design lines :: seattle

with all the excitment surrounding product runway in the design community in seattle, i couldn’t wait for the big night!  after helping set up during the afternoon it was really exciting to see the naval reserve in south lake union come alive.  after arriving to a line wrapping the sidewalk we knew the excitement was just minutes away.  the hor d’oeuvres and cheese table were delectable along with the “couture coctails” (Skyy Vodka and fluorescent pink juice), the pyramid brewery ales and house wine (all sponsors for the event). 

it really was the fashion event of the year with couture designs by the best interior design & architecture firms in the area!  19 teams showcased their creativity and innovation using interior design materials from the manufacturers they were paired up with back in january.  what types of materials did the teams use?  everything you can imagine from tile, carpet, office systems, panel fabric, lighting, vinyl, wallcovering, upholstery textiles and cabinet facing.

our “team steam” actually completed our design days in advance (shocking for us stereotypical interior designers who thrive on last minute work).   we had a large cheering section from gglo and atlas in attendance and we were having a blast!  to start of the evening emcee glamazonia, the 7′-2″ drag queen dressed in a tight pink dress with hair to match, performed Jimmy James’ “Fashionista” to an ecstatic crowd.  we were all thrilled to have the celebrity judges, and it was pretty obvious the gay boys came out of the woodwork to see the ever gorgeous jack mackenroth from project runway season 4! :)

IDCW members had reserved seating so mark, lisa and i took advantage of that opportunity and sat up close at the end of the runway (also a break from the heels that were killing me).  :)  it was such a thrill to watch each team’s model (also part of the design firm or student member) strut their amazing design down the runway.  we were second in line so it was really nerve-racking to watch the remaining designs come after us!  a few of my favorites:

during the judging interim the models mingled in the crowd so people were able to see the details close up (it was obvious all the hours of work that went into each design).  after all the killer prizes were raffled off the judges returned to announce the top 6.  we were so excited to make the big cut!  each team’s model and 2 representatives from the team went on stage for the Q&A discussions with the judges. 

and then it was down to 3… and team steam was still standing!  3rd place was announced: Callison 2 and Allsteel.  so it was down to the final two teams our entire gglo cheering section was freaking out…  could this really be happening?!?  and what we had been waiting for all night… second place to Collins Woerman 2 and Momentum Group and first place to GGLO and Atlas Carpet Mills.  we were the winners of product runway!  Bassetti and Inscape, Gensler and Tandus, and Sechrist and BINW rounded out the top 6. 

the top 3 teams joined the VIP lake union cruise (boarding just 50 ft from the naval reserve at the new south lake union dock) with the judges and committee members after the show.  we had a few glasses of champagne to toast our big win! :)

more pics from the show and behind the scenes prep.  i can’t wait for next year!

for the past year i’ve been working on the famous ”springbrook” project in our office.  it’s the largest integrated team of architects, interior designers, and landscape architects we’ve ever assembled at gglo (over 40 in total helped in some way).  we’ve laughed that it’s been like having a separate office within an office; you’re either on an employee of gglo or of springbrook. :) it’s been an incredible opportunity to be a part of such a dynamic team, but you have to take the bad with the good on large projects that have fast track schedules.  :)  i was hoping to blog more during the process, but with such a high profile project and intense schedule, CDs were done before we actually caught up. :)

the master plan for springbrook is extensive with 450 acres of land in newberg, OR (20 miles SW of portland down hwy 99) being developed into new residential and commercial lots, as well as the hospitality and village (gglo was awarded the inn & village in the winter of ‘06). looking back over this year-long design process, i’ll start with a few of the positives from my perspective.  after 6 years of designing mainly multi-family projects, i was extremely excited about working on my first hospitality project.  also a big plus on this project was that it was new construction, which is always exciting because the design is more flexible starting from scratch.  we have 32 acres of land for the 85-guest room hotel, conference center, restaurant & spa.  our arch team presented many different building site plans over the first few months ranging from smaller separate buildings to having all the spaces in a combined building.  after meeting with the client and multiple consultants (hotel, spa, etc.) the overall site plan was finalized in late spring of ‘07 and it was decided that the one-building approach was the direction we were headed. 

the design of the building features that of the timeless northwest contemporary movement: wood, metal, glass and stone.  the overall concept for the inn & spa is a “feast of the senses”.  during the groundbreaking ceremony in October ‘07, Carol talked about the interiors:

