On May 1st, the Career & Technology Education Center (C-TEC) of Licking County will hold their groundbreaking ceremony for the much anticipated Net Zero Energy Model Home.
The groundbreaking marks the end of a two year long process of teaching, training and design that included instructors and students from C-TEC as well as design professionals, energy specialists, and building science specialists. M+A Architects is pleased to have been the architect for the project and was given the unique experience of not only designing the project, but also teaching the C-TEC instructors and students about how to build Net-Zero Energy and more sustainable homes.
The Net Zero Energy Model Home will be built by students of C-TEC with the guidance of their instructors and product specialists from key material donors. One of those donors and the main partner for the project is Owens Corning, who provided not only material for the project, but also energy, moisture, and comfort modeling. Using a software called WUFI, the project ran advanced hygrothermal analysis at each step of development.
The Net Zero Home will mark the first of its kind analyzed and designed from both a hygrothermal as well as thermal comfort standpoint.
Please join us for this exciting celebration!
I suppose our profession of architecture is similar to many other careers, in that we have our up and down days, our share of frustrations, long hours, sometimes impossible schedules and deadlines, unattainable goals, the pressures of business, and clients who may not understand the constraints that we often have to work within. But then every once in a while, we are reminded of why we wanted to be Architects!
Such was the case at the dedication of the new Georgian Heights Elementary School for the Columbus City Schools that was held on Feb. 12, 2013.
The building was immaculately set for the dedication. The classrooms were well organized, displaying the proud work of their students. The cafeteria/assembly area had seating and podiums in place for the program. The cafeteria was set with snacks and refreshments for the evening. Principal Rhonda Peeples stood at the main entrance of the school greeting guests as they arrived with her usual cheerfulness. Student volunteers passed out programs and ushered guests to their seats.
As the program began, Ms. Peeples welcomed members of the Columbus City School board, dignitaries, parents, students, staff members and guests to the school. She spoke how the new school building, which has been in operation since late August, has served as a catalyst to heighten the learning experience of the students. She spoke proudly of the new features this school possessed, such as a separate cafeteria/assembly space and a separate gym, which could be opened into one space for such events as this night.
She explained how the abundant natural lighting, organization of space, and flow of the building was just what she had hoped for. Superintendent Dr. Gene Harris spoke of the openness and creative use of space in the school, along with the extended learning spaces that were built off of the classrooms and the exterior learning space, which collectively made this school and excellent example of the direction and opportunities that Columbus City Schools are promoting to encourage and foster education to their students.
The school choir assembled and proudly sang, “We Can Build a City” much to the joy of the parents and guests. Through the introductions, our firm was acknowledged and thanked for our contribution to the new school. Both Nikki Wildman and I were recognized. I wished that Nikki could have been present. She had fostered this project from the programming stage through design, construction documents, and the construction phase, but she was unfortunately out of town on this date.
Afterwards, I was approached by both teachers who work within the school, and parents whose children make this building their home Monday through Friday. They spoke with excitement and pride, and expressed their thanks for such a nice school. Superintendent Davis and Principal Peeples also made time after the presentation to personally meet with me and thank our firm for helping them envision their dream. To see the excitement and the pride that this new school has been able to deliver to the Georgian Heights community, its students, staff and administration was indeed an endearing moment. It is times like these, though seemingly rare, that serves as an affirmation as to why we became architects!
In today’s corporate world, meeting spaces can be a premium commodity; whether a traditional meeting room or a place for a quick touchdown, these spaces are usually being used. Here at M+A we find ourselves frequently needing to have a quick gathering, make a few notes or sketches with our colleagues or clients, and then keep trucking along with our day. So to make the best use of our space we decided to use a product that is becoming more prevalent in the corporate design world.
