Architects in a tough business – especially in Sacramento!

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Recent Downturn in Architecture Firm Billings Accelerates

July data reveals fourth monthly decline in ABI

By Jennifer Riskus

Even before the debt ceiling agreement, the historic downgrading of the U.S. credit rating, and the resulting wild stock market gyrations, the current down trend in billings at architecture firms had already started to accelerate. In July, the AIA Architecture Billings Index (ABI) declined for the fourth month in a row, falling to 45.1. What’s in store for the U.S. economy–and the architecture profession–in the upcoming months is still very unclear.

In a little bit of good news, inquiries for new design activity have continued to improve modestly in July, indicating that new projects are still under consideration. However, the value of new design contracts softened, so many of these inquiries are not translating into signed projects.

Business conditions are declining at firms in all regions of the country. The weakest score (44.9) was recorded for firms in the Midwest, which had previously reported seven months of growth in late 2010 through early 2011. Firms located in the West are in the midst of the most protracted downturn, now stretching to four years without an increase in billings.

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Powderpost Beetle photos

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I took these close up photos today of a powderpost beetle.  I found this carcass in a small pile of frass (bug excrement) on a window sill.  This is easily confirmed visually to be an adult  ‘Anobiid’ species by reference to the University of Kentucky’s Dept of Entomology’s excellent Entfact 616 (on line).  The bug almost certainly arrived as a larvae in the wood which is about five years old.  The localized infestation is in a structural LVL – which fortunately is exposed and unfinished so it should be spot treatable as described by UKDE with low toxicity borate based ‘Timbor’.  I have ordered a bag of TImbor on line for about ten dollars.  Based on UKDE it should provide decades of protection against reinfestation and will knock down these little buggers as they emerge in their normal annual cycle.  I will report back as I monitor this situation closely over the next year.

Anobiid_beetle_top Anobiid_beetle_bottom

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MFM Presents at WoodWorks Conference

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Woodworks

Using a Wood Podium in Mixed-use Design:

 An Architectural Case Study

 

Michael F. Malinowski, AIA, Applied Architecture Inc.

Mixed use buildings in an urban setting often combine parking and retail uses on the ground level with residential uses above—and maximizing the amount of wood in these structures can provide substantial value for the community, environment and development team. This presentation will showcase an all-wood podium building recently completed as part of a successful redevelopment project in the Sacramento Valley. Topics will include opportunities and challenges associated with wood use in mid-rise design, including code analysis, occupancies, structural considerations, management of the design for longevity, and sustainability.

SEPTEMBER 13

*Co-sponsored by AIA East Bay
AIA East Bay
1405 Clay Street
Oakland

SEPTEMBER 14

Atrium Hotel
Orange County Airport
18700 MacArthur Blvd.
Irvine, CA

SEPTEMBER 15

Westside Conference Center
Pepperdine University
6100 Center Drive
Los Angeles, CA

Time: On-site registration will open at 8:15 a.m. Workshops will begin at 8:45 a.m. and the program will conclude at 3:45 p.m.

 

Education Credits: The Wood Products Council is an AIA Approved Provider. Eligible attendees qualify for 5.5 AIA/CES LU credit.Engineers and non-member architects will receive a certificate of completion for 5.5 PDH credits.

Fee: $89 (includes lunch) 

Downtown Galt Place now open

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Downtown Galt place is a new mixed use Senior Affordable housing project which will have ground level retail and parking; now open.  It was built on a vacant parcel in Galt’s historic downtown, and is meant to capture the spirit of the ‘heart of downtown Galt’ – reported missing by citizens in a decades old planning study uncovered by the architect in his initial research.

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Trax Microbrewery moves forward …

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 Microbrewery on track for Curtis Park

Suzanne Hurt
A Curtis Park microbrewery that plays up Sacramento’s railroad history is one step closer to opening after winning approval from the city Planning Commission. Two craft beer fans expect to open Track 7 Brewing Company, a microbrewery and tasting room, in mid-September if other necessary permits and licensing are granted. Southern
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We are proud to be one of the many allies, supporters and friends of the Trax microbrewery!

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Wildrose Ranch

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We are working pro-bono with the property owner along with two other preservationists to save some of the remaining character of Wildrose Ranch – a turn of the century farmstead on the Garden Highway in the path of Levee work – and bulldozers.  The owner so far has invested his own money to move the historic water tower out of the demolition zone.  Now what …?

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Brewsters coming back to life

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Brewsters 

http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/50661/Shady_Lady_owners_to_open_Galt_restaurant
Our work in the restoration and adaptive reuse of the historic Brewster Building in downtown Galt has paid off with a first class tenant about to open. This project complements the slew of other projects we've done in historic downtown Galt in the last few years, including a half dozen facade renovations and Galt Place - a mixed use affordable housing project weeks away from opening just a few blocks away from Brewsters.

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