We’ve had a lot to celebrate recently, from a ribbon cutting to graduations to many new people joining our team to a new arrival soon joining the family of one of our team members. This has given our offices chances to celebrate and get to know each other in this transition time of our company. Thank you to everyone who has celebrated these milestones and changes with us.
Below is a glimpse into some of these celebrations.
On Friday, June 2nd, we had a large party at the Chesapeake Western Depot that combined our ribbon cutting ceremony with our monthly First Friday celebration, this time featuring three artists (Veronica, Asha, and the Clymer & Kurtz band)!
Photos of speeches and the Clymer & Kurtz band by Tony DiStefano
At the ceremony, Deborah Smith, Mayor Deanna Reed, Charles Hendricks, Raymond Gaines, and Rockingham County Circuit Court Clerk Chaz Haywood spoke about the importance of community. It really was a community event, and we felt the love and support. Thank you to everyone who came out to join us in this celebration!
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Yesterday we celebrated our team members and their accomplishments: new family additions, graduation from three universities (UVA, JMU, and Liberty), and welcoming the hiring of six new staff members in the past year!
Team Lunch
Site visit to 5|Row Apartments, a project that Paul, Ray, and Adrienne are working on, to see up-close what the process looks like.
We are so excited for all of the additions to the team and perspectives and skills that they bring. There’s surely a lot to celebrate.
Charles Hendricks Named as a Top Architect of 2023
Fixr.com has just unveiled its annual list of 100 Top Architects Influencing the Industry in 2023, celebrating the most influential professionals of the industry today. This exclusive list highlights the architects who have made significant contributions to the industry’s growth as a whole. Fixr.com’s selection process evaluated these experts on their expertise, experience, and the ability to inspire through innovation and growth. These 100 Top Architects have established themselves on both local and national levels with exceptional projects and esteemed reputations.
Being acknowledged as a top Architect is a validation of each expert’s prestige. According to Cristina Miguelez, home remodeling specialist at Fixr.com, “These experts are creating a collaborative and innovative homebuilding process through their knowledge and dedication. Their work is what’s driving the industry forward today.”
Being featured on Fixr.com’s list affirms Charles’ leadership and expertise in the home building industry. This recognition establishes the fact that Charles is a leading force for innovation, which is vital to the continuous growth of construction practices and trends in 2023.
About Charles:
Charles Hendricks and is an architect, Rotarian, and father living in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. He serves the firm as Principal Architect also focused on business development, marketing, sustainability, and building science. He serves the community through a wide range of organizations including the Rotary Club of Rockingham County, Shenandoah Valley Partnership, Explore More Museum, Park View Mennonite Church, Massanutten Technical Center Foundation, Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance Design Committee, and through many other volunteer opportunities. His core believe is that through design we can build a stronger and more vibrant future for all.
Gaines Group Architects is a small firm with a big idea – design can build a better community, enhance livability, reduce construction and operation costs, and protect our environment.
Design matters.
We work hard to understand the best practices in the industry so we can provide our clients with functional, affordable, and beautiful design solutions. We do this through a focus on quality, value, building science, and timeless beauty. Gaines Group Architects is located in Harrisonburg and Charlottesville, Virginia. We serve a wide range of clients from custom homes, renovations, additions, commercial, retail, industrial, ecclesiastical, and non-profits.
Mission statement: Through design we want to build a stronger more vibrant community. We want to design solutions that make positive changes for everyone in our community.
Why we do it: Because we want a better future for our clients, community, and world.
About Fixr.com:
Fixr.com is a home improvement resource specialist with the mission of helping homeowners make better home remodeling decisions. Fixr.com is unrivaled when it comes to providing unbiased, thorough and updated cost guides, price comparisons, and cheat sheets for hundreds of remodeling, installation, and repair projects. When the homeowner is equipped with the necessary knowledge, Fixr.com connects homeowners with the best matched contractors in their area to begin their home improvement projects.
Charles recently joined Beth Bland of Valley Program for Aging Services (VPAS) on the WSVA Early Mornings podcast to talk about Aging in Place. As a certified Aging in Place Specialist since May 2012, Charles has had many years of experience making these considerations, both professionally and through personal experience with family. In the episode, he addresses questions regarding everything from the basics of what Aging in Place is to specifics of what you can do to implement these modifications.