IdeaPaint was introduced to the design community several years ago; created to be better than traditional dry-erase surfaces which over time yellow, become uncleanable, or “ghost.” The idea for IdeaPaint is that you can use virtually any surface to be able to take notes on and use for a meeting; no longer limiting you to specific spaces or material lengths, and cost effective over markerboards. At first, IdeaPaint only came in white or white. Now, however, you can get the product in various shades of white/cream, black and transparent. All wall surfaces can now be used as a dry-erase surface so that you really can take notes or have a meeting anywhere.
We decided to add IdeaPaint to two of our conference rooms at M+A and to our design library. The conference rooms had previously had corkboards on the walls, to be able to pin up our sketches, but we found that we needed a place to be able to also generate those sketches to the group. So we took the cork areas down and repainted with IdeaPaint. Now the conference rooms can be used even more effectively to capture and discuss ideas that can be drawn, wiped away, or added to. In our design library ideas and concepts flourish, so having a writable / drawing space on the wall has helped extend our ability to come up with our design solutions.
Overall feedback from our team at M+A has been positive about the new way to use our meeting room spaces. Our clients have also enjoyed seeing the product and its application as we talk about how it can help their new spaces. For more information you can visit IdeaPaint’s website at here.
M+A Architects, in collaboration with Miller Valentine Group out of Cincinnati, Ohio and Kleingers Associates Civil Engineers, has been selected as the Architect for a new development in Cincinnati, Ohio. The proposed project called Summit Estates, is designed as Affordable Senior Housing for residents 55 and older and will contain 60 units of varying sizes. 48 units are located in a three-story building with a mixture of one and two-bedroom apartments and the remaining 12 units will be in nearby Villas featuring attached garages.
The development is designed with seniors in mind as it contains many accessibility features throughout which follow the Principles of Universal Design. The term “Universal Design” was coined by architect Ronald Mace and is used to describe the concept of applying features to buildings, products, and environments that would be usable by all. The 7 Principles of Universal Design are published by the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University and include “simple and intuitive” and “equitable use.” The full list of all 7 Principles as well as other information about universal design can be found by visiting NC State’s website.
Summit Estates will also be certified under the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria, a green certification similar to the LEED Rating system published by the US Green Building Council.
For more information about the project visit the facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/SummitEstates?filter=3
M+A Architects is pleased to be the Architect for a proposed 30 unit, scattered site single family home affordable housing project. The project is being developed by Cincinnati-based Miller Valentine Group and is the proposed second phase of the development located in Dayton, Ohio. The homes are being developed utilizing Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) which are awarded by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA).
The project contains many sustainable / green features and will be certified under the Enterprise Green Communities. Some of these features include: an energy efficient envelope; Energy Star appliances, windows, and doors; landscaping using native species; water conserving fixtures; and low-VOC paints and finishes.
For more information about the project visit the facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/RooseveltHomesII
Graduate students from The Ohio State University will be presenting their recent entry into the 2013 ULI/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition at an ULI Columbus event being held at M+A Architects this Thursday, February 7th from 5:30-7pm.
All are invited to see their presentation and support the multidisciplinary student team on their final project entered into this national competition. In addition to networking with the students before the main event, participants will have the opportunity to interact and engage with the team after their presentation to give constructive feedback on their overall strategy and design. The event is free to attend.
The ULI/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition is a national competition for graduate-level students to submit a comprehensive design and development program for a real, large-scale site full of challenges and opportunities. This year, the 11th year ULI has held the competition, the site is located in Minneapolis, MN. The competition is part of ULI’s ongoing effort to raise interest among young people in creating better communities, improving development patterns, and increasing awareness of the need for multidisciplinary solutions to development and design challenges. The winning team receives $50,000 and the finalist teams $10,000 each.
PROGRAM:
5:30 – 6:00 pm – Registration and Networking
6:00 – 6:30 pm – Hines Competition Team Presentation
6:30 – 6:45 pm – Mentor Panel Feedback
6:45 – 7:00 pm – Audience Q&A
M+A is proud to sponsor this event and wishes OSU’s team the best of luck in the competition. See you at the program! To register online click here.