GGLO interior design principal Carol Schaefer said she was inspired by the area’s natural surroundings in creating a color palette that draws on the rich farmland legacy and the earthy colors of the nearby wooded hills and vineyards—lichen, bark, berry, pear, beet and squash.

another positive was the integrated design team, which led to easily integrating the interior and exterior through materials and design concepts.  it’s always a dream to work with such a high-end budget and over 15 consultants, every specialty you can imagine from hotel consultant, lighting, spa, and acoustics.  the allison inn & spa is slated to be a LEED certified project so that has been a great process.

i’ll try not to elaborate too much on the downsides, but there will always be a few on a year-long design process.  this was a revit pilot project for our office.  revit is a BIM (building information modeling) program, which basically means that we’re designing in 3D and the plans and sections are just “slices” of the building model.  a huge benefit of revit is that everything in the “model” is connected, so making sure all the views are “updated” isn’t a problem since everyone is working on the same file in “real time”.  if someone updates a wall or window, the next time you “save to central”, you’ll see the changes.  since we’re all working in the same file, the downside is that the team coordination compared to a standard AutoCad project is much greater (bonus is that there IS coordination on every component of the building).  we had training, but throughout most of the project we were learning everyday the benefits and downsides to using revit.  with over 15 people working in one file, we always had surprises (deleted ceilings, random sections popping up in every elevation, grid lines moving) and the gremlins towards the end of the project were out in strong force!  attempting to do a fast-track project like this in revit, was a crazy decision, but i don’t think we could have pulled off the drawing coordination if we hadn’t have done it in revit.  i think one of the hardest things for me in using revit is that it was hard to predict how long a task would take us, whereas after working in cad for over 8 years I knew how to manage the work schedule.  sometimes the easiest thing would take 3-4 times longer than you thought (then the hard things would take 1/4 of what you thought), and we couldn’t predict the implications of moving or hiding elements in views.  with our integrated design team, another coordination issue was the updates we wanted to get into revit during the week were not always on the same level of importance for the arch team.  in the end, we did an amazing job of coordinating throughout the design process.

we really needed to double our interiors staff from the beginning, (it was only lindsey, carol & i for the first 6 months) but during the last two months we grew to 8 which helped dramatically.  the fast-track schedule was one of the biggest challenges along with the monthly meeting deadlines.  we would design for 2 weeks, then prepare for the client meeting during the next two weeks.  our core team at gglo had quite a few first-timers in both hospitality and with the firm (including myself) so we had a slight learning curve to deal with along with the fast pace.   this was also the first hospitality project for the client, but carol, james, alan and mark did an incredible job walking the clients and consultants through the design process. 

last friday marked the end of the project for most of the team with CDs wrapping up.  it was a little anti-climatic for interiors as we have another big milestone at the end of may.  lindsey, carol and oya are still hard at work finishing up the FF&E specs and custom furniture detailing.  i will be working half time on CA through the end of construction next summer ‘09.  even after working on this project for the past year, i’m remaining optimistic about doing CA.  i’ve always enjoyed construct admin; following the design throughout construction and i do enjoy problem solving, which is the biggest element to overcome in CA.  we had a very thorough set of drawings so hopefully it won’t be too painful over the next few months! :)  while i’d love to follow up with in depth design images, that will have to come after the project is built. 

i should have posted this months ago, but given that i’ve been slammed with a huge deadline for the past 6 months (that post coming soon), i’m finally catching up on blogging! 

this friday marks the debut of product runway, our big fundraising event of the year for IDCW.  it’s been a year in the planning and Christina and the incredible committee has made this an event you won’t want to miss!  although if you don’t have tickets by now, you better hope that you have good connections, because it’s been sold out for over 2 weeks and the waiting list has over 150.  what is all this talk of product runway?

For the first time in Seattle, leading interior design firms and students will flaunt their creativity by sending couture garments crafted from a diverse range of interior materials and finishes down the runway.  Innovative teams from regional firms will design and construct their creations using everything from carpet to lighting – as they compete for prizes and bragging rights!

