas are a growing sector of new construction.  They offer a great short term alternative for patients or residents transitioning back home or to a lower level of care, and it offers a revenue stream for the facilities.  Memory Care will continue to require new projects that demand unique surroundings, catering to this level of care.  Having experienced senior living design professionals involved from the start is key to the success of a dementia facility.  Also, the Green House model, while not seeing a lot of construction in the St. Louis area, is causing many providers to adopt Resident-Oriented Care that encourages the staff to develop better relationships with their ‘family’ of patients and creates a more satisfying experience for nursing home residents.

Interesting TED Talk By William McDonough

The link below will take you to a "TED" talk given by the well known architect and thinker, William McDonough. He is the author of the well known and often referenced book, Cradle to Cradle and is an outspoken proponent for a different approach to resource use, architectural design, and other development strategies that incorporate a more comprehensive notion of what "production" and human existence should be about. Early in my architectural career I made a half hearted effort to gain employment by Mr. McDonough long before he became well known and I became rooted in my home city of St. Louis.

View from Oculus Offices looking toward Granite City IL.

In the past few weeks, I have found myself following links back to various "TED" talks when I have come across them in various websites I have visited. I was recently reminded of TED when a neighbor, colleague and fellow Arc board member, Andy Kanefield mentioned that he was headed to the 2013 TED Conference. I must admit that I was a bit envious as I think attending a TED conference would be a great way to recharge.  Following our conversation one evening, I found my self clicking on links. This morning I listened to a TED talk given by William McDonough and referenced on Architect magazines web site. This talk is interesting for me since outside my window on this sunny day I can see Granite City Steel one of the shrinking number of heavy industrial plants in the Unitied States. In the TED talk, McDonough shows his transformational design for Ford Motors River Rouge location. River Rouge was one of Henry Ford's crowning industrial achievements but marks a different era in environmental awareness. As I look out my window, I see a landscape that still contains so much of the old school remnants of our heavy industrial past and wonder what our built environment will be like for our kids and future generations. Watch the talk and think about it. We would love to here from you. Please make comments.

TED Talk By William McDonough

William McDonough Bio

TED's Web Page

Green It Like You Mean It: A Guide to Sustainable Retail

Green roof on Oculus Inc. designed bank in Chicago IL

Anyone who has ever visited an upscale mall or lifestyle center is aware of the overwhelming symbolism of the green marketing movement in American retail: fruits and vegetables with organic stickers are viewed as a higher class above their produce peers, hybrid cars are a status symbols to millions of American commuters, and strategically placed recycling bins indicate that no piece of waste shall be considered just trash. Businesses across the United States have latched onto these environmental symbols and turned them into marketing tools.

But just like any marketing campaign, shoppers have grown weary of messages that treat environmentally friendly buzzwords like an infinite resource. According to a recent article in the ICSC publication Shopping Centers Today (SCT), consumers have gained “sustainability smarts” and are able to spot a greenwashing (the phrase given to when companies use PR and marking spin to deceptively try and fool you into believing that are greener that they actually are) attempt when they see one.  

A building may have solar panels, compact florescent bulbs, and a slick banner and greenwashing ad produced by an advertising agency, but that just doesn’t seem to cut it anymore. In fact, if a company promotes its green efforts and research proves they were fabricated, the backlash can be detrimental.  Many are starting to view such measures as mere window dressing to what companies could be doing in their sustainability efforts.

The consumer resistance to corporate greenwashing may lead certain developers to thinking that the “going green” phrase is as frivolous as Crystal Pepsi or the Budweiser Frogs. But there are plenty of reasons why developers need to pick architects, engineers, and interior designers who are well versed in the latest green and sustainable design methods if they want to maintain a profitable property. Research conducted by Oculus presents several key reasons why developers need to Green It Like They Mean It:

• With the new construction projects in a lull, building owners, property managers, and tenants are looking towards sustainable renovations and retrofits as a way to add value to their existing retail portfolios. A 2007 study conducted by Davis Langdon discovered that a LEED building sold for a $171 per square foot premium versus comparable buildings without LEED Certification.         

