Monday's Fruitful Meeting with Barrett Studio

Members of the Building Committee met with the architects, Barrett Studio, on Monday afternoon in Boulder.

 

We had a very fruitful meeting discussing:

 

• Energy Efficiency possibilities, both passive and active,
• Timelines
• Potential Builders and an investigation process,
• Next phase of work for the architect.

 

The most challenging and ever-changing and ever-evolving part of the process to organize and make sure that they mesh together, are the various timelines with which we are working.  Some we have more control over than others.

• Conceptual Architectural Drawings

• Interview Congregational Committees and Departments, 

• Permissions from the Board,

• Permissions from the Congregation,

• Zoning, 

• Permitting, 

• Interview Builders,

• Hire Builder,

• Detailed Architectural Drawings, 

• Feasibility Study, 

• Capital Campaign, 

• Finances, 

• Weather,

• Breaking Ground,

Quite honestly, after this project is finished, if you ever want to remodel your house and you need a good Project Manager, any one of the members of the Building Committee would be able to fit the bill!
 

Ehrhart Land Surveying Today!

Latest Update from Barrett Studio Architects

This just in from the Architects:

SOIL REPORT:  "We received the soils report this week from Scott, Cox and Associates. Leafing through the report, the news for foundations as relates to the soils and water table is positive.  The ground water depth is well below the depth of where a crawl space will be for the new construction.  Soils encountered in the depths of where we will be excavating are of low expansive potential, meaning traditional spread footings are possible and we will likely avoid any expensive caisson or pier construction."

SURVEYING:  "Ehrhart surveying confirmed they will be doing the survey work within the next two weeks and will forward us the survey document immediately after completion."

FLOOR PLAN LAYOUTS:  "We've continued to develop floor plan layouts for each 'wing' of the project, both for remodeling existing space and new construction.  Programming meetings have been very helpful in understanding the space needs, but we do anticipate more in-depth programming meetings once the project concept is approved. "

MASTER PLAN:  "For now we have enough information to create an overall layout of the master plan, which we'll be working on next week.  We'll also be looking at the exterior design of the concept in more detail, considering door and window locations and materials."

REMEMBER:  Don't miss the Town Hall Meeting on Sunday, September 10th.  

At that time the architects will have had all summer to put our conceptual ideas together to provide us with some preliminary drawings and computer graphics... in 3D! 

"Right now we’re designing an idea, not a building."

It was a very busy week for Building Committee members.  We sat in on 3 different meetings for a total of about 6 hours.

The architect from Barrett Studio requested conceptual input from the Administration/Main Office team, the Education staff and the Ministers.

Some pertinent and interesting comments by the architect:

• Right now, we’re designing an idea, not a building.  We will come back, after the fund raising, with specific questions.  Can we fit what you need into this space?  Give us feedback so that we can say yes, there’s a way to work. 
•  We tend to start small.  It’s easier to grow instead of shrink.  We want to get to the goal where it feels good.  
• What are the priorities?  We’re talking about floor space.  We’re looking at square footage issues.  
• We've walked the property and we see lots of positives:  the garden, the pine trees, the space.
• The asbestos report is great news.  We’re pretty sure that the trusses go all the way across.  The foundation is in good shape.  You’ve got embodied space in this building. 
• A central point draws people to Reception.  Maybe it's also a rest stop, a reading nook, a retail area, a place for folks to wait for a meeting.  It’s the node of activity.  It would be open. Maybe pop open the ceiling, to get lots of light in.  That light would spread throughout.  The monitor of light would draw folks to the Reception area.

Don't miss the Town Hall Meeting on Sunday, September 10th.  

At that time the architects will have had all summer to put our conceptual ideas together to provide us with some preliminary drawings and computer graphics... in 3D!