Part runway fashion show, part theatrical production and part indulgence for guests, Product Runway promises to be the event of the year and a showcase for the Puget Sound design community.

the amazing creations by all 19 teams will be judged by a stellar list of celebrity judges (and one glammed up host:  Jack Mackenroth: Former Seattleite and competitor on Bravo’s fashion-design show “Project Runway”; Matt Lorenz: Winner of Bravo’s interior design show “Top Design”; angela adams: Furniture, interiors and lifestyle designer; June Rau: Nordstrom fashion director; Glamazonia: Seattle’s best known drag queen emcees the event.  the seattle times featured product runway today with team unison from callison.

i will of course be rooting on my “team steam” from gglo.  we were paired up with atlas carpet mills back in january and our 11 team members have been hard at work creating our couture design out of everything related to carpet (backing, yarn, machine parts, and of course the pre-backed carpet itself).  tina has been keeping an update of the skirt and jacket progress on her blog. 

i’m always interested in finding great multi-functional designs for small spaces.  this modern wall from modelform bed that doubles as a sofa would be great for a studio. 

“in the spirit of conservation, we are simplifying our name.”

looks like their new website will be coming soon…  until then it’s still at the environmental home center.

gglo’s jennifer stormont and bill gaylord were in the spotlight at the trash fashion bash this year.  it is an annual fundraiser for the international sustainability institute, a nonprofit encouraging environmental sustainability.  

we had about 15 of us from the office in the cheering section as bill strutted his stuff down the runway as the headlining model for the event. from seattle times living, where politics and fashion (wink, wink) meet:  

Bill Gaylord, a principal at GGLO, a Seattle-based integrated design firm, worked with GGLO associate Jennifer Stormont for his outfit, dubbed the “Ghost of Christmas Past and Future.” That would be the ghost who didn’t recycle and the ghost who will. Scrooge, are you listening?

Gaylord’s eye-popping pants are a rainbow of used ribbon sewn together with silvery Mylar. Stormont knitted together wires from old Christmas lights for a sleeveless sweater and a turtleneck with flashing lights. They glued used batteries to a pool cue for a walking cane and included plastic disposable water bottles as the base for the fez-shaped headdress adorned with salt and pepper shakers. Materials came from their garage and what they could scrounge up from businesses and friends.

they focused on a great message right before the holidays: give the gift of experience instead of material things that just end up in the landfill a few years down the road (let alone all the wrapping paper and boxes).

Household waste increases more than 25 percent from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, with enough ribbon tossed to tie a bow around the Earth, said event planner Jina Bonime.

from the djc: from trash to flash. (great images - photo above courtesy hiro davis)

after the show, we got to watch friday mile play! great job guys!

enjoy good times shared among people working in, or interested in, environmental and sustainability issues at the november greendrinks.  

new for november: VIP LINE!  those who bring their own mugs, cups, or vessels from which to drink will get a separate line at the beer table - meaning quicker access to Chris and those gorgeous Sierra Nevada beers. Please help us reduce waste - even compostable waste - by bringing your own mugs.  

date:             november 13, tuesday
time:             5:30 - 9pm
hosted by:   flexcar
location:     Seattle Public Theatre
                      7312 W. Greenlake Dr. N (Green Lake)
                      Seattle, Washington 98103

i’ve always wanted to live in an unconvential space.  it stemmed from a school project where we designed a residence in an abandoned gas station.  flipping through the pages of any design magazine i’m always drawn to the spaces that transform the unexpected into amazing spaces.  

i’ve heard about designs using old shipping containers and today i ran across container city, an innovative company that took this idea to a whole new level.  the modular nature of the containers, their adaptability, and the fact that they can be found in industrial surplus make them an ideal prefab material.  now i want to live in a container house!

the original container cities I and II, located at trinity buoy wharf in the london docklands, is an example of a larger scale housing development comprised of recycled shipping containers. it is composed of environmentally friendly work studios and live/work lofts stacked on top of each other to create a 5-story building. what’s particularily interesting about container city is its scale and flexibility.  in addition to being very cost effective container city I is environmentally friendly with over 80% of the building created from recycled material. aside from this container city residential project, the system has been used in projects as diverse as classrooms, office spaces, residential units, retail spaces and even youth centres. 

for the last couple months, our ever-growing team at GGLO has been working on schematic design for a new luxury hotel located in newberg, oregon just 25 miles southwest of portland down hwy-99.    i have been thrilled to be a part of the springbrook design team for the 4-story boutique hotel including 85 guest rooms, conference facility, restaurant and spa.  we’re in the very early stages of design, but what the team has presented to the Austin family so far has been received very well.  this is going to be a project of a lifetime!

just last week we were given unanimous approval from the newberg planning commision to go ahead with the project construction.