• The CoStar Group recently found that rent rates in LEED buildings were on average $11.33 per square foot greater than non-LEED buildings. LEED buildings also have higher occupancy rates which increase the marketability of projects and create opportunities for developers to maximize their return on investment. All together, rent rates increase by 3 percent total and occupancy rates by 3.5 percent in sustainable buildings.

• The construction industry makes up about 40 percent of the material found in landfills. Fortunately, there is a new market emerging with recycling options for original flooring, millwork, doors, and structural timber that is both cost effective and sustainable. Today, recycling no longer refers to the process of melting down and reconstituting raw materials, but also includes reusing and reselling materials. With the right combination of alternatives, it is possible to divert 90 percent of existing building materials from the landfill and create a profit from them.

• Besides attracting new customers into retail purchasing situations, green design and sustainable strategies are also linked with increased worker productivity and health benefits. Any business looking to increase the workflow of their staff, reduce the amount of sick time taken, and decrease the amount of money they spend on healthcare related expenses would greatly benefit from the inclusion of green design elements into their new building or renovation. 

According to SCT, some of the most effective methods of sustainable building such as lighting, HVAC, water, and energy projects are not as visible as the previously mentioned methods and easily sneak past consumers.  On the other hand, some consumers are becoming more informed than ever and are drawn to companies that stand for sustainability and corporate responsibility. In order to effectively latch onto the proper promotional power of sustainability without the greenwashing backlash, it is important to spread information through proper communications channels such as social media and in-store signage.

Instead of focusing on sustainability and “going-green” as a marketing tactic, architects, engineers, interior designers, developers, and consumers need to accept it as another, important step of the design and construction process.  When green becomes an authentic part of the design and build cycle instead of a marketing slogan, consumers receive an education in ways to realistically help the environment while developers naturally increase their own profits.  

Design Matters in Tannersville, New York

On this blog we have covered towns like Braddock, PA which is going through a new “urban-pioneering” movement under the leadership of Mayor John Fetterman. We have also covered the unconventional design sense of Portland design enthusiast Re: Place in PDX. When we came across this segment on NBC’s Today Show, it made perfect sense to link the two topics together:

Tannersville, a small farm town in New York that hasn’t seen an economic boom since its tanning business collapsed in the mid-19^th century, served as a sleepy little hole in the wall for commuters traveling from New York to further upstate.  But artist and graphic designer Elena Patterson believed that design could not only make the downtrodden exterior finishes look better, but also improve the economy by bringing in tourist dollars. After she painted her house in extraordinary colors, the rest of the town followed her lead and began painting businesses and older buildings in the same manner. Now under her leadership with the not-for-profit Hunter Foundation, the town is experiencing a sharp increase in tourism with the aptly named Paint Program.

Visitors passing through Tannersville are treated to a bevy of old shops, homes, and other structures painted in multicolored pastels with cartoonish illustrations that look like they were ripped out of Super Mario World adorning fixtures. People from New York and other large population centers are stopping to visit in order to admire the sights they cannot experience in the massive glass and steel metropolises of New England and the Mid-Atlantic (unless they are viewing a Lichtenstein or Andy Warhol exhibit inside of an art gallery).

While some people think that cities, towns, and villages need massive support from government grants, private funds, and corporations in order to improve design, it’s not always the case. Design is ultimately about creating interest and increasing enjoyment, and this relatively cheap and simple design was the perfect solution for the town’s problem.

Tannersville works as an example of excellent design because humans have needs and wants beyond sameness and survival; we crave and seek interest, creativity, and difference. The spectacle of change attracts humans and is the same reason we have so many different restaurants, genres of music, and admire the trees in autumn.

While some of Tannersville’s residents do not personally enjoy the Technicolor palette the town has received, others took a chance, tried something different, and achieved a result that transformed them from just another plain old city into a small sight-seeing destination. If Tannersville can use simple design methods to bring people in, just imagine what struggling urban areas could do with the same philosophy. 

