AIA Seattle: Healthcare Reform and the Impact on Design

In the heated debates about healthcare reform, where does design fit in? Can smart design decrease operational costs? How can digital information sharing allow for improved delivery of service as well as enhanced regional and remote care? Join in a discussion of these and other topics at the annual AIA Seattle/Architecture for Health Panel Medical Design Forum and Building Tour in Everett, Washington, February 10-11, 2011. Architects and facility executives from around the region will learn how design today can anticipate the healthcare facilities of tomorrow. The program also features a case study of Peace Island Hospital, a building tour of the new tower at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, networking, interactive learning, panel debates and audience Q&A. For details and to register, visit http://aiaseattle.org/node/4968.

Deadline for Annual Fees

On December 13, 2010, annual fee invoices were sent to all members, associates and firms. If you or your firm has not received an invoice, please check your e-mail system. If you still cannot find it, please contact Licensing Coordinator Kim Underwood (kunderwood@aibc.ca) or Registration & Licensing Administration Assistant Emily Tyler (etyler@aibc.ca) immediately. Note: Annual fee invoices are due and payable on or before February 1, 2011. To pay your annual fee (with or without the invoice), go to https://aibc.memberpro.net/ssl/main/body.cfm?menu=login and log on to your individual or firm account. Contact Kim or Emily should you have any questions or concerns.

Vancouver Heritage Foundation Granting Programs Deadline

The Vancouver Heritage Foundation offers cash grants for the maintenance, repair, restoration and rehabilitation of heritage houses. These grants provide economic incentive for the maintenance, repair, restoration and rehabilitation of heritage buildings. There are two new granting programs for 2011:

• House Call – cash grant up to $500 to help fund a site visit, consultation and report by an approved heritage consultant to assist building owners in planning for renovation and redevelopment plans.

• Get on the Register – cash grant up to $500 for assistance in the preparation of research and documentation for nominating a building to the City of Vancouver Heritage Register.

In addition, the following established programs are still available:

• True Colours – cash grant of up to $1500 and free paint from Benjamin Moore for the painting of the original exterior cladding of heritage buildings in historic colours.

• Restore It! – a cash grant up to $2000 toward the maintenance, repair, restoration and rehabilitation of original exterior fabric of heritage buildings.

The application deadline for all four granting programs is February 1, and all selected projects must be completed by December 31.  Note: to be eligible for VHF grants, a building must be on, or in the process of being added to, the City of Vancouver’s heritage register. Visit www.vancouverheritagefoundation.org for more information.

 

Call for Poster Presentations: Sustainable Building Challenge

The Sustainable Building Challenge is an international co-operative process promoting innovative sustainable building design and seeking an improved understanding of building performance assessment tools from a national and international perspective. The Sustainable Building Challenge will form a key part of the Seventh World Sustainable Building Conference, taking place in Helsinki, Finland from October 18-21, 2011. The conference organizing team is currently inviting submissions for poster projects to be displayed at this event. Canadian architects, engineers, building owners and commercial developers are invited to submit their most environmentally-advanced project for consideration. To view complete eligibility and submission guidelines, click here (SB11 Canada Call for posters – pdf) . Submissions must be received no later than 4:00 p.m. EDT Friday, January 28, 2011.

 

Wood WORKS! BC 2011 Wood Design Awards

Wood WORKS! BC 2011 Wood Design Awards
Monday March 14, 2011
Vancouver Convention Centre, West

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
Nominations deadline: February 1, 2011

 

The Wood Design Awards bring together people from all sectors to recognize
leadership and innovation in wood use, and celebrate innovative structural
and architectural uses of wood.

Wood WORKS! BC encourages you to consider nominating architects, engineers,
building designers, builders, project owners and others whose efforts and
accomplishments merit recognition.

Categories include:

Architect . Engineer . Green Building . Interior Beauty Design …. see our
website for a full list of categories and nomination requirements.

*Please note that the Wood WORKS! BC awards program accepts self-nominations.  All nominees will be invited to attend the awards
dinner on March 14, 2011.

For information on Wood WORKS! BC 2011 Wood Design Awards, please go online:
www.wood-works.ca or call Lorna Malone at 1 877 929 9663 extension 4.

