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Q&A

evstudio — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:00:14 +0000

One of our primary goals in writing the EVstudio blog is to answer your questions about EVstudio and your larger questions about architecture, planning, development, construction, new urbanism, real estate, Denver issues, Colorado issues, AIA issues etc. Please let us know any questions or issues that you'd like to see addressed on this website and we'll turn around answers ASAP.

Looking forward to your input. Thanks

Originally posted 2008-06-01 21:41:36.

New Website Coming

What’s in a name?

Dean Dalvit — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:20:38 +0000

What started as a one-man business called Eagle View Architecture has grown into 7 professionals (and counting). When we first doubled in size, we shortened the name to EV (now you all know where that came from) Studio. When we first came up with that name, simplicity was one of our goals. Well, Murphy is at it again and we now have a list of names that we've been known to go by. We are officially registered as EV Studio with the State, but we have been addressed as EV Studios, EV Architects, EV Studio Architects, and some others I probably shouldn't mention. People often confuse the caps and spaces too... EVstudio, Evstudios... you get the idea... I also like Evergreen Studios (a presumption of a vendor who figured we shortened the address of our Evergreen Address).

We are also guilty of appending and amending from time to time when the situation is appropriate (our logo itself has no space and studio has no caps). I've even been known to identify myself as EV Studio Architects just so the person on the other end doesn't think I own a hair salon or something.

Well, for the record, we don't really mind what you call us as long as you call us. As we grow, we will also likely add more components (planning, engineering, etc.). As it is, some of you may not know that there is already an EV Real Estate that is connected to the EV family of services. Just more ways to confuse the name I suppose, but eventually, EV is all that you will need to know.

Officially, we are EV Studio, but informally, you can call us anything you like. Just keep it clean out there

Originally posted 2008-06-09 11:29:04.

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Projects Outside of Colorado

Sean O'Hara — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:46:34 +0000

The majority of EVstudio's projects are in Colorado and the projects that we do through 157 Architecture are all in Texas. However we have done work in quite a number of states and we enjoy practicing in new areas. In the last couple years we've done work in Colorado, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, South Dakota, Michigan, Illinois, New York and some feasibility work for clients overseas.

The primary concern with doing work in a new state is verifying that you are meeting the requirements of that state's architectural registration board and those requirements vary widely. In many states you don't have to have an architectural license to produce residential drawings, but you may need one to produce structural drawings. Some states set a restriction based on the size of the project and you'll also find municipalities that don't even have building permits. Some states require that you are licensed there prior to even starting a project, some require that you're licensed before the permit is issued.

One of our first steps with projects either in state or out of state is to investigate the requirements of the state and the municipality. With a little bit of research we can greatly reduce the headaches that could happen late in the project.

Thankfully, in recent years states have greatly simplified the process for reciprocal registration. I hold a Certificate from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) that makes reciprocal registration much easier. In fact, some states don't even allow reciprocal registration without an NCARB certificate. This certificate gives EVstudio the flexibility to practice in new states after meeting a simplified set of requirements.

Originally posted 2008-06-01 15:49:24.

EVstudio Denver Office Location Map

evstudio — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:46:29 +0000

NOTE: THIS POST REFERENCES OUR OLD PHYSICAL ADDRESS ON SANTA FE. EVSTUDIO'S NEW DENVER LOCATION IS IN THE EVSTUDIO BUILDING AT 1117 CHEROKEE ST., SUITE #100 DENVER CO 80204

The EVstudio Denver office is located at 771 Santa Fe Drive, Ste 200 in Denver. We are just south of the corner of Santa Fe Drive and 8th Avenue.

If you are arriving from I-25 or 6th Avenue the best way is to take 6th Avenue East while staying in the left lane so that you can turn left on Santa Fe and we're 1.5 blocks ahead on the left. If you are coming from the northeast you'll need to lap the block by taking take 8th Avenue west to Kalamath south and then 7th east to Santa Fe north. The map may make more sense.

Parking is generally available on Santa Fe for two hour parking and on other side streets for extended parking. Our logo is on the door and our office is at the top of the stairs.

You can also find us by looking for EVstudio on Google Maps.

Directions and Map for EVstudio Evergreen Office

Originally posted 2008-10-23 15:55:09.

EVstudio is Quoted in Article at ForResidentialPros.com

Dean Dalvit — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 20:19:33 +0000

I was recently interviewed by ForResidentialPros.com to comment about recent hiring activity here at EVstudio. The article they published in their newsletter is as follows (click here for the original article)...

