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Healthier Workplace: Enhanced Business Culture

Architectural design plays a large part in workplace psychology and enhanced business culture. It helps define everything from company culture and ethics, to employee productivity.

Psychology of Design

“Environmental psychology explores the parameters and variables that might alter one’s mood, behavior, productivity, effectiveness, and attitude.” Irving Weiner, AIA, & Environmental Psychology Professor

Have you ever walked into an office, or store and felt like, “Ahh, this is a place I want to be”? Maybe you’re not even sure why, but your subconscious had evaluated the space and given its stamp of approval, even before your rational brain has caught up.

This non-verbal communication is important for a how a commercial space (be it storefront, office, apartment building) speaks to both its customers and employees. A healthy workplace design will impact the company identity (design of space), help define the company culture, and reflect its ethics. But not only that, it influences how people behave. Sound important? We think so.

commercial architect enhanced business culture - artistic

Lounge area for photographer’s studio

But you might ask, how do we know this? Well, the field of environmental psychology studies how everything around us—our spaces, our buildings, our cities, and our landscape—make us feel and behave.

According to Dave Alan Kopec (New School of Architecture and Design in San Diego), it’s “the study of human relations and behaviors within the context of built and natural environments.” (1)

This knowledge of behavior modification is a powerful tool, which we as architects, use to create results for our clients. What kind of results? Well, in an office setting, this can lead to improvements in employee productivity, while for retail locations, purposeful design should lead to higher sales. In a healthcare environment, it could mean faster healing and shorter hospital stays. We’re talking tangible, measurable results!

“The goals are to integrate environmental factors such as HVAC, illumination, color, art, and ergonomics into the unconscious mind, so that one’s perception is positive; which in turn shall motivate one to be more effective in academia, in the community, and in the workforce.” Irving Weiner

Healthier Workplace: Enhanced Business Culture

So if this is known, and out there, why are so many office-type building still so…. blah? Well, according to Mike Bahr, it’s because most modern offices are solely considered as a cost, rather than a performance driver. They go for so called “functional” considerations, like let’s cram as many people in as possible, and one-size fits all workstations.

Don’t get us wrong, functionality is incredibly important, but designing based on the narrow definition of function misses so many opportunities. We like to incorporate all aspects of what we consider to be functionality, which includes how our clients want to encourage their clients/employees to behave and feel.

corporate office architect designs schematic for GE Battery plant new offices to enhanced business culture

Corporate office space for General Electric

And each situation is different. A highly collaborative office culture may need more shared workstations, meeting spaces, lounge areas, while a control culture is more suited to formal, individual spaces. It all starts with a) the “recognition of space as a way to support productivity and company goals”, b) defining the goals for behaviors and company culture, and c) letting the architect synergize all the elements in to a design that delivers.

How is your commercial space supporting your goals? We’ve helped all types of companies from corporate offices, to salons, and professional studio spaces to enhanced business culture. Take a look at some of our projects and see how we can help you!

5 Benefits of a Happy, Healthy Home, Part 2

in Healthy Home, Stories

Energy efficiency never felt so good! In our last post, we discussed how great home design can enhance family life, along with your sleeping, eating, bathing and lifestyles. If you missed it, pop over and have a read. This week, we delve into the last 3 design considerations on our list (daylight, air quality and energy), and how they can be leveraged to make a happy & healthy home!

Just to refresh, we consider all of the following aspects in LEAP’s Residential Designs.

How to:

Enhance Family Life
Enhance Sleeping, Eating, Bathing and Living Lifestyles
Increase Daylight
Promote Healthy Indoor Air
Increase Energy Efficiency

Healthy Home: Increased Daylight

You have probably experienced for yourself the sense of well being you get from a little sunshine. It can improve your mood, stimulate your circadian rhythm, and make you feel more connected to the outdoors.

Sunlight is energizing. Getting a good dose during the day helps you feel more alert, and can also be beneficial for a good nights rest. It also helps keep seasonal affective disorder at bay.

And let’s face it, in the North East, we’re all trying to get as much sunlight as we can. During the day, natural lighting makes rooms feel cleaner, more spacious, and more comfortable than electric light. It’s also a free source of illumination, which plays into energy efficiency. Natural light will animate spaces and can create drama and diversity.

