h+uo BLOG

Monthly Archives: May 2014

Oak Point Park Nature and Retreat Center

Posted in Uncategorized by Kristie
May 23, 2014

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h+uo architects is working on a new facility for Oak Point Park in Plano, Texas. This building will be a Nature and Retreat Center, and will also house Plano’s Parks and Recreation staff offices. The staff is excited to be moving from their old space downtown into one of their most spectacular parks, and the meeting rooms are expected to host corporate retreats as well as summer camps and outreach events.

The Nature and Retreat Center will overlook a forested creek and a lake, and the design complements nearby existing pavilion and restroom structures that h+uo designed in 2008.

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Natural stone, exposed steel, wood clerestory windows, and standing-seam metal butterfly roofs contribute to a design that we think will be both inviting and memorable. The 45-foot-high stone tower with its lighthouse clerestory will be visible from far away, and the grand entry and exhibit hall will serve as a ceremonial entrance to the natural world of Oak Point Park.

Right now, the City is selecting a contractor for the project, and hopes to break ground soon. We will post photos of construction as the project progresses.

 

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h+uo architects Rainey Street homes relocation and rehabilitation

Posted in Company News by Kristie
May 16, 2014

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h+uo architects is excited to be working with the Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation (GNDC) on the relocation and rehabilitation of 4 houses from the Rainey Street National Register Historic District to the Guadalupe-Saldana Net Zero Subdivision. We have worked with sensitivity and appreciation for the historic quality of the homes. As of this week, painting and trim installation began. Volunteers worked for hours scraping the old chipped paint from the facades of the buildings and applying fresh, historically respectful colors to the exteriors. Once complete, the four houses will be sold to income eligible households utilizing a Community Land Trust model.

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About Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation (GNDC):

Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation (GNDC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that celebrates over thirty years of service to its community as an affordable housing provider to families from East Austin.

For more information visit: http://www.guadalupendc.org/

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Our Time At The Design Charrette

Posted in Uncategorized by Kristie
May 9, 2014

Earlier this week, Tom Hatch and Megan Matthews attended a two-day design charrette on the Living Building Challenge, co-hosted by Foundation Communities and the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems. The charrette sought to identify design and community strategies through collaboration that would create a living building, one which “operates as cleanly, beautifully and efficiently as nature’s architecture”, for two potential new community centers for Foundation Communities.  The Living Building Challenge takes the concept of green, sustainable architecture to the next level by asking buildings to not take from their environment, but instead to give back.

Broken down into two teams, the 20 or so attendees discussed and looked at the seven performance areas of Site, Water, Energy, Health, Materials, Equity, and Beauty through the lens of restorative and regenerative design.  By the end of the charrette on Tuesday, Tom and Megan left with a renewed appreciation for not only the services Foundation Communities provides to their residents here in Central Texas, but for the collaborative design atmosphere we had been selected to be a part of and ideas for moving forward.

 

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About Foundation Communities

Foundation Communities provides first class, affordable homes and free onsite support services for thousands of working families with kids, as well as veterans, seniors, and individuals with disabilities. They offer an innovative, proven model that empowers their residents and neighbors to achieve educational success, financial stability, and healthier lifestyles. They own and operate 17 properties in Austin and North Texas.

 

About the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems

The Center designs and tests innovative programs that integrate air, water, food, energy, and material systems to build healthy and sustainable communities.

Through the creation of Protocols, Policies, and Prototypes, the Center inspires ecologically balanced environments, stewards natural resources, and elevates community resilience and economic vitality.

 

About the Living Building Challenge

The Living Building Challenge™ is a green building certification program that defines the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment possible today and acts to diminish the gap between current limits and ideal solutions.  Projects that achieve this level of performance can claim to be the ‘greenest’ anywhere, and will serve as role models for others that follow.

The Challenge is comprised of seven performance areas, or ‘Petals’: Site, Water, Energy, Health, Materials, Equity and Beauty. Petals are subdivided into a total of twenty Imperatives, each of which focuses on a specific sphere of influence. This compilation of Imperatives can be applied to almost every conceivable Typology, or project type, be it a building (both renovation of an existing structure, or new construction), infrastructure, landscape or community development.  Learn more about the Living Building Challenge by downloading the full Living Building Challenge Standard document found here: http://living-future.org/lbc.

 

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A Project To Remember

Posted in Uncategorized by Kristie
May 2, 2014

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h+uo architects has worked on countless projects over the years that have stuck out in their minds, all for different reasons, and for the most part, each as memorable as the others.

Though, when being asked what our favorite project was, one project in particular came to the minds of two of the partners: The Crossings, now  Travaasa Experiential Resort.

Partner Randall Owen said It was his most memorable project because he was on the site for over a year-and-a-half in his own job trailer observing construction and orchestrating the construction of the 15 building campus using two general contractors.

“This was an architect’s dream to get to call 200 plus acres of Texas Hill Country on the edge of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve my office, while watching one of my projects get built.  I was so spoiled, not because I had in my trailer A/C, a mini-fridge, and a computer with internet access, but because I felt like a Master Builder, like an architect from many centuries ago, out in the natural environment, watching their man-made vision become a reality.  We created a village up on that hill.  I look forward to my next visit.”

 

Architecturally yours,

hatch + ulland owen architecture

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