This year we have a large mentoring team of 16 professionals working with 21 students. The students are immersed into design problems, construction schedules and budgets at a level of exposure equal to upper-level college courses. The mix of students from different schools and classes gives participants the opportunity to learn from others and to work together much like an actual design and construction team would work on its projects.

The design problem for this year is to design a sports arena to accommodate both the Supers Sonics basketball team and a new hockey team. The 17,000 seat stadium with practice facilities, retail, and vending services presents challenging design problems for the entire team. Along with conceptual study models, the students generated a 3D SketchUp computer model. More specifically, the Structural team has worked out a 350 foot roof truss design; the Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing team developed design strategies to conserve energy and water by providing solar panels and reusing rain water to flush toilets; and the Architectural team provided the visual expression. This year’s design problem is extra challenging due to the complexity of the project–and is forcing the students to look at very difficult problems and how to break them down into more manageable pieces. The students will have the opportunity to submit their proposed design titled the ‘Pearl Stadium’ at a final presentation event for all area teams on Wednesday, May 22, 2013, at 6:30pm, at Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus. Feel free to attend!

Miller Hull Partner, Norm Strong, introduced the program to our office after hearing about the national program at an AIA Conference, and about ten Miller Hull employees have filled the teams over the years. Of my six years being a mentor – currently in my fifth year as a team leader – I am continually amazed at the students’ skills and understanding of the design concepts. The opportunity to share from own my experiences and enthusiasm for the architecture profession with the these young, inquisitive minds makes me feel hopeful and confident they will be able to make knowledgeable decisions to become architects, if they wish.

If I would have had access to a similar program when I was in high school, I could have focused efforts my first year in college on becoming an architect vs. a veterinarian. Coming from a small rural community in the Midwest, this program might not have not have been available to me, and it is surprising how far some of the ACE program students in our area are willing to travel for this experience – coming from as far away as Gig Harbor, Silverdale, Kingston, and Woodinville. Whether by ferry, bus or stuck on a crowded freeway, they are still driven to make their way to the city for meetings.

Along with exposing students to the design and construction professions, ACE provides college scholarships at both the local and national level. Aya Mears from Sammamish High School was awarded this year’s Miller Hull ACE Scholarship, receiving $2500 to pursue a degree in Architecture at Cornell University. This year the Seattle ACE Chapter granted $28,000 to seven students at the annual scholarship breakfast–bringing the total since 2001 to over $305,000 in scholarship funds.

As this year of mentoring comes to a close, I look forward to the underclass students returning for another year with ACE next fall, and to hearing how college classes are going for the seniors from years past. It is great to work at a design firm that not only maintains a university-level internship program, but which also supports outreach to high school students. Our office benefits from the enthusiasm and creativity of young people in our midst! And thanks to all of the ACE mentors in the architectural, construction and engineering firms for donating funds and time to such a great program – part of the national organization which won the 2010 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. Consider joining us or your local chapter in mentoring the potential AEC professionals of tomorrow!

Situated in the lightly wooded and gentle sloping landscape of Lakewood Park in White Center, the recently completed Bethaday Community Learning Space (BCLS) is the new home of the Technology Access Foundation (TAF) – a nonprofit that partners with local school districts to provide underserved students with skills for future careers in math, science and technology. Founded by former Microsoft employee Trish Millines Dziko, the initial vision of the organization launched ten years ago has experienced phenomenal success with consistently more than 80% of students completing the program pursuing higher education. In an effort to accommodate the organization’s growth and desire to more permanently root itself near the communities it serves, a partnership was formed with King County Parks & Recreation Department, allowing TAF to lease a small portion of the northeast corner of the park to build its new headquarters. The project site uniquely positioned TAF as stewards of one of the neighborhood’s only public spaces and as such, afforded an opportunity to introduce public amenities currently lacking in the community.

City parks were initially conceived as a way to provide respite from the “ills” of the city. Despite the fact that parks are created to address a real need for safe and clean public amenity spaces, they are not always successful as Jane Jacobs posits in her seminal work – The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Public parks, just as streets, require a diverse mix of users and an “eyes on” presence to ensure their continued vitality and democratic use. The BCLS introduces new public program – indoor and outdoor multi-purpose and event spaces, a commercial kitchen, and access to technology – as well as several new user groups to the park, bringing with it the strength and ethos of the larger community. However, it is simply TAF’s presence, which bolsters the park’s public significance and safeguards its future, that is perhaps the project’s greatest gift to the community.

