gina2, Author at DesignAlabama | Design Alabama

Downtown Trussville Revitalization Plan

Posted on November 28, 2017 by gina2

Work has begun to create an inviting and walkable environment in Trussville’s downtown area that will transform it into a hub for entertainment, community events and shopping.

Partnering on the Downtown Trussville Revitalization Plan are TurnerBatson Architects and Dix.Hite Partners in Birmingham and the Trussville Downtown Redevelopment Authority.

The plan consists of more than 10 projects in the city’s commercial core. Outdoor spaces will accommodate farmer’s markets, art shows, large concerts, food trucks and special events.

“Our goal is to create a family-friendly environment that can become the heart of this city,” notes TurnerBatson Principal/President Dave Reese. “We will provide for safe and secure parking and improve the traffic within the district so that businesses and restaurants will prosper.”

First phase of the redevelopment plan is focused on the entertainment district, which is set to open late 2018 and will be the stimulus for continuing development.

The entertainment district will include a stage, pavilion, shop and restaurants, along with two breweries. A goal is to attract local businesses under local ownership rather than chains and franchises.

“We will also deliberately design more intimate spaces within the urban fabric to allow visitors to tuck away and enjoy outdoor games, ice cream or a beverage with family and friends,” Reese says.

The plan encompasses a neglected area of the downtown that provides a “fantastic location,” he adds, and the project is progressing because of the visionary leadership of the city and key developers.

“Our intent is to design spaces that feel evolved over time, with common design threads but a feeling of eclecticism. We want to re-purpose materials and buildings where appropriate to craft an area that is uniquely Trussville and will be a regional draw for the state of Alabama.”

Image 1- A pavilion is part of the entertainment district, which will serve as the site of family activities and community events. The entertainment district is set to open late 2018.

Image 2- Though the Downtown Trussville Revitalization Plan consists of 10 projects, the first phase will focus on developing an entertainment district. The revitalization will serve to strengthen the downtown economy while creating an appealing location for community events and other activities.

Image 3- Trussville’s new entertainment district will be a focal point of the downtown and provide a catalyst for future development. The outdoor stage offers an ideal setting for a variety of performances and entertainment.

*Article Written By Jessica Armstrong and Images Courtesy of Turner Batson Architects

South Montgomery Community Plan

Posted on November 28, 2017 by gina2

Now underway is the South Montgomery Community Plan whose purpose is to document South Montgomery’s vision for its future and identify ways to implement that vision.

A community meeting resulted in formulating goals that focus on economic development, youth programs, housing, public safety, land use and zoning, as well as creating a more positive appearance to encourage private investment.

The plan addresses the desire of South Montgomery residents to strengthen the area’s sense of community, conserve its natural areas, preserve its neighborhoods and promote reinvestment in its commercial areas. It also serves to guide the City of Montgomery when considering land use and zoning issues, along with investments in city services and capital improvement projects.

Because the plan is long-term and could take years to complete, it will require involvement by both public and private partners. KPS Group, Inc. is serving as planning consultant.

Says KPS Group Planning Studio Leader Jason Fondren: “The plan covers a lot of ground, and a big part of the first phase is getting the implementation plan together and putting together a communication team.”

Residents of South Montgomery and city officials view the plan not only as a means to making improvements, but also as a preventative measure to stave off any further decline.

The first phase is to make zoning changes to ensure that future decisions will not create an arbitrary development pattern.

Another goal is to provide adequate and diverse supply of housing for all income levels. Existing programs will be integrated into in the plan such as BONDS (Building Our Neighborhoods for Development and Success) to maintain stability in neighborhoods by attracting quality, affordable housing.

Additional principles of the plan are to minimize negative impacts between incompatible land uses and provide interconnectivity between developments. Objectives also include protecting and promoting historic and culturally significant areas, along with recognizing suitable areas for public uses to minimize the impact on residential areas.

Image 1- An aerial photo of the area encompassing the South Montgomery Community Plan, which will make improvements to this part of the city over the course of several years. The first phase will be zoning improvements.

Image 2-A vicinity map of the area to be improved under the South Montgomery Community Plan. Along with making necessary improvements, the plan will also initiate ways to help prevent any further decline to sections of South Montgomery.

