AIA: Demand for design is steady

Architecture firms in July reported rising demand for design services, the American Institute of Architects said.

The Architecture Billings Index was 51.9 in July, the sixth month of an above-50 score, which indicates an increase in billings. But the index was down from 54.2 in June, the AIA said in a press release.

The index reflects the approximate nine to 12-month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending.

The South scored the highest, at 53.8, followed by the Midwest at 53.8, the Northeast at 53.6 and the West at 50.9. The project-inquiries index was 59.5 and the design-contracts index was 56.4.

AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker said the July figures show continued health in construction. “Strong gains in new project work coming into architecture firms points to future growth in design and construction activity over coming quarters.”

ASLA event on security concerns

Tomorrow, the American Society of Landscape Architects will host a program via Facebook Live about security issues in designing public places in view of recent events in Charlottesville, Barcelona and London.

A panel of landscape architects will examine public safety for public, government and institutional properties. Key design goals and challenges will also be discussed, with a focus on how to provide a balance between addressing threats and creating beautiful public spaces.

Panelists are Bernie Alonzo of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol in Seattle, Leonard Hopper of Weintraub Diaz in Nyack, N.Y., and Richard Roark of Olin in Philadelphia. The moderator is Nancy Somerville of the American Society of Landscape Architects in Washington, D.C.

The livestream is from noon to 1 p.m. at http://www.facebook.com/AmericanSocietyofLandscapeArchitects/.

Talks focus on AI and diversity

Microsoft will present two free panel discussions — about ethical issues with artificial intelligence and how to design for diverse groups — on Sept. 15 at Seattle Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave.

The talk called “Humanity-Centered Design: How Ethics Will Change AI” is from 6 to 7 p.m. It will focus on designing artificial intelligence that empowers people and improves the world.

Panelists are Mira Lane of Microsoft, Rob Girling of Artefact, Warren Schramm of Teague, Scott Nazarian of McKinsey & Co., and author Ramez Naam. The moderator is Ruth Kikin-Gil of Microsoft.

The “Inclusion by Design” talk is from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. It will explore whether human diversity can be leveraged to create meaningful experiences for billions of people.

Panelists are Jyoti Shukla of Nordstrom, Oscar Murillo of Microsoft, Jessica Eggert of IncludeGlobal, Surya Vanka of Authentic and Anne Diaz of Airbnb. Moderator is Steve Clayton of Microsoft.

R.S.V.P. at http://tiny.cc/ij96my/. The discussions are part of the 2017 Seattle Design Festival.

Sam Assefa to give free talk Sept. 11

Assefa

Sam Assefa, director of Seattle's Office of Planning & Community Development, will discuss the city's approach to neighborhood planning, issues of density, zoning and land use from 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 11.

Assefa will also talk about impacts of the Housing Affordability & Livability Agenda as recommendations are incorporated into neighborhood upzones across the city.

The free event will be in the Bertha Knight Landes Room of City Hall at 600 Fourth Ave. It was organized by AIA Seattle as part of the 2017 Seattle Design Festival, which runs Sept. 9 – 22 at venues in the city. R.S.V.P. at http://tiny.cc/cjc5my/.

Passive House confab in Seattle

The Passive House Institute US 12th annual North American Passive House Conference is Sept. 27 – Oct. 1 at Motif Hotel at 1415 Fifth Ave. in Seattle.

The theme is “The Path to Zero Source Energy.” The 70 presentations will educate builders, architects, policymakers and energy professionals on methods for achieving resilient and healthy zero net energy buildings, including houses, multifamily, commercial and high-rise.

Cost is $545 for Passive House Alliance US members, and $690 for non-members. Register at http://tiny.cc/msg5my/.

DLR Group buys Staffelbach

DLR Group said it bought Dallas-based interiors firm Staffelbach. The terms were not disclosed.

Staffelbach provides programming, planning, workplace strategy, design, facilities management, move management, and product specification for Fortune 100 clients.

Its 70-person firm will operate as DLR Group|Staffelbach beginning Oct. 2, and join with DLR's Austin and Houston offices to serve clients in Texas.

