What It Takes to Place in an International Design Competition - An Inside Look

Recently Farnsworth Group’s design team took First Special Mention (Fourth Place) for a design competition submittal for the Super SkyScrapers Competition - 07 (2015) - Cycling Heaven: Sky Velodrome in Toronto!  Over 150 entries were received.  While the announcement was made in April, the team submitted on February 27, 2015.

Collaboration. Democracy.  Holistic Design.

With collaboration at the forefront, all members of the architectural team were invited to submit preliminary concepts at the outset of the process.  Ten concepts were submitted and a blind voting process identified the overwhelming favorite scheme.  It was selected because it addressed site, scale, urban context and the creative spirit of the competition.  Once the strongest scheme was selected, Greg Straub led the team of Caius Jennison, Nicholas Bruner, Doug Draeger, Rob Kiester, Josh Rucinski, Brian Sulley, Shane Roberson and Kim Spencer.

The competition provided a means for Farnsworth Group’s staff to test interoffice capabilities and strengthen collaboration processes.  The team used new software, varied communication styles, and work-sharing concepts to achieve the final goal.  SKYSADDLE Velodrome was created.

Bringing it all Together

The model was developed in three separate offices, and continuity required constant communication and the blending of ideas that drove the final cohesive design compilation.  Each night, the three independent parts were uploaded to the main model for review and discussion the next day. 

Farnsworth Group’s team learned a considerable amount and triumphed in its first competition.  Next up:  to be determined, but it’s in the works! 

For additional information about the competition, please go to:  

http://www.superskyscrapers.com/viewResultslist.asp?sid=50288

Asset Management for Educational Facilities

Question
Have you ever found yourself wondering when you should replace the roof so that you get the most bang for your buck while making it last as long as possible? Or, have you ever considered when might be the optimal time to address that old, deteriorated masonry wall? Perhaps you have asked yourself: when is the best time to apply a coating to your wood floor in the gymnasium? Moreover, how does one prioritize, plan, coordinate, and budget any number of such projects?

Answer

Asset Management is an engineered approach that determines what facility assets you have, their condition, their performance, and if they are doing what you need them to do at the best cost. It is a strategic approach that creates solutions to address shrinking budgets and rising demands on the built environment. More formally defined, asset management is the systematic and coordinated activity and practice through which an organization optimally manages its physical assets and their associated performance, risks, and expenditures over their life cycle for the purpose of achieving its organizational strategic plan. Due to the fact that there are fewer dollars that organizations have available to renew assets, they must become better at maintaining the assets they have, mitigating risks, and extracting their highest value.

 

How it Works

An Asset Management project is a multi-step process. A group of engineers and/or architects performs a comprehensive organizational needs assessment. This helps the professional team evaluate where a particular organization falls on a maturity scale by looking at the policies, practices, and capabilities while identifying gaps and shortfalls in the overall Asset Management strategy. The figure below summarizes the maturity categories.

 

The next step is to conduct on-site condition evaluations while considering and maintaining goals set forth in master planning strategies. This helps each organization create an inventory of their assets. Each area evaluated is then rated and a roadmap is developed that charts specific actions. Roadmap recommendations may include: training for O & M workforce, facility commissioning and/or retro-commissioning to create maintenance strategies for new and existing facilities, building system monitoring for real-time performance feedback, and/or implementation of a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) and Sustainment Management System (SMS). [Note: A CMMS records, manages, and communicates the day-to-day operations, while a SMS is a decision support tool to forecast the aging of systems to determine best scenarios for investments to prolong remaining service life.] The full breadth of an Asset Management framework that can be provided is illustrated below. 

 

Guiding Concept

Asset Management is the powerful approach to evaluating component degradation while balancing financial inputs for asset maintenance or replacement. It ensures the longest service life and brings the best and highest value to the organization. Every element and aspect of the built environment experiences degradation over time, so it is vital for organizations to know when to apply maintenance to components or when to replace them in order to reduce the impact of degradation to the overall condition of the built environment and the organization itself. To illustrate this point, refer to the graph below. After a component is installed, its degradation is slow at first, but it then accelerates as time progresses. The organization can apply maintenance to the component to extend the lifespan. However, maintenance will only extend the life of the component for a finite amount of time before total rehabilitation or replacement is needed. Asset Management helps map out the best scenario(s) for the most beneficial time(s) to apply maintenance or rehab that align with the organization’s financial capacities and budget capabilities. 