As architects, we are continually drawn to discussions about the future and the challenges and opportunities that may come about as a result of new technologies, emergent building and program types, shifting sensibilities, and a more connected/ global society. Working with TAF afforded us the unique opportunity to explore these shifting paradigms within the unconventional setting of a public park, challenging us to meet the needs of a nimble and non-traditional educational organization while providing cohesion to disparate program components.

While the use of repurposed materials emerged as a popular part of the design narrative, reduced to its most basic elements, the project’s strongest moments take their cues from the same simple principles that inform all great design – relationship between building and site, response to climate, economy of materials, and careful consideration of light, views, proportion and movement – within a given social and environmental context. The honest and direct approach to addressing these parameters provides a solid framework for both TAF and the community’s growth but constitutes only the first step in the site’s continued evolution. No final answers are offered– only beginnings.

Our firm’s interest in public projects stems from the belief that design can elevate the experience and role of the public realm, re-framing problems as opportunities that add value and depth to the public landscape. It has been our great pleasure to help TAF realize their new home in the White Center community while re-energizing one of King County’s cherished public spaces.

During the development of Bothell City Hall the design team was charged by the Historic Preservation & Landmarks Board to relate our use of masonry to the historic brick facades of Downtown Bothell. These buildings were constructed at a time when bricks shared both structural and ornamental functions. The facades reflect an understanding of the building material and its placement — a relationship between structure and texture. The rich patterns are evidence of a craft rooted in the relationship of hand and brick.

Fast forward… 2011. The role of masonry (specifically brick) has changed. With its structural capabilities diminished, the module is now used as a skin. Furthermore, the tools for designing and constructing with brick have also shifted from the hand to the machine. The current context is much different than the scenario we had been asked to relate to, and our design strategy would need to respond to that.

Our starting point for developing design parameters was to reassess both our material and our toolset. The brick still offered us a modular and efficient solution to building assembly, while digital tools introduced a new capacity for variability within the system. Using Grasshopper + Rhino we developed a set of rules for the placement of the bricks along the walls of the new city council chamber. The behavior of the system was based on carefully designed parameters to deal with brick size, bond and overlap. Basic structural and weathering requirements, along with aesthetic desires informed the input values for the equation and could be manipulated to produce a variety of patterns. By designing a behavior rather than a specific solution, we were able to generate multiple iterations of the wall and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each one. 

The outcome of these relationships is a variable rotation of each brick along the length of the curving façade. The idea is actually very simple, though its visual appearance indicates otherwise. One half of the arcing wall is laid as a traditional running bond along the curved surface — this is actually the mathematically complex portion because every brick has a different rotation value. Luckily, masons have no problem laying up a smooth curved wall. Breaking at the tangent point of the wall, the other half of the arc maintains a running bond with a fixed rotation. This means that all of the bricks are laid parallel to the tangent at the midpoint of the wall. To assist in the assembly of the wall, a digitally fabricated steel template will be placed at the top and bottom of the wall to act as an alignment jig. This will eliminate the need for the mason to measure the displacement of each brick and it passes along the curve.

The resulting effect is a sort of unraveling masonry, accomplished by the relationship of material and digital processes. The potential of this wall system lies in its ability to relate to the historic texture of masonry while reflecting a new digital craft.

You can join the discussion here on Facebook.

During the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle, housing exhibits provided a vision for the future of domestic life as exuberant modular assemblages packed with high-tech energy-intensive gadgets that did the living for you, built and powered by seemingly endless resources. Fifty years later, we are at work on The House of the Immediate Future with Habitat for Humanity to be built first at Seattle Center as part the 50th Anniversary celebration of the ’62 World’s Fair, and then moved to an emerging Seattle Housing Authority neighborhood in Rainier Valley.

Our approach seems modest when compared with the space-age vision in 1962. But that’s the point.

The difference highlights how advances in building science over the past five decades have trended toward a sober return to basics as we better understand the reality of limited resources and global warming. Smaller footprints in walkable transit-oriented communities and ever-tighter building envelopes that make miserly use of renewable energy sources may not capture the imagination quite like the sci-fi visions of the past, but may be the only way we can survive long into the future

To kick-off the project, Miller Hull hosted a Think Tank workshop attended by over 60 local experts from across the spectrum of residential design, engineering and planning. The Think Tanks were focused on four major topics: Construction, Energy, Program and Site that prioritized repeatable solutions for near-term Habitat projects by combining the right blend of established but forward-looking techniques.

Our hybrid-approach to construction systems includes prefabricated “wet-cores” (mechanical room, kitchen, bathrooms) by Method Homes and a panelized double-stud exterior wall assembly constructed by Habitat volunteers. By prefabricating the infrastructure cores, professional labor can be separated from a less-skilled volunteer force so important to every Habitat for Humanity project. Volunteers will build wall panels that can be erected around the wet-cores at the Seattle Center exhibit and then disassembled and moved to the permanent site.