“This proposal provides a standard of excellence beyond anything I’ve seen as a member of this commission,” Phil Smith commented on his vote.

The commission’s approval will allow the construction project to begin at once, as conditional use permits do not require the approval of the Newberg City Council. A groundbreaking ceremony is tentatively scheduled for September.

our team has been working very hard to incorporate sustainable elements into the project such as broad thinking about energy consumption, water preservation, the overall materials integrating with the area & landscape, etc.  while we have yet to determine if this will be a LEED project, we’re aiming quite high and the client is very receptive to those ideas.

“We’ve designed it to have great rooms on each floor,” said architect Alan Grainger of Seattle’s GGLO. “The top floor has luxury suites with balconies, the bottom floor opens onto landscaped terraces, the third floor rooms are level with the restaurant and shops, and the second floor level with the spa.”

I will definitely post more about this amazing project as the design process unfolds! 

the first INSIDE green turned out to be a blast so we couldn’t wait to host session two.  please join us at the Gold LEED certified Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center to discover the latest in  sustainable building materials. Alicia Silva is the principal of Synergy Design Studio as well as cofounder of the retail store Greener Lifestyles. bring your questions to this informative and open discussion.  

date:            august 22, wednesday
time:            6pm social,
                     6:30-8pm presentation/discussion

location:     Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center
                      950 NW Carkeek Park Rd
                      Seattle, Washington 98177

admission:  Students $10                           ($15 after 8/15)
                      ASID members $20                 ($25 after 8/15)
                      Non-members/Guests $25    ($30 after 8/15)

register online today!

i ran across this great line of urban art that’s perfect for some of our upcoming hospitality projects, farmboy fine arts inc., based in vancouver BC.

they are an art and design company that develops site-specific artwork and design objects that targets the hospitality, healthcare, casino, and retail environment markets.  the farmboy design approach offers a great selection with fresh contemporary artwork designed specifically for any environment and budget.  their unique concepts of framing and installation definitely set them apart, they can do everything from backlit acrylic, thick translucent panels, solid panels, framing, custom shaped mirrors, canvas, wallpaper & vinyl, aluminum & polyesthylene core (from recycled tires), and 3D medium. 

[via farmboy fine arts website]

since i’m dating a canadian from the prairies and i grew up in the midwest, i love the idea that they’re using their roots as the storyline. 

You guessed it. We actually are farmboys, born and raised in Western Canada in the heart of the Canadian prairies. Our heritage says a lot about who we are as people and how we treat our clients.

i also like they’re innovative FB123 process; choose your image, choose your medium, choose your composition.  i can’t wait to get more info.

released last week from cnet, the record now goes to the Burj Dubai tower in Dubai, UAE.  it’s currently 13 feet above the former record holder, however it’s no where close to being finished.  the final height and number of stories are a secret, according to the official site. 

forget the days of walking down the hallway to the spa at the luxurious hotel you’re staying at, just book the pampering spa room.  from the ny times, The Room as Spa, and Vice Versa. 

[park hyatt dubai]

luxury hotel chains like park hyatt, ritz-carlton and mandarin oriental, along with independent and botique hotels are installing spa rooms.  these pampering rooms offer features like steam showers, saunas and color-therapy tubs, massage tables and even workout equipment. 

“Everything in the rooms supports a healthy lifestyle,” Ms. Sepielli said of the Royal Palms’ new spa villa and six new spa suites, which opened in February and have massage tables, yoga mats and dumbbells. Colored lighting aims to balance chakras, and each evening guests receive a 15-minute neck and shoulder massage, after which the therapist draws a bath or runs the steam shower. Rates for these suites start at $339.

after NeoCon it’s great to see all the new products popping up all over (i wasn’t able to attend, but jenn from our office raced around collecting all the latest & greatest for us)!  i was excited to hear about a great new designer collection from lumicor.  they teamed up with Jhane Barnes, renowned fashion, furniture and textile designer, to make the collection of translucent resin panels.  the best part about lumicor is that they’re located just south of seattle (perfect for our 500 mile radius LEED points) and have a great green story including a closed-loop manufacturing process, sustainable botanicals and a recycling program.

my favorite new product is meander in saffron with it’s great tone and texture! (shown) lumicor’s encapsulated panels can be cut, formed, and framed for use in any horizontal or vertical application including space dividers, furniture, wall coverings, doors, lighting, fixtures, and displays.  if you’re needing a high-performance installation they have 3 options: Lumiform™, offering low flammability ideal for bending applications, Lumiclear™ featuring superior clarity and translucence, and Lumiguard™ ideal for high-touch horizontal surfaces.  