Staffelbach was founded in 1966 by Swiss-born interior designer Andre Staffelbach, who is in the International Interior Design Hall of Fame. In 1985, he was joined in Dallas by Jo Heinz.

DLR Group provides architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, and building optimization. Among its projects in Texas is Canopy Hotel by Hilton in Dallas. Workplace clients include GEOLOG and USAA.

With Staffelbach, it has a 1,150-person staff.

Exhibit imagines clean urban mobility

A free exhibition on the future of transport, called Futurama Redux, will be at Seattle Central Library at 1000 Fourth Ave. Sept. 8-16 as part of the 2017 Seattle Design Festival.

It is the first U.S. showing of the international traveling exhibition. It was inspired by the Futurama exhibition at the 1939 World's Fair, which predicted (and celebrated) our auto highway, and gasoline-dominated present.

Futurama Redux imagines how we undo the 1939 Futurama paradigm to achieve efficient and clean urban mobility by the Year 2050. It encourages discussion of how Northwest residents might work backwards from a desired 2050 future to guide transportation and land use changes over the coming years.

The exhibit is sponsored by Coltura, a Seattle group that works to accelerate America's transition away from gasoline use, and Smarter Than Car of Beijing and Vienna. It is a think tank dedicated to questions of bicycle urbanism and future urban mobility.

Honor Awards registration underway

Registration is open for the 2017 AIA Seattle Honor Awards for Washington Architecture, which recognize projects designed by architects throughout the state.

The early bird submission deadline is Sept. 20 and final submission is Sept. 27.

For more information, go to http://tiny.cc/egqvmy/.

The Honor Awards gala is at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 13 at Benaroya Hall in Seattle.

Learn about CLT structures Aug. 30

Katerra and the Young Professionals Committee of the Seattle chapter of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat will hold a free program titled “Cross-Laminated Timber 101” at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 30. It will be at Katerra's office, 542 First Ave. S.

Presenters are Hans Erik Blomgren, Jennifer Caldwell and Alec Thomas of Katerra. They will give an overview of CLT, its benefits and drawbacks, why it has become a popular talking point and how is it being accepted by local jurisdictions.

There will be a social hour with food and drinks, and attendees can examine CLT panels in the office. Register at http://tiny.cc/1t11my/.

Otak acquires firm in Colorado

Portland-based Otak said it acquired Loris and Associates, a Superior, Colorado-based civil and structural engineering firm. Financial terms were not released.

Loris was founded in 1988 and has 18 employees. It works with municipal clients on infrastructure, including trails, roads, bridges and site structures, and provides construction management.

Loris will become a division of Otak, an engineering, urban design, architecture, planning and project management firm with over 300 on staff.

In a press release, Otak said Peter Loris and his senior management team will help increase and diversify business in Colorado. They will be based in the Superior office, and collaborate with Otak's Boulder and Denver offices.

Otak said the merger will provide both firms' Colorado clients comprehensive engineering services, and expanded capabilities in planning and design.

MAS has a new board of directors

Marketing Associates of Spokane announced its new 2017/2018 board of directors.

The board is Leslie Hebert of Coffman Engineers, president; Andrea Frye of Vandervert Construction, vice president; Brian Burton of Lydig Construction, treasurer; Brooke Giordano of DCI Engineers, sponsorship chair; Kasey Kuhn of Uptic Studios, special events chair; Katie Holmes of Trindera Engineering, public relations/social media chair; April Smith of GeoEngineers and Stephanie Aden of DCI Engineers, special programs co-chairs; and Terri McRae Garrett of ALSC Architects and Lukas Witkowski of Inland Northwest AGC, membership co-chairs.

Seattle Business ranks OAC No. 2

Seattle Business Magazine ranked OAC Services No. 2 in its 100 Best Companies to Work For in Washington State in the medium-size businesses category, OAC said in a press release.

The Seattle-based construction management, architecture and engineering company said employees rated it exceptional in all categories: performance, communication, training and education, decision-making, rewards and recognition, benefits, leadership, work environment, hiring and retention, and corporate culture.

OAC competed against companies with 40 to 100 employees.

Panel to advise on Kaiser campus plan

The city of Seattle is seeking members for a committee to provide feedback on development plans for Kaiser Permanente Medical Center at 201 16th Ave E. on Capitol Hill.