 

Tsleil-Waututh Nation – RFP Deadline Extended to February 7

The Tsleil-Waututh Nation requests proposals to define the scope of requirements for a new Administration Building within its community campus on its North Vancouver Reserve. To continue reading, please visit here.

 

The Return of Common Sense:How the Great Recession has changed architecture—for the better

By Witold Rybczynski, Slate

January 13, 2011

Five years ago, I wrote an essay for Slate about Mexican architect Enrique Norten. I characterized Norten, whose work I admire, as belonging to the rationalist tradition of Modernism. I also observed that, judging from some of his recent designs, he was succumbing to pressure to produce increasingly unusual and startling buildings more along the lines of the Expressionist anti-rationalism of architects such as Libeskind, Hadid, and Mayne. “It would be a shame if Norten were pulled in this direction,” I wrote. “The theatricality weighs uneasily on his unsentimental and tough brand of minimal modernism.” Well, he was pulled. In the following two years he designed a number of gyrating skyscrapers whose fey whimsy rivaled the anti-rationalists. Thankfully, none were built—the Great Recession saw to that. More … http://www.slate.com/id/2281005/.

 

CSSBI Update: Galvanized Steel Studs

The Canadian Sheet Steel Building Institute advises architects, engineers and specifiers to be aware of the proper application of galvanized steel studs. These studs are a widely used in construction with a long service life assured by the zinc coating (galvanizing). The amount of corrosion protection is dependent on the zinc coating mass, and is selected for the intended application. The industry standard zinc coating for structural studs (axial and wind loading) is Z180 (G60 in Imperial units); the standard for non-structural drywall studs is Z120 (G40). A heavier zinc coating may be warranted for aggressive environments. Before specifying these products, the steel stud manufacture should be contacted about availability and cost. Additional information, including a range of technical publications and guide specifications for all types of cold-formed sheet steel building products, is available through the CSSBI. Visit the web site at www.cssbi.ca.

SweaterLodge Exhibition Explores Architecture With Bottles

By Kevin Griffin, Vancouver Sun

January 12, 2011

Reading from the souvenir brochure, I followed directions and removed my shoes before entering the SweaterLodge at the Museum of Vancouver. On my right was a wall of multicolored two-litre plastic bottles stacked higher than my head that directed me inside. Hanging from the ceiling, the SweaterLodge is a giant sweater made from about 2,500 plastic, two-litre pop bottles – exactly the same kind and almost the same number that are stacked in several spots inside the exhibition space. More … http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/SweaterLodge%20exhibition%20explores%20architecture%20with%20bottles/4099270/story.html.

 

Architecture of the Vancouver 2010 Games

By Jim Sutherland, BCBusiness

January 4, 2011

Report card time! Nine architecture experts review Vancouver 2010’s contributions to the city – and the impression the structures made. More … http://www.bcbusinessonline.ca/bcb/top-stories/2011/01/04/architecture-vancouver-2010-games?utm_source=MagMail&utm_medium=BCBusiness+Newsletter&utm_campaign=BCBusiness+eNewsletter+12Jan2011.

 

 

New Opportunities But Little Recovery: Research reveals the 25 trends with the most substantial impact on architecture and design now and into the near future

By James P. Cramer and Jane Gaboury, DesignIntelligence

January 3, 2011

You remember the Icarus paradox: Your greatest success can lead to your demise. Strengths can seduce you into excesses that cause eventual downfall. Confidence can shift to complacency. However, this paradox also holds that the biggest challenge you face can also become the biggest opportunity. We apply this thinking to the trends in this issue of DesignIntelligence. More … http://www.di.net/articles/archive/new_opportunities_but_little_recovery/.

 

 

Carleton University Introduces B.Eng in Conservation and Sustainability

Carleton University in Ottawa has introduced a new Bachelor of Engineering in Architectural Conservation and Sustainability program, slated to begin in September of 2011. The new interdisciplinary program, created in response to a growing demand, will focus on the restoration of heritage structures, the reuse and retrofit of existing buildings, and the design of new energy-efficient and environmentally friendly buildings. It will offer two areas of specialization; a structural stream and an environmental stream. The program is in keeping with the professional and academic requirements of the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board. Detailed information can be found at http://www2.carleton.ca/engineering-design/.