In honor of the big event this weekend that’s almost a national holiday, M+A decided to conduct our own Super Bowl of sorts: The M+A ‘Soup’er Bowl Contest. All employees were invited to make and bring in their best soup. For lunch we all indulged in the contest, eating samples of all 10 soups that were entered. We had potato soup, chicken noodle, butternut squash, something with sausage and sauerkraut among many others.
The start of the 'Game' - Everyone getting their soups from the line-up of crock pots!
The tasting - it was fierce competition!
After every last spoonful was eaten we voted on our favorites and the winners are (drum roll please!):
- The Vince Lom’bowl’di Prize (the winner): Drew Vargo with a delicious Beer Cheese Soup
- The ‘Souper’ Bowl Ring (kept coming back to taste because I could not decide between this and my first pick): Dottie Stamm with her Baked Potato Soup
- The MVS – Most Valuable Soup (the most ‘hearty’): Kate Paskvan with a really great Stew
Congrats to the winners! Although anyone who attended the tastings and judged were winners in and of themselves. It was the perfect cold day for great soup!
Enjoy the big game on Sunday everyone! I know I’ll be watching – especially for the commercials!
As you may have seen on our facebook and twitter pages, on Friday, November 30, M+A Project Architect and Marietta native, Ryan Ware, got to participate in a ceremony representing an historic day in his hometown. The dedication of the new location of the Marietta Municipal Court finally closed the door on a long and tumultuous chapter of the city’s history and celebrated what looks to be a bright future for their Judicial Branch of government. M+A is proud to hear Judge Janet Welch and so many many others proclaim, “We got it right!”
Congrats to all involved with the project – the engineers at Korda Engineering, SMBH, and civil engineers and landscape architects at Stantec!
Did you know?
- Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood?
- More than 44,000 blood donations are needed every day?
- A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 pints of blood?
This coming Thursday – January 24th – M+A will be hosting our Spring Blood Drive with the American Red Cross. It will be held at our office on the third floor of 775 Yard Street, Columbus. All blood types are needed, but the Red Cross currently has an urgent need for blood types B Negative and O Negative.
We only have about 10 slots to fill in the afternoon, so please head to redcross.org and enter sponsor code maarchitects to find our drive. If you need help scheduling, contact Doug Clay at our office. Each donor will also receive a 1 lb package of Dunkin Donuts coffee!
We appreciate your support!
Have you come across the new sections added to Chapter 15 – Roof Assemblies and Roof Top Structures in the newest version of the Ohio Building Code? There are quite a few, and some may be of interest to you. Here are some of the highlights:
Section 1503.4.1: This section provides requirements for determining when secondary roof drainage is to be required. (Previously, it was not decidedly clear.)
Section 1503.4.2: This section provides criteria for sizing and location for scuppers when scuppers are provided as secondary drainage. (Previously, you had to go to supplemental references, such as SMACNA to gain such information.)
Section 1507.2.7.1: This section provides requirements for asphalt shingles to be tested for wind resistance and labeled with the applicable classification. (I recommend that specifications address this section.)
Section 1507.12.3: This section provides installation requirements for ballasted thermoset low slope roofs.
Section 1507.13.3: This section provides installation requirements for ballasted thermoplastic low slope roofs.
Section 1507.16: For roof gardens and landscaped roofs, this section requires roof gardens and landscaped roofs to meet the requirements of Chapter 15 OBC and applicable portions of Chapter 16 (structural loads).
Section 1509.2.2: This section now clarifies that penthouses do not contribute to building area or the number of stories of a building. Furthermore, penthouses are not required to be included in the determination of a fire area.
Section 1509.2.4: This section provides for the use of fire-retardant treated wood for the construction of penthouse enclosures as long as it is consistent with what is allowed for the specific type of construction of the building.
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