Pushing the Urban Boundary - CSHQA Moving to New Offices



CSHQA Office Rendering - Corner of 2nd & Broad Streets

When I jokingly told a friend that architects are always pushing urban boundaries because only lawyers can afford rents when areas mature, I wasn’t far off.  Urban redevelopment tends to follow the artists and creative types who are looking for unique spaces and cheap rents at the edges.  The second wave often consists of architects, designers and suppliers to the trades.  Eventually, shops, restaurants and public spaces solidify the redevelopment.

2^nd & Broad (aka 2|b) is our 54 year old warehouse that once was, literally, on the wrong side of the tracks.  It’s been a warehouse owned by the same family that built it.  Right now, it looks pretty rough around the edges and the redevelopment to office space won’t come cheap.  Yet after an exhaustive search around the valley it came out #1 on our list for potential redevelopment.

2|b offers incredible visibility, functionality and opportunity.  It sits directly across Front Street from the Ada County Courthouse; CSHQA staff will be on one floor, instead of three; and our team has a “free hand” in designing advanced energy saving and sustainable systems.  As designers, then users of the space we have an opportunity to really learn how design and operation interact to produce results.

As the project and design architect for 2|b, I have a lot of skin in this game; I am the steward of everyone’s goals, from print room to president.  But I’m not alone.  There is energy and excitement about this project and a huge emphasis on grassroots collaboration.

Over the course of construction I plan to write a few posts about the process, designing for your peers, and pursuing a high level LEED certification.  In the meantime read the news in the Idaho Business Review 1.31.13 and the Statesman http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/01/29/2429726/downtown-warehouse-to-house-cshqa.html. –

The Super Hero of Parking Lots



Paver System Substrate - not to scale

Ok.  So super hero is stretching it, but this innovative concrete paver and blacktop parking lot at River Park Place (home of the new Boise Whole Foods Market and a very nice Walgreens) does its bit to protect the Boise River and nearby Julia Davis Park.  It prevents silt and pollutants from the surface lot and rooftop drainage of the 5.5+ acre site from being carried off and seeping into the river or surrounding area. 

Typical parking lots have drainage grates and below ground piping to handle storm water runoff.  They often overflow in heavy rains.  River Park Place utilizes sand, gravel, concrete and gravity to manage 100% of its storm water on site.  No flooding, no leaching, no adding to the public waste water system.  Even in a 100-year storm!*

CSHQA civil engineer Jeff Ward, PE led the design and development team in searching out the unique solution.  Ward researched multiple options of handling storm water in areas of high ground water.  He selected an engineered substrate of sand and permeable rock covered with a combination of traditional paving and approximately 39,000 sf of Spec-Pave-100 pavers sourced from Basalite Concrete Products in Meridian, Idaho.  www.basalite.com

Site grading directs runoff toward the pavers where it drains and is temporarily stored in as much as 44 inches of rock and sand.  Natural infiltration then discharges the storm water.  Widely applied in Europe the permeable paver system is relatively new to the US.  It has been used with great success at the Port of Oakland and City of Portland. 

*Projected storm water for a 100-year rain event is 1 inch of rain per hour.  For 5.5+ acres  that equates to over 150,000 gallons per hour! 

Boise Subcontractors On A Mission...

Deli Sign in Boise Whole Foods Market

In April 2012, after seven years of economy-driven starts and stops, the Boise Whole Foods Market was finally under construction and scheduled to open February 2013.  Then a rumor started that it was behind schedule (bad news again…)  It wasn’t true, but owners, developers, designers and builders alike didn’t like the sense that somehow they were letting the community down. 

The project leaders (CSHQA, Engineered Structures, Inc. and Whole Foods) determined  that simple rebuttals would not suffice.  Why not blow the doors off and actually make the rumored, hoped-for opening day of pre-Thanksgiving 2012?  It was a three-month hit to an already aggressive schedule.  What followed was a stunning example of the power of collaboration. 

CSHQA compressed the design schedule, ESI re-programmed the construction schedule, and countless subs and vendors, providing everything from landscaping to refrigeration to fair trade flowers, got on board. 

