On August 16th, Arch Nexus hosted a blood drive with American Red Cross. Throughout the course of the day, 21 units of blood were collected which will be used for up to 63 different patients. Of the 21 donors, 12 were first time donors with the Red Cross.

Blood donations can be used for a variety of medical treatments, many of which are lifesaving. For more information about volunteering, hosting a blood drive or finding one nearby, please visit http://www.redcrossblood.org/

John West, president of Cottonwood Partners, has been selected to receive the NAIOP Utah 2016 Developer of the Year award. According to NAIOP, “The Developer of the Year Award is given annually to one developer that best exemplifies leadership and innovation in the commercial real estate market…showing outstanding quality of projects and services, financial consistency and stability, ability to adapt to market conditions, active support of the industry through NAIOP, and support of the local community.”

Arch Nexus worked with John on one of his landmark projects, the Cottonwood Corporate Center, and we were impressed by his thoughtful and generous planning with Cottonwood’s iconic entrances, undulating roads to make parking both attractive and accessible, water-wise landscaping, and integration of major works of art. John has championed sustainable design with the goals of enhancing the market position of his properties, minimizing operating costs and increasing net revenue while incorporating lasting systems and materials.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To learn more about the great work that John West and Cottonwood Partners are doing, please visit www.cottonwoodpartners.com

Here at Nexus we have a strong affinity for nature. It calms, comforts and inspires us. It is this affinity that drove us to look to our beautiful and nearby Wasatch Mountains for opportunities to give service to our community while also being able to enjoy a bit of the beauty ourselves.  Our forests and mountains are a real treasures to us and we wanted to help in the efforts to manage, protect and encourage responsible use of them today and for future generations. A quick web search and a few phone calls later we were able to connect with the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation, with their assistance we decided that trail maintenance would be the perfect balance of work, interaction and ability to make an impact for good.  As trail users ourselves we were excited to be able to “pay it forward” and help provide others with planned, safe & responsible access to our mountains.

The Cottonwood Canyon Foundation is aimed at solving existing problems in the Big and Little Cottonwood and Millcreek Canyons. With such high levels of recreation use each year, these canyons run the risk of being loved to death like so many other busy areas in our public lands. Through careful use and teamwork, these problems can be mitigated!

On August 10th and 11th staff from Arch Nexus in Salt Lake City got their hands dirty and volunteered to support the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation by digging out stubborn invasive plants and clearing trails of boulders and debris so that people can safely enjoy these wonderful areas in a way that helps preserve their natural life and beauty.

For anyone who is interested in volunteering with the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation please visit cottonwoodcanyons.org/volunteer/.

Richard Price, the newest principal at Arch Nexus, can’t imagine being involved in any other profession than architecture. For Richard, architecture provides opportunities to enhance people’s lives and solve problems. Empowered by this passion, Richard is deeply invested in mentoring youth in creative solutions and team work and has served as the state director for Odyssey of the Mind, a problem-solving competition involving students from kindergarten through college. He is inspired by watching youth and observing what they can do with limited intervention of adults, claiming that “We don’t give kids nearly enough opportunity to see what they can do on their own.”

He uses this passion to build and expand educational facilities throughout the state of California. One of these projects is the Los Rios CCD American River College Culinary Arts Expansion which involved a major addition (3x the size of the original building) which was done while keeping the existing building up and running. This allowed the educational programs within it to continue and not interrupt the school’s flow of income during construction. The project enhanced the current operations and gave students a sense of enthusiasm for their education, something that Richard found to be the most rewarding aspect of his work.

Another highlight for Richard was working on the County of Kings Courthouse, a $100 million dollar project in which he unified and directed project consultants around the nation, including Florida, Arizona, Washington and various parts of California. Richard is enthusiastic about the variety of challenges that arose within the project and how each team member was able to find a solution. The courthouse serves a large diversity users and is considered an ideal example of planning and programming while being aesthetically beautiful.

Richard looks forward to working on more educational projects, enjoying the diversity of needs- from a classroom to something specialized such as a welding shop or research lab. When asked about what he looks to in the future, Richard says that “I have loved giving back to the community, as well as being involved in some great projects, but my best is yet to come.”

For more on Arch Nexus’ leadership, see http://www.archnexus.com/company/leadership/

Weber County, in partnership with Arch Nexus, has committed to make improvements to public safety by upgrading the Weber Area Dispatch 911 and Emergency Services in Ogden, Utah. Ogden City is currently in the process of donating the land next to the current facility. With this donation, the Emergency Services Facility will be able to stay at the same location by means of a significant remodel and new building addition rather than a costly relocation.

The current building, which is not designed for emergency services, is too small for the current staff. In some cases employees are in offices shared by up to 3 people. Dispatchers who sit so close to each other receive emergency calls may be picked up by other police officer and firefighter radios. With careful planning, design and construction, Arch Nexus will increase the size, functionality and efficiency of the building as well as an aesthetic environment to better promote the safety and health of the employees within the building as well as the surrounding community.

For a brief article on the building by The Standard Examiner, please see:
http://www.standard.net/Local/2016/08/02/Weber-911-dispatch-center-will-expand-at-its-current-location.html

On Monday, August 8th, Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams presented a new plan to combat homelessness. Mayor McAdams says that the Homeless Services System Reform Plan’s aim is to “strategically reduce the demand for emergency shelters across our region.”