Windows with high head heights provide more access to daylight by an increased sky view (which is particularly important in dense neighborhoods) and better daylight distribution in the room.

Healthy Home: Indoor Air Quality

No doubt you’ve heard reports of smog, and the really poor air quality in some developing nations, but have you stopped to consider the air purity inside your house?

We as Americans, spend a lot of time inside, and all that time is spent, well, breathing. So where do these nasty bits come from? Most you could guess, but some may be a surprise.

Particulates – pets fur and dander, pollen, mold spores

VOC – cleaning products, paint, paint remover, furniture or building products such as flooring, carpet, pressed wood products, kids arts supplies

Bioeffluents – people give off toxins, such as breathing (CO2), skin shedding, bacteria loads

Eww. So before you accuse everything and everyone in your house for being polluters, let us tell you how we can help. Tightly sealed houses (as discussed below) have a very low rate of air change, meaning, a means of mechanical ventilation is required to remove stale air and provide fresh air. These mechanical ventilation systems are designed to be very energy efficient, and what’s better is that we install HEPA filters inline, which does the job of filtering out those nasty bits that make you sick.

Reducing particulates, VOC, and bio effluents means relief from allergies, congestion, better sleep, and reduced eye irritation. Ventilation systems also reduce mold in moist areas such as kitchens and bathrooms, which is definitively something that makes a healthy home.

What’s important to note, is not all home designers incorporate this system for ventilation and filtering, but LEAP does!

Healthy Home: Increased Energy Efficiency

Lowering heating and cooling bills is one way to put a smile on your face! The even better news? Energy efficiency is tied into all of the life enhancing design considerations we’ve already discussed. When working with LEAP, efficiency is an added bonus—we already build it into all we do.

Why? Well, LEAP is Passive House Certified (we have a whole series of posts explaining), but in a nutshell, it means that your house is designed and built to operate with very minimal energy input. So even if you don’t intend to go for Passive House Certification, we drawn upon those principles in all our work.

This is especially important for new home construction. In October 2016, the New York State requirements for building sealing were upgraded to an ACH50 of 3 . This means 3 air changes or less per hour, which requires the installation of a whole house ventilation system (per ASHRAE standards). If you are interested in more specifics on how air changes are measured using blower tests, check our our post on air sealing.

Are you considering a new home or addition? Leverage LEAP’s design expertise to make the most of your new happy and healthy home.

5 Benefits of Designing a Happy, Healthy Home

in Healthy Home, Stories

More and more families and businesses are recognizing the value of designing for health, and working with architects like LEAP to create happier homes and more productive businesses. You probably spend a significant amount of time in your home, but is that affecting your health for better or worse? Check out 5 ways we design to ensure a healthy home, which also makes you feel great!

5 Benefits of a Happy, Healthy Home

Feel better, save money, and add more of that je ne sais que to your day. Sound good? We think so. LEAP’s design process was developed to truly understand and enhance your family’s goals, dynamics, and needs. We gather information and then custom design your space, while working to save you money in the construction phase, and long-term on utilities.

How do we do that?

We consider all of the following aspects in LEAP’s Residential Designs.

How to:

Enhance Family Life
Enhance Sleeping, Eating, Bathing and Living Lifestyles
Increase Daylight
Promote Healthy Indoor Air
Increase Energy Efficiency

For today, let’s look at some of the specific ways design can enhance your life with respect to enhanced family life, and living lifestyles.

Enhanced Family Life

Architecture, whether or not we realize it, can shape our relationships with each other and our environment, through space, form, and materials. How? By creating interactive settings—places to congregate, or just making it difficult to avoid each other. For example, designing so the stairs to the upper floor bedrooms cannot be accessed from the front hallway. This directs everyone to pass through the main living space, creating more opportunity for family interaction, as opposed to a straight bee-line upstairs. More open floor plans, or the use of L-shaped interlocking rooms can also creative a sense of connectedness, even when family member are technically in a different “room”. Increased human interactions improve our sense of well-being, enrich our lives, make them healthier and more pleasurable.

“The shaft of sunlight in a recessed window seat that creates a moment of warmth and calm, combined with a glimpse of nature, soft and acoustically absorbent seat materials, and the tactile delight of the smooth grip to adjust a wooden shutter.