Tannersville General Store (before)

Tannersville General Store (after)

Nieman Marcus, Macy's, and Major League Soccer

What is a city to do with a mall that has essentially turned into a miniature ghost town? The most sensible solution is to turn it into a soccer stadium…

The Riverfront Times reports that the new owners of fledgling Union Station Mall, Lodging Hospitality Management, are considering turning the sparsely populated retail space into a stadium for a Major League Soccer franchise. The once modern hub for the railroad industry, was converted into a retail space in the 1970's when planes and automobiles proved to be more convenient. While it is unknown if this proposed conversion would lead St. Louis residents to MLS games, the chances are a lot better than suburbanites venturing to Union Station for a unique shopping experience.

For years the mall has been relegated to kitschy tourist shops and a couple of chain restaurants designed to entice out-of-town dollars. Locals have very little incentive to go unless they work at a building next door and want to eat lunch at the Hard Rock Café or Landry’s Seafood.

The lack of businesses occupying the Union Station Mall is not a problem facing St. Louis alone. Many once prominent shopping centers in major U.S. cities are losing retailers who once based their sales strategies on consumers visiting the mall not just for shopping, but also entertainment.

One of Oculus’ Market Leaders recently attended the ICSC 2012 Chicago Deal Making Conference where directors of real estate from some of the largest retail companies in the country met with municipality leaders, building owners, and vendors to network in an open-air free-for-all in order to get projects off the ground. While discussing the latest real estate trends with industry experts, the consensus was that more money was going into making higher-end retail locations better while focusing fewer resources on expansion into markets without as much opportunity for profit.

Nothing like a an deal making conference in Olde Tyme Chicago!

This trend is not just common in St. Louis, where suburban sprawl has taken money out of the city and into the suburbs, it is happening to malls throughout the country. Instead of shopping at large retail anchors like Sears and Macy’s, big box stores like Target and Wal-Mart offer better variety at lower prices. Malls have lost a lot of their luster as variety shops because the Internet makes it possible to purchase virtually anything.

Instead of investing in traditional mall locations, most real estate directors opt to develop in higher end malls because of the high income bracket population surrounding the area. The construction of new mall buildings is also becoming a relic of the past because of the growth of lifestyle centers in upper-end locations which provide drastically better dining and entertainment services compared to large malls.

Right now it might sound far-fetched to turn malls across America into soccer stadiums, but in the coming years when people start purchasing more goods online they will want to have a “shopping experience” when they actually do visit retail centers. Unless consumers are willing to travel to the "ritzy" part of town and want to put down primo dollar on high-end fashion brands, the retail trend may continue to go towards Wal-Mart, Target, and Amazon for middle-class Americans. The real question that should be occupying the minds of developers is if America can actually get into soccer?

Road Warrior Report: Tysons Corner, VA

Reclaiming Unused Mall Space

An Oculus project manager recently traveled to Tysons Corner, VA for a retail site visit. While analyzing space for a retail project in Tyson’s Corner Center, she discovered a unique Japanese style restaurant taking up residence in the middle of the mall. 

Wasabi is a modern Japanese cuisine chain that uses conveyor belts to serve small plates to customers around a bar and booth dining area. The plates are color-coded in order to indicate price and everything is prepared fresh, right in front of the customer. While they take traditional Japanese cuisine and infuse it with Latin American flavors, the really unique feature of this Wasabi location is the fact that it takes space traditionally used for adoration, such as fountains and artwork, and finds a way to monetize it. 

While it may serve as an aesthetic centerpiece to a shopping center, there is unfortunately no money to be made off of the square footage of these fountain/pretty areas. The Wasabi restaurant concept is beginning to interject itself into the “white space” areas of shopping centers across the country and developers and mall owners couldn’t be happier about the prospect of actually making money on spaces that previously cost them to maintain.

While malls across the country are struggling to stay afloat due to the rise of lifestyle centers and online shopping juggernauts like Amazon, could we see more places like Wasabi pop-up as developers and mall owners try to squeeze every usable square foot of the mall? 