McAdams and his administration have been working aggressively to provide a better resolution than what exists now. He described, “We are building something different that integrates into the community.” The proposed services will take into account months of research that finds in order to support safety and a pathway to self-reliance, facilities must provide more than a bed and a meal.

“I’m convinced we are at a point where we can achieve larger goals by following collective impact principles as we work to move individuals and families from homelessness to stability and safety. We will take our efforts to the next level to focus on effective, efficient delivery of services, starting with developing goals and measurable outcomes,” McAdams stated. His plan asserts that just as the causes of homelessness varies, so do the needs of the individuals without a stable home. The system should recognize the unique circumstances and tailor service delivery based on what works for the people served. The plan will also be geared towards self-sufficiency so people can exit crisis quickly, diverting them from emergency shelters and away from homelessness.

Arch Nexus is proud to have provided Salt Lake County with plans, estimates, and graphics for the mayors presentation on Monday night. Nexus’ staff were present at the meeting on Monday to help answer questions from the community, and will continue to assist Salt Lake County in their efforts by providing additional specific criteria and recommendations for locations and possible project sites later this month.

To learn more about the Homeless Services System Reform Plan please click on the following links:

http://slco.org/homeless-services/
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865659107/A-real-plan-to-help-the-homeless-rises-in-Utah.html?pg=all
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865659351/Stakeholders-Can-homeless-reform-plan-reduce-shelter-demand.html
http://www.good4utah.com/news/local-news/salt-lake-county-mayor-reveals-plan-to-battle-homelessness

Two Arch | Nexus intern architects, Ardivan Tookaloo and Elahe Zarehzadeh, have teamed with Zahra Hassanipour (FFKR) Reihaneh Noori (University of Utah), Massih Nilforoushan (VCBO), and Mehran Rezcan (GSBS) to create a winning submission for the 2016 Design Competition sponsored by Salt Lake County and Women in Architecture SLC. This year, the competition focused on “Girls in Design”, the goal of which is to design and build a structure in Sunnyvale Park in West Valley City for the Utah refugee soccer team.

Sunnyvale Park is an environment where refugees and their children who live within the area can come together as a community to enjoy watching soccer, enhance relationships, and develop skills. To understand the needs to this community, the designers met with many of the soccer players to determine what type of structure would best enhance the park.

One of the children’s suggestions (among the requests for a Justin Bieber statue) was for activities to do on the side when they weren’t able to play soccer. This led to the idea and design of a structure which features a target net, practice wall, protective nets to prevent injury, and flexible seating. The structure is designed to be portable, in the case it needs to be relocated from Sunnyvale Park, and is made of simple materials- wood, rope, and bicycle tires to promote sustainability, budget, and to demonstrate that materials like these can be creatively and aesthetically repurposed.

The soccer practice wall is projected to be finished by mid-September. To learn more about Women In Architecture in Salt Lake City and this design competition, please click here.

In addition to becoming one of the greenest office buildings in the world, we are also committed to making Arch | Nexus SAC an integrated part of the Historic R Street community and culture. As a part of this effort we are seeking to tap into the vibrant art community in Sacramento and commission a public art project/bike rack to be prominently located near the main entry on the corner of R Street and 10th Street. Our vision and hope is to have an artistic expression that exemplifies sustainability, the values of Arch Nexus, and the culture of Historic R Street. To download a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) with further details including budget, eligibility, and timeline, please click here.

Yesterday was a special day for a young baseball fan in the Sacramento area. Eleven year old Dakota was picked up from school in a limousine and shuttled off along with friends and family to his home where he was surprised to see his very own batting cage installed! That’s not all though, in June he will go to the Sacramento Rivercats baseball game where he will meet the team, get a special VIP tour of the stadium, and even thrrow out the first pitch! We are so happy to sponsor Dakota and to partner with the Make-A-Wish foundation to bring some joy and hope to a boy in need.

Tens of thousands of volunteers, donors and supporters advance the Make-A-Wish vision to grant the wish of every child diagnosed with a life-threatening medical condition. In the United States and its territories, on average, a wish is granted every 37 minutes. Make-A-Wish believes a wish experience can be a game-changer. This one belief guides and inspires them to grant wishes that change the lives of children. Wishes are more than just a nice thing. And they are far more than gifts, or singular events in time. Wishes impact everyone involved – wish kids, volunteers, donors, sponsors, medical professionals and communities. The impact varies. For wish kids, just the act of making their wish come true can give them the courage to comply with their medical treatments. Parents might finally feel like they can be optimistic. And still others might realize all they have to offer the world through volunteer work or philanthropy.

Arch Nexus is committed to the communities in which we work and actively supports the causes that best reflect our purpose. Our passion for community stewardship is a key aspect of our company culture. Whether in the projects we design or in the causes we support our purpose is to help elevate society. To become a Make-A-Wish sponsor or to find other ways to support their vision please visit wish.org/ways-to-help.

The Enterprise, Utah’s Business Journal has featured a very interesting article by Arch Nexus principal Julie Berreth. The piece describes how designing office environments with a greater connection to nature enhances employee productivity and creativity as well as provides a substantial return on investment. To check out the article please click here.