Image 3- Depicted here is an overlay of the development/reinvestment concept and the future land-use map for the South Montgomery Community Plan. KPS Group, Inc. is working with the City of Montgomery in the development of this comprehensive and long-term plan.

* Article Written By Jessica Armstrong and Images Courtesy of KPS Group, Inc.

Alabama Workshop[s] Toolkit Selected for Communication Arts Magazine Design Annual

Posted on November 28, 2017 by gina2

“The optimist in me thinks that design is getting more integrated, more competitive and more imperative,” observes Bobby Martin Jr., a juror who selected Alabama Workshop[s] Toolkit as one of entries for Communication Arts Magazine Design 58th Design Annual Competition.

A guide into how craft artisans in Alabama conduct workshops, the Alabama Workshop[s] Toolkit was one of only 151 projects accepted out of 3,877 entries.

Alabama Workshop[s] Toolkit was created by Robert Finkel, associate professor of Auburn University’s Graphic Design in the School of Industrial & Graphic Design, and Sheri Schumacher, associate professor emerita in AU’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture.

“The main objective of designing the AL Workshop[s] Toolkit was to provide insight into how craft artisans and makers in Alabama conduct workshops,” Schumacher explains.

The toolkit will be used to promote a network of Alabama artisans, makers and organizations that offer workshops for craft production.

Its aim is also to encourage the mutual exchange of materials, tools, and information, and provides a resource for building creative economies in Alabama. Located in both rural and urban communities, the network of workshops also promotes cultural craft heritage, innovative cottage industries, along with exemplary handmade works.

Artisans featured in the Alabama Workshop[s] Toolkit work with a variety of materials including textiles, stone, metal, glass, clay and found objects. Their work is recognized regionally and nationally.

Alabama-based stone craftsman, Brooks Barrow, provides a foreword about the value of the workshops. A resource library in the back of the book provides templates for various waivers and forms for artisans to use in their own practice.

Specifications of the publication: 64-pages, 7.125” x 10.25”, 4-Color printing on Newsprint with a Silver metallic letter-pressed printed cover.

The winning projects are featured in the September/October 2017 issue of Communication Arts, which is the largest international trade journal of visual communications.

Image 1- Communication Arts magazine, which has sponsored this annual design competition for 58 years, is the largest international trade journal of visual communications.

Image 2- Featured artisans in the guide work with a wide range of materials such as textiles, stone, metal, glass, clay and found objects. Fabric is another important material which this Alabama artisan uses to create colorful and intricately patterned quilts.

Image 3- The Alabama Workshop[s] Toolkit was created by Robert Finkel, associate professor of Graphic Design in the School of Industrial & Graphic Design, and Sheri Schumacher, associate professor emeriti in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture.

Image 4- The Alabama Workshop[s] Toolkit – a guide that provides insight into how craft artisans in Alabama conduct workshops – is featured in the September/October 2017 issue of Communication Arts. The toolkit was selected in the magazine’s annual competition out of nearly 4,000 entries.

*Article Written By Jessica Armstrong and Images Courtesy of Sheri Schumacher and Robert Finkel

Montgomery’s Kress Building Renovation Nearing Completion

Posted on October 21, 2017 by gina2

Across America during the first half of the 20th century, S.H. Kress & Co. opened department stores that were grand and ornate. Downtown Montgomery’s Kress building is no exception. Built in the late 1920s, it’s the focal point of a dynamic new complex that combines office, retail and residential space.

Design of the $20 million project began in 2014 by Seay Seay & Litchfield in Montgomery. The residential addition on the fourth and fifth floors was completed in September and units are now renting. November is the expected completion date of the commercial portion of the job from the basement through the third floor, says Seay Seay & Litchfield architect Davis Campbell.

The existing portion of the Kress building is about 45,000 square feet, including the residential addition, and the mezzanine level addition and two adjacent buildings make the project a total of 115,000 square feet.

“The two adjacent buildings were necessary to incorporate into the Kress project to meet current life-safety code for egress purposes,” Campbell explains. “This enabled us to locate the stairwells and elevators in the adjacent buildings so as not to disturb the existing decorative main space and existing structure of Kress with those elements. This also allowed the circulation paths inside Kress to become sort of an interior street with commercial space on both sides.”