Previously, ForResidentialPros.com reported on a remodeler and architect who are both hiring. Denver-based architecture firm EVstudio is another company that is hiring multiple positions. Dean Dalvit, AIA, PE, principal, shares who the company is looking to hire and advice for other architecture firms and applicants.

Hiring: "We are currently advertising for an architectural engineering intern to complement our structural engineering team and we hope to be hiring an architectural intern for our architecture team some time in the first quarter of 2012. EVstudio is always looking for talented people who can complement our growing team," Dalvit says.

Why: "EVstudio has been fortunate enough to stay busy and continue growth in our core service areas year-over-year since day one in 2005. We have done this by diversifying our service offerings to include fully integrated architecture and engineering services, and also by penetrating multiple local markets with EVstudio locations in Denver, Evergreen, Central Texas and most recently, Colorado Springs," he says. "A relentless pursuit of marketing new work certainly has helped as well."

Advice to companies: "Hiring is risky even in the best of times. Payroll is our single largest expense. I don't think that people 'can't' hire. Rather, I think that when the cash flow is tight and the backlog is weak, it isn't a good time to add expenses unless that potential hire can increase either of those facets. That's just sound business practice," Dalvit says. "EVstudio has always looked for certain qualities in people that will benefit the firm in the long term. If a candidate has strong character, great values and a solid work ethic, then they can contribute to the firm in more ways than what they may be hired for. Marketing new work is a part of the culture at EVstudio, and every member of the team is encouraged and expected to do so. We have always hired because of a need for resources on projects, but we have retained because of the greater value that each of our team members have added to our business. We always say that if someone can assist in bringing work into the firm, then there's a job at EVstudio for them."

"Tell me why you're different and what you can do to create a niche at EVstudio and I'll listen" - Dean Dalvit, AIA, PE
Advice to applicants: "In two words: Stand out. Everyone has a great master's thesis to show or some production experience from somewhere. Skills can be learned but excellence in character is hard wired. Tell me why you're different and what you can do to create a niche at EVstudio and I'll listen," he adds. "These days, we receive a few unsolicited resumes every week. A job advertisement results in literally hundreds of resumes in a short time. Filtering through all of these is a daunting task in itself.

"We're always astonished by how uncreative some of these are considering we're in one of the most creative industries around. You have to demonstrate why we should pick you among hundreds of other applicants. Do your homework to understand our business and our culture. What can you do to make our firm better, more profitable, or get more work? Leadership roles in local groups or trade organizations like the AIA or ASCE also help to augment an otherwise typical resume that blends in with all of the rest."

Denver Colorado Architect

evstudio — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:11:44 +0000

EVstudio started in the mountains of Colorado just west of Denver and has become known for doing work all over the state. While our Evergreen office is still busier than ever, our Denver office has been in full swing for over a year now. As a result, EVstudio has developed a fine reputation with the City and County of Denver on multiple projects that range from urban residential additions, new single family homes, multifamily projects, commercial office and retail design, restaurants and even schools.

Headed up by Sean O'Hara, the managing principal for EVstudio Denver, we have navigated the many challenges that a wide variety of projects face with various regulations and have had tremendous success with our construction documents during the permitting process. Just recently, we walked the Denver International School (formerly Montclair Academy) project through the building department without a hitch. Kudos to the EVstudio Denver staff and if you have a project in the Denver Metro area and are looking for a great local Denver Architect, there is only one place to call 303-670-7242.

Originally posted 2009-02-12 22:54:22.

Modern Mountain Home in Evergreen Colorado Nearing Completion

Dean Dalvit — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 06:33:25 +0000

We're very excited to be seeing the completion of a modern mountain home we designed in Evergreen Colorado near completion. The Certificate of Occupancy was recently released and the owners are moving in. EVstudio provided all of the Architecture, Structural and Civil Engineering on this project and the seamless integration of each discipline within the others resulted in a true transcendence of form and function.

Modern Mountain Colorado Home

The home nestles naturally into the site and steps with the site. The excavator remarked how simple the excavation was and how perfectly the cut and fill balanced so no costs were incurred in hauling material. Expressing the structural frame was also a strong element in this design. We needed moment frames to handle the lateral loads, but didn't want the huge thermal bridge in the wall that they ultimately create. So instead, we expressed them on the surface of the wall with steel C channel and used the structural element as an architectural trim detail. In fact, all of the headers were handled in this way and the thermal envelope of the walls is significantly better. Note the square head bolts used as an additional touch...

Exposed Steel C Channel Moment Frame

Not only are the forms on this home distinctive offering a fresh interpretation of modern in an organic mountain setting, but the materials are also very rich in both texture and their very nature. Reclaimed weathered barnwood siding, rusting steel and natural stone are prominent elements, respecting the relationship between a home and its climate.