A “dream team” of residential energy experts including our in-house energy-guru, Jim Hanford, along with Buzz Burgett of NW Mechanical, Tadashi Shiga of Evergreen Certified and Brad Liljequist of Z-Home are all looking for the most simple and cost-effective approach to achieving net-zero energy for the home. Currently they are crunching the numbers to compare two solar-driven mechanical systems: an air-to-water heat pump with radiant slab versus a ductless mini-split system. Habitat will use the house to develop techniques that fit their volunteer-model to minimize air-infiltration and maximize insulation to reduce the energy loads and resultant costs of renewable energy sources.

Beyond building science, the team is pondering the question, “How do families live now?” To address this question, the house and site are planned to optimize flexibility for a widening variety of family configurations, aging-in-place and income-generation possibilities for the global family of the future.

You can join the discussion here on Facebook.

Discussions for improvements to the Moses Lake City Hall were taking place in 1999, probably earlier. That was in the last millennium!

Fast forward to 2007:

The growing city required more services, and the staff had outgrown their existing facility. Meanwhile, the Moses Lake Museum and Art Center (MAC) had procured a $1M Heritage Grant from the Washington State Historical Society. (The MAC is an impressive civic service and amenity, especially for a city with a population of about 20,000.) The city decided to go forward with an unconventional idea: combine the MAC with the City Hall.

It was at this time that Miller Hull became involved with the City Hall project, later dubbed the Civic Center since it encompassed much more than an administrative building. It was a great opportunity to work with a forward thinking client who wanted not only a building to work in, but also a building for the citizens to really use. And, on top of this, Bob Hull grew up in Moses Lake.

Fast forward again, Grand Opening on November 18, 2011:

It was a beautiful sunny day in Moses Lake. An estimated 1,000 people were in attendance. There was a brief opening ceremony and then the festivities commenced. Although the permanent exhibits were not yet in place for the MAC, it was fully occupied for the holiday show which included a silent auction, temporary exhibits, children’s arts and crafts, and lots of people. Even Santa Claus was there.

People wandered the building, checking out the offices, the museum, and other public spaces. The main circulation space (called the “Avenue” as it is the extension of 4th Avenue to Civic Center Park) was packed. Movies were being shown in the auditorium. In the MAC, there was live music at the east end of the gallery; at the west end, shoppers were getting an early start to the holidays in the museum store.

Then, the fire alarms sounded. I looked on in curiosity: maybe I could stand back and witness the exiting requirements for an Assembly Occupancy in action? How cool it would be for the arrows and width calculations on our exiting plans to come to life. But, no one moved or missed a beat, not even the Fire Chief. The exception was Bruce Strait, the building maintenance supervisor, who hurried to the basement. Instead, people chatted with neighbors and co-workers as they queued for the buffet (the source of the alarm…a cooking hood brought in for the opening that was not anticipated for the public lobby). Strobe lights activated, the party was now in full swing!

Although it is not completely finished, it was amazing to see people enjoy the building, in just the way that was envisioned so many years ago. It is more than a place where one goes to pay utility bills or apply for permits. This is truly a public building, a place for citizens to gather and see their government at work.

Moses Lake Mayor Jon Lane said, “Many council chambers in this day and age are building bars and extra security while Moses Lake is building glass windows that open up to the outside. How tremendous.”

As Bob said in his remarks at the dedication, “It takes a real team not only on our side, but also the people with vision on your side to create a building like this.”

We are now nearing the end of the road, for our part, anyway. We hope that the City of Moses Lake will enjoy the building for many years, and that it will be a place that becomes part of the tradition and culture of this vibrant and growing community. If you are out in this part of the state, stop by to visit Moses Lake and the Civic Center. The trip, while long, is beautiful.

The Moses Lake Civic Center is located between the existing City Hall and the Parks and Police Building, adjacent to Civic Center Park. The approximately 41,000 square foot facility includes the council chamber/community room, administrative offices for two city departments, public lobby, 200 seat auditorium, museum gallery, and art classrooms. The building is targeted for LEED Silver.

