Fall Newsletter 2022

Letter from the president

“Every day is a fire drill.” That’s how my client described their job: pulled in a hundred directions, careening from crisis to crisis, and they were “constantly reinventing the wheel because no one takes the time to capture what we do, or why we did it.” The result, stressful days, constantly putting out fires, with no time to focus or plan ahead. Sound familiar?

These days the AEC industry can feel like a fire drill - for us and our clients. It’s hard to deliver projects on-time and on-budget in the face of unprecedented price increases, staff turnover, and supply chain woes. When we’re stressed, our focus narrows to what’s right in front of us. Spending time on reflection, exploration, or strategic thinking seems like a luxury we can’t afford. It’s easy to forget that being creative requires making time to think differently and access joyful exploration.

As I reflect on the Board’s recent Strategic Planning retreat, I wonder if acting like gardeners instead of fire fighters could help? Each year as summer gives way to fall, my wife and I prepare our yard for spring. We turn leaves and spent summer plants into compost bins to become rich dark soil, over-seed our yard, prepare our raised beds to rest over winter, trim dead branches, and plant new bulbs in the cool earth.

Through long winter nights we’re comforted by the knowledge that in a few short months, green shoots will push into the sunlight. Anticipation turns to celebration as each blossom opens - purple crocus, pale green hellebore, white snowdrop, magenta rosebud, and waves of sunny daffodils. Spring mornings are a miracle, and I’m always thankful we made time in the fall to prepare that gift for our family.

- Shawn Mulligan, AIA NCARB

uva Student health + wellness center tour

Drew Fleming AIA, Associate at VMDO Architects, led our first HSW LU building tour of the University of Virginia’s Student Health and Wellness Center. Designed by VMDO and Duda Paine Architects, the project is a transformational new interdisciplinary facility focused on the emerging paradigm of preventative and holistic healthcare for students at UVA.

The new 240,000 sf building will significantly increase Student Health’s capacity to address new and expanding needs, while integrating student life and healthcare together by introducing students to critical aspects of social, physical, psychological, personal, and environmental wellness. The project brings together all the major campus health departments – General Medicine, Gynecology, Counseling & Psychological Services, Office of Health Promotion, and the Student Disability Access Center – as well as the Kinesiology Department and student wellness spaces.

Fleming explained the design team’s approach to to campus context, space programming, and choices that promote wellbeing including material choices, views and natural light, access to nature, and biophilic design. Also discussed was how staff input informed the design related to student health, privacy, and security.

Thanks to Drew, the VMDO team, and all who came out to make the tour a success!

emerging professionals - Design Build at alloy workshop

Continuing our visits to local design-related businesses and shops, the Emerging Professionals dropped in for lunch at Alloy Workshop to learn how founders Dan Zimmerman AIA and Zach Snider founded and operate an award-winning Design-Build firm.

Zimmerman described his path from an early interest in design and building, through architecture school, to a small firm in Winchester, Virginia (Reader & Scwartz Architects) to a large firm in New York (Murphy Burnham & Buttrick), and returning to Virginia. He learned first-hand that architects need to develop close connections with the builders in the field to realize their design intent. Merging this realization with a desire to make things himself, founding a design-build practice was the logical next step. After evening business classes and meeting the similarly-minded Snider, the pair formed Alloy.

Snider (who leads the build team) and Zimmerman (who leads the design team) fielded questions from the group regarding successes, failures, core values and key lessons learned managing a small business. Alloy team members Bridget Ridenour, Kristin Freese, and Alex Woletz then described their experiences before and after joining Alloy, offering perspective on what drew them to the area and design-build.

Thanks to the entire Alloy squad for an insightful look at what you do and why you do it!

- Blake Walker, AIA

AIA Central Virginia Emerging Professionals meet each month to learn from local creative businesses and non-profits while growing in the practice of architecture. If you, or someone you know, wants to get involved, contact me at: bwalker@dgparchitects.com.

aia VA Membership town hall - at kardinal hall!

This August we were excited to welcome AIA Virginia President Robert Easter FAIA and Interim Executive Vice President Helene Combs Dreiling FAIA on a stop in their Membership Town Hall “listening tour” with all five Virginia components. The weather was warm, drinks were cold, the crowd was excited to be together with AIA CV and Virginia leadership enjoying an array of fresh fruit and tasty (but definitely less healthy) appetizers from Kardinal Hall.

After a brief presentation about AIA CV’s programs and successes, President Easter took the floor to discuss the ways AIA is serves its members, our firms and companies, and the profession. He is eager to connect members and firms with the many resources available - though access to programs, information, training, or the guidance of AIA VA Member Services expert Cathy Guske.

Easter then opened the floor for questions, and members offered feedback on challenges facing their firms, local and state lobbying efforts they’d like AIA to support, and thanks for leadership at the state level.

I’m thankful that AIA Virginia leaders visited Charlottesville, broke bread with our members, and discuss the issues and initiatives they’re focused on. More importantly, I’m glad they heard directly from our members about their needs and concerns, and hope these conversations guide AIA Virginia in the months and years to come.

- Shawn Mulligan, AIA NCarb

aia cv strategic planning retreat

This summer, our board met with Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA, President of The Three Aspens Ltd., to update the strategic plan for AIA Central Virginia. Guided by the feedback you shared in our recent Member Survey, we worked over two days to determine how the component can best serve the profession, with a focus on education, our regional and historical context, and building community.