Our well-being is intimately linked with such moments of delight. To an extent, such stimuli happen all the time, often without being recognized or designed, but when they are orchestrated throughout a building the effect is cumulative.” –Koen Steemers, D&A Magazine issue 23 by VELUX

Enhanced Sleeping, Eating, Bathing and Living Lifestyles

Healthy Home: Sleeping

The design of the bedroom can make or break a good night’s sleep. Naturally, light plays an important role for sleep cycles. A good dose of morning light will stimulate the circadian rhythm and help you feel more awake. Conversely, at night, bedrooms should have effective blackout options to support total darkness. This can be achieved using thermal shutters (for cold periods) and/or with adjustable louvers (for secure night time ventilation in warm conditions).

The bedroom shown at the right was designed as part of a master suite addition. It has an open floor plan between the bedroom and the bathroom, with a partial wall that creates a sense of boundary. The openness of the space allows sunlight to permeate far into the bedroom space, which gently illuminates the space in the morning. By afternoon, the space is so bright, no additional illumination is required. The white walls, ceiling and floor tile provide a sense of calm, spaciousness, and airiness. The wood bed and headboard/partition ground the space for a restful sleep.

Healthy Home: Eating

And for tonight’s kitchen performance… A good strategy for healthy, community eating is to create a sense of theater related to cooking. This can be achieved through designing in accessible counter-tops and seating, allowing for both spectating and participating (like the breakfast bar with stools shown to the right). To further support communal eating, (and the social interactions that result) the dining area should be adjacent to the kitchen, making an easy transition from preparation to eating enjoyment. (Read how LEAP used Ikea cabinets to get this look)

Conversely, the TV area should further from the kitchen, limiting the temptation to mentally check-out and simply down your food, while watching reruns of Seinfeld.

Healthy Home: Bathing

Hopefully we do not need to go over the merits of good personal hygiene here, well, unless you have a teen that refuses to shower. Bathing and the family or master bath have so many functions. When washing, the surroundings should not only enable you to get clean, but to also mentally wash away the day. You should be able to both literally and figuratively cleanse yourself. Bathrooms should generally feel serene, have clean lines, streamline fixtures, which should be easy to keep clean, along with the proper amount of storage. The master bath shown to the left creates an ultra calming atmosphere, with its white and soft gray pallet, along with contemplative views of nature. (BTW, this addition won a design award).

Healthy Home: Living Lifestyles

A thermal design strategy encompasses not only room temperature, but also radiant conditions, air movement, and thermal conduction of materials. We’re talking about things like sunlight, natural ventilation, and the feel of materials. Materials such as wood feel warm to the touch, while stone is cooling.

These various characteristics can be mixed and matched to create the mood for different rooms. A reading nook could comfortably warm, with ample sunlight and plenty of wood and fabric surfaces to create a cozy retreat. You may want your office to feel more stimulating—cooler both temperature and material-wise, minimal clean lines, with a good view outdoors for inspiration.

Sound is another important consideration. As with thermal design, different materials have different acoustic properties, which can be tailors to fit the space. Within the home there are places where acoustic privacy is welcome, and spaces where room-to-room conversation is desired.

The great room shown on the right was designed with a mixture of materials (wood floors and beams, stone fireplace, metal staircase and rails) to be a stimulating, yet balanced space. The high ceiling creates an air of magnificence, while the natural materials (wood and stone) provide a grounding effect.

Are you considering an addition or building a new home? Leverage LEAP’s design expertise to make the most of your new happy and healthy home.

Architecture of Health. Design Your Way Happy.

in Stories

Architecture of health. It feels good to look at incredible views, clean lines, minimal clutter, and that’s not all. More and more families and businesses are recognizing the value of designing for health, and working with architects like LEAP to create happier homes and more productive businesses.

Architecture of Health

As we approach the end of January, let’s check in: what was your New Year’s Resolution? Was it to take control of your health? Maybe you already eat a pretty healthy diet, get exercise, and still feel like there’s a missing piece? Maybe it’s not you. It very well could be your environment that’s getting you down—home or work. And you’re not alone. Let’s take a look at how your environment can effect your health, for the better!

