Fundamental Elements Architects Usually Incorporate in Designing Mental Wellness Facilities

Felix BobbieTips, ,

A clinic providing treatment for troubled youth in WA known as Avery’s House is open to young people who need help in coping with challenges they face. The facility is actually a residential retreat with a thoughtful architectural design, considering the fact that there is an intricate relationship between a built environment and mental wellness.

mental health exerciseWhile the goal of clinicians at treatment facilities is to help young people acquire skills they can focus on when feeling distressed, the spaces provided by the facility must have a nurturing quality. It’s important that the design elements promote relaxation and tranquillity that do not take away their sense of freedom.

Modern day architecture is inclined to follow the principles of minimalist designs to ensure that spaces foster calmness and at the same time heighten the overall feeling of wellness among therapy patients.

Typical Elements that Architects Incorporate in Designing Retreats for Mental Wellness Therapies

Spaces can have a profound effect on how individuals move and interact with the people they get to meet and live with during brief periods of stay. It’s important therefore to place therapy patients in a built environment with clean lines and unobstructed views, devoid of visual clutter.

The following are examples of fundamental elements that architects precariously take into consideration in designing mental health wellness facilities:

Maximizing Natural Light

large windows that bring in natural lightAllowing natural light to enter built spaces by incorporating skylights and large windows in open floor plans can bring about a sense of vitality. Numerous studies have consistently proven that sunlight can influence the body’s production of serotonin, a complex neurotransmitter that can directly boost feelings of happiness and wholeness. The studies show that serotonin production influences the mental, physical and behavioral changes that a person experiences within a 24-hour cycle.

Incorporating Open and Airy Spaces as Opposed to Creating Areas That Limit Movement

Elimination of tightly walled and cluttered spaces that bring about feelings of confinement, which more often than not, cause discomfort and stress. The principles of a minimalist design make use of open floor plans that do not build partition walls. Instead, rooms with different but related functions are combined; such as a kitchen and dining room, living room and entertainment areas, bedrooms and bathrooms.

The absence of barriers allows for greater traffic and at the same time boosts a sense of freedom in moving to different but friendly areas. Mental wellness facilities with open spaces and unobstructed views create a relaxing airy atmosphere that promotes the development of positive outlooks and behaviors.

The Architectural Adaptability of Dutch-Mandated Heating Systems

Felix BobbieHome Improvement, ,

In architecture, adaptability of design is evaluated not only for environmental impact but also for flexibility, convertibility and upgradability of features. An example is the heating system that The Dutch government has mandated as replacement for coal-fueled boilers by year 2026.

Inasmuch as heat pumps can improve the cost-saving efficiency of gas boilers, homeowners are also looking into the benefits of investing on underfloor heating systems to replace the conventional radiators. Although changes in a building or home are inevitable because of the needs and desires of occupants. The principle of architectural adaptability must be observed if the renovation or installation is to have an economic and physical impact.

Concept of Architectural Adaptability

Architectural adaptability relates to the capability of a building to harbor or make room for additional major changes. The concept supports the idea that for all intents and purposes, all other subsequent changes will make the utilities of the building more efficient.

Even better still is that adaptability that allows for flexibility, convertibility and upgradability will make serviceability of existing features last longer, whilst maintaining lower costs.
Flexibility denotes allowing simple changes in space use while convertibility pertains to changes in use within the same building. Upgradability allows addition or expansion or in some cases shrinkage, if to maximize existing spaces.

The Architectural Adaptability of an Underfloor Heating System Paired with a Heat Pump

The main reason why the Dutch government is making heat pump installation mandatory is to reduce the cost of energy used in producing heat and possibly to cover larger spaces.

Related studies show that underfloor heating is more methodical in the use of energy by at least 25%. While homeowners are encouraged to use the hybrid heat pump, this heating equipment is best for the wet type of underfloor heating system.

Hybrid Heat Pump for Wet Underfloor Heating System

A hybrid heat pump consists of a heat drawing apparatus that draws and distributes heat in specific indoor spaces. The heat distribution of the pump is monitored and regulated by a thermostat. Also, a gas boiler comes as an essential component of the heat pump, being the apparatus responsible for heating up water for use by building occupants.

A wet underfloor heating system has pipeworks for the hot water, placed under the floorings. That way the hybrid heat pump can also direct the heat of the hot water pipes toward the underfloor heating system. If warm air from outside sources is available, the hybrid heat pump can draw and distribute underfloor heating from this source.

