Author: Jon Bell

AIA Colorado teamed with the State of Colorado and the Colorado Restaurant Association for the Winter Outdoor Design Workshop—delivering hope with a side of hygge for the vulnerable restaurant industry.

Winter is coming, and like the north winds, the pandemic continues its chill on important sectors of our economy.  We all hoped the COVID-19 curve would have flattened by now, but without extraordinary measures to keep establishments open and safe, Colorado’s restaurant and tourism industries risk being flattened instead. To help, Governor Jared Polis and the Colorado Restaurant Association teamed with AIA Colorado and several other AEC partners for the Winter Outdoor Design Workshop to develop outdoor restaurant design concepts, keeping Coloradans safe from the elements—and the virus—while dining in the dead of winter.

Early on in the pandemic, my colleagues and I reached out to our restaurant clients to find out how we could help. Costs aside, they felt permitting would be their biggest hurdle. We are glad to see state and city officials expressing interest in helping ease the path. “The restaurant industry is critical to the economic health of the State of Colorado, and it’s vital to the well-being of our local communities,” said Governor Polis in announcing the Colorado Winter Outdoor Grant program, an emergency assistance fund for Colorado restaurants experiencing financial hardship.

The restaurant industry operates on thin margins even in flush times, so the stay-at-home orders reducing indoor seating to just 25 to 50 percent capacity triggered a quick culling of revenues. Particularly hard hit were locations with little overflow space. Carryout sales—for business models that could take advantage of this market—got a boost when the state began allowing to-go alcohol, starting March 20. By May, restaurants began adding seating areas in public sidewalks and closed streets, as Governor Polis waived many state regulations and urged cities to do the same. Dave Query, founder of the Big Red F Restaurant Group, which operates Jax Fish House, Lola Costal Mexican and other popular concepts, says he’s been able to add extra outdoor seating to about half its restaurants. “Reducing indoor capacity to 50 or 25 percent means we need every outdoor seat we can find,” he said.

Ely Merheb AIA, founder of Boulder-based Verso and charrette participant, found “a silver lining witnessing streets become more people- and business-friendly.” Other groups also recognize the benefit of expanded pedestrian areas, especially onto side streets and parking lanes. Said Rob Toftness of the Denver Bicycle Lobby, who would like to see Denver’s temporary street closures made permanent, “Anytime we use public right-of way for something other than storing a private vehicle, it’s a win for everyone.”

As architects and urban planners, we’re taught early in our educations that a lively pedestrian presence serves to activate downtown streets and boost business. And to keep the party going through winter, we need to keep the customers warm. Cue the Winter Outdoor Design Workshop.

The idea sprung from Colorado Restaurant Association CEO and President Sonia Riggs. She reached out to AIA Colorado, where she formerly served as CEO. “Both organizations started digging into what that might look like,” said Nikolaus Remus, AIA, Advocacy Engagement Director at AIA Colorado. “After our first call, it was obvious we should bring ACEC Colorado on board since viable solutions were likely going to have engineering considerations.” Ultimately, the partnership included AIA Colorado, the State of Colorado, the Colorado Restaurant Association, Colorado Restaurant Foundation, American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado, and the Associated General Contractors of Colorado for a daylong charrette to develop design concepts for outdoor dining. “I think there was a real buzz, an energy during this event to try to create and design amazing environments for our local restaurateurs,” said Scott Prisco, AIA, Denver’s Chief Building Official. “The selection of the team members was very relevant, as well. There were so many creative thinkers with differing perspective to achieve solutions to problems.”

After learning about the outdoor dining charrette while listening to a news conference from Governor Polis, “I reached out to AIA immediately, because I’ve been looking for ways to bring my skills to the table to help people,” said AIA Colorado member Jenny Edwards, of Ricca Design Studios. She along with dozens of other architects, engineers, restaurateurs, contractors, and public health and safety officials teamed via a videoconference to develop easy-to-implement concepts to encourage outdoor winter dining. The inclusion of fire and building officials was intentional, both for up-front input and to publicize an effort to promote faster emergency permitting.

Rob Duran, regional manager for the Blue Agave Grill concepts, joined the charrette after seeing that up to 60 percent of their revenue this year was being generated outdoors. “As data continues to show, outdoor dining is safest, and the diner’s willingness to sit outside through the elements is proving to be an obstacle that restaurants want to tackle.”