Could the St. Louis Galleria, with its large amount of square footage dedicated to its fountain, be in-line for a new Wasabi or similar concept? Maybe instead of sushi joint, St. Louis could see a conveyor belt style restaurant serving up traditional local fare such as toasted ravioli, provel cheese pizza, and gooey buttercake?

Road Warrior Report: Iron Mountain, MI

The newest addition to the Oculus Inc. staff, Rob Forney, just arrived home from his first site visit as a member of our team. His mission was to travel to Iron Mountain, MI to conduct a facility conditions assessment for the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center for the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Construction and Facilities Management. While he spent the majority of his time working with our client, he also brought back a couple of factual tidbits from this small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula:

-There is not an actual “Mountain” in Iron Mountain. The name is derived from the Iron Mountain Iron Mine where people come to watch actual miners practice their craft while riding on trains that take them 400 feet underground.

-It is also home to the Pine Mountain Ski Jump/Resort, one of the highest artificially created ski jumps on earth. Elite athletes from around the world come to visit Iron Mountain to compete in a tournament held every February. 

A Vintage Photo of the Pine Mountain Ski Jump (Not Taken w/ Instagram)

 -While the temperatures can be extreme in the dead of winter and the black bear population thrives within the forest, one of the biggest natural threats to humans is deer. The Iron Mountain Daily News reports close to 1,500 people are injured in deer/vehicle crashes every year with the riskiest months being October and November.

-One of the biggest tourist attractions is the Millie Hill Bat Cave which usually takes out-of-towners by surprise. While Rob did not get a chance to visit , he did encounter a bat inside of the local Wal-Mart. 

Metal Cage Surrounding the "Bat Cave" Entrance courtesy of Things to Do in the U.P.

Oculus Designs New Llywelyn's in Wildwood, MO

One of the biggest indicators of a recovering economy is when consumers spend money dining out and drinking. Nothing says economic turnaround more than a restaurant full of guests willing to spend their money on a dining experience.  According to QSR Magazine, restaurants have added close to 550,000 new jobs since the late 2000’s recession and represent one of the strongest sections of a growing economy.  

Llywelyn’s, the Celtic Pub and client of Oculus, is definitely experiencing the upside of this economic upswing and are expanding operations as a result.  With three strong performing locations close to the city of St. Louis, the restaurant was able to double their number of locations and reach into markets such as St. Charles, O’Fallon, and even Kansas City. Now they are about to expand further into the St. Louis suburb of Wildwood with a new location designed by our firm.

According to the St. Louis Business Journal, the restaurant chain is on track to top $10 million in revenue this year, with sales dramatically on the rise since 2008. The building will take the urban design aesthetic of the Central West End and Soulard locations and make it unique and applicable to the existing suburban Wildwood architecture.

In an interview with Sauce Magazine, marketing director Sandie Jones said that the menu items will be the same as those offered at the other locations, but with a few new additions to all stores once it opens its doors.

Oculus is also designing another new project for Llywelyn's in the St. Louis area. Check back for a post about it.

Oculus is proud to work with Llywelyn’s and is proud to help take part in growing the local economy. If you have read through this much of the blog post and don’t know about Llywelyn’s, you can visit their website or check out their Twitter. 

Interested in seeing some renderings? We just so happen to have a couple:

Exterior Shot



Exterior Shot



Exterior Shot



Interior Shot



Interior Shot

Portland Part 4: Fostering a Creative Culture

For any design-oriented professionals living in or visiting the US, Portland is a must visit city. The entire Pacific Northwest region keeps an amazing folksy, tree-hugger, hippie-type vibe while remaining on the cutting edge of the 21^st Century. While the past couple of blogs entries about Portland have focused on specific aspects of the city, this final entry will combine some of the larger reasons as to why the region harbors innovation and the creative spirit.