We begin this Aging in Place blog series with definitions and ways to begin, summarized from the episode, and will expand on the process of design implementation in further blog posts.
What is Aging In Place ?
Aging in Place is all about making a home adaptable as we all inevitably age and have abilities that change. Not only is this design approach about aging but it’s designing for a wide range of abilities. This sort of design can be added to your existing home or built into a new one. It doesn’t have to be a large-scale renovation and can be as simple as adding a towel bar to your bathroom that functions dually as a grab bar.
How does this differ from ADA compliant design?
Often ADA design and Aging in Place modifications overlap, but Aging in Place is centered around customizing for you and your experience. It expands beyond simply meeting the bare minimum requirements of basic building codes to creating something unique and beautiful for your day to day life (In another blog, we will discuss the misconception that Aging in Place design can’t be aesthetically pleasing).
Not only is Aging in Place customized around each individual’s physical design needs, but the entire process can be customized around your needs and might include financial, location, and relational considerations.
Why might I need an Aging in Place designed home?
All of us experience changes as we age and simply through life’s ups and downs. When possible, it’s better to plan ahead for life’s variability and unexpected times. Some things you might consider adaptations for are:
balance issues
reduced vision
reduced hearing
decreased mobility
reduced mental capabilities
loss of strength or endurance
The Planning Phase:
What questions should I consider for where to begin?
What are the needs for your specific situation and what might you need in the in the future?
Can your current house be adapted to what your needs will be?
What are you able to do financially?
Do you want to renovate or move to a new house?
Do you have a budget?
Do you live in a location that can support transportation needs changing, such as being near a bus station?
Could a family or nurse live with you in this place?
Who can I talk to in advance to answer these questions and help start the process?
Because Aging in Place is so customizable, not all of these people will be pertinent to you, but these are some options to begin.
Architect: to assess how adaptable your house is
Contractor: for pricing
Professionals for more specific needs:
Occupational Therapist: for specific/personal adaptations
Financial Advisor: to discuss budget
Realtor: if moving location
Making things even easier, we have a wealth of knowledge right here in the Valley with many professionals that are experts on Aging in Place! Here are some places to go for more information on making a home aging friendly
Our blog has more resources and healthier, energy-efficient, and durable design tips, at www.thegainesgroup.com.
VPAS where Charles is invited on occasion to speak on the topic.
Amy Depoy, an licensed occupational therapist at Cardinal Care with over 25 years of experience.
Gaines Group Architects has elevated four new partners to the leadership of the firm: James Halstead, Deborah Smith, Adrienne Stronge, and Paul Tassell. They join Raymond Gaines and Charles Hendricks in the leadership of the firm. Raymond founded the business in 1987 and Charles joined as a partner in 2008. This leadership expansion provides resiliency and stability. Charles says, “This is a huge step forward for the business allowing us to better serve our communities. I am very excited to continue to work with each of our new partners for many years to come. Ray has set up an incredible partnership model for how to do business as friends while serving others. This was an obvious next evolution for the firm.”
About the firm: Gaines Group Architects is a firm that has a commitment to designing for the future. We have assembled a remarkably talented and experienced team of professionals to pull all building elements into a single elegant and functional design. Integrity, budget control, effective and timely communication, and a thorough knowledge of current technology, construction methods, and materials turn our promise and your dream into a delightful reality.
Mission statement: Gaines Group Architects is committed to designing for the future and having a positive impact on the lives of the people who live and work in the communities we serve.
Why we do it: Because we want our clients to have comfortable beautiful healthy spaces to live, play, and work.
Charles has the pleasure of speaking about building science and sustainable design in a variety of venues and to diverse groups of people. His years of experience speaking on these topics has given him an insightful perspective on the future of sustainable design and building. Below, he shares his thoughts on the future and the hope he feels in the progress to be made.
Charles discussing sustainable design to a group at VMRC.
I have been on a “lecture circuit” discussing building science and sustainable design since 2005 when I designed what would become, one of the first LEED Certified homes in the country. Ray Gaines is the architect of record for that project and our entire team was part of the process. As I continue to learn more about sustainability including the economics of climate change, I evolve in the knowledge I am capable to share. However, the building science basics have not changed in all that time. We have seen tremendous progress in what we can achieve in energy efficiency and healthy indoor environments, new products have entered our market to make some things easier, and we have found more and more demand for healthy, energy-efficient, and durable design solutions. The only thing that remains constant is the building science.