Dry Underfloor Heating System

  • The alternative to a wet underfloor heating is the use of warp systems that allow for a dry type of underfloor heating. Here, a set of various materials form layers, including the network of cables hooked up to a heat generating system. Not a few prefer this kind of underfloor heating because installation is easier, as well as hassle- and dust-free.

New Urbanism as Exemplified by Connecticut’s Urban Communities

Felix BobbieArchitecture, Home Improvement, Location, ,

The concept and principles of New Urbanism has gained momentum in Connecticut as many Connecticutters find urban living the most comfortable way of life. Albeit a small state with mostly rural areas, Connecticut is one of the best examples of New Urbanism, as the state now belongs to the ranks of the most urban regions in America.

To better illustrate urban living in Connecticut, it would be best to describe the concepts and principle of New Urbanism.

The New Urbanism Movement

New Urbanism is a movement that was introduced to change the way towns and municipalities have been constructed during the past centuries. This includes encouraging environmental friendly practices by having affordable housing amidst an urban sprawl that offers shopping accessibility, open public spaces and walkable neighborhoods. It is all about creating livable places where the residents can enjoy healthy and untroubled lives.

The principle on which the Charter on New Urbanism is founded, is for real estate development and building construction to largely focus on things that matter to the everyday of lives of citizens. It is important for New Urbanist planners to establish complete communities that include shops, worksites, houses, educational, parks, civic facilities and entertainment, all within walking distance. Rather than build additional roads and highways, New Urbanism encourages the use of light rail and trains for transportation in which stations can be accessed inside related structures.

In New Urbanism, everything is related; from a single urban location in a rural area to the structures built in the state’s capital. The concept works on the New Urbanism principle that a region can perform better when buildings are linked to a transit station, as fewer foot and vehicle traffic will enable people in the region to move in an organized manner and perform better.

The planning and development principles of this movement are designed to utilize and revitalize unused spaces but within the principles of conservation and sustainability. The streets are made for the residents instead of cars, whilst allowing bicycles to become part of street traffic.

A Quick Take on the Architectural Designs of New Urbanist Homes

One of the main attractions of New Urbanist homes are its aesthetic qualities and environment friendly traits. As a way to bridge the gap between modern home designs and traditional concepts, the Vinyl Siding Institute published a book called “Architectural Design for Traditional Neighborhoods.”

The book gave home builders and architects practical and low-cost ideas on what to construct in order to combine traditional concepts with the standards of New Urbanism. The contents include simple concepts and attentiveness to materials in order to eliminate the difference between traditional housings on large high-density areas and highly developed urban neighborhoods.

In order to serve the book’s purpose, a chapter shows how adorning a home with vinyl sidings and trimmings using vinyl fluted columns, casings, crowns brackets and pediments, can eliminate the need to hire a master woodworker just to add traditional aesthetic qualities to a modern urban home. The book played an important role in the rapid adoption of New Urbanism, as many new urbanist consumers began demanding such adornments for their home.

In Connecticut, urbanist developers, planning firms and architectures have since developed experience in using vinyl siding ct consumers desire for their home.

Architects at a New Juncture in Conceptualizing Designs for Post-Pandemic Homes

Felix BobbieArchitecture, Home Improvement, ,

The recent months and the developments that transpired due to COVID-19 have brought modern architects to a new juncture in conceptualizing post-pandemic ideas. The novel coronavirus has given them an actual example of how modernist architecture evolved as a consequence of previous disease outbreaks,

Where previously doing away with too many rooms was a good way of revolutionizing home designs, the possibility that an ordinary flu could turnout to be be another disease outbreak, calls for having additional rooms in which to self-isolate.

The Need to Redesign Homes Being the Central Area of Activity During and After the Pandemic

While a home is supposed to be a safe haven during the quarantine period, the seemingly endless period of staying indoors can also affect the mental health of those who go through isolation. Clean, untextured walls were seen before as a way of keeping homes less susceptible to dust and bacterial accumulation. Yet if they are walls that are reminiscent of hospital environments, seeing those walls 24/7 for weeks and months, makes the uncertainty of what lies ahead seems even more depressing.

Most companies are contemplating on making their employees work from home on a permanent basis. In homes where there are few spaces to convert as a home office, performing work remotely might not be as productive and effective. Mainly because it will be difficult to avoid interruptions and/or distractions.

