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. –