Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Residential Design




















Between receiving my Bachelor's degree in Architecture from the University and Illinois and beginning my graduate studies at Miami University, I had a great opportunity to work in the field of residential design with Brady Homes. During this time I worked with Brady's head home designer, Phil Bussman, on numerous projects around Central Illinois. This experience was invaluable in my understanding of how a home goes together.




















Eventually I was placed in charge of drafting and home design for Brady's Peoria office. Some of the homes I worked on can be seen in Bloomington, Oak Creek and Hickory Grove Subdivisions in Washington, Waterford Estates, Waterford Crystals, Oakbrook Estates, and Weaver Ridge Subdivisions in Peoria, and Redbird Terrace in Metamora, among others. Before leaving Brady Homes for Miami University I put together about thirty home designs which were later used in Waterford Estates. The house shown above was used in the Parade of Homes exhibition.



















My favorite project, while with Brady Homes, was the house shown above. The family who I designed this home for had some very good ideas about what they wanted in their home. I was able to take those ideas and put them together successfully to create a unique home.



















Interior of the home during construction.




















Duplex built in Waterford Crystals in north Peoria.



















House under construction in Weaver Ridge, Peoria.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Project Snapshot: Western Illinois University


















I am extremely excited to find out that construction of Western Illinois University's new facility at their Riverfront Campus will begin soon. I worked on this project, with Michelle LaBarre, while with PSA Dewberry. It is great to see some of the details in the model: the windows and the siding on the left, the curved wall separating the two halves of the building, and the curved lecture hall. For more on this project, check out this article in the Quad City Times.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Project Snapshot: South Side Bank





















This is a project, located in Wasington, Illinois, is one that I worked on a few years ago while I was with PSA Dewberry. The initial design was done by Wil Helmick, now of PCM+d. Ultimately, the project was taken over by Brett Pudik, and he and I did the majority of the architectural work.
This project was interesting because I was able to work on all phases of the project from schematic design to construction administration. In a large architecture firm this is a rare opportunity and was a great learning experience.