Mountain materials of stone, reclaimed barnwood and steel

The proportions of the steel siding were based on Fibonacci's golden section. We studied not only the proportions of the home, but also of the aspect ratios of the elements themselves to arrive at the sizes, then the contractor had them manufactured to our exacting specifications.

Metal Siding With Proportions of Golden Section

Attention to detail was a hallmark of this home both inside and out. We'll post the interior shots after the owners get settled in, but the exteriors received as much attention as the inside. For our canted steel I-Beam posts, we inserted a reclaimed wood timber with square head bolts.

Seamless Structural and Architectural Detailing

With everything having come together in such a harmonious way, The owners are thrilled with the outcome, as is the neighborhood, not to mention the EVstudio team. We were fortunate to have clients who were so great to work with and open minded to new ideas for their home!

EVstudio Adds Rich Muller to Evergreen Architecture Team

Dean Dalvit — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 15:11:12 +0000

Evstudio is proud to bring on board Rich Muller, AIA, LEED AP as a Project Architect in our Evergreen Colorado studio. Rich moved to Evergreen from Texas with his family to enjoy the higher altitude and the cooler climate.

Rich Muller, AIA, LEED AP

Licensed as an architect in Texas, Rich has worked with his previous firms on notable international projects including the University of Saskatchewan Student Center and Student Dormitories, the Chipolbrok American Headquarters Office Building, as well as numerous multifamily projects from Texas to California, and even one multifamily project in China.

Rich has also worked on a number of single family residential projects in Texas and New Mexico, culminating in development of a LEED silver home in Houston that helped to trigger a sustainable movement in the neighborhood in which it was built.

We are excited to have Rich on the EVstudio team and look forward to a long and successful future with him!

EVstudio Basecamp

Sean O'Hara — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 22:23:48 +0000

We have added a basecamp online collaboration website to our list of tools. We are using this tool to better work with clients that have complex projects with multiple drawing releases, tight schedules and/or large groups of contacts.

If you're currently working on a project with us and think this might be a useful addition, please let us know.

Originally posted 2008-06-19 16:28:14.

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The Yellow Barn at Conifer: Early American Pre-fab in the Mountains

Elicia Ratajczyk — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 07:51:20 +0000

The historic "Yellow Barn" (well, it used to be more yellow than it is today) at the corner of Highway 73 and Barkley Road in Conifer has long been a well known and beloved landmark and icon of the mountain community. What many may not know, however, is that it and it's two accompanying historic houses, are also icon's of the pre-fab, mail-order construction that was popular across the United States in early 20th Century architecture.

The idea of pre-fabricated and modular architecture has long been of interest to architects world-wide because it not only offers the potential for cost savings based solely on the idea of mass production & common, repeatable elements but also carries the potential ability to offer high-design and quality craftsmanship at an affordable price to the general public. This is exactly the concept used by the Sear's, Roebuck and Co. in the "Book of Modern Homes" that was freely distributed throughout the country along with their other catalog's of goods.

"This special Book of Modern Homes which we will send to you free, shows you how much better and how much bigger a house you can build for your money ..." ~excerpt from the 1910 Sears, Roebuck & Co. Catalog No. 117

Sears & Roebuck was not, however, the only manufacturer of these "mail-order" homes. In fact, according to national expert and architectural historian Rebecca L. Hunter, Sears was but one of seven major companies supplying pre-cut homes in the United States and Canada in the early 20th Century. The Sears homes, in fact, were often supplied by one of the other companies, such as the Gordon Van-Tine Company from which the three buildings at Bradford Junction were ordered in 1918 by John J. Mullen (nephew of famous Colorado philanthropist J.K. Mullen). All three buildings are still standing to this day, and are a rare collection of multiple early pre-fabricated mail order buildings ordered and built together in a rural location.

EV Studio was hired earlier this year to do a historic investigation of the Bradford Junction property where all three of these pre-fabricated buildings are located. We discovered, through these investigations, that all three buildings were ordered together (a "Ranch Kit", if you will) from the 1917 Gordon Van-Tine Catalog in the early spring of 1918 (see the related catalog pages below). They were delivered by train from Illinois to Denver, where they were then most likely loaded onto the C&S Narrow Guage Platte Canyon line and delivered to Dawson's Switch near the bottom of present day Foxton Road. From there, they would have taken a bumpy trip up the narrow canyon road on wagons pulled by livestock and were eventually delivered to the site where they still stand today at the ripe old age of 93!