A primary goal was to retain as many defining elements as possible. These include two neo-classical columns and interior Art Deco decorative plaster pilasters, which Campbell says contain beautiful detail that continues up to the plaster ceiling and beam treatment, which was also restored. The original terrazzo floor on the first level was also preserved.

Brass elevator doors with exceptional Art Deco detail were restored, along with salvaged wooden floors on the original stock room floor, which is now the third floor. The second floor mezzanine level features heart pinewood flooring milled from salvaged wood from the nearby historic Webber building.

Curved glass windows on both the Dexter and Monroe entrances are new, but replicate the original curved windows. A large new canopy installed at the Dexter Avenue entry replicates the original awning that was removed from the building over 50 years ago.

“Any time you work with an existing building there are unforeseen challenges that arise, but this project was particularly difficult due to its size, scope and various occupancy types the owner desired – retail, restaurants, office and residential,” notes Campbell.
Asbestos had to be removed and other harmful aspects such as moisture that come with a building that sat dormant for 30 years. Other problems that needed solving: bringing aspects of the building up to current building code, ensuring required egress for life-safety, adding a ramp for proper ADA access from Monroe Street, which is 5 feet lower than the main entrance off Dexter Avenue.

Structural challenges include adding two floors above the existing structure, creating large openings in west brick façade to enhance the building’s natural light, as well as connect to the City’s Pocket Park project, and finding skilled craftsmen capable of replicating existing plaster details.

Adds Campbell: “One thing that remained a challenge throughout construction was that there probably wasn’t a single straight wall in the original building. When the Kress building was erected in 1929, they built up to the other buildings that surrounded it, so the exterior walls on the east and west sides sort of bow in and out as you go from the south end of the building to the north end. This meant the alignment of structural columns also bowed in and out and created many improvisational moments of design.”

Image 1: Sleek additions such as curving windows are in harmony with the original design of the early 20th century building. The existing Kress building had not a single straight wall, which made the renovation particularly challenging.

Image 2: Kress buildings were known for ornate detailing and embellishments both inside and out. The building’s bronze doors with Art Deco detailing were left intact.

Image 3: This rendering shows what the outside of the Kress Building will do when it is complete.

Article Written By Jessica Armstrong and Images Courtesy of Seay Seay Litchfield

DesignAlabama Partners with Opelika for its first DesignPlace

Posted on October 21, 2017 by gina2

DesignAlabama has started a new program and the City of Opelika is its first participating city. Experts associated with DesignAlabama visit selected communities where they provide assistance with design, planning and community identity.

Design experts demonstrate how to enhance quality of life and community development when the design arts are applied. The program involves intensive meetings where design professionals meet with citizens and city leaders who share their ideas and concerns. Two meetings were held this summer in Opelika and a plan will be designed and implemented based on suggestions from the first meeting.

“We were very excited to work with DesignAlabama,” says Opelika City Planner Matt Mosley. “The City of Opelika was happy to see the early ideas and concepts from the charrette. I’m most interested to see the final concepts, especially in regard to the Pepperell Mill and Village and areas on the edges of downtown.”

On the National Register of Historic Places, the Pepperell Mill and Village is a site containing over 200 properties that were constructed between 1925 and 1940 by the Pepperell Manufacturing Company to provide housing for its Opelika textile mill workers. Downtown Opelika is also on the National Register.

The plan provided by DesignPlace will build on revitalization already in place in Opelika. Through the efforts of Opelika Main Street and other groups, much progress has been made to revitalize the city.

“The value of the DesignPlace program is immeasurable,” says Pam Powers-Smith, president of the Opelika Chamber of Commerce, an agency that is partnering with DesignAlabama on the new program.

“It’s almost like a dream to have that many experts visit and work with you on solutions to problems,” she adds. “In no other setting would you have access to those people all at one time. I thoroughly enjoyed their visit and how we worked together to get through the particular projects that we felt were best to tackle. And I can’t wait to see our end product, because then we have a working product in our hand that can be used when ready.”

Alabama communities that participated in the DesignAlabama Mayors Design Summit are eligible to apply. A committee of design professionals who direct the program make the final selections.

Image 1: One of the most important aspects of DesignPlace is community input, here the design team is participating in one of two community gatherings during their time in Opelika.