The first thing that sets Portland apart from other parts of the country is its climate. Because it is situated in between the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, the warm/wet climate is very kind to agriculture, and farmers are capable of growing just about anything imaginable.  This unique location makes the Portland area one of the US’ leading producers of crops like hops for beer, hazelnuts, and lumber. The variety of crops native to the area has added into helping turn the area into a diversified hotspot where people are free to live however they deem fit.

Because of the abundance of food, an innovative and eclectic culture has given rise to countless farmers markets, brew pubs, microbreweries, wineries, and restaurants committed to experimental cuisine using local ingredients of amazing variety and quality. The existence of chain restaurants is sparse because residents have grown accustomed to dining on local fare with an experimental flare. Two restaurants that really stood out were Tasty n Sons, a trendy spot with a “hipster-ish” vibe, and Olympic Provisions, Oregon’s first USDA-approved salumeria.

A sampling of charcuterie from Olympic Provisions

Fried egg, cheddar, and chicken biscuit from Tasty n Sons

The flexibility afforded to creating food and going easy on regulations and ordinances led to Portland becoming one of the first cities to embrace the food truck trend that is sweeping the nation. This movement has lead to some serious culinary creativity as well as some curiously compelling trucks rolling down urban hotspots and stopping to serve dishes ranging from Korean Tacos to cake pops.

Some of the most spectacular parts of the city are also the most understated. The neighborhood known as Ladd’s Addition features historic houses of all types that are arranged on a series of formally organized streets punctuated by a central green space/garden and four amazing rose gardens. The city is often referred to as “Rose City” which is evident by how well the different varieties of the flower are able to grow. In a city like St. Louis, this neighborhood would be a spectacle of sorts, but the people of Portland see it as just another part of the city, almost taking its uniqueness and beauty for granted.

One of the rose gardens in Ladd's Addition

Even with the laid back culture, the new architecture, food, and art scene of the city are well refined and cutting edge. Many of the new apartment buildings, either recently or still under construction, are excellently designed or rival some of the other top design spots in the world, partly because the city seems relaxed enough to allow experimentation and concerned enough to not allow bad work to dominate. The combination of a laid back lifestyle, terrific urban planning, a gorgeous climate, and an abundance of agriculture make Portland an inspirational hotspot for designers and creatives of all disciplines. 

The New American Pioneer

Back in the early days of this country, one of the best ways to start a new life and make a name for yourself was to pack up the few belongings you had and move your family out to the vast frontier of America. The land was cheap to settle and there was plenty of it for everybody to carve out their section of the American Dream.

Today there is a need for a new type of American pioneer. We have settled and developed enough of the hospitable regions of the land but have neglected urban and suburban areas in the Rust Belt that have been economically devastated by the departure of large industries and manufacturing jobs.  These once bustling centers of commerce have transformed into neglected and sometimes even dangerous areas that seem to have little hope in sight.

But giving up hope is not a part of what makes this country great. As I type this blog post there are concerned activists trying to get downtrodden communities back on track all across America. John Fetterman, the mayor of the once prosperous steel town Braddock, PA, is starting a new trend of urban pioneering in order to breathe life back into some of the places the industrial exodus ravaged. 

Throughout his tenure, Fetterman has started projects dedicated to urban renewal, green buildings, greenways, urban agriculture, and other revitalization projects. He is also personally buying property, renovating it, and renting it out at low-rates in order to attract artists, businesses, and potential residents.

Local activists like Fetterman are not the only ones taking notice of the new American frontier.  Major corporations and businesses are using the unbridled spirit of these urban pioneers and creating brand awareness not only for themselves, but    Levis has recently had marketing success using Braddock, PA in an ad campaign by Wieden + Kennedy titled “Back to Work” which features residents optimistically renovating abandoned buildings and starting urban gardens. The spots seem to have worked positively for Braddock, as the town received a $1.5 million contract with Levi-Strauss and has been used to for film-production marketing purposes.  