“The annual earnings of people like me are hundreds, if not thousands, of times greater than those of the average American, but we don’t buy hundreds or thousands of times more stuff…It’s true that we do spend a lot more than the average family. Yet the one truly expensive line item in our budget is our airplane (which, by the way, was manufactured in France by Dassault Aviation SA), and those annual costs are mostly for fuel (from the Middle East). It’s just crazy to believe that any of this is more beneficial to our economy than hiring more teachers or police officers or investing in our infrastructure.“

Investing in our infrastructure does more than create jobs. Miller Hull is best known for its design of award-winning public buildings. For me, there are no projects that are more rewarding. But there seems to be a trend where these public projects are seen as unnecessary and the first thing to be cut. There is a special session of the legislature happening in Olympia right now where this is being discussed. Will we have to let our vital infrastructure projects deteriorate? How can we cut higher education any further? This is not just about creating jobs; these public projects are needed to uphold the quality of life for our residents, and to attract outside investment in our state.

I chair the Public Policy Board of the local Seattle chapter of the AIA and the topic of taxes is the hottest thing on our agenda. Of course nobody now uses the word “tax.” Instead, what we are talking about is now referred to as “revenue.” Why are we so afraid of talking about taxes and investing in our society? For decades taxes were modified continually to respond to the economic condition of the country. Ronald Reagan raised taxes 11 times in eight years. Nixon and Ford fought for higher taxes. John F. Kennedy secured a huge tax cut (to lower the upper bracket to 70 percent!). It didn’t matter what your party was, it was just another tool to balance the budget.

As Nick so matter-of-factly lays out in his article, the current tax policies are upside down. He admits to paying 11 percent on an eight figure income. How can this be fair? Higher taxes on the wealthy can
put Americans back to work, which not only stimulate the economy but make our country a better place through the betterment of infrastructure projects and the creation of beautiful public spaces. Taxes is a word that needs to be discussed openly and intelligently at the state and federal levels. I only wish there were more smart people like Nick Hanauer involved in these discussions.

Prior to the November election, AIA Seattle hosted a candidate forum for Seattle City Council candidates to hear from them on issues regarding the built environment. The event was held in our office and was co-hosted by the local chapters of ULI, AGC, and USGBC. All ten council candidates attended the event, and many of the leading architects in Seattle came out to hear what the candidates had to say.

The interesting coincidence that caused me to reflect on these two events was when on stage to receive an AIA Honor award for the Vancouver Community Library, I was happy to be shaking hands and sharing congratulations with Mark Reddington of LMN and Walter Schacht of Schacht Aslani, who also both won awards for outstanding buildings for local public institutions that evening. Both Mark and Walter are recognized design leaders in Seattle and are members of the AIA Public Policy Board (PPB), which I chair, and which sponsored the candidate forum. What can be interpreted from the fact that three of the five PPB members were receiving design awards? Why are design leaders so interested in advocacy?

The answer is simple: we share a passion for making a positive impact on our quality of life, whether that be for a community through the design of a new public building, or for a community through smart public policy.

We at Miller Hull participate in a program called The 1% through which a minimum 1% of our work is dedicated to pro bono activities. The Snoqualmie Veterans’ Memorial was a perfect candidate, and in addition to our donated services, the landscape architect, Jack Johnson of Outdoor Studio, as well as structural and civil engineers, Quantum Consulting Engineers and SvR Design, donated their work. In fact, across the board, the project has enjoyed a strong grass-roots support, with donations of time and materials coming from all corners of the Snoqualmie Valley.

The Memorial itself occupies a formerly vacant lot adjacent to American Legion Hall and across the street from the Snoqualmie City Hall. It includes a granite tablet engraved with names of all the known soldiers who fought for their country and hailed from the Snoqualmie river valley. There are six flags representing each branch of the armed services: Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines. The flags are backed by a low curving stone wall, composed of local andesite, which was recently removed the bedrock below Snoqualmie Falls. There is also a living memorial in the form of a newly planted London Plane tree, surround by nine boulders. Each boulder comes from a different town in the valley, and is symbolic of these communities coming together to remember and honor those who fought to protect them.

Today, on Veterans Day (11/11/11), the Snoqualmie Valley Veterans’ Memorial was officially dedicated with an event that included guest speakers, a tribal blessing, a reading of the names, a three-volley salute, and the playing of taps by a local girl scout. Several hundred people came out to honor the Veterans and celebrate the new memorial. It is projects like these that make architecture and design rewarding for me: the level of community involvement, the participation is something bigger and greater than ourselves, and the creation of a lasting legacy. Such opportunities are an honor to participate in.

Architecture is not always about the building. In many cases such as this, it is about creating community space, and working with people.

The professionals who judge the Honor Awards for Washington Architecture have extremely high credentials in design, and in recent years some have come from as far as Europe and Asia. To be recognized by your peers or people of this caliber is the highest honor you can receive.