After an opening session with introductory remarks by the Governor, the nine teams broke into groups to each address a specific condition, from urban parking lots to mountain resort shopfronts to rooftop patios. Each team presented their rough concepts in a closing session at day’s end, then continued to meet throughout the following week to further develop their ideas. Major themes emerged: open modules with flexible seating vs. fully enclosed four-tops; open airflow to disperse airborne contagions while blocking the wind and keeping heat inside; efficient, yet safe heating under roofing; utility upgrades; heated benches and accessories; attracting diners on both sunny bluebird days and snow-dusted evenings; affordable and scalable modules that would allow customization to site conditions; snow loads; Brrrreckenridge. “Working with a group of amazing volunteers, we determined we could help temper winter’s chill with designs which created an experience that would draw guests despite the colder temperatures.” said Jeff Metheny, AIA, Principal at Studio Atlantis.

The resulting concepts landed in two camps familiar to every backpacker and trekker: tents and huts. Each team addressed these often-contradictory needs in unique ways, giving restaurant owners options that they can adapt to their specific locations. “We wanted to design with some flexibility, having both semi-permanent fixtures like posts and non-permanent units like panels,” said Edwards. “We considered the idea that this could be either disassembled and moved or become a permanent fixture for the park moving forward.” Each team was tasked with a different siting, and her Crinkle Commons concept considered the case of a nearby/adjacent park.

Added Jeff Metheny, whose team addressed urban streets and looked to Colorado’s own history as inspiration, “Using shapes derived from Conestoga wagons, teepees and A-frame shanties, each restaurant can create an upsized experience and much needed seating, all while maintaining safe distances from other diners. We were intentional in designing these structures to be easily and quickly fabricated and installed with the ability to be moved if needed.”

No matter the structure of the shelter, heating remains the key concern. “The primary obstacles for providing heat include available electric service, as well as code issues surrounding propane and gas units,” said Prisco. In response, the teams offered flexible, layered solutions for heating. For example, where gas capacity is available, remote and ducted portable construction heaters could provide the efficiency of gas at a code-compliant distance. With sufficient electric service, radiant electric heaters could be used safely under a roof. Heated walls, benches, or flooring could be added via off-the-shelf products customized to the specific site and structure. And personal heating accessories, from phase-change materials to good old-fashioned blankets provide the final layer. “Our Comfort Wall proposal focuses on maximizing comfort from a seated position, by creating a modular, low-wall system that blocks wind and concentrates heat from ground or under table sources, closest to seated customers,” said Merheb.

One takeaway? Cultural shift will be as important as a built intervention. As no outdoor space will be as cozy as last winter’s crowded tavern, we’ll need to coach our customers to expect a Colorado adventure. Add more hot-toddy cocktails to the menu. Normalize rugged après-ski looks. And naturally, promote a made-for-Colorado slogan: Bring Your Own Blanket.

Just Architecture 2020 Practice + Design Conference Day 2 Recap: “Just Sustainability”

By Victor Gonzalez

Architects have great power, and with great power comes the great responsibility of preserving our environment. The greatest challenges not only face our current profession, but also the design field as a whole. These were just a few of the takeaways from day two of the 2020 Practice + Design Conference focusing on environmental stewardship.

As architects, we are clear leaders in climate action and must direct our focus on sustainability. Staying resilient is what creates environmental stewardship, and with more focus on education and outreach in supporting our communities, we can achieve a more sustainable future. The conference today showcased innovative and vibrant designs that highlighted today’s theme, “Just Sustainability.” From the benchmarking requirements for museums by Joyce Lee to understanding the sustainable features of timber by Thomas Knittel and the maximized use of sunlight by Lake|Flato Architects, all entailed the influential factors of maintaining, “Just Sustainability.”

Afternoons were filled with member networking—of the digital variety. Each speaker held intimate breakout discussions and all reconvened for a thoughtful panel discussion. And from Denver to Durango, connections were made over happy hours with each of the sections with playful activities and reunions with old friends.

Below are key takeaways and along with a special illustration documented by a live illustrator Ellen O’Neill.