Blue-Collar workers aren’t the only pioneers claiming a piece of the urban frontier, a start-up in Detroit called Loveland Technologies owned by Jerry Paffendorf is building online maps and mobile apps which let residents of the city know who owns what property in the city. This is an important tool for residents who wish to develop in urban Detroit, where over 1/3 of properties are vacant. Paffendorf hopes to ignite the pioneer spirit and reinvigorate the former automobile capitol of the world.

This year’s edition of the MLB Postseason featured two teams whose cities are steady placeholders in the American Rust Belt, Detroit and Baltimore. Sports fans always love a good underdog story and the Tigers and Orioles, two teams in relatively smaller media markets, made a run towards the annual Fall Classic and bringing in much needed revenue and excitement into their respective cities. It also doesn’t hurt that TBS used “We Take Care of Our Own” by Bruce Springsteen in their promo packages. 

Will it take hard work? Yes. Will these areas be redeveloped overnight? No. Can these struggling communities persevere and overcome economic hardship? Yes. The pioneer spirit lives deep within the collective unconscious of all Americans and the time has come for it to reemerge in a big way.

21st Century Schools

Do you remember the structural design of your elementary school? How about the interior of your high school English classroom? If you can actually remember back that far, there's a good chance rigid desks, blinding fluorescents, and immobile chalkboards occupy a better part of your educational memory. While these memories might be the iconic symbols of K-12 education, they don't necessarily help out our modern students.

Six Principles of 21st Century School Curriculum

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers analyzed the designs of past school buildings and came to the conclusion that they simply do not foster an environment conducive to modern learning. A recent article from the USACE explains how evidence-based design improves student performance and how they are working with the DoDEA to implement a new approach to education design which will produce more productive learning environments known as 21st Century Schools.
 
These schools are designed to help students and teachers work together on projects, learn at a personalized pace, and strive towards real results that can be applied to lessons well outside of the classroom. Together with the USACE and other A/E/C firms around the country, Oculus is working on several projects which will help bring more 21st Century schools into the American education system.


When large schools started to become an institution in American life, they were designed with factory-esque efficiency in mind (no doubt coinciding with other structures of the 19th Century). This often corralled students into small, teacher-centric classrooms which focused on a strict, heavily dictated curriculum. Today's 21st Century School curriculum is designed to focus on students, their academic projects, and learning in a group atmosphere. Traditional schools were simply not designed to handle the current technology, group-oriented, and individualized curriculum that is essential in the development of young, 21st Century minds.


In order to facilitate greater communication between students and teachers, a community style design works better than the traditional blocked off and stuffy classroom model. Instead of isolating the learning experience, 21st Century Design incorporates hubs and communities as spaces which not only allow students to share knowledge in a better group setting, it also allows less experienced instructors to gain valuable career insight and techniques from more experienced members of the staff.

A Community-Style Learning Hub from Oculus' Delalio Elementary Project

Other 21st Century Design elements include plenty of windows for natural lighting, reduced external noise in in hubs and communities with better acoustics, adjustable and mobile furniture, and much improved air circulation. This transformation, as described by the 21st Century School website, helps schools become more than just buildings by making them living, breathing "nerve centers" for knowledge.

One more important aspect of 21st Century Schools is that they all must meet a USGBC LEED Silver Certification. This certification requires that the buildings meet certain environmentally sustainable goals such as using materials that meet low VOC requirements, using rapidly renewable materials and recycled content that is post and pre-consumer, selecting items manufactured within a 500 mile radius, and flooring with a FloorScore certification. Not only do the LEED standards make sure that the building is green, they help teach students about the importance of sustainable living, an important lesson for a well-rounded education.

The USACE article goes on to tell about several schools being developed with the 21st Century Design philosophy, which includes the renovation and addition to West Point Middle School in which Oculus played a large part by providing interior design, Signage & Wayfinding, and Furniture Layout services. Oculus is also working on the comprehensive interior design for two other DoDEA schools, Delalio Elementary in North Carolina and Barkley Elementary in Kentucky, which include more extensive services such as Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment (FF&E) selection and procurement.