For example, referring again to the figure above, when a roof is installed, it will show little aging for the first 10-15 years as illustrated by the blue line. After that point, the performance of the roof will begin to degrade more rapidly. If a coating or other maintenance strategy is applied to the roof at 15 years from the date of original installation (blue dot), it could extend the life of the roof for another 5-10 years before rehabilitation is needed as demonstrated by the blue-gray line. The green line demonstrates a complete replacement of the roof at year twenty. This model, of course, impacts plans and budgets, creating opportunities to contend with and balance against other degrading components through the built environment.

Next Steps

Would you like to know more information about Asset Management and how it can help you optimize financial inputs? Contact the Asset Management specialists at Farnsworth Group to help map out your Asset Management strategy. Call Scott Burge at 217.352.4169 or email him at sburge@f-w.com.

 

 

 

   

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

From Revit to Project Reviews, Summer Intern Ready for the Real World

Farnsworth Group always looks forward to the opportunity to hire interns for the summer.  It’s an occasion to give these students a chance to apply in the real world what they’ve been learning in the classroom.  Plus, there’s always the chance we might learn a little something new, too!

We asked a few of our summer interns to blog about their experience with us during their summer. 

Tiffany Wernsman attended Southern Illinois University where she obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Studies and just completed her Masters of Architecture from SIU.

It was an absolute pleasure being a part of the Farnsworth Group team! 

At first, I had no idea what I was really getting myself into, but everyone involved in the company played a role in making my transition from student to intern much more comfortable than I could have ever imagined.  Each and every day provided me with an opportunity to learn a new lesson from professionals amongst various disciplines in a unique atmosphere.

The first day of employment I went through basic orientation and later was taken out to lunch with the entire architecture department.  It was in that moment that I learned of the strong relationships and collaborative methods that have been developed amongst my peers at Farnsworth Group.

As the weeks went by, I had the opportunity to get real hands-on experience and took part in a multitude of different projects.  I was given the chance to attend work load projection meetings, monthly center staff meetings, safety training programs, monthly Revit webinars, architecture group meetings, visited project sites, attended lunch and learn sessions, attended a group golf outing, and developed documentation for numerous projects.

These events gave me a real sense of belonging, making me feel like I was part of not only the architectural group, but the entire Farnsworth Group team.  From meeting people who had just begun their careers, to consulting with corporate individuals, project managers, and principals, everyone that I encountered was a pleasure to work with and made me feel at ease.

The very first project that I had in depth involvement in was the Heritage Enterprises Evergreen Senior Living renovation competition.  I had the opportunity to set up existing, demolition, and proposed plans, as well as construct a Revit model, 3D views, and renderings all while collaborating with our Interior Design department.

I really value the learning opportunity that Farnsworth Group has provided me throughout the duration of my summer internship.  Although I am progressing towards the finish line for my time here at Farnsworth, my mentors here have given me the courage and professional advice necessary to succeed in my future endeavors and for that I am extremely grateful to have had this opportunity.

Why Would I Want to Call a Landscape Architect?

Landscape Architects create and shape the outdoor world around all of us. Farnsworth Group boasts that our Landscape Architects create memorable spaces, but how does this process work, and when do you contact a Landscape Architect for your project?

Let’s begin by pretending you are the Director of a Parks and Recreation Department.  You have a large piece of undeveloped land that was previously on the outskirts of town and will soon be surrounded by new residential neighborhoods. You will need to know how to best develop this space for the members of your community, but even more so how to pay for such developments. Call a Landscape Architect to develop a Master Plan- a pretty picture to show the community how the overall space may be developed, and more importantly how it could be developed into future phases. The Landscape Architect will put together a budget that accompanies the Master Plan that you can use to seek grant funding to make this park a realization.

