In the latest publication of Utah Construction & Design, Seeing Green explores how Landscape Architects are showing their value to clients by creating beautiful designs that serve a functional purpose while saving both water and money. Arch Nexus designers Robb Harrop and Jennifer Styduhar were interviewed for the piece.

Styduhar shares an example of how traditional grass turf often needs much more water than it gets from the local rainfall and that people are beginning to catch on to new options that are both beautiful and sustainable. Harrop discusses the meaning of “re-wilding” in planning for native plantings.

The article highlights many new sustainable landscape designs around the state of Utah, including some areas needing improvement. The Nexus designed Daybreak Library, currently under construction, combines indoor and outdoor spaces.

The library works with the natural topography of the site. We’re creating something that is more than a place to store books, but an active space in that community, where you can walk right onto the roof without going up stairs to this great view of the valley and a new learning environment. It’s essentially a park right on top of the building. –Robb Harrop

About Us:
Architectural Nexus is a people driven, architectural design firm focused on stewardship, inspiration, and regeneration. We have offices in two locations: Salt Lake City, Utah and Sacramento, California. Our Sacramento office building is the first and only Living Building in California and our Salt Lake City office building is double LEED Platinum. As an employee owned firm (ESOP) we value and reward the contributions of all employees.

Position Description:
We are looking for an experienced Energy Modeler to join our progressive firm. Come and enjoy the breathtaking views, world renowned outdoor recreation, and friendly people in Utah while working on some very exciting projects. Now is the time to embrace this opportunity to direct your career. This position is for an Energy Modeler who can work collaboratively with the Architectural team to inform and influence design from initial concept, through all phases of design and certification. Candidates are expected to be able to scale their efforts appropriately to the phase of design to adequately guide projects towards their energy goals. Candidates must also be able to work with the information that is available and be resourceful in complementing that information in order to add meaningful direction to the design team.

Additionally, Arch Nexus is excited to begin the process of transitioning our Director of Regenerative Design role over the course of the next several years. A candidate who is capable of energy modeling and has expertise in any one or more of the following may also apply for this pathway to leadership:

1. Resiliency planning
2. Occupant engagement
3. Material health and transparency
4. Living Building Challenge 
5. WELL Building Standard

Responsibilities:

• Provide guidance to the design team to meet energy goals
• Generate whole building energy analysis from concept to certification
• Analyze energy envelope, HVAC, lighting, and other building systems
• Evaluate airflow, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality

Required Skills and Qualifications:

• Must be passionate about regenerative design
• Bachelor’s Degree required. Architecture candidates will be considered. Engineering candidates preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of energy modeling experience in the AEC industry required. Preference given to candidates with more experience.
• Strong understanding of building science and building technology systems such as HVAC, envelope, and lighting.
• Proficient with energy modeling software such as IES-VE, eQuest, Energy Plus, etc. All current projects at Arch Nexus are modeled in IES-VE.
• Experience with modeling protocols such as ASHRAE 90.1, California Title 24, etc.
• Proficient in Microsoft Excel.
• Proficient and experienced in creating modeling reports for LEED certification requirements.
• Comfortable receiving and incorporating critical feedback.
• Ability to work quickly and be deadline oriented.

Preferred Skills and Qualifications:

• BEMP certification
• Ability to calculate Life Cycle Cost Analysis
• Familiarity with Revit
• Familiarity with daylight modeling
• Familiarity with CFD analysis
• Experience with scripting and programming

Benefits:

• We are an Employee Owned Firm (ESOP)
• Large-firm opportunities in a small-firm culture
• Excellent medical and dental benefits
• Matching 401(k) and/or Roth 401(k) plan
• Twice yearly incentive and accountability bonus program
• Holiday and vacation benefits
• Philanthropy program including paid volunteer time
• 6 weeks paid parental leave
• Pay commensurate with abilities and experience

Email resumes and references to:
Brian Cassil
Principal | Director of Communications
bcassil@archnexus.com

Thanks for sending your resume; we look forward to getting to know you.

Congratulations to Arch Nexus’ Zhe Ying Ng, on becoming Living Future Accredited. Living Future Accreditation is designed to acknowledge the most advanced and progressive thinking professionals that are working towards a living future. Regarding this achievement, Zhe says:

“What does good look like? Adopting from the metaphor of a flower, LBC creates a sustainable design framework that visualizes our ideal built environment. The three pillars of sustainability, in fact, are interdependent, overlapping and can be mutually reinforcing; our goal is to think about the system as a whole, balancing the needs and the environment-designing something that is functional, aesthetically pleasing, socially conscious and environmentally responsible. As for a designer, lessons and experience can be valuable. LBC creates a great tool and guidance for each project dealing with different challenges; helping to maximize opportunities in each limitation.”

To learn more about becoming Living Future accredited, visit the Living Future accreditation webpage and check out this postcard from the ILFI.

The February 2020 edition of Utah Construction and Design Magazine features a grand look into the newly completed Hardware Apartments in Downtown Salt Lake City. What was once a gas station, hardware store and the rubble of demolished buildings, has transformed into a village.

Design began with an early morning trip to the location in 2014. Doug Thimm, senior Principal at Arch Nexus, recalls watching people exit the frontrunner train and observing the eclectic mix of individuals it brought in. That’s where the idea for a village – Hardware Apartments – was born.

The east and west buildings together equate to 500,000 square feet of immaculate and unique space. “People are moving away from a suburban existence. They’re embracing the apartment life, the density, the connectedness. But how does that happen? It’s the amenities, it’s the changing attitudes.” – Doug Thimm.