Images 2 and 3: Design professionals from many design fields spend time working together with each other and community leaders to create the best ideas for the community.

Image 4: A rendering produced during DesignPlace of the possible re-use of the Coors Building in downtown Opelika

Image 5: A rendering produced during DesignPlace of the possible re-use of the historic Pepperell Mill site.

Article Written By Jessica Armstrong and Images Courtesy of DesignAlabama and Robert Smith (FlipFlopFoto)

UAB Students Participate in 2017 Solar Decathlon

Posted on October 21, 2017 by gina2

In order to survive and offer comfort sustainably, an Alabama house must be designed and built to withstand severe storms and offer relief in the hot, sticky climate in ways that conserve energy.

That’s exactly the type of house that students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have entered in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2017 competition, held this year in Denver.

The creative drive behind Team Alabama’s surviv (AL), as the house is called, is the tornado super outbreak that devastated Birmingham and the surrounding area in 2011. The region’s vernacular architecture and cutting-edge sustainable technology combine to create a house that can survive a storm’s wrath while providing comfort in humid a climate.

Students wrapped the house in an energy-efficient envelope to manage heat and reduce energy needed to cool the indoor air. Also featured are a dehumidification system and a robotic cooler. The orientation and porches also guard against the heat.

A key feature is the composite and steel “strong room” constructed to withstand 250-mile winds. In addition, the design’s “quick permanence” enables the house to be rebuilt fast in the aftermath of a storm.

Other features that address both sustainability and storm protection include thick, double-stud, well-insulated walls, a solar collector to dehumidify indoor air and a heat-reflecting roof. And a wet wall in the middle of the house allows the shower to be used in either of the two bathrooms.

“Many students with different majors were involved in the design, but mostly civil engineering and mechanical engineering students,” explains team faculty advisor Hessam Taherian, an assistant professor in UAB’s School of Engineering. “For architectural design we relied on Williams and Blackstock Architects.”

During the construction phase, most work was done by UAB’s mechanical engineering students with help from UAB Facilities and UAB Sustainability. Students learned a lot by getting involved in the design, including structural calculations, mechanical equipment selection, PV system selection and installation, Taherian adds.

“It was a great practice in team work, and they also learned skills like carpentry, installing insulation, building decks and walls, so many other tasks. After the competition, the house will serve as a model house for energy efficiency in residential buildings and I will continue research on the topic.”

When the surviv (AL) house returns to campus, it will be rebuilt on UAB’s Sustainable Microgrid Demonstration Site.

Image 1: UAB is one of 12 collegiate teams chosen worldwide to participate in the 2017 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon held in Denver this year. The competition challenges student teams to design and build full-size, solar-powered houses. This rendering shows the house designed by the team as it will look at completion.

Image 2: Named surviv (AL), the house is designed for extreme weather conditions and provides a comfortable environment in the South’s warm climate. Among the many technologies built into the house is a safe room with panels made to withstand 250-mph winds. An open ceiling and clerestory windows increase daylight.

Image 3: The target market for UAB’s Solar Decathlon prototype house is any mid-size family or group of people, or a young professional couple earning a combined income of $75,000 a year. Additionally, the house can be adapted for low-cost housing for the elderly and homeless.

Article By Jessica Armstrong and Images Courtesy of UAB Solar Decathlon Team

Multi-use Riverfront Development in Gadsden is Underway

Posted on September 17, 2017 by gina2

As Gadsden’s riverfront development continues to improve and grow, it’s bringing “extraordinary opportunities” to the city, Mayor Sherman Guyton has said of the progress taking place along the Coosa River.

The development – likely to be called “The Venue at Coosa Landing” – is a multi-million dollar, multi-use public/private partnership on a 14-acre lot owned by the City of Gadsden. The project will include event and retail space, restaurants and a new convention center.

The property has nearly 20,000 square feet available for retail and restaurant tenants to lease. And waterfront parcels are available for new, river-facing dining establishments. Spring of 2018 is the targeted completion date.

Large public gatherings such as banquets, trade shows and stage performances will take place in the public space, says Brian DiRusso, senior architect at CCR Architecture and Interiors in Birmingham, who is serving as project architect.