The city itself plays a role in the quality of the award program as well. Seattle isn’t too big, yet it has a strong global influence and attracts extremely strong design professionals. The tenable size allows for people to come together in formal and informal ways, and people like Peter Miller, ARCADE functions, Space.city and other programs help build a strong community.

I believe that as a profession, architecture has been traditionally undervalued. We put in the long hours and have nearly the same amount of schooling as doctors and lawyers, yet are paid substantially less. Architects are constantly fighting for credibility, and once a year this award program gives validity to the art of the profession and our advancement of detail, materials, space and form.

It is for these reasons that I believe that with the exception of the national AIA Honor Award program, the AIA Seattle Honor Awards program is the best in the country. It also makes me ask the question:  if we didn’t have as strong of a program, would the work be as good?

The Miller Hull Partnership won two 2011 Honor Awards: the Lott Clean Water Alliance Regional Services Center in Olympia, Washington, and the Vancouver Community Library in Vancouver, Washington. Since AIA Seattle’s award program began in 1950, Miller Hull, founded in 1977, has won 40 of the awards.

Miller Hull offers a Length of Service Award when employees reach their five and 10 year anniversaries at the firm in the form of a travel stipend. The purpose is to get away, to get inspired and to bring back renewed enthusiasm, energy, and a fresh perspective. The obvious route for an architect is to go see any of the myriad of architectural gems, old and new, the world over. But with the firm’s blessing (and a bit in advance of my 10-year anniversary), I was able to explore my other passion: wildlife conservation. It’s not such a far stretch. Sustainable building and environmental sensitivity is a requirement of architecture today and a signature of Miller Hull’s work before it was ever fashionable. As human populations swell, communities develop and the natural environment — its flora and fauna — can be, and often is, sacrificed. Deforestation occurs. Water sources are cut off. Migration paths are blocked. Animals go extinct. Architecture and conservation are intertwined and in Africa, the human — wildlife conflict is a problem of outstanding proportions.

The lion population is decreasing at an alarming rate: from 200,000 lions throughout the continent of Africa in the 1970s to somewhere between 20,000-30,000 today. That’s a decrease of 80-90 percent in just four decades. Several countries have lost their lion populations completely, and several others are expected to lose their populations in the next decade if nothing is done to save this most iconic of all animals.

ALERT is trying to save lions and offers an amazing opportunity for people to lend a hand while experiencing travel in a completely unique way. You work hard, really hard. Our work days were 12 hours long starting at 6:30am, and in two weeks we only had one afternoon off on the 10th day (come to think of it, maybe the schedule is not so different from architecture!) You work alongside the local staff and get to hear their stories, share laughs, and make friends. You also work alongside other volunteers from all over the world, bonded in our love and appreciation for this vulnerable species. And, yes, we got to work with lions — something I never imagined I would ever have the honor of doing.

We went on daily walks with the cubs (it gets them out in the bush and hones their hunting skills), and collected behavioral data. We cleaned lion enclosures, prepared the meat they eat, repaired fences and roads, and went on snare sweeps. We were privileged to take out some of the adolescent lions at night and witness them stalking and successfully killing prey. We were able to go out with the research team to collect data on ALERT’s Stage 2 release pride, the Ngamo pride. We also had the opportunity to spend time with the four rescued elephants at the park, and go horseback riding through the bush.

Working up close and personal with lions is without a doubt, a top highlight of my life that will be difficult to out-do. It is absolutely magical to interact with these amazing cats. But what I didn’t anticipate is how this would alter my perspective on travel. Maybe we didn’t see all the major sites the guidebooks recommend, but we stayed in one place and really got to know it until it felt like home. We met the people who work, live, and struggle in a country that has seen, and continues to see, so much turmoil. And yet, you realize everyone is the same, and everyone wants the same things: decent work at a decent wage, the ability to feed their families and send their children to school, the need to find some laughter and joy in life.

We had minimal internet access, we had power outages daily, and we had few useful tools for repair work. We were hot, sweaty, dirty, and exhausted, and yet there was nowhere else we’d rather be. The only thing that mattered was the lions and to know that, maybe, in some tiny way, we were helping this amazing species to not only survive, but to once again thrive.

And ultimately, it wasn’t just about the lions. It’s also about the human spirit. Meeting people who have less than we do in the form of possessions and freedoms, and yet their spirit and good nature soared above those with seemingly so much more. It was a beautiful lesson to learn in a severely damaged country, where there is a group of dedicated people working tirelessly to save Africa’s heritage.

If you’d like to know more about our trip, ALERT, and the perilous future of lions, follow our personal blog: Africa or Bust!