Design Impact on Home and Business

Okay, so you might be thinking, my house will never look anything like Frank Loyd Wright’s Falling Water. What does architecture really have to do with the success of my home and business? Well, design influences us everyday, in every way. Think of how a department store like Anthropology very carefully crafts their layout to provide their shoppers a highly curated experience. You can have this too! Below are some examples of how great design can influence your home and business.

LEAP’s Residential Designs:

Enhance Family Life
Enhance Sleeping, Eating, Bathing and Living Lifestyles
Increase Daylight (improved mood, circadian rhythm)
Promote Healthy Indoor Air (fewer allergies)
Increase Energy Efficiency (decrease heating and cooling bills)

LEAP’s Commercial Designs:

Improve Productivity (employees feel better, and have less sick days)
Enhances Business Culture (good design = good business)
Increase Daylight (decrease electric bills)
Promote Healthy Indoor Air
Increase Energy Efficiency

“That which surrounds us shapes our existence. We should therefore surround ourselves with beauty. In a beautiful environment, our fears, our nagging doubts, hold much less power than they do in an ugly environment.” – Alain de Bottom, founder of Living Architecture

What do you want to experience every day?

At home: You wake up refreshed, sunshine illuminates the kitchen, your house is clean and organized, none of your kids are suffering from allergies (even though spring is in full swing), and your morning routine rolls out effortlessly; your household moves as if in a choreographed dance. Have kids? Great! We have a lot of experience (personal and professional) designing for families and their dynamics.

At work: You have steady foot traffic all day, as people walking by immediately notice your storefront and want to know more. Once inside, the temperature is just right, the lighting is perfect and the layout moves them through the space, where the story of your brand unfolds before their eyes. We have also helped many businesses improve their bottom line through creating curated customer experiences.

Working with an architect like LEAP, you can be the curator of your own home, your own business. And that certainly doesn’t mean put everything behind glass, and with a do not touch sign. What fun is that?

Your Brain on Architecture

One of the studies that is helping to scientifically provide evidence of the architecture/brain connection is being conducted by Dr. Julio Bermudez. His work uses an fMRI to capture the effects of architecture on the brain when showing subject photos of contemplative and non-contemplative architectural structures. His preliminary results show that “contemplative architecture” (think churches, museums, ancient sites, building that make you go WOW), had effects on the brain, similar to that of a meditative state. (“The Brain on Architecture“, The Atlantic)

The presence of an external stimulus (the photos of the buildings) also removes the tedious self-regulation that occurs in the prefrontal cortex during traditional meditation. The interviews of the 12 subjects revealed that “peacefulness and relaxation, lessening of mind wandering, increasing of attention, and deepening of experience”. (ref)

The idea is that this type of research can be refined to help determine things like: the optimal ceiling heights for different cognitive functions; the best city design for making way-finding easier; the ideal hospital layout to improve memory-related tasks in patients recovering from brain injuries; the influence of different types and quantities of light within a built space on mood and performance. Now that’s some architecture of health.

Health-Based Approaches to Design

Still curious? Let’s take a look at some research on the architecture of health.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) recognizes the profound impact that design decisions can have on human health for individuals and communities, which is why they started their Design and Health Initiative. One of the outcomes from a 2014 summit was the development of six evidence-based approaches designers can use to promote health and well-being:

1. Environmental quality: Preventing, mitigating and reversing chemical and microbial pollutants that harm public health

2. Natural systems: Utilizing natural forms, diverse species and existing ecosystems that relieve stress, accelerate recuperation, encourage healthy eating and promote physical and social activity

3. Physical activity: Encouraging exercise, recreation and other daily activities that lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and other health problems

4. Safety: Reducing accidental injury and crime to remove impediments to physical activity and alleviate anxiety and stress

5. Sensory environments: Diversifying the touch, smell and acoustics of an environment to promote safety, improve physical, mental and emotional well-being and enhance quality of life

6. Social connectedness: Strengthening personal and professional relationships and encouraging behaviors like civic participation to increase happiness and ensure communities function more effectively

Our next few posts will explore the impact on architecture of health as it specifically relates to homes and businesses.

Been thinking about how you can design your dream home or business? Give us a call for a free consultation!

