charlottesville va architects | Hays+Ewing Design Studio

08
Sep
2017

Architects’ Perspectives on the issue of Confederate Statues

Posted by Allison / charlottesville va architects, Robert E Lee statue, unite the right rally

Charlottesville, Virginia was recently visited, or more aptly invaded by, members of nearly fifty different organizations loosely falling under the umbrella of the Alt-Right. The event was called “Unite the Right” and it became a coming-out party for white supremacists. The alleged purpose of the event was to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E Lee. An independent militia came purportedly to ensure the right to free speech. Virginia has an open carry law (including semi-automatics) and instead Second Amendment rights trumped First Amendment — for the weekend, sleepy Charlottesville became a war zone and three people died.

The removal of the statue was first raised by high schooler Zyahna Bryant who in her petition to City Council wrote, “My peers and I feel strongly about the removal of the statue because it makes us feel uncomfortable and it is very offensive.” In the course of debating the fate of the statue, many solutions were put forth, one of which was to create “counter-monuments.” Instead of removing and thereby erasing history, some argued (architects and architectural historians among them) to augment the park with context that would provide historical perspective; the statue would remain but a larger story about slavery and Jim Crow would take Robert E Lee off his high horse, so to speak.

The Charlottesville Alt-Right rally on August 12, 2017 was a coming-out party for white supremacists.

In a recent article in ARCHITECT, Aaron Betsky (Let’s Entomb our Past Evils) promoted this idea. In my opinion, the approach does have merit, or did — before the Unite the Right rally (but, I had wondered whether adding context would lead to vandalism and more pain to those most impacted by the continued reminders of slavery, Jim Crow and ongoing discrimination). Since the recent invasion of the Alt-right, however, the discussion has shifted — I can no longer countenance keeping the statue because to do so would be to stand beside these groups in common cause — an idea wholly repugnant. In fact, for architects to even be debating this point is in itself, hubris. Shouldn’t we really be asking Zyahna Bryant and others who find the statue offensive, what they want?

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13
Oct
2016

In pursuit of happiness – the question of size and architecture

Posted by Allison / charlottesville va architects, energy efficiency, green design, low embodied energy materials, net zero home, not so big house, small houses, sustainable design, Uncategorized

In November of 2014 I wrote about the Not so Big Apartment and of Gary Chang’s clever Swiss army knife style apartment that transforms into 24 different spaces. I admired the inventiveness of Cheng’s project and the notion of living well in a small setting.

The topic of size comes up a lot at architectural conferences. The issue is an important one for obvious reasons – bigger homes require more energy to heat and cool and more energy goes into the construction materials. Clients however aren’t always so interested in the notion of doing with less. That’s not surprising in the US, home to the super-sized Big Mac and it’s cousin the McMansion.

At HEDS we think big, from the perspective of living well, is beside the point –size has very little to do with the qualities that foster a sense of well-being and happiness. Size is what builders promote in the absence of good design. This is size over substance thinking – size is a false prize.

We share our clients’ goal that our designs should contribute to their happiness and well-being. In pursuit of their happiness, we promote more substantive qualities such as homes that bring richness through CLEVER ideas. Other qualities we pursue in our designs: FUN, COMMUNITY at all levels (between siblings, within the family, with neighbors and the larger community), a connection with NATURE, and last but not least, COOL.

In pursuit of COOL: The Exbury Egg by Pad Studio, Spud Group and Stephen Turner.

In pursuit of FUN and COMMUNITY. This kids room has a shared loft. An art wall exhibits the children’s masks. A window between the children’s rooms fosters community between siblings. When small these children held hands between the window and have grown up to be close friends. Woolen Mills House by HEDS.

In Pursuit of Nature: A captured outdoor space brings nature into the daily living for this home’s occupants. The space is used for sitting and dining during the spring, summer and fall. Dogtrot House by HEDS. Photo by Prakash Patel.

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02
Aug
2016

Modern Green Virginia Beach House Tour

Posted by Allison / charlottesville va architects, energy efficiency, green design, low embodied energy materials, low energy solutions, passive solar, passivhaus, sustainable design

Tour of soon-to-be-finished modern green Virginia beach house on August 11th at 6:00 PM. Meet at the Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club (parking lot nearest the clubhouse) at 1052 Cardinal Road, Virginia Beach, VA. Attendance limited. Please RSVP to aewing@hays-ewing.com.