We appreciate and acknowledge this superior effort
by the Boise construction community.  Our hats are off to you!

Company Name	Service, Specialty or Materials	Contacts
AAtronics/Rocky Mountain	Intrusion Detection/Video Surveillance
AM Sign Company	Canvas Canopies	Diane Mazy
B&B Steel Erectors	Structural Steel Erection	Todd Bloom
Bledsoe Cabinets, Inc.	Cabinetry	Allen Nunnally, Randy Odenbrett
Brundage Bone Concrete Pumping	Concrete Pumping
Cascade Fence Co, Inc.	Fence/Gate	Bill Fittje
Chris Levak	Outdoor Trellis Wood	Chris Levak
Color Craft Painting and Wallcovering,Inc.	Painting	James Barnes, Jeff Barnes
Custom Demolition and More, Inc.	Demolition
Curtis Clean Sweep	Street Cleaning
Custom Glass, Inc.	Storefronts and Glazing	Tyler Morgan
D&A Door & Specialties, Inc.	Doors/Hardware	Shane Lawrence, Chris Curtis
D&A Door & Specialties, Inc.	Division 10	Janet Salor
Dave DeChambeau	Specialty Installation
Debest Plumbing, Inc.	Plumbing	Jim Brekke, Shane Stowe, Larry Johnstone
Designer Floors, Inc.	Epoxy Flooring	Tyler Brown, Mick Eckleberry
Designer Floors, Inc.	Rubber Base	Tyler Brown
Designer Floors, Inc./ Epoxy Systems	Sika Flooring	Tyler Brown, Tim Tittus
Edge Construction Supply, Inc.	Concrete – Floor Protection	Joe Carlton, Al Miller
Engineered Structures, Inc. (ESI)	Fixture Installation	Rand Hill
Forte Construction Services, LLC	Drywall	Chris Lombardo, John Woods
Four Seasons Framing	Misc. Framing
Gale Contractor Service	Building Insulation
Greenscreen	Greenscreens	Charlene Mortale
Harris Rebar Abco, Inc.	Rebar	Ken Reglin
Image National	Building & Monument Signage	Dan Cobb
Industrial Restoration & Coatings, Inc.	Polished Concrete	Kirk Newart
KM Engineering, LLP.	Survey	Kelly Kehrer
Landon Enterprises, LLC.	Concrete	Ron Landon
Lasaco, Inc.	Architectural Metals
LM Scofield	Color Additive	Lee Jenkerson
Mesa Tile & Stone, Inc.	Ceramic Tile	Bobby Hood, Phil King
Mountain States Roofing, Inc.	Roofing	Rick Dibble
Materials Testing Inspection, Inc.	Testing	Matthew Dupont
Power Enterprises	Landscaping	Aaron Dressen, Brian Sperry
Precision Communications Inc.	Tele/Data/Sound/PA	David Howard, Nic Astleford
Pro-Care Services	Final Clean	Marcelo Jesus
Protex/Rocky Mountain	Fire Alarm	Rob Ahten
Rocky Mountain Electric	Electrical	Sean Delacy, Steve Blackmer
Reclaimed Lighting, LLC.	Lighting Supplier	Jenn Ryan
Rule Steel Tanks, Inc.	Structural Steel	Jon Eyton, Ron Allen
Sight & Sound by Design	Roller Shades (Walgreens)	Bill Lewis
Source Refrigeration & HVAC, Inc.	Refrigeration	Preston Schulthies, Griff Stallings
Slattery Mitchell, Inc.	Masonry	Greg Slattery
ThyssenKrupp Elevator Corporation	Elevator	Brandon Williams, Jeremy Robinson, Ryan Kroon
Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning LLC.	HVAC	Dan Flaherty, Stan Lilliquist, Randy Lamott
Treasure Valley Fire Protection, Inc.	Fire Protection	George Edse
Tuffy Excavation, Inc.	Earthwork	Mike Nuxoll
Western Extralite Company	Lighting Supplier	Ashley Lagrand
Winslow’s Waterproofing, LLC	Joint Sealants	Danny Winslow
Woody’s Sheetmetal	Metal Flashing and Trim