Imagine a household where there is a free flowing set up between the kitchen, the dining area and the living room. Adults who will work-from-home by using the dining table as their work space, can easily be distracted if one of the children has to attend an online class at the same time. Apparently, the home will be the center of all diverse sets of daily activities taken on by every family member.

Helping Architects Gather New Insights for Designing Post-Pandemic Homes

In all probability, most architecture firms are into researching information on how they can make new architectural designs that will help homeowners transition effectively to a post-pandemic lifestyle. Aside from conducting surveys, some research work also consider personal blogs that share actual experiences related to the new norms brought on by the pandemic.

We at Barbaraiweins.com offer a trustworthy platform where bloggers can post articles about a wide range of topics. As this article aims to provide architects with additional insights from which to draw ideas for new home designs, home improvements, and changes in lifestyle write for us by publishing them as guest posts in our website.

Green Roofs, Garden Spaces in Urban Settings

Felix BobbieArchitecture, Design, , ,

Green roofs and garden spaces characterize modern architectural designs; suggesting inclinations toward making urban settings more respectful of nature. In having awareness of the impact buildings have on the environment, not a few modern structures have turned roofs into garden spaces and panels into vertical gardens.

Cities serve as centers of productivity but they are also main producers of stressors affecting mental health. In order to make the concrete jungle environment less stressful and more supportive of creativity and innovations, modern architects are now including vertical gardening concepts in their building designs.

It’s not just about providing spaces and concrete boxes in which potted plants can be planted and placed. It’s also about making the structures ready for a hydroponics growing system.

What is Vertical Gardening

Vertical gardening is a method of growing plants in vertically suspended panels that are either part of wall structures or freestanding, whilst designed to support a hydroponic system. The matter of where such panels are incorporated as designs of the building, also takes into consideration the flow of air and sunlight.

Hydroponics by the way, is a system in which plants thrive by letting their roots come in direct contact with nutrient-rich water-based solutions while embedded in inert mediums like peat moss, clay pellets, vermiculite, perlite or rockwool.

That being the case, vertical gardens whether for indoor or outdoor cultivation, can make an edifice pop not only with green color but also with lush hues. Moreover, interior vertical gardens make indoor atmosphere cleaner and easier to breathe, thereby promoting a healthier indoor environment. Exterior vertical gardens on the other hand can improve insulation against temperature fluctuations brought about by UV radiations or by heavy rains

Not all urban centers are equal though, as many are still working or living in older buildings constructed at a time when the idea of greening indoor areas had not been given much thought. Still, indoor gardening remains possible, as there are now methods and supplements in making interior cultivation a successful endeavor. .

Indoor Gardening Tips

Indoor gardening experts have proven you don’t need a lot of space and deep soil to grow plants and set up a garden inside one’s building space. A smaller area is just as ideal as a large one and might even prove better, since it denotes less time and attention devoted in keeping a garden space healthy and beautiful.

When buying pots, invest in different sizes. That way you can grow plants in different sizes as well, and be able to place them in varying levels as a means of optimizing a garden space.

Choose plants wisely, because not every species can thrive with little air and water; while some others are great attractors of insects and pests.

When selecting an indoor garden space, make sure there is a drainage system where excess water coming from pot holes can flow.

Don’t forget to add layers of shingles or pebbles at the bottom to prevent clogging of pot holes.

Add high-quality potting mix to the soil and use only fertilizers recommended for indoor gardening.

Consider using grow tents as a way of protecting your indoor plants from seasonal changes. Know more about the advantages of using this internal gardening aid from websites featuring Vivosun grow tents reviewed by verified users.

The R&D Tax Credit – Can Providers of Architectural Services Still Claim this Tax Cut?

Felix BobbieArchitecture, Business,

As the deadline of filing for the 2019 tax return draws nearer, business tax service firms are advising providers of architectural and engineering services to take caution when claiming an older tax cut, known as the Research & Development or R&D Tax Credit.

The R&B tax credit is available to businesses that meet the criteria prescribed by the 1981 legislation that enacted this tax cut. As the R&D tax credit became permanent in 2015, IRS statistics show that nearly one-third of its claimants are taxpayers who provide professional services as a business, including architects. Collectively, the IRS identifies these service providers as Specified Service Trade or Business or SSTBs.

However, in 2016, the IRS established a division to undertake review of the returns filed by businesses with less than $10 million in assets. Known as the IRS Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) Division, its examiners held the position that SSTBs like architects and engineers, do not provide services that would qualify their activities as meeting the criteria of the R&D Tax Credit.

