Best of Houzz 2015
Very pleased to have been awarded Best of Houzz 2015 again this year. If you haven’t checked it out before and have any interest in residential design and decorating you should have a look. It’s a tremendous resource for users and quickly becoming a prime source of leads for new work for professionals.
 |
The Pritzker Prize
It’s nice to be able to get behind a winner of this award for a change……
http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com/works.html
Cayucos Beach House Update
Just submitted this to the County for permit. Looking forward to seeing it built next Spring.
Modern Granny Unit Update
Pretty close to starting construction documents on this one. Made a little video for the client….
Cayucos Beach House
A fun little Cayucos beach house currently on the boards. They have a pretty stunning view from the second level south toward Morro Rock.
Moxie Cafe, Open for Business!
Just went and had my first lunch at the new Moxie Cafe. Still in soft opening mode, but go check it out! The food and service is great, and of course the atmosphere is second to none. 😉 The contractor, Vernon Edwards, did a terrific job on it and I just want also to thank my team including Tim Hart for the structural engineering, Ryan Gromfin for the restaurant consulting, Gardens by Gabriel for the landscape design, and Chris and Denver at BMA. Be Well! Eat Well!
Best of Houzz 2014
 |
Houzz has quickly become one of the central web platforms for home remodeling and design. It is a great place for home design professionals and potential clients to connect, share ideas, and offer advice. I have had several clients find me here, and they can put together “Idea Books” based on the thousands and thousands of images available on the site to help communicate their objectives an dreams.
I am very pleased to have been chosen as on of Houzz’s “Best Of” professionals for 2014.
If you haven’t visited the site and have any interest at all in home design, you may find it very informative and inspirational.
New Custom Home Going up on Huasna Road, Arroyo Grande
It’s always fun to see a new custom home going up, and to just get out of the office for a few minutes and remind myself of what it used to be like working at this end of the field more. Love the sound of skillsaws, framing guns, and the smell of sawdust. Normally this time of year contractors aren’t too enthusiastic about their framing getting wet and having to deal with erosion control measures, but nothing like that this winter. We could use some rain around here.
More Stuff You Probably Didn’t Know Architects Did
Since I spent about 14 years in a previous life as a design/build contractor, this stuff still feels pretty normal to me, but you probably didn’t know that fairly often as an architect I still need to bring a ladder and some tools to a jobsite. I do a lot of addition/remodel and commercial tenant improvement stuff so making sure you are integrating your design into the existing conditions in a rational and accurate (i.e., cost efficient) way is crucial to a successful design. 
This means at least having to pop your head up into attic and crawl spaces to verify the existing structure, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems you are integrating to. It can also mean having to pull various sub panel and other covers off to verify what is and is not available to you in the new design without bringing in upgraded utilites such as electrical, water, and gas which are twice as expensive to retrofit (think digging up streets to tie into already buried utilities) as they are to bring in to a new, previously undeveloped site . It ain’t always, and often surprisingly infrequent, that I am sitting around the office sketching pretty pictures.