House features:

Superinsulated and designed to meet Passivhaus standards, triple glazed windows, Huber Zip system, FSC certified woods and many other sustainable features. A second floor outdoor covered living space offers a stunning view of Linkhorn Bay. See also Facebook event.

Custom home located in Virginia Beach.

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11
May
2016

Virginia’s Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center in film

Posted by Allison / charlottesville va architects, green design, sustainable design, Uncategorized

Teen filmmaker James Hill documentary showcases the Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center’s green features. It’s great to see the next generation taking on these serious questions.

12
Apr
2016

Virginia Beach House Tour

Posted by Allison / allison ewing, charlottesville va architects, energy efficiency, green design, low embodied energy materials, low energy solutions, passive solar, passivhaus, sustainable design

Announcing a house tour at the soon-to-be completed house on Linkhorn Bay in Virginia Beach. The tour will be postponed date to be determined. We will meet in the parking lot of the Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club at 1052 Cardinal Road, Virginia Beach. Limited attendance. Please RSVP to aewing@hays-ewing.com See more details below.

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26
Oct
2015

Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center of Virginia: Engaging people is key to a building’s success

Posted by Allison / charlottesville va architects, community engagement, energy efficiency, green design, low embodied energy materials, low energy solutions, sustainable design

We design with the philosophy that engaging people in our buildings is key to a project’s success. We think a lot about how to create opportunities for discovery, for collaboration, for a conversation with nature… Take for example, The Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center (LCEC). We designed the roof as an vegetated garden/overlook to the Rivanna River. This is where a visitor first arrives and the roof signals the building’s larger goals: to connect to the Lewis & Clark story, and to engage the visitor with nature. The vegetated roof is to be planted with species gathered by the explorers on their journey west. The overlook, with a replica of a ship in the foreground and the Rivanna in the background, recalls to the visitor that the exploration was carried out by river. The building also teaches about water, how precious it is, how it is the source of life: the roof water is directed to a riverstone channel that flanks the stairs descending to the exhibit space. Water is collected in a basin at the entry below and the visitor crosses a bridge to enter the building – again, references to Lewis & Clark’s river journey as well as modern concerns about the environment and the importance of water quality. The building is designed to achieve LEED Silver, and its many sustainable features are teaching examples for visitors. Best of all though is how active the center is with community activities. The building teaches about the Lewis & Clark’s journey, about nature while serving as an ideal setting for the activities organized by LCEC. It is gratifying to see our goals realized.

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05
Oct
2015

architects and community engagement

Posted by Allison / allison ewing, charlottesville va architects, community engagement, nimby

We believe in win-win solutions. Obstacles can be surmounted with creative thinking and a few skills. One area where architects can make a difference is in the public arena. An example: Using an design skills in 3D modeling, I was able to explore and propose a sewage tunnel that relocated a neighborhood sewage pumping station away from our neighborhood.

Here’s the story:

My neighborhood in Charlottesville, Virginia was faced with the threat of a much enlarged sewage pumping station (we already didn’t like the one we had much less the idea of one 4x it’s size). Engineers were paid to develop alternative options each of which had some impact on someone. No one could agree. The cheapest solution was to target the one in our neighborhood and without agreement, we had no doubt we’d see a new enlarged facility in our midst.

The neighborhood was frustrated with the options presented by engineers. I decided to see if I could find an alternative option. Using a 3D sketch program (SketchUp), I developed a model of the surrounding area and introduced a flat plane at the level of the existing pumping station. With this datum established I could better visualize where the topography might accommodate a relocated station (while not an engineer, I made an educated guess that the new station would likely be at or around the same elevation of the existing one). What I discovered was that local sewage and water authority site was at around the same elevation as the pumping station, separated by a ridge. This was a lightbulb moment – I realized a tunnel might be a viable solution that everyone could embrace.

A neighborhood up in arms can be a powerful force and the tunnel idea might not have found legs but for the energy put forward by the neighborhood — after all, the tunnel was more expensive than enlarging the existing pumping station. The neighborhood’s activism rallied the support of the Charlottesville City Council. The engineers liked the idea. An agreement was reached. Funding was approved.

Last week the tunnel boring machine arrived in our neighborhood having tunneled from the sewage treatment center to our neighborhood. It did take a village and the many skills of its inhabitants contributed to the implementation of a happy solution. Architects do have a unique set of key problem-solving skills and the combination of public engagement combined with creative thinking and visualization skills all contributed to that finding of the win-win solution.

Category: charlottesville va architects