LEAP Design Wins Capital Region’s Innovative Remodel

in Modern Addition, Stories

LEAP’s design for a modern addition was awarded the “Most Innovative Remodel” and “Most Creative Remodel Feature” at the 2016 Best in Building Awards by the Capital Region Builders & Remodelers Association, Inc. (CRBRA).

Modern Addition

We’ve been super proud of how this project turned out, and if you’ve read our Stories before, you’re sure to have seen our posts on Modern Addition. We’re pleased that the rest of the Capital Region of NY also took notice! And we certainly won’t be too persnickety that our builder was actually awarded the acclaim…ah-hem.

It might be a good time to read our Architects – Why You’re Not Working with Them post, as a reminder of why builders don’t want to share the spotlight. But in fact, we can do greater things working together!

“To me, this award affirms the advantage of builders working with an architect. It gives you great design—award winning design—and accolades from your community.” -E.Davenport

Innovative Remodel

After LEAP met with the homeowners and developed a good grasp of their vision, we got down to work doing the design and construction plan. Design is somewhat obvious, what will it all look like and what materials should be used where, but a LEAP design goes well beyond that. In our innovative design process, we really focus on how people are going to live in the space and how they want to feel. The design we come up with not only has to be beautiful, it has to serve. Every little detail has to be functional. We also design green building practices into every one of our projects.

Energy efficient homes not only require great design, it very much matters how the materials go together, making it really important to work with a builder that has skills and attention to detail. The builder for this project was C & J Custom Builders Inc, and they did a fantastic job. LEAP’s innovative remodel to life!

Architects Creative Every Day Features LEAP

in Get to Know the Architect, Stories

LEAP Founder—Eric Davenport—relates what the life of an Albany Architect is like, in this 6 strip comic by local artist Ira Marks.

Architects Creative Every Day

Creative Every Day – Tales of Art and Life Colliding – is a collection of stories from local creatives around the Capital District of New York. It was conceived, collected, drawn and collated by local cartoonist, Ira Marks. This book, available in print or as an electronic PDF, is meant as a resource for kids, parents and teachers who wants to know what it’s like to work in a creative industry. The entire collection can be found at creativeeveryday.us LEAP Architecture is proud to be included among the many talented folks who shared their creative stories!

Life of an Architect

Q: What got you interested in solar powered cars in high school?

Eric: I was fortunate that in my high school, we were able to chose specialty tracks, and I choose engineering and design. My teacher had us look at designing solar cars, as there were so many aspects to consider. They needed to be lightweight, yet have enough solar panels to produce sufficient energy. They needed to carry a person in relative comfort, move forward, be aerodynamic, and also have enough surface area to orient the solar panels in the proper direction to capture sunlight. The exercise helped open my mind to all of the design demands a project could have, and think about how best to balance competing needs.

Q: Do you think people generally think of architecture as a creative career?

Eric: Yes and no. Some people are under the impression that architecture is strictly engineering—math, math, math—and crazy number crunching. Others have the impression that I sit around and draw artistic pictures of buildings all day. It’s really much more a holistic approach, managing projects and managing people. I would say the biggest skill I apply everyday is creative common sense.

Q: What do you hope people will take away from this cartoon?

Eric: Don’t be afraid of hard work. When you find something you are passionate about, you don’t mind spending the long hours to make it successful. When I was an intern in NYC, my mentor tried to convince me (& all the other interns) NOT to become an architect. Despite his warning of hard work, long hours, and little glory, I knew that being an architect is what I wanted to do then and I’m still passionate about it today.

Q: What reaction did your own kids have, seeing you in a cartoon?

Eric: Well, compared to some of the other stories, my oldest daughter thought mine was boring. She would have like to see me jumping off a building, or imbued with a superpower. So, let me reiterate,there is little glory being an architect. My daughter is a super-creative young actress, dancer, and designer of clothes. I think building design is not in her future, but my hope is this comic strikes a chord with a young version of me, dreaming of the day their designs become real structures.

Want to get to know Eric even better? Check out our post Meet the Architect.

Do you work in a field that allows you to be creative? We’d love to hear what it is. Leave a comment below and tell us what you do!

ENERGY STAR Partner – Leap Makes Pledge

in Stories

As an ENERGY STAR Partner, we are creating house plans designed to earn the ENERGY STAR certification, and helping meet consumers’ growing demand for high quality, energy-efficient homes.

