The importance of architects
Short summary:
rip off a side of our home, build a new second floor, move a staircase and add a ... There is a history to people deciding they can build a home without an architect, ...
Long summary:
The importance of architects (This article appeared In the October 2006 edition of The HOME Monthly, a Hersam Acorn publication.) Interior Insights The importance of architects By Ann Sample Lineberger Several people have asked me why my husband and I hired an architect to help us remodel our home. I was surprised by the question and even more so by how many people didnt think one was necessary. The answer was obvious to me, but after hearing the question a few times I began to ask why, given that we are not architects, we wouldnt need one. There were two responses. People either assumed that my two-year associate degree in interior design was sufficient to rip off a side of our home, build a new second floor, move a staircase and add a new kitchen and several second-floor bathrooms. The other answer was that a contractor could do the job. As far as we were concerned, there was never a question that an architect had to be involved. We werent just finishing the basement; it was a major renovation with structural issues. Additionally, towns have building restrictions based on proximity to water, roads, neighboring lots, etc. We needed a building variance, and wetland approval, and used our architectural plans to present our case. Last, and equally important to us, was that the completed addition had to look as if it had always been there. We wanted a seamless addition to our antique home, and an architect, in addition to understanding supports, is trained in proportion, scale and historical styles. I have always felt that it is important to hire an architect for a project, be it a renovation or new home, because they will always provide you with a level of design expertise that most builders will not be able to, says Wilton architect Joe Cugno. An architect is trained to handle all different levels of planning to be able to service the client to what ever level they need. As we proceeded with the project, and the walls of the original home were opened up, the contractor and architect found rot and poor building techniques that werent visible while under the wallboard. Our basement ceiling timbers hinted at certain structural problems that needed to be addressed, but the extent of the problems wasnt clear until the project commenced. In the end, our entire house, with the exception of one bathroom had to come down. At that point, the architect was never more necessary, since the contractor had to rebuild what was torn down exactly as it was to not violate our variance. Otherwise, construction would have stopped with half our home torn down. The contractor, who has 40 years building experience, consulted the architect throughout the rebuilding. There is a history to people deciding they can build a home without an architect, as Russell Versace, AIA member and author of Creating the New Old House noted in the magazine New Old House. It dates to the 1950s and the birth of Pennsylvanias Levittown. William Levitt, a developer, introduced mass-produced ...
Source: www.aiact.org
Related
Ductility Design of Foundations of Highway Bridge Abutments, Ductility design of foundations of
abutments against severe earthquakes has
been
newly introduced in the Specifications for
Highway Bridges in Japan. This paper
describes
the summary of the ductility design method
as well as its background. One of the
features
of this method is the adoption of a new
procedure to evaluate seismic active earth
pressure
that is applicable up to high seismic
loads based on the modified Mononobe-Okabe
method.
We also conduct back-analyses of the case
histories of abutments including
foundations
damaged in the past earthquakes following
the ductility design method proposed here.
The
results from the back-analyses confirm the
applicability of the ductility design
method.,
more
Best Practices for Sustainable Development of Micro Hydro Power in Developing Countries, This report synthesises the experience of
micro hydro developments in Sri Lanka,
Peru,
Nepal, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It
attempts to draw out the Best Practice
from this
experience. Micro hydro plants are defined
as having a capacity between 10 kW and
200 kW. The report provides a rigorous
comparative micro economic analysis of
the
cost and financial returns of a sample of
plants across the five countries. It draws
out
the macro economic, financial and other
institutional arrangements that appear
important to the scaling-up of micro hydro
investments.,
more