“I was most inspired by the beauty and potential of the adjacent waterfront,” says DiRusso of the project.

Activities planned for the new convention center long took place in historic Convention Hall located downtown. Built in 1935, it has served as a mixed-use facility designed to provide space for a variety of events. DiRusso says the city expressed a need for additional flexible event space.

“This project will effectively act as a replacement for the existing Convention Hall on the other side of the Coosa River,” adds DiRusso, who views the new convention center “as a new start for a vacant property along a major thoroughfare in Gadsden’s heart.”

The Venue at Coosa Landing is an expansion of the riverfront park along the Coosa River adjacent to Coosa Landing, which includes Riverwalk Park with a boardwalk, picnic pavilions, as well as docks and piers for fishing or tying up boats.

“Pedestrian routes around the development will connect to the adjacent Riverwalk at Coosa Landing,” explains DiRusso. “We expect that many events held at the new facility will be associated with use at the waterfront. For instance, boat shows, fishing tournament banquets and other outdoor events that could benefit from indoor gathering spaces.”

Image 1- Pedestrian routes around the new development are planned to connect to the adjacent Riverwalk at Coosa Landing. The Venue project is set to be completed by spring of 2018.

Image 2- The Venue at Coosa Landing will expand Gadsden’s riverfront with a 20,000-square-foot building designed for multiple purposes. The 14-acre site is owned by the City of Gadsden.

*Article By Jessica Armstrong and Images Courtesy of CCR Architecture and Interiors

New Teaching Garden Designed for Auburn University

Posted on September 17, 2017 by gina2

While classroom instruction certainly has its place, students also learn by doing. With that in mind, Auburn University’s College of Agriculture has initiated a project to fund and manage a hands-on teaching garden where students can engage in agricultural fieldwork.

A master plan has been designed by David Hill, founder of Hillworks Landscape and Architecture Studio in Auburn and associate professor in Auburn University’s Graduate Landscape Architecture Program. Preliminary site work has been completed and the garden will be developed in phases.

The 11.3-acre garden is adjacent to the university’s circa 1898 Old Rotation, the oldest continuous cotton experiment in the world and the third oldest field crop experiment on the same site in the United States.

Hill says the goal is to provide an overall armature for the garden, and create well-defined paths and plots. Within that framework, students and their instructors can use each plot as they see fit.

“We’re trying to do a patchwork quilt on the landscape, with each demonstration plot having its own theme,” Hill explains. “It will be an ever-evolving landscape. Students will build a lot of the garden as part of their coursework, and a few semesters later another class might rework it.

Along with teaching, the garden will be used for research and demonstrations. Visitors will be able to learn about the crops, trees and other plantings with informative signs placed along the pathways.

Later phases include a walking and bike trail that will extend from the nearby Donald E. Davis Arboretum and connect to Auburn University’s new performing arts center site that is under construction.

In addition to the garden, the master plan includes greenhouses and a pavilion for classes and outreach programs. The plan also calls for students to grow produce in the greenhouses, which will be served in dining sites through the Auburn University campus.

“It’s very much a dynamic landscape,” Hill adds.

Image 1 -A fruit orchard and space for master gardeners are incorporated into the teaching garden, which will not only benefit current students but also provide a place for the community to enjoy. In addition, tours will be offered to prospective students.

Image 2-Plans call for a variety of plots designed for different functions. These include a medicinal garden, as well as space for turf grass science and field crops.

Image 3- Greenhouses to grow produce for the university’s dining facilities are also part of the overall plan, as are bee hives and a vineya

*Article By Jessica Armstrong and Images Courtesy of Hillworks Landscape and Architecture Studio

Regions Field Latest Attraction is Switchyard on 14th

Posted on September 17, 2017 by gina2

Ballparks are where people go to enjoy spectator sports, but at Regions Field in Birmingham an attraction has been designed to provide an opportunity to actually participate in games.

SwitchYard on 14th is an outdoor venue at Regions Park where visitors can play on a regulation-size bocce court, play ping pong or partake in other outdoor games.

Macknally Land Design and Appleseed Workshop partnered on the design, which includes two early Airstream trailers – one offering gastro-pub food and the other offering a variety of beers and liquors. The “Beerstream” has been designed with a custom draft beer system.