ENERGY STAR Partner – What it Means

If you’ve ever walked into a big box store looking for a new appliance, you’re probably familiar with the ENERGY STAR labels proudly affixed to that new washer or fridge. But did you know that ENERGY STAR rating and certification go beyond dishwashers? Yep, you could slap that shooting star across the front of your house, well, provided that your whole house meets certain environmental standards.

Home Performance with ENERGY STAR, administered nationally by the U.S. Department of Energy in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, offers a comprehensive, whole-house approach to improving energy efficiency and comfort of homes, while helping to protect the environment.(1)

The Department of Energy (DOE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can’t do it all alone—they need help—specifically our help. So in order to unleash the ENERGY STAR certification to the whole home model, they bring in architects and builder partners, the entities who are really in touch with you, the end-user.

Why Partner?

LEAP Architecture’s mission is promote sustainable building practices. We build basic energy conservation into each of our projects, which is to say, we already met ENERGY STAR certification, but unofficially. Partnering with EPA and making it official, provides higher visibility for conservation and an existing framework to help our clients understand the requirements for green building design. As mentioned above, since you are already familiar with the ENERGY STAR rating for appliances (less energy usage, lower green-house gas emissions, saves money), it’s an easy jump to envision that those same benefits will apply to your house.

Watch this 2 min video by the EPA for a run-down on the merits of an ENERGY STAR home.

Beyond ENERGY STAR

If you are interested in home energy conservation, don’t miss our post on Sustainable Building Goals Made Simple. This write-up shows the sustainability pyramid we use, and where ENERGY STAR fits into the scheme of things. ENERGY STAR certification creates a good solid foundation and a jumping off point to go even further into sustainable building, NET-Zero, for example.

LEAP welcomes your questions. We strive to make sure that your project is a good fit with our expertise. Give us a call 518-669-9435, and speak to Eric.

1. Home. Energy Star. [Online] https://www.energystar.gov/homepage.

Architects – AIA’s List of Critical Questions to Ask

in Get to Know the Architect, Stories

LEAP Architecture is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Here we share AIA’s list of questions to help you decide if an architect is the right fit for you and your project.

Questions, Questions, Questions

Every architecture firm brings its own combination of skills, expertise, interests, and values to its projects. The challenge is to find the one that aligns most closely with your project’s needs. Selection is a mutual process.

The most thoughtful architects are as careful in selecting their clients as owners are in selecting architects. Be prepared to answer questions about your project’s purpose, budget, time frame, site, and the team of players you anticipate being involved with the project.

Below are some questions, broken up by topic, to address when meeting with a prospective architect.

Architects Experience

• What is your design philosophy?

• What sets your firm apart from other architects with similar experience?

• Do you have experience with the building type and size of my project?

• Will you share with me a portfolio of similar projects and provide a list of client references?

• Who from the architecture firm will I be dealing with on a regular basis? Is this the person who will design my project?

Take a look at LEAP’s Portfolio for Residential and Commercial Projects.

My Project

• What challenges do you foresee for my project?

• What do you see as the important issues or considerations in my project?

• What is your estimated timetable for my project?

• What means will you use to collect information about my needs, goals, etc.?

• How will you help me to fully understand the scope and sequence of the project? Will you utilize models, drawings, or computer animation?

Design

• What are the steps in the design process, and how are they organized?

• What criteria will be used to establish priorities and make design decisions?

• What do you expect me to provide?

• How disruptive will construction be?

• What role do you have during construction? Am I expected to work with the contractor directly?

Here’s a pretty thorough walk-through of LEAP’s design process.

Green Design

• Do you have experience with “green” or sustainable design?

• Do you regularly integrate low or no cost sustainable design strategies into projects?

• Considering the many areas that may be affected by sustainable design, how will you determine which options to pursue?

• If sustainable design technologies are implemented, do upfront costs exist that may affect the construction budget? What are the expected pay back times?

Read how LEAP approaches Green Design.

Architects Fees

• How do you establish fees?

• In anticipation of a formal proposal with costs, what would you expect your fee to be for this project?

• What is included in your basic services and what services would incur additional fees?

