24
Apr
2020

I (very) recently started at N.K. BHANDARI, Architecture & Engineering, P.C. as a Senior Interior Designer. I was just getting acclimated to my new company, my new colleagues and my new routine when the COVID-19 pandemic swiftly and drastically changed the way we work.

Within 14 days, 336 hours, 20,160 minutes, I went from working in an open, collaborative and creative work environment in Downtown Syracuse, to working alone at home.

Emily’s Work Space at NKB’s Downtown Syracuse Office

Starting a new job is always a somewhat stressful experience and due to the quick, unexpected shift to working remotely (and alone) from home, I was worried that I would be disconnected from my colleagues, my orientation to NKB would be stalled, and I would somehow be lost in the shuffle.


I very quickly found myself a part of the telecommuting population and began to wonder if I would feel isolated and disconnected from my new coworkers since I had only been working with them for 14 days.

Emily’s Home Office

Here are a few key items that I feel have been extremely important in maintaining a sense of community and family:

Establish regular daily communication.

It’s important that it is not just stagnant information and engages your teammates and is something they can count on receiving every day at approximately the same time.

Get feedback from team members – share the results – it’s fun to see how others have responded.

Reach out to a coworker and ask how their weekend or day has been going.

It sounds like a no brainer, but it’s so easy to get wrapped up in your own life to forget to hit pause and check in with one another.

Have a phone conversation / video chat!

Before COVID-19 became an active part of our lives, I never would have realized how important a quick chat, Microsoft Teams social hour, or a daily fun email capsule from NKB’s President would be or that I’d learn such interesting things about my new work family!

-Emily is a Senior Interior Designer at NKB

29
Mar
2019

In order to call your self an Architect, you need to take the Architecture Registration Exams (ARE), but the process starts much earlier than that. It starts with your education.

Education

Picking a college to start your formal education is no easy process. When your choosing an architecture major there are many things to consider.

TIME: How long do you want to go to school for? 

LOCATION: Does the state you want to get licensed in require a certain degree?

DEGREE: Do you want an associate degree, bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree?

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS: What courses are in the school’s program? Is the program NAAB Accredited?

Experience

Once your education requirement is started or complete there are experience requirements that must be done in order to apply or sit for the exams.

TIME: When do you want to start documenting your experience?

JOB: Does your firm work on a broad range of project?

LOCATION: Does the state you’re in require a certain length of experience in the field?

SUPPORT: Does your place of work support your process to become licensed? Do they provide you with a wide-range of experience?

Exam

Once your experience is underway or completed you could be ready to start the exams!

KNOWLEDGE: Does your experience align with the exam you want to take?

SOURCES: Do you have the right study materials?

APPLICATION: Did you fill out the correct paperwork and pay the required fees?

  

When choosing a school for your education its important to think about the location. Some states require a certain college degrees or attendance at an accredited school in order to take the exams. For example, New York requires

Experience

  • AIA
  • State
  • NCARB
  • AXP

Exam

  • NCARB
  • State
  • Applications

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brittany is a Senior Designer at NKB

25
Feb
2019

Architecture is not a simple process. There are many things that come into play through design development on numerous different levels. What is this design going to look like? How is this building going to function? What is the budget? Is this idea even possible? But don’t let that scare you away. Architecture has some great qualities as well. There is the feeling of satisfaction in coming out on top of a big design complication and the learning aspect that never seems to end. Architecture also gives the great opportunity to create functional art and create cultural landmarks. These are some reasons why I decided to pursue architecture as a career.

It all started when I was 12 years old on a family trip to Georgia. During this trip there was a small housing community being built near a family members house. One night we took advantage of the off-hours and went to see what was evolving down the street. As I walked around this bare house with wood studded walls and plywood planked flooring, I found myself in somewhat of a trance. I was caught up in wonder going room to room and trying to think how the spaces would affect someone. What would it be like to spend most of my time within those walls and how would it impact me? What memories would be made? Where would they put the Christmas tree during the holidays? I like to believe that that moment sparked my desire to pursue architecture. See I am a positive & empathetic person and if I can impact people’s lives with how they use, feel, and relate to another within a space, I want to be a part of that.

Since my freshman year in college I have learned and developed skills in leaps and bounds. When I began my education, it was all very new to me. I had done some drawing classes in school, but now I was learning the science and technology of architecture and it was very enlightening. There were also times of struggles and frustration when computer programs rebelled, and I never seemed to have enough time to prepare for presentations (perfectionist in training). But I came out on top of all the design & education complications to get a job in my chosen field.