PANEL DISCUSSION CAPTURE

SESSION NOTES

Joyce Lee | Just Culture

• 1 of 300 LEED Fellows
• Faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania
• Serves on the COVID-19 taskforce
• Part of a firm that takes the place of sustainability and wellness
• Former national co-chair
• Works on a variety of museums
• Building benchmarking disclosures.
• 3 museum Categories: art, history, and science
• 3 size categories
• Museum building age
• Average site EUI by year
• U.S. Climate Zones are new to museum owners who own a collection throughout the country.
• Museum site EUI by climate zone
• How do museums perform today?
• Based on commercial building type and obviously there are consumption levels by climate zone.
• Benchmarking cities
  • Example: Philadelphia
  • Sustainable Development Goals:
    • No poverty, zero hunger, etc.
  • ASHRAE CH 24
    • Collection: Public Space
    • Collect: Nonpublic Space
  • The culture of justice or just culture
  • Practice is focused on sustainability and balance.
  • Covid-19 Aerosol Transmission.
    • Open windows help with delusion.
    • Hospitals go through 12 air changes by hour.
    • Not all schools receive this air quality change, which is why there is such a concern for students and teachers.
    • Metropolis petition headline: Architects and designers are demanding healthier policy priorities.
  • “Just Culture” a longer term in cultural institutions. Architecture can improve life at all economic levels.
  • jlee@indigoJLD.com

Thomas Knittel | A Just Future Through Carbon-Balanced Buildings

• Looking at a recently completed hotel in British Columbia
• When we look at all the new construction that is projected to take place between now and 2050, we see the critical role.
• This conference is fundamentally about ethics.
• Architecture is a starting place of what it is available and what it can do.
• Materials matter for planetary health:
  • Human civilization and the state of the natural systems on which it depends.
  • Understanding that what is good for us must be good for the world, we must make the effort to know what is the best for the world, and change for it.
• Rate of consumption per capita has significantly increased.
• The material consumption has caused the increase of landfills.
• The rural materials play a critical role in developing materials.
• Change happens, and architects have a big role to play in the super sizer of construction
• You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
• Seeking planetary help in what would nature do differently in comparison to our destructive behavior.
• Carbon fuel emissions are irreversible.
• You can’t manage what you can’t measure.
• It is more than carbon that we are responsible for and measuring.
• 30 Regenerative keys: How we process energy, how mass timber can help.
• Carbon-balanced buildings
  • Our material determines these emissions.
• Cellular Flexibility
  • Clinic floor, outreach and training centers provide healthy air as possible.
• This way it is key to work with our structural engineers.
• Changing to curtain walls is one small, but significant example on how to reduce carbon emissions.
• Orange County Sanitation District HQ
  • Board room, gathering space, and educational gathering space, acoustic clouds, a central core that includes gathering for common areas
  • Structural Carbon Balance Study – Mass Timber Option
  • Mass Timber alternatives complement the California building code
  • Timber should be recertified and reserved.
  • Must advocate for timber sourcing and forest tree practices.
• There is a strong link between forest and people.
• Ecosystem services must be preserved.
• We must ensure that mass timber drives forestry.
• Mass timber buildings could be four stories and 84 feet tall.
• The story for the building is the tree itself.
• Carbon reduction at the urban scale
  • Park City Initiative in China
    • The west mountains provide natural resources to the people. 
• The urban form that is proposed is to give a sense of place.
• Buildings as carbon banks
  • Provide a new carbon cycle

David Lake and Heather Holdridge | Vitality and Livability of Communities

• Urban design can strengthen the city.
• Just nature, place, craft, restraint
  • Four ideals that drive work, that shows the best of “us”
• Respond to the context.
• Set sustainability goals for projects and then tracking.
• Social justice, equity, justice, and inclusion is definitely an aspect of becoming sustainability.
• “Just” label
  • Being more clear about our plan and term on social justice and inclusion.
• Making sure that our building is day lit.
• “Library of the future”
  • Every floor level had its own purpose and its connection to the other areas.
  • Have it connected by different age groups.
  • Stone civic building to demonstrate knowledge.
  • Animate the streetscape.
  • Add an event space.
  • Using the library to show a connection to nature.
  • Perimeter is lit by the daylight.
  • Goal: is oriented around the daylight capture. There was more dense shading provided, so there was no visual discomfort.
  • Maximizing daylight, reducing heat gain.
  • Testing the ideas through computer simulations.
  • How can we connect to the downtown district?
• Confluence Park
  • Make sure that sustainability is present.
  • Storying water was expressed.
• University of Denver – Wellness Center
  • Constructed out of mass timber.
  • Reduce the carbon impact emissions

HAPPY HOUR NETWORKING

NEGRONI WORKSHOP WITH THE DENVER SECTION

SKETCH COMPETITION WITH THE SOUTH SECTION

NOTECARD DESIGN COMPETITION WITH THE NORTH SECTION