As a result, the said professionals were disqualified from applying the R&D Tax Credit as a means of reducing their tax liability for the related tax year/s.

Still, architectural or engineering businesses that have more than $10 million in assets might not experience the same disqualification. Their tax returns are reviewed by examiners of the IRS Large Business and International (LB&I) Division, which still consider architectural and engineering businesses eligible for assessment; not undermining their potential to satisfactorily meet the Business Component Test related to the R&D Tax Credit.

What are the Criteria that Businesses Must Meet in Order to Qualify for the R&D Tax Credit

The R&D tax credit defines research as a tool for satisfying the need to carry out the following purposes;

  • Eliminating elements of uncertainty that can adversely affect the results of the product or service offered by the business
  • Facilitating or reducing time spent in the process of experimentation.
  • To efficiently and effectively provide products or services that are technological in nature.
  • Achieving the qualified purpose or permitted purpose of the business, which in the new Business Component Test specifies product or service that requires research for developing or improving new functionality or performance.

In addition, the IRS Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) examiners also review the acceptance and payment terms related to the architectural or engineering service contract. That way, it can be established if the cost of research is part of the fees collected by architects or engineers from their customers.

If so, it technically means the cost of research was funded by the client who contracted the service, and not by the architect or engineer who provided the professional service.

The Truth about Architecture as a Career or Business

Felix BobbieArchitecture,

An architect’s job seems to be one of those glamorous line of work that hardly gives reason to get stressed out. Now why would a job that gives lots of opportunities for earning, just by doing something one has a great passion for, be stressful? Yet designing houses and buildings, and may be, even skyscrapers, is not all that it takes to make a great paying profession out of an architectural career or business.

Architects face challenges, particularly those who are still in that stage of trying to build a name for themselves or for their business. Challenges faced by architects depend on their circumstances; and for this post, we will consider only the basics

Newbie or a Fresh Grad

A fresh grad’s first concern is getting hired for an internship at the least. It is the first difficult task to hurdle since most architectural firms usually hire those with bankable experience. Not unless an applicant for an entry position has a good list of bankable traits, academic qualifications, an Architect Registration Examination (ARE) license, additional continuing courses on and trainings completed, design competitions won, job-related volunteer work, an impressive portfolio of sketches and drawings and other similar records or documents that will give an aspiring architect fresh out of college, an edge over other applicants.

StartUp Architectural Business

Startup architectural businesses have to battle with a common misconception among building owners or property developers that hiring an architectural firm only spells additional costs. Nowadays, most architectural firms take proactive steps by looking for large-scale business projects to which they can take their firm’s building or housing design ideas.

Again, the matter of creating an edge over bidding competitors is of utmost importance. Previous projects to support stakeholder-compliant designs, sustainable architectural ideas, ability to create practical and attractive designs that require reasonable building costs, are only some of the elements that can increase chances of winning a lucrative contract. All these and some can add value to a design proposal.

Established Architectural Businesses

Architectural businesses that have made a name for themselves still face challenges since they have to keep up with the continuing evolution of the profession. They already have and edge over others but must make sure they stay ahead of the competitive world of architecture. Fresh revolutionary ideas coming from startup companies are not to be disregarded, since new technologies are now available to make them more competitive. The matter of winning clients is essential, because financial stability and sustainability is one way of keeping their pool of talented architects under their wing.

Managing a pool of professionals is also a considerable challenge, as the firm relies not only with their ability to create impressive building designs that can add value to their client’s vision. A firm must be able to support their talents with software that will allow them to yield excellent work at a quicker pace, as well as help gather information about new materials, fresh sources, and trending preferences when it comes to building and housing occupancy.

Rest and Recreation: A General Issue for Every Busy Architect

In whatever capacity or condition architects work in, the job requires long hours of conceptualizing, sketching, and designing; whilst putting a lot of considerations in mind such as building regulations, stakeholder requirements, as well as engineering value to their concept. At the same time, an ongoing project also requires on-site visits and client meetings, which could really make a day’s work even more gruelling.

Actually, finding time for rest and recreation is one of the challenges faced by most architects. The need to alleviate stressful work conditions when R&R is not yet affordable and available. Some employers give their architects time off after successfully completing a project so they can re-energize. In the meantime, day to day office support may come in the form of ergonomic chairs; or something as simple as a foot hammock that allows release of pressure on the lower back leading to proper blood circulation.