Land part ?!

Alright, we have just about settled on a piece of land! Have a few questions and minor items to resolve, but this puts us on track to build. Been busy drafting, surveying, and meeting with clients to keep the work humming. Unfortunately, a couple projects have also stopped due to financial reasons for funding. Nonetheless, a strong spring bodes well for the summer and completed work.

Updating

I think that I need to go to more photo or image based blog pages so that there is a topic to see. Right now, just busy drafting, meetings, and measuring! There have been great happenings at BHA recently and I am just keeping with the momentum and seeing most of Chester County in the past few weeks.

Vacation Busy

Prepping for a vacation didn't happen this time. The only exception was knowing we were stopping at Fallingwater. An unexpected surpise was while at my mom's house, she contacted a friend that lives in Lynn Hall, a contemporary or predecessor of Fallingwater, tucked away in Northwest PA. Two amazing buildings at the forefront of architecture in three days, both in Western PA. Nonetheless, working, drawing, meetings, family, fun, and more on this trip made it whiz by and not seem like a vacation at all. I enjoy the multi-faceted part of this vacation since I am not that good at doing "nothing."

social media

Is there a way to blend social media, blogging, tweeting, and facebooking with architecture? Should there be screens on the homes showing who has checked in? A directory at the mall showing where your friends are shopping? A pavilion near the Eiffel Tower with digital graffiti showing the people that have been there in the last day or week or month? Is there a way to include technology in another fashion? Showing usage of a space? Thoughts continue...

Spring continues

There is no April Fool's this year. The phone continues to ring or emails continue to be read. Proposals that are sent to prospects are becoming active, not just gathering dust. I was concerned for a while that it was my pricing or approach, but more than likely it was the overall economy and reluctance of people to spend money and invest in their homes. Dormant projects have revived and are a nice bonus to keep me busy and continue to keep clients' satisfaction the number one priority.

Continued Networking

The power of networking seems to be kicking in now that the weather is warmer and people are thinking of work on their homes. Serving on the board for the local soccer league should net a project for a client wanting to stay within the existing footprint. Keeping in touch with people and the continued presence of my cards, emails, t-shirts, hats, and signs is starting to pay dividends. You have to spend money to make money, this is very true!

Re-use

Continuing data from various publications and organizations that track construction continue to show a stronger remodeling market compared to custom or production building. I sincerely hope that this does continue and that the production market takes a back seat for both design and land grabbing reasons. Remodeling existing stock can improve the aesthetic and reduces the amount of farms that are being converted into residential developments. I think that this will make homeowners and architects revisit design decisions and reduce construction waste by renovating what we have already. Time shall tell.