Flooring

One would never pay so much attention to flooring in a building unless you are in the trade, or you have highly developed design sense. Yet, designers spent hours going through samples trying to pick the " it" material for the space. Hardwood floors, carpets, or tiles, you name it. It does make a big difference what color and texture your floor has. You have to consider the amount of natural light, artificial light, traffic load, walls, size of the room, and the height of the ceiling, when you try to decide on flooring.

Spring, Spring, Spring

It's spring time in Chicago, at last. With all the blooming flowers and budding shoots, finally we can leave our winter jackets behind in the closet. It's so nice to see people walking with strollers. It feels like years since I biked last time. Of course, spring time means construction time. We see a lot of projects awaking after months of hibernation. Repairs, renovations, re modelings, and new construction for schools, stores, and houses. We are looking a busy season ahead of us.

Swine Flu and Parking Lot

The two most important issues on my mind right now are the swine flu and the parking lot issues. Swine flu is a fast-growing epidemic of today that scares everybody. Easily it boosts the subtle xenophobia among the public. Often times the construction tradesmen and the laborers are immigrants, so we experience the social swirls day to day. Most of the times, we work with the subcontractors we already know, and they've been living here long enough and we know them well enough. My concern is that this kind of disease can easily turn into more than a health issue; it can develop into something bigger, like social, economical, and political problems. The world economy is already bad as of now, and people are worried that this flu can freeze the flow of world trades. Now, that is really scary for me.

On the other hand, I notice that a lot of buildings are being renovated and built right now in the neighborhood. Life goes on. It has to go on. One of our current projects is a parking lot renovation for a religious institution. I hope everything goes smoothly with the process; I know it will.

Restaurant Renovation

Now is the best time to renovate. There are many vacant buildings to buy with less; the market's at the bottom of it getting ready to rise. People are still drawn to "nice" things if there is a choice.

A free-standing restaurant has so much potential. Of course there is a budget, and we will have to carefully plan strategies. What would be the most cost effective way to attract customers and provide a unique spatial experience. How would that compliment the culinary experience? What would be the motif and how should we convey it?

SungGoo Yang

One of big reasons why we keep this company blog site is to keep stimulating and challenging ourselves intellectually.

The 2009 recipients of New York Young Architects Award was announced in March. One of them is a young Korean architect in Boston. He seems to be a very creative and active designer, more like an artist than an engineer to me.

It's awesome to discover this gem, though. Just like any other field in the world, there is just a handful of designers and designing companies that lead the innovative edge, and the majority that are following. In other words, the entire architectural community is like endlessly communicating with each other. Some call for a new way to create a space; others respond to it with their design. Some of the new perspectives, ideas, motifs are incorporated, rejected, welcomed, and criticized. I am excited to see all this.

Colorful Colors

In the end, it's all about colors and lighting.

Just like a car, the life of a building depends on the health of its structure. The heart and the lung and the vein of a building is its HVAC system. Everybody knows it. And just like any living mechanism, regular checkups and maintenance are the key to its longevity.

Yet, when you actually experience the building, it's all about lighting and colors. They are not cosmetics of the building, since they are often integral part of the structure. How much natural light is available? What kind of artificial light is used. What color is the facade, interior walls, and the floor?

What color is your wall behind your computer?

Safety in Design

The first and foremost principle in designing buildings is to assure the safety.

Our lunch seminar -- eat and learn-- takes place in a free discussion format. Yesterday's topic is "how to eliminate the potential safety hazard factors when designing" a structure or a space.

Key to a successful AND safe construction project? Communication. Surprised?

Beauty of Design within Budget

Where does the beauty of design lie? What makes certain designs stand out?

It's probably subjective to each individual's taste and experience, but one thing in reality is budget. It won't be as hard to design something with limitless budget, but that's not possible. In the real world, we all have to work with a budget and a schedule. When there is a set of limitations, it's all about making decisions. You've got to pick and choose.

Last week, I was lucky enough to watch how our creative team came up with a design that's out-of-box and still within a budget. Gosh, that's the moment I really admire the capability of human creativity.

WOW

When I see an amazing building, I can't help myself but wonder. Who designed it? What inspired him or her? How many people contributed to its schematic design? Who did the construction design? Was it easy or hard? How many white nights were spent contemplating one line, one angle, or one side of that building? Who was the builder? How long did it take? How was the process? Were the workers proud or just busy getting the job done?

People say it takes a village to raise child. I say it takes a village to build a building. (But then, the child designs a new village.)

April Fool

On the first day of April, I am back to my office, trying to visualize the impossible, perfect scenario of a wonderful project. Meaning, a imaginative client with no financial restrictions asking us to build a picture perfect, eco-friendly office building. Of course, the reality is the opposite, more often than not. The client is always under a lot of financial stress, and the site has all sorts of challenges.

One thing that can narrow the gap between the ideal world and the real world is who your GC is. Because, more often than not, experienced veteran GC's foresee what lies ahead in the construction process and try to help the client go through that with less stress.

If you know a GC with that kind of calibar and that kind of heart, you are this close to a perfect, wonderful project, whatever that is.

First Step

There is always the first step in everything. This blog site wants to be the first step closer toward the two way communication channel that I would like to create between the construction professionals and the public. Of course there are numerous people on the fence, life me, for example, who are interested in construction and architecture but can't exactly call themselves construction professionals. As a marketing personnel at an architectural company, I often feel like an auxiliary, not exactly the main forte. However, one thing I understand is that no building can be built purely with numbers and lines. Best construction projects of any size are possible when the communication flows smoothly, and without language, you can't really communicate.

As a matter of fact, this is my theme for the next Newsletter column: Effective communication for quality construction projects. Right now I am still brainstorming for it.

The truth is, even if you are not actually playing the ball game out in the field, you still get excited about it. In some sense, construction business has a lot in common with sport. It excites everybody around, whether you are players or spectators. When you see a superb performance or a superb building or room in a building, your jaw drops and go wow. The basics of the whole operation is pretty simple: you throw, catch, hit, or kick the ball to score (for sport) or you measure, plan, and put the things together (for construction). Finally, everybody knows a little about it, and has done a little here and there. There are millions of amateurs and fans and some professionals, but a handful of the best.