A Sample Layout from Barkley Elementary School that separates different neighborhoods and hubs into the different landscapes found across Kentucky

Portland Part 3: Bike Rush Hour in Portland

Portland, Oregon might have struck gold with their formula for public transportation. Instead of relying solely on an interstate system to get people from the suburbs into the city for work, the relatively tight-knit community structure and excellent system of bike paths, light-rail trains, and street cars allow residents to zip around the city more efficiently than in much larger metro areas with greater population levels. 

When trying to go for a jog on the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland, Ron was greeted by an unlikely swarm of cycling commuters during the time of day referred to as “Bike Rush Hour.” Instead of having the streets of the city congested and clogged with cumbersome cars, the bike paths have become the preferred method of transportation for a good portion of Portland’s workers.

Cycling is so popular in the city that 3 weeks before taking the trip, Ron could not find a place to rent a bike. Some cities might have a shortage of rental cars, but it is almost unheard of to have a shortage of rental bikes available for Portland tourism. There are several reasons Portland residents may have broken from the favored transportation method of the rest of the country:

• The city has exceptional urban planning and public facilities
• The use of automobiles is discouraged by fewer traffic lanes and difficult parking situations
• The overall mindset of residents is to break from traditional thinking and embrace the alternative

5 Reasons Why Cycling is Good for the Economy:

Portland has found a way to reduce its automobile traffic while at the same time increase the level of community involvement. This has led to a jumpstart for local businesses and given the area one of the most thriving local scenes in the entire country. If other cities were to follow suit, certain economic possibilities could be realized:

1. People who bike to work spend less money on large institutional expenses such as auto insurance, mechanical maintenance, supporting the auto industry, and oil companies.
2. The money saved by cycling is spent at locally-owned shops, stores, and restaurants along the bike path instead of out of town chains and big box retailers. This leads to more development in a smaller area than retail development and expansion on the outskirts of town.
3. With less room to store items bought at local shops, the number of store visits increase and the average receipt gets multiplied through impulse buys. Studies show that cyclists are better customers because of the fact they visit stores more often.
4. New bike shops open along paths and employ more people. Portland’s bike-related economy  employs 1150 people and is worth an estimated $90 million.
5. Money and resources spent on healthcare related issues such as heart disease, diabetes, and even depression can be dispersed to other areas that need it. Iowa sees $87 million alone each year in health savings due to cyclists.

The Economic Benefits of Cycling across America

Hopping on the highway and heading to the office can usually become an isolating experience, which in turn can lead to dangerous outcomes such as cell phone usage, eating in the car, and road rage. Biking to work can build a better sense of community between people who would normally not get the chance to speak while driving.

Portland Part 2: Portland Swift Chimney

The next installment in our Road Warrior Portland series is about a tradition that some people in the US may find odd, but has been a tradition of residents for years.

Vaux's Swifts at Chapman Elementary

Vaux's Swifts circling around Chapman Elementary

Architecture is the art and science of designing buildings for use by humans. You don't see as many structures designed for deer, bears, or other wildlife because there is not a market for it (unless you work for a zoo, a parks department, or ARC). While it is always important to consider what impact a new building will have on all of the inhabitants of an area, people's needs will always come first because we are the ones with the money. While buildings may be designed for human use, that has never stopped animals from taking up residence.

When Ron's friend was driving him to the event, he had no idea what was going to happen. When they got to the school, it seemed like a concert or outdoor theater event was going to take place, but that didn't happen. Maybe it's because of a lack of professional sports teams, or maybe it's just because of the distinct personalities that make up Portland, but most major cities wouldn't draw a crowd to watch a gathering of birds take shelter in a local elementary school.

In a tradition that only Portland residents could fully comprehend, around the month of September, thousands of people gather on the hill of Chapman Elementary School to watch anywhere between 6,000-15,000 Vaux's Swifts fly around the chimney and nest inside before they migrate south for the colder months. In traditional sustainable Portland fashion, the school finds alternative ways to power the school so heat and exhaust do not leave the chimney and harm the birds.