Your feedback helped us better understand your needs. Most of our members practice in small to medium sized firms, are optimistic about the future, and work in a range of practice areas: designing for residential, interiors, retail and hospitality, education and healthcare, or in academia, historic preservation, and urban planning. We’re glad that most members feel that AIA CV has served you well, and that you see our close personal connections as a strength of the component (we do too!). You also identified places where we can improve- like a desire for more in hybrid events, in-person LU opportunities, events in the Valley, and ways to learn about how our profession and culture are changing.

One of the most important take-aways from our retreat was how fortunate we are. Despite being the smallest component in the state, with a limited budget and all-volunteer board, our members and firms consistently create award-winning work, and they lead the profession at the local, state, and national level. We have two universities with Architecture programs, staffed by experts in education, who nurture students eager to grow and improve the profession. Our task as a board is to connect the opportunity of these resources with you and your team.

We’re excited to share the strategic plan with you when it’s complete. More importantly, we’re eager to align our efforts with your needs and priorities. If you have any feedback on how we’re doing - or what we could do better - please reach out!

Thanks to the Board for their enthusiasm, creativity, and leadership, and to Helene for a wonderful retreat. We are so proud to serve you Central Virginia!

- Shawn Mulligan, AIA NCARB

news and upcoming events - check the aia cv calendar!

AIA Central Virginia

Emerging Professionals - Dalgliesh Gilpin Paxton Architects, THU SEPT 15th, 12:00-1:30pm. Join the Emerging Professionals as they tour Charlottesville firm, Dalgliesh Gilpin Paxton Architects (DGP). For eighty-nine years, DGP has practiced a variety of architectural styles and building types throughout the United States and the Caribbean Islands, specializing in highly-detailed residential, commercial, and historic preservation projects.

Emerging Professionals - ELA discussion at VMDO, THU OCT 13, 12:00-1:00pm. AIA CV Emerging Professionals group will be in VMDO’s main conference room to learn more about the ELA program over lunch. This is an opportunity to hear people’s stories, ask questions, and get to know other awesome EPs in the Charlottesville community. Please join us on Thursday at noon to enjoy all this + free food! More here.

Emerging Professionals - tour Fine Concrete. THU OCT 20, 12:00-1:30pm. Join AIA CV Emerging Professionals for a tour of Fine Concrete in Waynesboro - a design-based fabrication company, specializing in concrete and ultra high performance concrete (UHPC), with over 25 years of complex casting experience and architectural design. More here.

Honors + Design Awards Submissions - DUE FRI OCT 21st, 5:00pm. Central Virginia firms design incredible projects, and are powered by even better people - let us celebrate you and your team’s accomplishments! Nominate a colleague you’re proud to work with, or a project you were excited to work on. Visit our website for all requirements and to submit your entries.

Emerging Leaders in Architecture (ELA) - applications DUE FRI OCT 28th. AIA Virginia’s premier architectural leadership program is accepting applications for the 2023 class. Submit your application to AIA CV by FRI OCT 28th, and the component will nominate one member to participate. Otherwise, submit applications to AIA Virginia by FRI NOV 11th. Program and application information here.

Cville Revit User Group (RUG) presentation, WED NOV 9, 12:30pm – 1:30pm.  Roundtable Workshop: Ask the BIM Experts – Annotation Strategies Series Part 1. Together we will walk through the process of troubleshooting a BIM Detailing and Annotation challenge. This is a great opportunity to develop BIM management skills to implement BIM in any type of AEC firm on any type of project.  Register here.

Honors + Awards Celebration, TUE NOV 15th, 5:30 - 8:30pm at The Space Downtown on Water Street, Charlottesville. Join us for a fantastic party and bi-annual Honors + Design Awards, where we will celebrate the best designs in our region and some of our most accomplished colleagues! More here.

Firm Crawl - JMU + AIA NOMAS, FRI DEC 2nd, 12:00-6:00pm. Student members of JMU and UVA NOMAS chapters will tour local Charlottesville architecture firms on December 2nd. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to learn about the day-to-day work in a firm, and the types of careers available in our region!

JMU + UVA students - contact your NOMAS leaders to participate. Details here.

AIA Virginia

Architecture Exchange East! NOV 2-4 in Richmond VA. Back in person this year! Be the change you want to see in the world. Hear from designers who are (re)building their communities in innovative and impactful ways at Architecture Exchange East this Nov. 2-4, 2022.  More here.

AIA Virginia Design Awards Announced! AIA Virginia is pleased to announce the 2022 Design Awards. From a field of 155 entries, only 16 were selected by the jury for recognition. More here.

Call for Mentors. AIA Virginia needs a few more mentors for Virginia architecture school students this year. Regular large group networking and training will be provided by AIA Virginia on topics like portfolio reviews (students and professionals), interviewing skills, life at a firm, and the path to licensure. Sign up to be a mentor.

AIA National

AIA National ’22 AIA National Convention is being hosted in person in Chicago this September 29 - October 2nd.  The architecture and design event of the year returns to Chicago. With the city as our backdrop, we'll explore architecture's ability to drive new thinking in one of the most design-forward, sustainable cities in the U.S. Welcome back!  More here.

AIA YAF Connection AIA Young Architects Forum (YAF) has a new bi-monthly newsletter, check it out.