The Latest ON SMS & ARCHITECTURE Thank You! November 25, 2021 It's time to give thanks to our design community. Sometimes, who are we kidding? We tend to forget to show appreciation and thanks to people or products who have made our jobs easier and meaningful. So this week,we are extending our gratitude to every single one of you that we have had the opportunity to interact within one way or another. This year has been challenging to say the least, but it has proven to be a year of growth, learning, critiques, experimentation, and laughs. Our office is thankful for different things, and we thought it would be a great idea to share what SMS is grateful for. Today, we are happy to share the top ten things we appreciate the most. 1 | Great Clients 2 | Creative Freedom and Expression 3 | Old Wisdom 4 | Basic Essentials: Food and Shelter 5 | The ability to work alongside diverse teammates who share the same values and passions. 6 | Being around our coworkers after isolating for a year and a half. 7 | Current & New Programs: Revit, AutoCAD, Adobe Suite, Enscape, BlueBeam, BIM360, etc. 8 | Creating a sustainable, prosperous, and quickly growing design firm. 9 | The ability to Work From Home 10 | You! The list goes on, but we believe these are staples within our design team. Once again, Thank You for being a part of our SMS journey. We appreciate every interaction we have had with each of you, and we look forward to many more! 1 Likes Share Charging The Future: EV-Capability November 11, 2021 Over the past ten years, hundreds of individuals throughout the world have been fighting for climate change. This past week the U.S. Senate passed a $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill that has become one big step towards fighting climate change. With this bill we will administer money into expanding broad access and bring funding to other parts of the tech sector, as well as electric vehicles, which will be a primary focus for the design industry. So why is this important? This bill has set aside $7.5 billion in funds to install electric vehicle charging stations across the country beginning in mid-2022. And one of the main places these will be installed in are future nonresidential projects. In the US, especially California, transportation is the most significant contributor to climate-warming emissions, mainly from everyday cars and trucks on the road. Within the past six years, the California Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen) began requiring all new construction to have access to Level 2 electric-car charging stations. In other words, they were preparing the groundwork for the gradual rollout of this widespread charging infrastructure of 2030. Currently, CALGreen requires six percent of parking spaces in new nonresidential buildings to be EV-capable, which means having a parking space be Level 2 with a conduit and electric panel capacity for a 40-ampere 208/240-volt circuit. By mid-2022, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and CALGreen will require all nonresidential existing and new building projects to undergo significant renovations to add EV charging stations. The mandate will not affect current existing buildings under construction. So here’s the thing, it’s time to begin thinking of how this will affect your future designs. Currently, many City governments are mandating 25 – 30% of new parking garages or surface lots to have EV charging capable stalls ready. Per CALGreen Building Code from 2020, Multifamily Dwellings currently have a three-tier system: TIER 1 (required) requires 10% of Total Parking Spaces to be “EV Capable” TIER 2 (optional) requires 15% of Total Parking Spaces to be “EV Capable” TIER 3 (optional) requires 20% of Total Parking Spaces to be “EV Capable” Regarding Guest Parking, at least one “EV Capable” space is required. Nonresidential projects are as shown below: It’s time to charge into the future and begin making the changes regarding the tech sector and design. Don’t stall behind the rest and begin fighting for climate change by also adding EV-capable parking stalls into your projects. References: Director, Matt Casale. “Charged up for an Electric Vehicle Future.” U.S. PIRG, 5 Nov. 2021, https://uspirg.org/blogs/blog/usp/charged-electric-vehicle-future Edelstein, Stephen. “Ca to Require New Buildings to Be Prepped for Electric-Car Charging Stations.” Green Car Reports, 23 Oct. 2014, https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1095076_ca-to-require-new-buildings-to-be-wired-for-electric-car-charging-stations Krause, David. “CARB Recommends EV Charging Station Installations at Existing Buildings.” NewsData, LLC, 24 Jan. 2020, https://www.newsdata.com/california_energy_markets/regulation_status/carb-recommends-ev-charging-station-installations-at-existing-buildings/article_7bf43506-3ede-11ea-9eb1-cb816c463ca5.html lauren_feiner. “How the $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Will Direct Billions toward Tech Spending.” CNBC, CNBC, 11 Aug. 2021, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/10/how-the-1-trillion-infrastructure-bill-will-direct-billions-toward-tech-spending.html Ray. California Green Building Code Mandatory Measures, Blogger, 1 June 2021, https://greenbuildingalliances.blogspot.com/2018/01/california-green-building-code.html 2 Likes Share Neuroscience Within Architecture September 21, 2021 Buildings are getting designed faster than they are being developed for over a decade. It’s a rugged mountain to climb to begin creating interactive spaces for its users, but it’s not impossible. The basis of architecture has always been the concept of designing a building per a client’s needs. As mentioned in Mindful Interiors by Sims Hilditch, “Our bodies and brains respond to the built environment; humans are like plants.” We need a design to help us improve our health from mental, physical, and emotional aspects. If you think about it, methods derive from our brains, which are situated in a building for more than 90% of the time. So, how do we seemingly integrate our neuro necessities into architecture? Many articles and scientific research have proven how much our built environment affects our health, stemming from mental, physical, and emotional aspects that integrate our human response to the built environment. The aging question is: How does Neuro-Architecture improve