The official blog of the International Living Future Institute, Trim Tab, shares a unique look at the how retrofitting working-class buildings can sequester carbon and fight climate change. Michael D. Berrisford, Editor-in-Chief of Ecotone Publishing, discusses what makes the subject of their latest release, Regenerative Retrofit: California’s First Living Building, so special.

The Arch Nexus SAC regenerative retrofit is so much more than a shiny solar-powered, high-performance brick and mortar landmark adorned to garner “oohs” and “ahhs.” Nor is Arch Nexus SAC a green technology showcase trimmed out with futuristic tech, instantly iconic for its statuesque architecture and stately skyline posture. While it does have numerous verdant features such as the biophilic-inspired daylighting plan and living wall, robust solar capability, composting toilets, and right-sized cisterns, in actuality, Arch Nexus SAC’s shine comes from its undeniable success as a smart, practical, fully-functioning Living Building that has been bootstrapped from its humble industrial origins as a 1950s-era warehouse. 

Further, the building and its owner/occupants are notable for meeting timely objectives linked to the proliferation of crises facing California. Through this building, and pretty much every action they take these days, they are responding positively to the consequences of climate change such as recurrent droughts, intense wildfires, increasing extreme temperatures, and power grid insecurity–all the while connecting to the social fabric of their local community. 

The Arch Nexus office in Sacramento is a people-driven, thoughtfully designed building transformed from traditional building stock to an architectural gem that impressively reduces its carbon footprint. It generates energy and collects water like one of nature’s systems and provides a healthy and engaging physical workplace environment for its knowledgeable and creative occupants. Working-class building retrofits like the Arch Nexus SAC office transformation represent a viable–and now proven–opportunity for addressing climate change.

See the full article here.

Architectural Nexus is pleased to announce the forthcoming publication of Regenerative Retrofit: California’s First Living Building.

Regenerative Retrofit tells the story of the Arch Nexus Sacramento building, a 1950s-era warehouse that has been transformed into California’s first certified Living Building. Located in Sacramento’s bustling R Street Corridor, Arch Nexus SAC produces more energy than it consumes, relies solely on captured rainwater, and exemplifies resilient design that connects people to nature and the human community.

Regenerative Retrofit chronicles a design process rooted in biophilic relationships to place and the collaboration among a stellar team of architects, engineers, builders, and artists who together created a resilient low-carbon solution to today’s climate challenges. It also highlights the critical role of “high-performance occupants” who, as stewards of Living Buildings, can make a significant impact on how the building performs.

Written by author Juliet Grable and published through Ecotone Publishing, you can now pre-order your copy of Regenerative Retrofit: California’s First Living Building, at The Living Future Institute today.

Are you interested in the field of architecture, but never pursued the idea? Do you know someone with a flair for design? Is a young person in your life trying to decide on a field of study? A pandemic proves the perfect opportunity to stay home and learn. Because Arch Nexus knows that a sustainable future will be designed by current and future architects, we’re sharing opportunities to broaden your horizons and shape future designers.

edX is a massive open online course provider created by Harvard and MIT. With more than fifty courses in Architecture, edX is a great fit or both industry professionals looking to sharpen their knowledge in specific areas and for those just dipping their toes in the field. The most popular course available through edX is The Architectural Imagination. Study some of history’s most important buildings to learn the fundamental principles of architecture.

Another massive open online course provider is Coursera, founded by two professors at Stanford University in 2012. The platform has grown to collaborate with over 200 leading businesses and universities. A simple search of “Architecture” results in over 644 learning opportunities on the topic. The Age of Sustainable Development from Columbia University is a recommended course.

LinkedIn Learning via Lynda also offers free learning tools so a beginner can grasp the techniques used to design sustainable sites and buildings such as drafting, rendering, and modeling. This platform is also excellent for an industry professional looking to learn new software and for those interested in Interior Design.

At Arch Nexus we are committed to being the change we want to see in the world. Since 2016 we have adopted the JUST label, a third party transparency platform that discloses social justice and equality metrics. The mission of JUST has inspired Arch Nexus to maintain a number of policies and programs that foster ethnic, racial, and gender diversity, as well as equitable wages and benefits, paid family leave, and a philanthropy program that gives employees paid volunteer time.

We recognize that we have a responsibility to increase our efforts to support those who are suffering as a result of social injustices. To promote further diversity and equality, Arch Nexus is creating additional training, hosting discussion forums, and taking architectural education to under-served demographics and communities. To manage these efforts, we have created a new management role: Director of Social Equity.

Arch Nexus is committed to making meaningful experiences for all people; people in our business, people in our profession, and people in the communities we serve.

In the four corners region, a panorama of iconic mountain silhouettes set the backdrop of Bluff, Utah. The native community has been the location of an academic design build program through The University of Utah, where grad students venture out on a semester-long cultural exchange to design and build new construction. Since the programs onset, dozens of employees from Arch Nexus have participated in Design Build Bluff.

PBS Utah recently aired a documentary on the 2019 experience which included two students from Arch Nexus; Rachel Sittler and Aimee Kyed. Watch their experience here.

Since the programs onset, dozens from Arch Nexus have participated in Design Build Bluff. Nexus Architect, Stephanie Kooyman was among the first group to participate in the program. She says of the experience: It was the first time I had ever designed something and then built it. It changed how I looked at design, construction and even how I viewed the other students at school. We became a group working together and solving problems as a team. The collaboration with everyone in the studio and seeing something we all built with our hands were the best parts.

GC Magazine has published a list naming Arch Nexus among the top church Architects in the nation. From the website generalcontractors.org:

Architectural Nexus is known for connecting with its clients, new technology, creative design ideas, and better ways of speeding up the design and construction process, living up to its name. The Nexus portfolio includes projects like the Payson LDS Temple. Located in a valley setting, it has landscaped walks and water features leading up to the structure made of precast concrete exterior and an interior adorned with marble and intricate finishes.

Over the years, the firm has received numerous awards, such as the AIA Utah Honor Award, the AIA Utah Merit Award and the Utah Design and Sustainability Award. Alongside such honors, the firm has also been featured in ENR, New York Business Journal, Architect Magazine, Los Angeles Times and Deseret News.

Click here to read the full list of top church architects.

Construction Management Association of America NorCal has recognized two recent projects involving Architectural Nexus, with the “2020 Project Achievement Award.” El Dorado County Public Safety Facility was the $20 to $50 million award winner and Memorial Auditorium was the under $20 million award recipient.

The El Dorado Public Safety project consisted of 5 buildings; the main public safety building (pictured) housing the sheriff’s office, 911 call center and emergency operations center; an evidence facility, a morgue, a special operations training location and a shooting range.

Arch Nexus provided programming, master planning, schematic design and owner representation as executive architect for the entire project. Design build entity was Clark and Sullivan, Broward Construction, with Arrington Watkins as architect of record. Construction management was Vanir.

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

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.