The Grass roots effort is growing up! We have heard how important your profession is to you. We have been the silent group who has been watching and protect your rights. Well…not anymore!

Come see the evolving landscape of interior design professionalism. Learn about plans for the 2008 legislative session. Experience the new face of IDCW. Be Inspired. Become Involved.  Join us tonight for the IDCW website launch.

date:             july 11, wednesday
time:             5:30-8pm
location:      NBBJ rooftop deck 
                      223 Yale Avenue North (across the street from REI)
                      Seattle, WA 98109
register:      online

if you have an interest in sustainability…  and you live in seattle… you should definitely check out greendrinks seattle.  as part of the international greendrinks network, the seattle “greendrinkers” meet on the second tuesday of every month at a rotating location (which of course is always a sponsored by a socially responsible company). 

the goal of the group is pretty simple: good times shared among people working in, or interested in, environmental and sustainability issues.  the greendrinks seattle website also features a forum, upcoming events, classified ads, jobs and even an “i saw u” section (that currently has only 1 post).  :)

date:             july 10, tuesday
time:             starts at 5:30
hosted by:   Newground Social Investment (a great local socially responsible
                      investment firm)
location:     Third Place Books’ Ravenna location on the new outside patio
                      6504 20th Ave. NE
                      Seattle, Washington 98115
         

mithun worked with the lady bird johnson wildflower center to develop this new calculator for embodied CO2 in construction projects. 

Buildings are a major producer of carbon dioxide (CO2), and other greenhouse gases-48 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. The creation of materials used in buildings and the construction process itself also release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As concerns about global warming increase, there is more interest in reducing the “carbon footprint” or total emissions from construction projects.

The new carbon calculator is an important tool because it allows building owners, designers, developers and contractors to compute the total amount of carbon dioxide that will be released by a building project as result of the selection of building materials and the construction process. It also determines the impact of green space and landscaped areas on production of greenhouse gases.

what a great way to think about how a project will affect the planet from day one!

looking for salvaged materials for your next project?  check out second use in south seattle (which takes advantage of its proximity to the landfill).   they salvage approximately 100 tons of building materials each month!

if you’re looking to get rid of materials, they also allow donations to raise money for the puget sound habitat for humanity affiliates. 

hotel chains around the world are big consumers of resources such as power and water, and they’re slowing jumping on the “green bandwagon” to reduce their environmental wasteful ways.   from building design + construction, more hotels are using eco-friendly design, construction to go green; energy efficiency among motivations for change.

it’s been a slow start, but the hotel industry can make a big impact.  there are just 4 U.S. hotels that are LEED certified compared to more than 800 office buildings. 

But that’s changing, especially as green construction costs fall and expertise and material quality rise, says Tom Hicks of Green Building Council, which has 59 applications for U.S. hotel projects, including 7,500 rooms in MGM Mirage’s $7.4 billion CityCenter in Las Vegas, said to be the largest privately financed green building project in the USA.

“You say ‘green,’ and a lot of them think ‘tree hugger,’” Trujillo says. “You say ‘energy-efficient building,’ and they’re very interested.”

California and New York have the most green hotel projects underway, with 14 and 10, respectively.

as the committee chairperson for the ASID WA State Council for Sustainable Interiors, i am excited to announce INSIDE green: One Earth One Design with Sandy Campbell this wednesday.  i should have mentioned it weeks ago, but time has been slipping away too fast. :)  

Sandy Campbell is an interior designer and owner of One Earth One Design and will be hosting at her retail store.  please join us to discover your journey on the road to sustainability, and how to engage your clients into joining with you. bring your questions to this informative and open discussion.

date:            may 23, wednesday
time:            6pm social, 6:30-8pm presentation/discussion
location:      One Earth One Design
                      14300 Greenwood Ave. N., Suite A
                      Seattle, Washington 98133
                      (206) 418-8120

admission:   Students $15
                      ASID members $25
                      Non-members/Guests $35

register online today!