I continue to use my skills in the professional realm as I work here at NKB and continue to learn through my process to become a licensed architect. The process of licensure is no easy task. I remember seeing the ARE as a daunting mountain that was impossible. I mean what happened if I didn’t have all the answers? What if I couldn’t fix the problem? What if no one liked my work? But I have worked through my fears and have put one foot in front of the other to track up the mountain. It has been a journey so far and it will continue to be an adventurous one. But hopefully you’re in for the ride because I will be taking you with me. So, strap on those boots, we have a lot of ground to cover!

Brittany Varengo is a Senior Designer at NKB! Join Brittany as she chronicles her journey through the ARE process in a blog series! 

21
Jan
2019

Phase One

Develop your Revit model. Once the area for desired printing is complete, you can then set up your views for 3D Printing.

Phase Two

There are three easy steps for this process.

  1. Choose the 3D Views from your project browser. Under the extents of the view Properties, click the section box to be turned on. Resize the section box to capture what is to be printed in 3D.
  2. Change the detail level to be Course or Medium in the view properties.
  3. Hide all complex elements and parts that do not need to be 3D printed.

Phase Three

Download the “STL Exporter for Revit” plug-in which can be found within your Autodesk account subscription package. Once downloaded, go to the ‘Add-in’ tab and then click “STL Exporter for Revit”. Change the export settings to your STL setting preference and then click “Save.”

Phase Four

Once you saved your STL file, open the MakerBot or 3D Printer software and import the model. Once the model is imported, you can set up the Custom Print Modes. Adjust the default settings in the print mode to meet desired 3D print quality and performance. Once you adjusted click Print. Depending on the complexity of the model, the printing time will vary. Once the model has been printed, remove all unnecessary material and your 3D model is complete.

Anne Harris, Senior Designer

17
Dec
2018

It’s that time of year again! The weather is changing, the chill is in the air, you’ve probably started thinking about holiday gifts and before you know it the New Year will roll in.

At NKB, the New Year brings new software and new templates. Like the jolly old elf, we keep a running list of all the naughty and nice elements in our Revit project template. With the turn of the new year the new template will come online full of improvements from the last year.

If you haven’t been keeping a list of your own, now is the time to check in with your design team:
• What Revit families did you create this year that could be used on future projects?
• Are there any schedules that could be improved?
• What reports would be most helpful to the estimating department?
• Have you developed any new standard details this year?
• Do the parts of your template match your CAD/BIM standards?

A refreshed template can be a present to the whole company, a teaching moment for those new interns and ultimately beneficial to your client.

– Jessica L.H. Sappington, Associate AIA, Senior Designer

19
Nov
2018

By Rob Gray | Senior Technical Architect

Designing a green roof is a new experience for many like myself.  Here is the story of my first green roof design.


The first step with something new is to collect information from the web and from people who have done it before.  It is best to learn from other’s mistakes because you will not live long enough to make all possible mistakes yourself.

A green roof has two parts: a green garden and a roof that can survive with a green garden on top of it.

The first gardening choice is what type of plants. Trees are possible, but they are the most difficult. They are heavy and need three foot deep soil, so forget trees unless you have a huge strong roof and a huge budget.  Flower gardens and vegetable gardens are possible, but they require a lot of on-going work and water.  Flowers and vegetables need to be planted seasonally, weeded, watered and harvested, there can be bug problems, and deeper soil is needed.  Flowers and vegetables are best for smaller raised planters on an accessible terrace.  A large area of flowers and vegetables is called a farm, which is wonderful if you want a full-time farming job.  A meadow of grasses and wildflowers would be beautiful.  They need less work and watering, but still a significant amount of work.  They need deeper soils because they have deeper roots.

Another issue to consider is fire. When plants dry out or die in the fall, they become a fire hazard.  A GREEN roof is much safer.

What is the practical plant choice that ends up on most roofs?  Little high desert plants called Sedums are the lowest maintenance plants that need the least water and soil.  They come in a variety of colors and leaf shapes.  They are mostly short, about 6 inches tall, and they have puffy waxy leaves to store water.  They can create a colorful roof carpet.  High desert means harsh dry conditions, large temperature swings, lots of wind, and poor rocky soils low in organic nutrients and water.  It takes a tough little plant to survive.  The environment on a roof has a lot in common with the high desert.

