For some time now, all we’ve been hearing in the news is about the recession. In fact, Architectural Record devoted its entire last issue to surviving the recession. For those of us living and working in San Antonio though, we really haven’t felt the strain too bad yet. This is especially true for the types [...]

I was able to make an interesting observation last week at a meeting with board members for a new library project I’m working on. When asked to describe in words their vision for the library and then to vote on some visual images, there seemed to be a disconnect between their mouths and their eyes. [...]

On Monday November 24, I took what is hopefully my last Architecture Registration Exam (ARE). Most people I talk to don’t understand what it takes to become an architect so I thought I’d shed some insight for those not in the profession. First of all, let me point out that it’s very difficult to go [...]

It’s hard to believe it was a mere two months ago that I was first learning to use BIM (Building Information Modeling) software. Last week I finished my first project using the software and have a complete set of construction documents made using BIM. During the past few months my opinion of the software hasn’t [...]

I may have spoke too soon when I wrote my blog “Would You Like A Sip?” a month ago. I talked about a new wall system that was doing a lot to conserve energy and aid in stopping the energy crisis. At the time it didn’t seem much was happening in the other areas of [...]

It seems to me that San Antonio has been a little behind the times when it comes to LEED projects compared to other large U.S. cities. That is why I was super excited to see a San Antonio project featured in Green Source magazine this month. The project is a new office building for the [...]

New building materials become available daily and I want to talk about one I think we will soon be seeing a lot more of. Structural insulated panels (SIPs) are a high-performance building panel that can be used for floors, walls and roofs. They consist of a rigid foam plastic insulation core (similar to styrofoam) sandwiched [...]

I’m sure there are many of you like me that have been glued to the TV for the past couple of weeks watching the Olympics. While I’ve reveled in watching Michael Phelps win his eight gold medals and Shawn Johnson and Nastia Luikin take gold and silver in the gymnastics all-around competition, I have also [...]

It’s official. I have entered into the new world of building information modeling (BIM). This has been a hot topic for a while and we all know it’s coming whether we want it to or not. My firm has decided to integrate us on a project basis. We completed our first BIM project, a 450,000-square-foot [...]

Last week I was vacationing in Kansas and stopped by K-State to see first-hand the damage caused by the tornado that hit the campus on June 11. By now most of the upturned trees have been removed, the mangled cars repaired or replaced and the broken window replaced. However, there are still a few reminders [...]