January 2013 continued...

We almost forgot to mention a few things! We're also involved in some amazing projects in our beloved community of Fayetteville. From the 7hills homeless center to residential projects both large and small!

Collegiate Housing Approved!

Our newest multifamily endeavor with Specialized Real Estate Group, the West Center collegiate housing project, was recently approved for Large Scale Development by the City of Fayetteville. We are looking forward to a busy spring fully designing this project!

Sterling Frisco Under Construction:

Concrete has been poured, the parking garage is going up, and so is the framing. So much excitement on one of the most prominent corners in Fayetteville. This has been a truly great experience for us and we're grateful for our clients and friends at Specialized Real Estate Group and Sterling University Housing.

Modus Recognition:

Our very own Austin Chatelain traveled all the way to Big Cedar Lodge, just outside of Branson, MO to take part in the AIA Arkansas Chapter Board of Directors Leadership Planning Retreat. (Whew, that was a mouthful.) At the retreat Austin took part in reviewing the mission, vision, values and goals of the AIA Arkansas Chapter for 2012 and helped to solidify the plans for 2013. We are proud to have our studio members as active participants in the American Institute of Architects.

He also saw some amazing wildlife during the trip...

Modus in the Community:

modus studio is collaborating with the students from the University of Arkansas's Fay Jones School of Architecture design build studio to realize a new facility for the 7hills Homeless Center. We just completed the construction documents and they should be bringing out the tools soon!

Residential Renovations:

On the residential front, we have three house renovations coming along quite nicely. We've been very fortunate to have incredible clients and the opportunity to work collaboratively with them to realize their ideal visions for daily living.

LEFT: The 604 Residence renovation + addition is all snug in sheathing and house wrap.

BELOW: A few images of the expansive windows wrapping the corner of 524. They shed light onto the living space and eventually onto a shelving spine that runs between the kitchen and living room.

BELOW, BELOW: Progress images of the beautiful little renovation of 560. You can really see the contrast between the old and the new!

Residential on the Boards:

We've also begun to design two new exciting residential designs! The Demaree Residence (LEFT) will be a new house on a beautiful site and the Dunn Residence is a renovation that will be set on an existing stone structure.

January 2013 Update

And just like that, the first month of 2013 is over...

The weeks of January quickly slipped by here at modus studio...so we'd like to take stock of our good fortune and share some of the excitement with our friends!

Modus Recognition:

The February issue of Arkansas Life contains a great profile article about modus studio! We are very proud of this well composed, well written, and beautifully photographed article...you can see the digital version here (page 40).

We really enjoyed this opportunity to talk about our approach to architecture and the built environment in and around Northwest Arkansas.

Razorback Locker Rooms:

We had the pleasure to design both the men's and women's Razorback basketball locker rooms. The men's (TOP) was completed just before the end of last year and the women's (BOTTOM) is due to begin construction near the end of their season! We're pleased to have worked with such an energetic program and proud to support the Hogs!

 Moving Modus:

Our new office is cooking! The image above shows current construction progress in our new studio space. Below, you can see where we began, and where we're going...

Finally, modus studio + modus shop will be under one roof and we are excited about fulfilling the direct connection between design and construction as a research process...think of all the wondrous things we can make together! Joining us in this venture are our friends, clients, and partners at Specialized Real Estate Group. We're so happy to soon be building-mates with them!

We've also a great group of friends working with us on the renovation: 

HP Engineering, Inc.
Hudson Engineering
Integrated Solution Group
Empirical Energy Solutions

 

UAMS Renovation, Set to Begin:

Construction is about to begin on the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Pat and Willard Walker Student Clinical Education Center; we call it UAMSPWWSCEC for short.

Here are a few renderings of the space that is to be a renovation of the old surgical rooms into a collaborative learning environment between students and practicing professionals.

Modus + the Arts:

The Arts Center of the Ozarks asked modus to re-imagine their existing facilities, thinking of the community. The large branding on the new screen gives a face to the pride already felt by its patrons while inviting new visitors in the growing community to join the arts. Exterior gardens entice the public to become part of the street-side performance by stepping through the new screen and into a curated melding of art, nature, and people.

On the Boards:

We're very happy to have recently been awarded the University of Arkansas Klipsch Amphitheatre improvements project at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs! We are collaborating with MESA Landscape Architecture, Landry + Bogan, TME, and MCE. We are very excited to work on such a beautiful site in a very special place in Arkansas.

With the New Year modus also earned four new On-Call projects with the University of Arkansas and we are making progress on the Leroy Pond Utility Plant (LEFT) with our colleagues at AEI.