Attendees sit on a hill and enjoy somewhat of a picnic atmosphere as they watch the birds circle around and eventually roost in the cozy confines of the chimney. Tempers of the crowd usually don't flair except at certain points when the event becomes a true spectator sport as some of the  Swifts become dinner for stalking hawks and other birds of prey. You can clearly tell that the swifts are on the home team as the crowd jeers whenever a larger bird scoops up a tiny Swift.

Portland Part 1: Salvage Design in Portland

Not too long ago company Vice President Ron Reim made a trip to Portland, Oregon to conduct a site visit for one of our VA clients.While conducting business for our clients is always top priority, traveling to different locations always allows for a chance to soak up the local culture and get a taste of what's outside of St. Louis.

The Portland trip offered up so many different stories and experiences that one blog entry could not do justice to the entire week. Over the next couple of days, we will be sharing some of the more interesting and off the beaten path treasures Portland has to offer.


Salvage Design

While Ron was exploring the city of Portland with a friend, whose architectural style would best be summed up as minimalist, Ron came across a house built with an eclectic collection of found and salvaged material that represented an entirely different design philosophy...

The metal on this deck was salvaged from an abandoned paper mill.

Nancy, the owner of this piece of modern art meets folk architecture, is a forensic accountant by day who collects salvaged materials and reuses them in her own home. In order to build safe structures out of her discovered materials, she employs a design/build firm to work out planning issues and get proper permits.

While most people have to worry about silly things like neighbors, mortgages, and subdivision rules and regulations, Nancy is afforded more leniency in her ever evolving art project. Because she owns her own house and isn't concerned with resale value, she doesn't have to answer to anybody. And because she lives in a city that is open to just about every alternative lifestyle choice you can imagine, her house is viewed by neighbors as a part of the community instead of something that is going to drive property values down.

Exterior shot of the deck

Exterior shot of the side of the house

She has such artistic freedom with her home that in one of her blog entries she states that she wants the casual observer to think that her deck is actually a junkyard. In reality, each piece of found or salvaged material plays an integral role not only in making the place come together, but in maintaining sustainability and living by the motto of "Keep Portland Weird."

Her entire design philosophy is based on being mindful of consumption, being sustainable, and remodeling the green way. You can find more information about her hobby on her website Re: Place in PDX.

 

Vintage doors replaced the hollowed core doors that came with the house

A customized railing installed after a nasty spill down the stairs

A good portion of the house is covered with tile fragments

State of Missouri Passes Peer Review Process for Design Professionals

Missouri is now the first state in the nation to provide legal protection to design professionals who take part in peer review processes. Traditionally outside firms have been reluctant to take part in peer reviews for fear of being lumped together in lawsuits and legal matters resulting from projects. With protection for outside firms involved in the process, architects and designers will be able to establish best practices and omit errors in future designs more efficiently.

Ultimately, what this new law allows designers to do is catch more flaws on the front end which in turn speeds up the design process and creates safer buildings. Several other states may soon follow Missouri's example on this piece of legislation:

This bill establishes a peer review process through which design professionals evaluate, maintain, or monitor the quality and utilization of services performed and/or prepare internal lessons learned by a licensed architect, landscape architect, professional land surveyor, or professional engineer. The bill specifies the process and the participants in the process and authorizes immunity from civil liability for each third-party peer reviewer with specified exceptions if the review is performed before each substantial completion of the project. Except for documents related to lessons learned, specified information and materials from the peer review process are subject to discovery, subpoena, or other means of legal compulsion and are admissible in any judicial or administrative action. The provisions of the bill cannot limit the authority of the Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors and Landscape Architects within the Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration to obtain information by subpoena or other authorized process from a peer reviewer or to require disclosure of otherwise confidential information relating to matters and investigations within the jurisdiction of the licensing board. These provisions expire on January 1, 2023, but will continue to apply to peer reviews and lessons learned proceedings performed prior to that date.

The Official PDF of the Bill can be viewed here as well as on the Missouri House of Representatives website.