• If the scope of the project changes later in the project, will there be additional fees? How will these fees be justified? How will this be communicated to me?

• What is your track record with completing a project within the original budget?

Here’s one of LEAP’s posts that covers the benefits of working with an architect and our general fee structure.

LEAP welcomes your questions. We strive to make sure that your project is a good fit with our expertise. The AIA also offers a nice PDF guide, You and Your Architect. Download it here, and start asking away! Give us a call 518-669-9435, and speak to Eric. And lastly, check out our client reviews and testimonials.

Architects —Why You’re Not Working with Them

in Stories

Do you have a building project on the horizon? Have you kicked around the idea of calling in an architect, but got talked out of it? Here are the 3 reasons why you aren’t calling architects, and why it hurts you not to.

1. My Builder’s Doing the Design

“My builder says we don’t need architects. His team can do the design”.

Sure, they absolutely can, but here’s how it’s likely to go. First of all, the builder wants to keep your design fee, the primary reason they cut out the architect. In order to make the most profit, the builder will look through their stock plans and grab an existing design that most closely matches your requirements. Change the name, move a wall out here or there, and call it done. If you are in the market for a standard issue, (cookie-cutter) house, hey, this really is a fine way to go (no cynicism).

Good Design Floats

You only need an architect if you want your structure tailored to your needs, routines, and desires. If you want a dream-house, or incredibly efficient office building—where form and function are seamlessly integrated—tell your builder you insist on working with an architect. Better yet, get your architect first and then approach a builder.

In recent conversations we’ve had with bankers and real-estate agents, it is established that homes with excellent design have a significantly higher re-sale value, compared to poor or average designed homes of the same square footage. You’re spending the money anyway, let’s make your home great! See an example here of before and after photos for a modern addition we designed. The value of this property has increased astronomically.

modern addition, before and after photos, home improvement, home renovation

House exterior before and after dramatic modern addition

Communication Bridge

Having an architect is having a building advocate. When the builder suggests a change, how do you know it’s in your best interest? It may not be, and it may not fit with your design theme. At LEAP, we make sure all the details that make this design exclusively YOURS—actually get built into the structure.

LEAP Architecture is your communication bridge between you and your builder. We speak plain old English, and we also speak builder. We can take the time to understand your goals from the start, explain building terms, and what impact a particular change will have. Builders also appreciate this arrangement, as they are crazy busy with construction. For a builder to take time out to even pick up the phone, let alone take time out for a in depth conversation, is time away from what they do best.

Documentation (or How to Cover Your Butt)

What if (eekk) something goes wrong in construction, and delays might be the least of it. The wrong type of kitchen counter was used, formaldehyde containing paneling was installed in your bedroom, the project is over budget. How do you protect yourself and make sure you get what you signed up for? Well, a big part of our jobs as architects is documenting everything! It’s certainly not the most glorious part of our job, but from a legal protection standpoint, an absolute necessity. We keep track of the paper trail from day 1, including all correspondence, dates, decisions made, etc. If the time ever arises where say, your builder made a mistake but assures you it’s actually your fault; we quietly pull out our files and get to the bottom of it.

2. Architects Are Too Expensive

“Building a house is so expensive, bringing in an architect will just waste more money.”

Design Fee

Let me break it to you gently, you’re going to pay a design fee either way. Either the builder will get it—see above—or it can go to your architect. Here’s why you want it to go to the architect. A great design will enhance your day-to-day living and it will also significantly increase your property value. And in many cases, you’re not paying anymore than what the builder charges.

The table below shows two options for LEAP’s services, a) a bare bones option for a permit set of drawings and b) our Design Package. Our Design Package only cost a few % more than the bare bones, and what you get for that will amaze you. In addition to structural drawings, we do a whole integrated design where we specify the materials to be used, color schemes, lighting, window placement, storage, functionality and site analysis. For a more in-depth read, take a look through the series on our design process.

3. Architects Aren’t Accessible

“An architect wouldn’t be interested in my project, it’s not grand.”

What comes to mind when you hear the term architect? Skyscrapers? City centers? Looming glass clad structures that seemingly defy the laws of gravity. Well, yes. Architects do design those, but architecture is not exclusive to monuments or anchor buildings. It’s accessible to everyone, and everyone should take advantage of architects services.

