Archives for July 2014

My favorite church project so far.  It has been duplicated in two other states.  This congregation’s first facility had been a former package store – very cramped quarters!  Incidentally, I had another church client in Iowa who also had met in quarters behind a liquor store.  They said they offered new wine as opposed to […]

A typical application of my favorite design components for auditoriums, this time using a flat ceiling throughout the space.  I much prefer the recessed incandescent canister lighting to the fluorescent troughs, but the economy and durability of the fluorescent fixture  is hard to beat.  I just find it too ugly for a worship space.  The […]

As part of a residential remodeling effort, the client requested a covered front entry in Mediterranean style that turned out to be exaggerated almost to the point of caricature.  This night-time shot during the Christmas season best showcases this element that otherwise goes over the top in upstaging the rest of the house.  But, as […]

This is another application of the suspended ceiling in an auditorium space, but this time using a ceiling with a scalloped profile similar to concert halls where stage lighting and sound amplifier clusters are concealed from audience view.  Side walls were segmented and staggered to conceal those approaching the stage so as to minimize visual […]

My architectural emphasis and primary mission is for the needs of the small church, although some projects have grown to as large as 50,000 square feet.  This sanctuary was among several that I have positioned in very conventional rectangular pre-engineered building envelopes, but with center axis angled 45 degrees.  The materials in most of the […]

This was a neat little link addition to provide additional office space that filled in a 20′ wide alley between the existing office  and manufacturing buildings.  Since the roof pitches were perpendicular and the side walls were of differing heights no greater than 10′, a simple shed extension would not work.  The infill structure assumed […]

This is a scanned page of photos from pre-digital days of the unique residence of my late uncle Jesse Edsel Brown and his wife Alberta.  Where little pigs were once born, a comfortable retirement home was crafted of recycled and salvaged materials purchased at liquidation sales and auctions.  My uncle and aunt were avid gardeners, […]

This sanctuary addition was phase two for this church client, adding this stand-alone unit in front of the phase one activities building.  The buildings are separated by a service drive that is covered by a canopy to permit sheltered pedestrian transition between buildings.  Since the structure of the building would not support at steeple on […]

Another interesting deviation from my architectural emphasis with churches was this project for our local animal shelter that uses down-scaled elements of a horse barn for housing dogs awaiting adoption.  This new facility is used for healthy animals, while those that are sick or not people-friendly remain in the adjacent older facility.  The new kennel […]

For this project, only 20 feet could be added to the front of the existing building as well as 10 feet to the educational wing, but much of the interior was remodeled and updated as part of the work.  The sanctuary that was once very dark with wood ceiling and paneled walls was whitewashed and […]