Rotary is celebrating a birthday. This organization founded by Paul Harris on February 23, 1905, is 115 today!! With a core mission of #serviceaboveself, these business leaders in Chicago set out to build a better community. Using their influence and power they used service, the act of reaching out and helping others, and a way to bring business leaders together for the greater good.
Rotary is #serviceaboveself
Locally we have a variety of Rotary Clubs doing good in our community while Rotary international works on their core mission of eradicating Polio worldwide. The 7 pillars of Rotary include Peace and conflict prevention/resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, economic and community development, and sustainability. Rotary is open to everyone to join. Most clubs have weekly meetings including a meal to build community within the club members and have a speaker usually telling us about local organizations or activities. These weekly meetings bring us together and allow us to better know each other and our community.
I encourage you to look at the local Rotary Clubs in your area, each has a different vibe, and find the right fit to magnify your service in your community. Want to visit our breakfast club next Tuesday at 7 a.m.? Just reach out to me and I am happy to have you as my guest.
Happy Birthday Rotary! Thanks to all Rotarians for putting #serviceaboveself.
As an architect, I am trained to think about problems–the things that are not working–and develop solutions to fix them. Design matters, and through design, we can build a better future. This requires trust, hope, faith, and experience. You must learn from your past experiences, and I think you must be very skilled at using empathy. However, empathy is a two-edged sword. As you improve your design skills by increasing your ability to feel what others are feeling, you also open yourself up to feeling deeply the tragic evils that happen in our world.
At times it feels like the evils of the world are overwhelming, and this week was one of those times. When evil strikes your community, impacts your friends, hurts good people, and changes forever a peaceful place, it is hard to take. I am not just talking about the evil that makes national news; I am talking about the little comments you make about others that hurt. I am talking about people who are willing to take advantage of someone who has given them a second chance. I am talking about dishonest, unethical, and evil behaviors that all compound how hard life can be on a daily basis. The little things build into big hurts.
It was a hard week here in the valley for so many people.
Fortunately, these evils are not the majority in our world; they just get amplified as they compound. There is more good in our community than there is bad. There are more honest people who do want to see others succeed than there are people willing to take advantage of others. There are empathetic, compassionate, good people in this community. We need to celebrate them, celebrate joy, hope, and love a little louder and not let the evil get the amplification.
We need to celebrate joy, hope, and love; and what better time to do it than today, tomorrow, and this coming week? I am going to do my best to be optimistic about our future and to focus on the good, please join me.
We highly recommend travelers who frequent Interstate 81 to check out the new Petro Truck stop in Raphine! The expansion and improvements being made here are impressive. This facility will be one of the largest truck stops on the East coast and houses a wide variety of food and shopping options. We teamed up with Nielsen Builders to design the latest renovation and addition which will provide 27,160 square feet of additional retail space.
The existing Iron Skillet restaurant at Petro is being converted into a convenience-type store that will have the largest drink cooler we have ever seen. This destination is the perfect stop for rest and relaxation for travelers, especially for big rig drivers as there will be many options available to customize your truck, take a break, and eat.
The Petro project is being done using a design-build model in partnership with the property owner and Nielsen Builders as the primary contract holder. This construction contract type has many advantages for a complex, industrial-type renovation project, where the facility needs to stay operational during construction. This project requires a high level of coordination between contributors to ensure the unified goals are met. We deliver high levels of coordination through numerous design meetings that bring together civil, electrical, plumbing, architecture, HVAC, and general contractors. The results are a testament to our focus on collaboration from initial concept to completion!
Light, delicate, and open; this modern house brings in warmth and comfort while capturing views across the valley.
Modern architecture is sometimes thought of as being cold due to its use of concrete and minimalization of details. Thus, the desire to create a modern house aesthetic yet warm environment challenged our team to focus on every detail.
Similar to how we approach all of our projects, we worked hard to figure out how our clients wanted to live in this home. Every detail was intentional as we adjusted and moved spaces around to get them “just right” for our clients. The design was influenced by understanding the client’s daily routines, the need to maximize views, and strategic furniture placement. We wanted the house to last a lifetime, so we incorporated aging-in-place strategies and building science knowledge. The details of our team’s carefully planned designs are culminating in a striking home. It has been a privilege to work on this modern architectural project and we are eager to see it finished. Follow along for progress photos of this modern house and see how details make all the difference!