One of the key things to understand when talking about sustainable design comes from a phrase I heard many times while attending UVA to study architecture: “We have not learned how to be good, just less bad.” The inherent nature of creating places for us to live, work, play is that we have a negative impact on the environment that existed before we got there. We dig a hole, use chemicals, cut down trees, use valuable resources to create and define a space. Don’t get me wrong, we have come a very long way since I began learning about sustainable design. Our solutions today are tremendously better than what we were doing in 2000 or even in 2005 when we used LEED for Homes to measure our success. We have better products that are softer on the environment. Our buildings are even more energy efficient. We better understand how to minimize our carbon footprint. We know how to better manage site disturbance. However, at the end of the process we are still not creating healthy regenerative environments that benefit the overall environment. Ultimately, we continue being “less bad”.
I think there is certainly hope for a future where we can build regenerative environments to live, work, and play. I see glimpses of it now with clean energy installations, vegetative walls and roofs, and biophilic design strategies. I see our industry moving towards holistic design solutions that acknowledge our contribution to climate change and environmental degradation and a desire to fix our problems. The AIA code of ethics in fact demands that all architects take up this challenge and design better and more holistic solutions. Even the building code minimums that we see numerous buildings built to meet has embraced the need for energy-efficiency to our carbon emissions.
While we have no shortage of challenges ahead, I see many that are rising to meet them. I see architects coming together to figure out best practices and understand building science. There are new products coming to market that embrace a healthier future, some will work, and some will not, but we have to test and experiment to find the right path. I see hope in the generations ahead and their desire to take on these challenges and solve some big problems in new, inclusive, and holistic ways. We are moving in the right direction, slowly, but we are still moving.
As architects and designers, we find ourselves oscillating between a larger, holistic view of design one minute, and then headfirst into the details a moment later. We must be adaptable and open to looking at each project through both lenses individually and simultaneously. I recently sat down with Charles to talk through this concept of how we approach design and asked him a few questions. Follow along below to learn from our conversation.
Charles, what does it mean to you to approach a design holistically?
We get calls all the time with the same question: “how much for you to design a 3 bedroom house in the county?” I see this question as an opportunity to talk about custom design vs new construction. Many homes and even businesses are not designed holistically, they are just drawn to look like a certain style. When we take on a project we want to approach it with more than just the facts (3 bedrooms, 2 bath, kitchen with window above the sink – check). We want to think about how the building sits on the site, frames views, how it performs over time, and how it impacts the environment. A holistic approach to design asks questions about the life the inhabitants want to live in that place and not just the budget, square footage, and the number of bedrooms. We want to not only hit the budget with our designs, but we also want to enhance livability with our custom solutions that are environmentally sensitive, durable, and healthy.
While it is important to think holistically, we know details are what can really set a design apart. How have you trained yourself to approach a design through both lenses?
We are always looking for those special opportunities and challenges to make a project, detail, or design solution unique. As an architect, you are constantly zooming into a small detail and stepping back to see the whole picture. If you don’t you will not be able to think through all the elements that make up a good design solution. It is important to keep the overall goals in mind even when working on the very small details so that everything is coordinated in the end.
Do you prefer to spend your time on the details of a design, or are you a larger-picture/holistic thinker?
I have done both over my career, but where I am at now, I deal with the holistic a lot more. I have an amazing team of talented architects and designers that work into the details and then we discuss them. So I still get to enjoy the detail, but I don’t get to spend a lot of time on them.
What are some of your most memorable design details to date?
I have so many amazing clients that have allowed us to design for them over my 23+ years doing architecture. The rooftop deck on East Grattan Street and all the small special spaces and elements in that house are very cool. The painted address on Duke Garden apartments came out better than I expected. The sign in front of the Depot that pays tribute to the railroad is one of my favorites. The views we framed on top of Afton mountain are amazing. The playhouse I designed for my girls is one that holds so many special memories. The first LEED-certified project I completed way back in 2005 that has the look of a much older home will always be one of my top projects. There are simply too many options to pick just one. From the half-wall shadow detail we have used to the lambs fence for deck rail to the glass walls into a mechanical room at the elementary school so kids understand the building systems we have used many opportunities to create details I am proud of over my career.