 

Here's an early sketch of some of our ideas for Leroy.

eco garners national recognition

It is crunch time around the beginnings of holiday madness and to sweeten the deal I am still reeling from a recent jaunt to Greenbuild 2012 in San Francisco...

Eco Modern Flats earned another round of recognition, this time on the national level as the National USGBC LEED for Homes 'Outstanding Multifamily Project'. Greenbuild is a massive event, wrought with sustainable education courses, cutting edge green products, and palpable presence of design and construction energy focused on creating a more sustainable built environment. You can't help but feel the healthy weight of so many good ideas and momentum towards making buildings better.

A wild-eyed crew joyfully celebrated this accomplishment and conquered the city one tasty meal (and drink) after another. The richness of San Francisco was a perfect backdrop for celebrating with our friends, our clients. I won't directly repeat my previous gratitudes to our amazing clients (as seen in our previous post)...but it can not be said enough that without the trust and support and genuine ideas of these fellas, and their amazing wives, we would not be able to do what we do.

To follow up to the recent accolades, Jeremy Hudson and I participated in the recent panel on sustainability for local USGBC chapter at the Fayetteville Public Library. This proved to be a great exchange about the goals and success of our sustainable approaches for Eco Modern Flats as well as Sterling Frisco.

I guess it has been an eco-driven couple of weeks. No complaints here...now give me some turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving.

-Chris Baribeau

eco rapport

Modus Studio recently received the AIA Arkansas Merit Award for Eco Modern Flats. It is the first LEED for Homes Multifamily Platinum community in the state of Arkansas, and we are extremely proud. We are fortunate for the support and creative freedom afforded to us by our great client, Specialized Real Estate Group, and we are excited to continue the work on the Sterling Frisco endeavor that is currently under construction in downtown Fayetteville.

As designers, we spend a lot of time thinking about how we can justify the contextual, aesthetic, and practical ideas in which we believe. We fight for ideas. We represent ideas. We make lavish cases for why our ideas are important to the success of the project. But, without the trust and support of our clients, we would have little chance to express our emotion. Without that imperative support, ideas are only ideas...not reality. If your client believes your ideas hold value...only then will you perhaps see it built, see it praised, and see it make a difference in the daily lives of the humans who experience it. We are excited to have had the chance with Eco Modern Flats to mold a truly successful and sustainable community in downtown Fayetteville. 

We could not be more thankful for the ongoing support, education, and trust we find in our clients...our friends. Thank you Bob, Jeremy, Seth, and Corey. We happily share the honor of this award with you.

modus updates

May was a big month at modus...and we are still trying to catch our breath as we sprint into June. Let's try not to linger on the thought that this year is nearly half over already...

So to start off some of our big newsworthy moments:

Capital Gains.

Josh, Jason, and Chris traveled to Washington, DC, for the National American Institute of Architects Convention where we proudly accepted an AIA Gulf States Region Honor Citation Design Award for the Green Forest Middle School. This was an amazing educational trip that immersed us in the rich culture of our Nation's capital and allowed us to spend time with our friends and colleagues.

Multifamily Mayhem.

Leading up to our travels, our design team for the project formerly known as 555 Maple collectively completed the permit drawings for the new multifamily project. Site demo and grading are underway along with the foundations for the parking garage. This mixed-use, walkable downtown development has now been officially titled Sterling Frisco by our clients and friends at Specialized Real Estate Group.

New to the Fold.

We also want to welcome two new studio members to our overworked, critically maladjusted workplace:

Suzana Christmann is a fresh graduate from the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture. A Brazilian native that learned to speak English in Texas should inevitably possess enough attitude to fit right in with us here at the studio. We are fortunate to have her prowess as a thinker and designer helping our team.

Cesar Chacon is a second year student at the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture and is helping us on multiple projects. He is quickly sharpening his model making craft while wielding his hot pink X-acto knife.

Renovation Incubation.

We have also recently started work on four exciting residential renovation projects. The Post Winery Renovation is nearly complete and modus shop is currently in the process of fabricating custom wine display kiosks [photos above]. Natural Building Solutions in Little Rock is under construction. Natural Building Solutions in Rogers is now open for business. A re-roof project for Bergman Public Schools has just been completed and we are starting a new re-roof project for the Green Forest Public Schools Gymnasium.

Deer Markings.

Last but certainly not least, construction has begun on the Deer Public Schools Multi-Purpose Facility...that's right...in Deer, Arkansas. We are very excited about this modern gymnasium project atop a beautiful Ozark hill.