The goal is to ensure compliance with the master plan, which describes zoning, long range planning and transportation planning.

To be considered, send a letter of interest by Aug. 30 to Maureen Sheehan, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, P.O. Box 94649, Seattle, WA 98124-4649 or to Maureen.Sheehan@seattle.gov. Sheehan is at (206) 684-0302.

Kaiser Permanente acquired Group Health Cooperative on Feb. 1.

New entrance for Bremerton church

Rendering from Miles Yanick & Co. [enlarge]

Miles Yanick & Co. designed a new entrance for the church.

Construction will begin in September on an addition to Bremerton United Methodist Church at 1150 Marine Drive in Bremerton.

Miles Yanick & Co. of Poulsbo designed the new entrance to the church and sanctuary. Construction is expected to be complete in 2018.

The BJC Group is the general contractor and Wnek Engineering is the civil engineer.

In a press release, Miles Yanick & Co. said the church was designed in 1963 by noted church architects Durham, Anderson & Freed. Yanick said it worked with the church building committee to devise an entrance that respects the lines of the original design.

AIA biomimicry program Aug. 17

The AIA Seattle Committee on the Environment will hold a free program on how to apply biomimicry to building design from noon to 1 p.m. Aug. 17 at 1010 Western Ave. in Seattle.

Biomimicry involves understanding how organisms or ecosystems solve their challenges, and translating those strategies into design language to make buildings, materials and products more sustainable.

The speakers are Jennifer Barnes of 55-5 Consulting, Alexandra Ramsden of Rushing and Rachael Meyer of Weber Thompson. R.S.V.P. at http://tiny.cc/pwkomy/.

Get a preview of the design festival

Design in Public will offer a free Sneak Peek of the 2017 Seattle Design Festival schedule from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 15 at 1010 Western Ave. in Seattle.

The seventh annual festival runs Sept. 9-22 at the Center for Architecture & Design and other venues in the city. It is presented by Design in Public, an initiative of AIA Seattle, in collaboration with community organizations

Organizers will talk about events at the festival and some of the installations, and discuss the festival's theme, which is “Power.”

Register at http://tiny.cc/a0cpmy/.

SDA: Webinar on managing email

Thompson

Carrie Thompson of Studio Meng Strazzara will host a roundtable webinar on email management from noon to 1 p.m. Aug. 17.

The Seattle chapter of the Society for Design Administration is sponsoring the program.

Thompson will share time-saving tips and tricks for using Outlook that she has picked up over the past two decades, fielding over 50 emails a day. She will talk about how to customize what you see, set up rules for auto-filing and use tools like Quick Parts and Quick Steps.

The webinar is free for members, and $20 for non-members. Register at http://tiny.cc/qo3smy/.

Apply to join the Seattle bike board

The Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board is accepting applications until Friday for new members to advise the city about concerns and needs of the growing bicycling community.

The volunteer board helps implement Seattle's Bicycle Master Plan. It advises the mayor and city council, participates in planning and project development, evaluates policies and makes recommendations to city departments.

To apply, submit a resume and cover letter to Kyle Rowe at kyle.rowe@seattle.gov with “SBAB” in the subject line, or call (206) 684-7639.

Skagit planning board has openings

Skagit County is accepting applications until Aug. 17 for four seats on its planning commission.

The commission advises the Planning and Development Services Department and the Board of County Commissioners on land use plans and regulations in unincorporated Skagit County.

Applicants must live in districts 1 or 3. For more details, go to http://tiny.cc/z6ztmy/.

Apply to the Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners at commissioners@co.skagit.wa.us or at 1800 Continental Place, Suite 100, Mount Vernon, WA 98273.

Business good for landscape architects

Billable hours at landscape architecture firms rose in the second quarter of this year, but inquiries for new work dipped slightly, according to the American Society of Landscape Architects.

ASLA's Business Quarterly survey found 85 percent of firms reported stable to significantly higher billable hours, a jump from 76 percent the previous quarter.

Some 83 percent said inquires for new work were stable to significantly higher, a dip from 85 percent reported the previous quarter.