When it comes to amenities, Hardware Village has no shortage. Start with the tranquil, passive spaces like the courtyards with tiered fountains, the library with historically inspired leather chairs, the rooftop spaces with fire pits and views of the city and Wasatch Mountains. The workout space is state-of-the-art too, with a rotating climbing wall, sauna, foosball and ping-pong wall. There’s a kitchen for group entertainment as well.

The design of Hardware Village conserves a precious resource for metro areas – space. Single family housing units place 5-10 homes per acre, where 100 units per acre exist at Hardware. The development met National Green Building Standards and includes proximity to transportation hubs.  Developers and designers were focused on all aspects of a sustainable community.

Find a copy of the latest Utah Construction & Design Magazine to learn more design details and see other stunning images.

A recent publication of American Libraries Magazine highlights inclusive, strategic building design. The article, Human-Centered Spaces explores the history and future of library planning. Architecture isn’t about buildings, it’s about people, says Jeffery Davis, Principal at Arch Nexus.

At the Public Library Association 2020 Conference held in Nashville, Tennessee, Nexus’ Jeff Davis presented in the session Inclusionary Tactics that Flip the Script for Library Facility Planning. The course emphasized that library design’s new direction is embracing inclusion, strategic plans, and specific neighborhood needs.

Architectural Nexus recently completed designing the Northeast Stockton Library and Recreation Center in Stockton, California. Davis implemented inclusive design in the project when he and his team went out to community events, rather than simply inviting the community to come to their meetings. The space will overlap with different program elements such as a café library and a recreation center to create a true community center with both indoor and outdoor spaces.

The Merit Award in Facility Design from the United States Air Force was recently given to the Fire Crash and Rescue Station at Hill Air Force Base. The design team for this extensive and complex project included Arch Nexus’ Mark Davis, Stephen Springer, Sean Bennett and Shane Stephenson.

This facility was requested to be architecturally significant to Hill Air Force Base. The design team responded by having the building’s massing and shape evoke a sense of sheltering and embracing, as would be desired during times of emergency.  The facility’s form creates an outreach entrance to help guide passers-by and visitors into the building’s entry.  Massing also opens up to the public, in a sense, by creating a span of glass and a rising roofline on the south area where occupants would be seen exercising in the training room.

Due to the nature of this 24-hour facility, attaining the federally mandated level of LEED Silver certification imposed great challenges on the project. Compounded by the fact that the building required heat recovery systems within the apparatus bays made it particularly challenging to meet the minimum energy performance requirement. Designers developed a highly efficient building envelope, LED lighting, and optimized heating and cooling systems. The building has also been designed to allow for future solar panels.

Travis Maughan has been named a Principal at Arch Nexus. Travis has been a part of Arch Nexus since 2003 and has been an associate with the firm since 2010. During this time Travis has demonstrated strong leadership within the healthcare practice by managing some of the largest and most complex projects in this region. Through relentless effort and meticulous attention to detail he has earned the trust and respect of clients and other project stakeholders to see any project of any size from concept through completion. Travis’s expertise in healthcare architecture has helped him to become a key part of business development and marketing as clients trust him and frequently ask for him to play leadership roles on their projects. By consistently delivering excellent projects, Travis has developed several long lasting and fruitful partnerships. His tenure with Arch Nexus and experience as an associate have put him in a position to mentor many others who look to Travis to learn and grow their own talents for project management and healthcare design.

Victor Burbank has been named a Senior Principal at Arch Nexus. Victor came to Nexus in 2017 with vast expertise developed over the course of the past 25 years having worked in in many different market sectors including healthcare and K-12 educational architecture. His ability to care for client’s needs through thoughtful design and timely responsiveness have quickly made him an invaluable resource and a dependable partner. As the Principal-In-Charge over a wide array of projects, Victor has demonstrated the uncanny ability to manage challenges in an even handed manner that empowers those around him to work together toward the best possible result. His calm and unshakeable demeanor, caring empathy, as well as his humble confidence, build strength in the teams with whom he works and empowers them to be their best selves and deliver excellent results. Victor is particularly connected with and recognized by the educational community as a thought leader on the role that architecture plays in providing a supportive, safe, and inspirational environment to foster the growth of young people in the Central California Valley.

Arch Nexus is pleased to announce the promotion of Mihnea Dobre to Associate. Mihnea joined Nexus in 2016, bringing a depth of experience in architecture and campus planning having worked for many years as a Staff Architect for Tulane University. During his time at Tulane, Mihnea gained a wealth of knowledge and ability in managing a variety of projects as well as aligning master plans with building and landscape projects over several development phases. Mihnea is passionate about sustainable design and has been an active part of the USGBC leaderships in New Orleans and Salt Lake City. He has guided countless projects through various sustainability certifications and has strengthened the ideals of sustainable design in the communities where he lives and works.

Through his career Mihnea has sought out ways to develop his professional skills while creating architecture focused on people and their experience. He has earned the respect of his peers and leaders as a capable architect who takes his craft seriously. Mihnea’s expert communication skills have allowed him to build confidence with clients, contractors, and project teams.

Jennifer Styduhar has advanced to the role of Associate at Arch Nexus. Jennifer joined Nexus in 2016 bringing many years of landscape architecture experience with her. Her natural leadership abilities, humble demeanor, and hard work have quickly gained her the respect of her peers and she has acted as the site design lead for the past two years. Jennifer works in close collaboration with project stakeholders to create landscape designs that complement the building design to create a holistic project that connects in very tangible ways to the natural surroundings. In addition to being a licensed landscape architect, Jennifer also is a LEED AP BD+C, holds a permaculture design certificate and is a certified arborist. Her passion for creating places that connect to nature is evident in her design work. She is a genuine steward of both the built and natural environments.