Sedums are not totally low maintenance, they need to be watered during long droughts.  During the first two years a lot of gardening work needs to be done to establish a thriving Sedum garden.

The next problem is how to design and build the soil planting bed and the drainage.  This is not a Do It Yourself residential project.  It is a 2,000 square foot flat roof on a government building.  The solution is to find the best manufacturers and contractors and design the project based on their systems.  For the green garden and planting bed I got helpful information from the Landscape Architects at Furbish Company in Baltimore, MD.  They have done a lot of experimenting (and mistakes) and have developed a successful proprietary soil mix and drainage system.  The soil sits on top of bonded mineral wool insulation boards, which sit on plastic waffle drainage boards.  Mineral wool is a dense and fire proof material like a heavy duty version of fiberglass.  Mineral wool is the common insulation in Europe.  The plastic waffle drainage boards are used to drain foundation walls.  The planting beds are surrounded by 6 inch high metal or concrete curbs and paved walkways.  This all applies to flat roofs with a slope of 1 inch in 12 inches.

If the roof is steeper than 2 inches in 12 inches, everything slides downhill fast.  For steep green roofs up to vertical green walls, a structure is needed to hold pockets or trays of soil.  This is a research project for another day.

The second problem is designing a roof to survive a green garden.  Gardens are heavy, constantly wet, and those roots grow down into everything including rock.  What do you think turns mountains into sand? Why, roots and freezing water.  Of course, the roof has to hold the weight of the green roof, and that is what structural engineers are for.  But what type of roof covering can last with a green roof in it? The answer is a hot applied rubber roof with polyester felt reinforcement.  This is a modern version of the first natural tar roofs built 10,000 years ago.  Hot rubber roofs are seamless, and they heal themselves around cracks and cuts when above 70 degrees.  They can be permanently hold pools of water.

But hot rubber/ polyester felt roofs have weaknesses.  Ultraviolet light and sunlight can damage them in six years, so they have to be covered with gravel or concrete and/or pavers.  A top sheet of stone granule coated asphalt saturated felt can protect the rubber.  Roots can grow into the rubber, so a heavy plastic root barrier is needed.  Also, hot rubber roofs are only for flat roofs up to 1 inch in 12 inch slope, or the hot rubber will run downhill.

Over many years, the stretching from summer heat and shrinking from winter cold can pull a rubber roof apart.

This problem was solved in 1947 by Dow Chemical when they invented Styrofoam (Dow Trademark).  This is also called XPS foam or extruded polystyrene foam.  This XPS foam is waterproof and can be left out in the weather.  The common “styrofoam” coffee cup is not made of Styrofoam (Dow Trademark).  Coffee cups and food coolers are made of beadboard, which is expanded polystyrene foam beads pressed together while hot, also known as EPS foam.

A normal flat roof has a structural deck covered by insulation boards that are not waterproof, and a roof membrane over the top to keep the insulation dry.  The 1947 invention of XPS foam, Styrofoam, by Dow Chemical allowed this normal roof to be turned upside down.  The waterproof, weather proof XPS foam could be put on top of the roof membrane to protect it from temperature changes, from stretching and shrinking.  The rubber roof membrane stays the same temperature as the inside of the building, even in Alaska in the winter.  At first this was called an IRMA roof for Inverted Roof Membrane Assembly.  Now it goes by the shorter name PMR for Protected Membrane Roof. Because it is protected from temperature changes and ultraviolet light, it can last a very long time.  The first 60 year old PRM roofs are as good as new.  The XPS foam also needs to be protected from ultraviolet light, so it needs to be covered by concrete, pavers, gravel or a green roof garden.

This PMR XPS foam and rubber membrane roof is the first choice for a roof system when designing a flat green garden roof.  Several hot fluid applied rubber roof manufacturers offer a package that includes the green garden, the XPS foam and other parts like pavers and curbs.

Now I have to wait for my first green roof design to be bid and contracted and for construction to start in the Spring.

 

 

 

18
Oct
2018

Often times we don’t stop to think about how shifts in societal norms can affect the architecture of the buildings we live, work and play in.  A great example of this is a design challenge recently posed to us by an educational client to create the first multi-occupant, unisex restroom on their campus.  As seen in the accompanying rendering, the design features unisex hand washing facilities paired with individual, fully enclosed toilet compartments for privacy. The design and concept is similar to facilities commonly found in Europe.  The over-arching theme is to optimize efficiency by both increasing the number of fixtures and eliminating the segregation that can limit efficiency.  How do you feel about this shift?  Do you see this becoming the new normal?

