Wednesday, April 10, 2013

The Neighborhood Architects


http://www.locusarchitecture.com/
I wanted to take a post and share a bit about my architects, Locus Architecture. They have been a great partner and are not only good people, but engaged Minneapolis community members.

Locus is made up of Paul Neseth and Wynne Yelland. Paul is a local boy and met Wynne in grad school. They dreamed up Locus at that time and Wynne came to Minnesota for a couple years but then never left. While it is a dream to work for yourself, Paul also shared that it can be scarier with more ups and downs.  On a side note, I’m encountering this myself these days. I find there is a certain amount of just jumping in with both feet and/or tunnel vision needed to keep moving forward.

Part of this project was working within the guidelines to maintain the original feel of the concession building. This was a sentiment mentioned in community meetings and was heartily shared by the Sandcastle team. Paul really liked respecting the classic style of the building but giving it a modern flare.

He is particularly excited about how the siding will look. We are using thermally treated pine. The treatment is chemical free but has the same effect of chemically treated wood, making it weather and water resistant so it can be used in building. This is a technique new to the US (it’s been happening for decades in Scandinavia) so we were fortunate to find a Minnesota company that does it.

The siding will then be painted a muted blue color (like in our logo). It will be placed horizontally on the building with gaps between the boards. Underneath the building will be wrapped in an inexpensive bright orange material (again like the color in our logo) so that it can be seen through the muted color. This will have the effect of appearing differently at different times of the day due to how the sun shines on it. Additionally, one part of the building will have a clear material under the siding to that you can see in and out through the gaps. Locus was focused on ways to make the inside and outside as interactive as possible.

Locus does a Speaker Series called 2 x 2. Local pioneers come in to talk about passions, inspirations, and relationships.  The next one, 6th in the series, is called Responsible Investing and will have Anna Forsberg a Kiva Fellow (of Kiva.org the worlds first online lending platform), and Kelly Guncheon, a financial planner.  It is at 7:30pm on 4/20/13 at their offices in south Minneapolis. You can RSVP and get the location on their website.

Other projects of Locus:
  • They are working on the expansion at Birchwood in Seward neighborhood.
  • A number of residential projects.
  • SAM – Sustainable, Attainable, Modern; a pre-designed home you can afford to want. http://www.locusarchitecture.com/sam/ & first photo below
  • They have been doing presentations on strategies for designing a home to live a more sustainable life and be motivated to do it. Contact them for details if interested.
  • Oaxaca Project –RAW, a design/build workshop for the curious and committed.  Paul recently returned from Oaxaca, Mexico where the workshop took place.  http://rawdesignbuild.com/ & see photo below

 SAM – Sustainable, Attainable, Modern; a pre-designed home you can afford to want.


El Arca de Noah - An information center for the ecological practices being demonstrated on site in Oaxaca.