The Airstream serving food dates to 1967 and the one serving drinks is a 1971 model. Silverliner in Irondale gutted the two vintage Airstreams and completely rebuilt them. Their bullet-shaped riveted aluminum was polished to a high sheen that catches the light in the Alabama sun.

The main seating area features a distinctive metal arbor that creates partial shading over the tables. Large perforated metal in a circular shape is suspended from posts over each table. The perforations cast striking shadows on the ground, and at night create an equally dramatic effect.

“They provide a little shade and are aesthetically pleasing,” notes Switchyard on 14th general manager Angela Cagle. “We had them specially designed in Kansas and they are power coated.”

Bistro table and chairs painted in chartreuse green add to the festive feel. More of these brightly colored chairs are by the ping pong tables. Landscaping softens the space and adds a naturalistic, tranquil feel.

“We wanted to provide a relaxed area by the ping pong tables,” adds Cagle.

Switchyard on 14th is now open during the Barons offseason. If no game is in session a ticket is not required to enjoy this outdoor venue. A TV was recently installed for fans to watch the games during the fall football season.

Image 1 -Switchyard on 14th at Regions Field is designed for fun and relaxation. The main seating area features a metal arbor with perforations that create a striking lighting effect at night.

Image 2- Plenty of seating options are offered to encourage visitors to linger and enjoy themselves. Food and drink are served out of two vintage Airstream trailers that were completely refurbished.

* Article By Jessica Armstrong and Images Courtesy of Angela Cagle

Office Environments Redesigned into a “Living Office”

Posted on August 30, 2017 by gina2

Office Environments, a Herman Miller office furniture dealership, has transformed its showroom and workspace in Birmingham’s historic Jemison Flats into a “living office” – a more human-centered approach to the workplace and how people work together.

The “living office” is based on Herman Miller’s approach to creating a more dynamic and less static work environment for both employees and customers who visit the showroom.

Office Environments is the only certified dealer Alabama and northern Florida for Herman Miller, a pioneer of the modern office having established itself as a leader in workplace design over 40 years ago.

“The goal of this project was to create a great experience for customers and a great work environment for our people,” explains Office Environments President Brian McMahon.

McMahon says the result provides “a unique and vibrant space” for employees and at the same time is designed to educate customers about the principles of a “living office.”

Interior designer Rick Edwards of Rick Edwards Design LLC in Holland, Michigan, who has designed a number of Herman Miller showrooms and offices, created an environment for spontaneous interactions.

Get people up and moving rather than anchored to a cubicle, which brings co-workers together to build relationships, brainstorm ideas and be physically active.

“We created a social center in the middle of the plan, along with other places to stop and meet up with people in real time, face-to-face encounters,” Edwards notes.

Employees can no longer eat at their desks, but instead gather in the plaza, or social center, that can seat up to 30. Another way to create an opportunity for interaction was to remove many of the printers and replace them with print centers, which created yet another gathering spot.

Office Environments is housed at the street level of a turn-of-the-20th century masonry building. While some cosmetic work was done to the façade, the extensive work took place inside.

Interior areas that blend the old with the new are particularly striking. The modern, sleek Henry Miller furnishings are a sharp yet pleasing contrast to the exposed brick, tin ceiling, pine flooring and other historic elements left intact.

“I always look for these points of juxtaposition,” Edwards says. “Contrasting the old with the new. Keeping the history of the building and adding to it.”

Image 1: A glassed in meeting room features round tables surrounded by Herman Miller’s popular ergometric chairs.

Image 2: Several work spaces overlook sections of the circa 1900 masonry building’s brick walls, harmoniously bringing together the old and the new. Other original elements of the historic building were also left intact, including the pine floor and tin ceiling.

Image 3: One of many places in the newly renovated office and showroom of Office Environments in Birmingham where employees and customers can interact in style and comfort.

Image 4: Herman Miller sofas, chairs and coffee table create an inviting spot. The bold wall art in warm, primary colors provides a pleasing contrast to the gray walls.

Image 5: Soft lighting provided by modern lamps cast an inviting glow in a seating area. Aesthetics and functionality go hand-in-hand here and in all of Office Environment’s showroom and workplace areas.

*Article By Jessica Armstrong and Images Courtesy of Tommy Daspit and Office Environments