 

Allison Towles, Senior Interior Designer

 

 

 

27
Sep
2018

Last week, NKB Interior Designers Allison Towles and Lauren Zacher had the opportunity to engage in continuing education and industry connection at the American Society of Interior Designers – New York Upstate / Canada East (@ASIDNYUCE ) event Fall Into Design.  This year’s event was held in Syracuse’s Armory Square and the CEU topics included the importance of engaging in and leading the design process, the future of educational design and understanding the effects of safety and sustainability when specifying contract fabric.  Presentations were given by industry leading professionals from Herman Miller and Teknion and the keynote speaker was ArcCom’s Vice President of Design Amanda Eaton.

Collaboration and interactive learning are the way of the future and a great way to get out of the office and get the creative juices flowing!  Below the designers are shown pushing the boundaries of design with their “school of the future” design.

 

 

 

16
Aug
2018

Ever since I was a child, I knew I had wanted to create. I was always fiddling with Legos, creating vast towns sprawling all over my living room floor. As I got older, I graduated to the Sims. The only part I enjoyed was creating the houses and commercial buildings and then decorating their interiors – often for an audience of none; the people bored me. However, from my Lego and Sims days, I always knew I wanted to build and create within the architectural field. I was pretty set on being an architect until my high school physics teacher had mentioned he was in architectural engineering before switching over to education. I saw architectural engineering as the opportunity to design and create something beautiful while utilizing mathematics and physical laws.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NKB’s Summer 2018 Intern, Emily Collins

This decision was the primary reason I  enrolled in Pennsylvania State University, as it had one of the top architectural engineering programs in the country. The curriculum included architectural studios and (for me in the fall) steel design classes. The combined program of architecture and engineering allowed me to develop a broad technical knowledge while introducing me to the architectural design process.

As a rising senior, I was fortunate enough to intern at NKB for the summer of 2018. Even when I walked through the door during my interview and saw the open office space and close-knit community, I knew an experience at NKB was going to be worthwhile.

Entering my first internship, I was expecting the office dynamic to be similar to a studio environment: chaotic and full of team strife. However, I was pleased to find that while NKB was a collaborative environment, it also allowed each engineer and architect freedom to exercise those skills independently. I was also surprised at how well Penn State had prepared me with the relevant information needed within the working environment, which can be difficult to realize when the classroom has only a short-sighted view of a chalkboard.

NKB has provided me with invaluable experience. I was able to delve into structural design before my future steel and concrete design classes, allowing me a leg up in the classroom. I was also able to learn and observe different construction types while assembling project profiles and tagging along on site visits. After graduating (a five year program), I plan on getting a master’s degree in either architecture or history so I can one day specialize in historical structures and keeping history alive in the places we utilize every day.

 

 

24
Jul
2018

There are not many buildings designed for obsolescence; but there is one building type where change is actually expected – research laboratories.  Change is the one constant with highly technical research facilities.

You may be wondering why is change the only constant for research facilities? Why can’t the design be adequate for every need without causing a change down the road?  The reason is – the research work being performed in the building is constantly evolving.  Primary Investigators are continually tweaking the research process to achieve the desired results – outside constraints may cause a change in the process.  The life cycle of research processes can be relatively short, ranging from as little as a few months to a year or two.  When these changes in the process occur, it can have a ripple effect on types of equipment, equipment configuration, services required for the equipment, environmental conditions within the laboratory or support facilities required for the laboratory.

With that in mind, when designing for a research facility, providing extra capacity and the ability to adjust just about every component of the facility needs to be taken into account.  The key is, making a change to any of the above process requirements should not cause an inordinate re-work of the building infrastructure.  Certain levels of spare capacity, or redundancy should be taken into account so as to allow future change to occur without causing re-work of the core elements of the building backbone including architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, life safety, communications and security.

The measure of truly good research laboratory design can be seen not when the facility is first constructed, but rather when a change in a laboratory process causes one or more of the core elements of the building backbone to adjust.  If that laboratory re-work can occur without impacting the other core elements of the building backbone and keep the mission critical research work up and running without interruption – that is a good research facility design.

Who ever thought architectural and engineering design could be so much fun!