Breathing New Life On 30th & Broadway

2019-09-11T18:06:38+00:00June 20th, 2017|

Architectural Dimensions worked with CVS, Armstrong Development, and the City to formulate a redevelopment design that includes the program needs of CVS while preserving the integrity of the building designed by Charles McCall.

Specialization Takes Command

2019-09-11T18:19:23+00:00June 20th, 2017|

Like every industry and sector in this country, development now requires more specialized attention to capture, organize and address requirements to build projects. Architectural Dimensions has addressed this issue through growing an Agency Management department that orchestrates all issues related to acquisition of permits and approvals by all agencies that preside over projects. With architectural and legal experience this department mentors the development team to address technical requirements and the circuitous processes to capture approvals and demonstrate compliance to properly close out projects. The Agency Management department is the communicator, negotiator, expeditor, repository, accountant and manager of applications to all regulatory and utility agencies. It also manages more specialized consultants if needed such as legal, utility planning, etc. The complexity regulatory compliance and utility procurement handled by one entity frees ownership and the design team to focus on its expertise while agency managers tend to the bureaucratic processes that need relationship building and uncluttered communication without emotion. Agency Management NIMBYism aside, the growth in regulations, environmental protection, governmental budget shortfalls, advancements in science to measure impacts, technological advances to mandate building systems, sustainability requirements and energy reduction have eased into the hands of politicians and their underlying bureaucratic systems. The RESULT...? [...]

The Old Army Warehouses and the New Way of Tilt-Up Construction

2019-09-11T18:21:58+00:00June 8th, 2017|

The photos below show the contrast between WWII era warehouse construction and today’s. While concrete construction was in vogue before in the 20’s and 30’s the vast need for immediate construction in WWII drove the use of wood, particularly on the west coast with abundant forests. The wood timber framed warehouses on the former Oakland Army Base site were designed for thru-put of materials from trains to ships along the water’s edge. Large wood members were used to construct trusses of long spans, Douglas Fir (tongue and grove) was used for sheathing on walls and roofs and clear Redwood was used for siding. Premier wood products not easily attained today. In contrast, the new warehouses being built today are composed of “tilt-up” reinforced, concrete walls and prefab wood or steel trusses covered by plywood sheathing then PVC, single ply roofing in contrast to shingles used on gable roof structures in the old warehouses. While the old warehouses survive, sustaining environmental loads of wind and earthquakes their geometries and features are not conducive to modern logistics in the movement of goods. While demolition is a sad end to genius engineering and a national achievement, the wood lives on to be reused in [...]

New Office Building Along El Camino Real in Belmont

2019-09-11T18:22:20+00:00June 1st, 2017|

On an impossible site of only 6,367 sq. ft., we crafted a project to utilize off-site parking to where there are only 2 parking stalls on the site itself. Study of the surrounding neighborhood within a ¼ mile of the site showed excess parking that would fulfill the parking requirement for a 8,821 sq. ft. office building. The site is located in the City of Belmont, fronting on the major north/south arterial El Camino Real, sandwiched against the Caltrain rail corridor. Years of widening of El Camino, a state highway, has left many parcels squeezed in size that cannot provide adequate parking. The changing complexion of transportation and smart utilization of available public parking is a trend that will allow more urban density. View Project Page