Why Would I Want to Call a Land Surveyor?

We list land surveying as one of our specialties on our website, here’s the low-down on what it is and why you might want it.

Pretend you’re a major mall retail developer and you want to make some changes.  Before you talk to an architect, you’ll want to know exactly what you own and where the property limits are.  You’d want a drawing to summarize these details called a Boundary Survey or perhaps an ALTA Survey.

Now pretend you’re a project manager with the Department of Transportation (DOT) and you’re getting ready to widen a road.  Who do you want on the engineering team – why a land surveyor of course.  Our survey team will go out “shoot” or photograph the entire designated right-of-way, and maybe even “fly” the site to ensure that all sidewalks, interchanges, monuments and signage are in place and located.  If you were a DOT employee, your constituents would want accurate mile markers or road stationing. 

What if you were a Town Planner and you were considering a new water treatment facility.  Well you would certainly want a topographic site survey.  This map would provide ground contours to within a foot, along with spot elevations for accurate design.  Additionally this survey might help you determine utilities owned by the municipality.

Now you’re a school administrator and your school has raised enough money to build a new Sports Facility Storage Shed.  Well, if you haven’t figured it out yet, you’re gonna call a land surveyor.  Why?  Because you’ll need some assistance assessing the best place for the shed on the school grounds so that it will not interfere with any underground or overhead utilities.

And so, you are likely a property owner.  Have you been thinking about building a new fence?  Our team of surveyors could ensure that you are building the fence on your property and make you aware of any recorded easements that may impact the location of where you would like to build your fence.

Ultimately, Land Surveying is the art of location…an important aspect to engineering excellence.

Rethink: What Are Buildings For Anyway?

We have private companies building spacecraft, sexy little electric cars, computers smaller than your favorite book…and yet building control has remained fairly stagnant.  However, current technology inherently has tremendous growth potential for building controls to conserve energy.

Imagine something as simple as an app that tells you when a building is generating more energy than it is using and turns on your EV charger, or other energy using systems.  Now take it to the next step and utilize trend data to predict the energy projection and use for a given day along with estimated energy costs.  That is where we’re heading – integrated project teams leveraging Building Information Modeling (BIM) throughout design and construction phases have helped move the industry towards net zero energy use.

Energy modeling tools and capabilities are bringing us towards efficient performance and proper system designs.  To maximize implementation, water management and ongoing financial incentives are hopefully around the corner.  Rethinking how the end user occupies a building and the role buildings play in each of our lives goes beyond design and gets to the heart of owner and end-user requirements.

Having a true understanding of the end-use allows a design team to maximize the efficiency of the space and energy using components.

The Farnsworth Group team is utilizing the learned skills and latest technologies to create and implement net zero energy goals at Fort Carson, Colorado.  Find out more about the team, goals, and technologies used by visiting our Energy Portfolio.

10 Mistakes to Avoid in School Design

By: Scott Burge, AIA, LEED AP
Senior Architect, Farnsworth Group, Inc.

 Examples of natural lighting, acoustic panels and color selections.  

Anyone who has ever participated in a construction project knows there are always things they wished they would have done differently. They may find themselves reflecting: “If only I had done ... ,” or, “I wish I would have spent more effort considering …”

Budgets and / or time constraints might make this unavoidable, but it is vital to ensure these words aren’t uttered about crucial or large-ticket items. To have a successful school construction project, we suggest avoiding these “Tumultuous 10”:

Mistake #1 - Not carefully evaluating the proposed site.
Sites close to busy intersections, railroad crossings or areas with heavy air traffic can amplify noise issues and the complexities of transporting kids to and from school. Negating the impact of heavy traffic and outside noise sources is extremely advantageous.

Utilize the site to take advantage of inherent benefits, such as natural lighting, air movement or wind blocks, views and utility connections. A gently sloping site usually is best; one that is too flat or too hilly will struggle with drainage, and the expense for cut or fill will become a challenge.

If you are building an addition, ensure that ample room remains for future additions, on-site water detention, parking and athletic fields.