You can call us right now (518-669-9435) for an initial conversation about your project. We’re happy to give you feedback and guidance. In the first 5 min we will ballpark the construction costs, so you can make an informed decision, and move forward with realistic expectations. Whereas builders can be tempted to low-ball project budgets and up-charge later, we prefer to be upfront and give you the best information we can from the start.

So what are you waiting for? We don’t bite, and we don’t gouge. Making our clients happy is in our best interest. Give us a call today!

Meet the Architect, Eric Davenport

in Get to Know the Architect, Stories

Get to Know LEAP Founder and Architect, Eric Davenport in our next series of posts!

5 Questions with Eric

What was your first job?

My first job was working at Stewarts in Clifton Park, NY, where I grew up. One of my duties was scraping out the bottom of the chili pot—an experience that turned me on to vegetarianism, lol!

What led you to become an architect?

I think I’ve always been drawn to architecture, even as a little kid. The process of designing something that people will live and work in, it seems commonplace, but when you really think about it, it’s a really big deal. Architecture influences all of us, everyday, whether or not we consciously recognize it. One of my favorite quotes:

“Architecture is basically a container of something. I hope they will enjoy not so much the teacup, but the tea.” –Yoshio Taniguchi

How does your family influence your design approach?

LEAP Architect, Eric Davenport with his 3 kids.

My wife Claire and I have 3 children, ages 4, 12, and 19. So I understand that family life is sometimes chaotic. The flow of the house should bring a family together, be a backdrop for, yet also enhance daily activities. The materials used is another big consideration. These should be aesthetically pleasing, but also durable and easy to maintain. A good design meets the needs of both growing children and the parents. Many families need “together” spaces and “away” spaces to help balance the family dynamics. We also explore specific growth plans for families, and also businesses to help improve their bottom lines.

Have you traveled? How has that shaped you?

Travel has had a profound influence on my life and work. I worked through my undergraduate degree at Ball State University in Indiana. My last semester was spent in Copenhagen, Denmark. I really connected to the Scandinavian aesthetic—clean lines, lots of light, and it always feels fresh. The weather in Denmark is not so great, so little effort is spent on simple exteriors. However, the interiors are other-worldy: warm, cozy, vibrant spaces for living, working and playing are key to the Dane’s happy lifestyles.

I also traveled and studied in Sri Lanka, India and Nepal, which helped inform our practice with historical context. It’s one thing to look at these ancient structures in a text book. When experiencing them in person, I learned how historic structures can be used in contemporary ways, and contribute to sustainable design strategies.

After coming back to the states, I knew that I needed to incorporate green and sustainable building practices into my designs. I complemented my environmental architecture education by attending ECOSA, the sustainable design institute in Prescott, AZ.

Spending time out in the desert was wild. It helped me appreciate the specificity of regional climates and their impact on architectural design. I studied under the guidance of Tony Brown, who was an apprentice of Paolo Soleri. Soleri, for those of you that don’t know, founded the Arcosanti, an urban laboratory focused on innovative design, community, and environmental accountability in the high desert of Arizona.

For the last 10 years I’ve been living and working in New York’s Capital District, which is also where I grew up. Living here, it feels a little like completing a circuit.

Portrait of the Architect as a Young Man in Nepal. LEAP Founder and Architect, Eric Davenport in his formative years.

Do you have a passion project?

Haiti is a big one. I started volunteering in Haiti in 2003. The initial focus was on education and how to affordably create schools as a space for teaching with cultural arts. My involvement grew from there. I really fell in love with the country and the people. I’m proud to say that LEAP has worked not only on schools, but emergency relief community designs, sustainable agricultural pro
cessing plants, community centers, computer centers, and food security programs. I’m working on a longer story about my Haiti experiences, so stay tuned for that in the coming weeks.

LEAP Founder and Architect, Eric Davenport overseeing construction of a seed storage facility in Haiti.

[box type=”bio”] LEAP Architect, Eric Davenport excels in understanding complex needs of businesses and families. LEAP’s goal is to provide affordable solutions to companies and residential clients. He has extensive experience in single family and multi-family residential projects and also specializes in interior design.

Contact LEAP and let us put our experience to work for you![/box]