design? Neuro-Architecture uses our cognitive influence within four simple principles to inform and not determine design through analyzing, recollection, new experiences, and sensation and perception. In doing so, the design integrates a range of solutions on form, complexity, environment, acoustic qualities, etc. So let’s jump into these four principles: 1 | ANALYZING Analyzing consists of discovering important system properties within your design within architecture, which we can use to integrate neuroscience. Ask yourself what you are building for; who will your occupants be? What materials are you going to use? Don’t think of cost at this time. Find two pivotal points within the site or building, such as natural light or human movement that will take place. Design a space with a specific impact. Remember, architecture can affect human behavior and profoundly impact people to make them feel happy, sad, content, etc. 2 | RECOLLECTION For decades architects have been designing based on these principles without knowing, through trial and error. By recollection, most designs will begin to implement and promote typologies that influence a moment in architecture, from using heavy timber trusses to warm space or integrating rounded décor to soften a room and increase feelings of positivity. 3 | NEW EXPERIENCES Many use a concept for redesigning their homes every year: “move out and move back in.” this allows you to activate brain pathways and stimulate the dopamine chemical in your brain that motivates exploration. How does this relate to architecture? Simple, consider the path of foot traffic in your design and pan out spaces that can become transformative spaces, such as gardens, sensory walls, light-filled rooms, curving walls, organic materials, etc. 4 | SENSATION AND PERCEPTION From the beginning, architecture has dominated design through sight, creating buildings that appeal to our vision. But in the past couple of years, designers have begun to integrate the rest of the human senses: sound, touch, smell, and sometimes even taste. By creating multisensory interactions through natural/artificial light to explore universal properties that expand an individual’s perspective within a space. In order to accomplish this in design, a designer has to be researching how to reduce stress from day-to-day life and integrate nature into an area that will both integrate sensation and perception for a building and its users. Of course, these are not the only principles designers and architects should solely use to design. There are hundreds of other principles that can help derive a design. But if you take one thing from this article, let it be one outstanding question you should ask while designing: What do I want the users to feel when entering this atmosphere? References: CBC. (2018, October 19). Neuro-architecture: How to design a space that will help you stay sharp and stimulated. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/life/thegoods/neuro-architecture-how-to-design-a-space-that-willhelp-you-stay-sharp-and-stimulated-1.4624036 Fisher, T. (2016, October 06). How Neuroscience Can Influence Architecture. Retrieved from: https://www.architectmagazine.com/practice/how-neuroscience-can-influence-architecture_o Ltd, T.S. (2020, February 01). Emerging Trends That Will Shape the Future of Architecture. Retrieved from: https://medium.com/studiotmd/emerging-trends-that-will-shape-the-future-of-architecture-356ba3e7f910 Salingaros, N.A. (2019, October 27). How Neuroscience Can Generate a Healthier Architecture. Retrieved from: https://patterns.architexturez.net/doc/az-cf-193130 Sims Hilditch. (2019, March 01). Mindful Interiors. Retrieved from https://www.simshilditch.com/journal/mindful-interiors 2 Likes Share Part of the Best 5 Commercial Architects in Huntington Beach, California August 24, 2021 We want to express our gratitude to GC Magazine for their fantastic coverage of our firm in their recent magazine article. The positive exposure you gave SMS Architects has provided the community with an excellent introduction to our goals and services regarding commercial and public space design. Our entire staff appreciates the professionalism with which your team handled the interview and coverage of one of our major projects in Orange County: Pacific City in Huntington Beach. We hope to continue transforming trends in the future to keep creating client-centric designs. We are grateful for your willingness to include SMS Architects in your publication. Thanks to everyone involved. Click on the link below to check out their fantastic article! https://www.generalcontractors.org/the-5-best-commercial-architects-in-huntington-beach-california/ 4 Likes Share Architecture and the Impacts on Society July 19, 2021 Architects play a more prominent role in society than other industries believe. Have you ever stood on the sidewalk in your neighborhood and wondered why certain buildings were positioned in specific locations and how safe, well-lit, and convenient these places are to you and your surroundings? Think about it; architects must design with the intent of health, safety, and welfare in the forefront of the industry and maintain any scope of concerns that can alter how one feels within and around a space. Designing architecture takes time, money, and collaboration. It’s not meant to be a cookie-cutter experience but a more profound, richer experience that creates communities based on cultural aspects, economic and scientific evidence, and detail-oriented connections that make a poetic space for every user. So, architecture is not just about providing shelter; as mentioned above, it manipulates, enhances, and sets the context behind what we do daily and how we feel. Design has been geared towards the region, cultural interests, socio-economic growth, or climate conditions in the past four decades. Yet, in the past couple of years, architects have begun to shift in designing for society by incorporating green sustainable architecture designs, knowledge regarding energy-efficient structures, and integrated passive techniques. We have begun to create for personal use, from the experience one encounters from the first exterior view of the space to the interior environment. Architecture has become a symbol of how we see and perceive the world. Throughout the years, the development of our society has allowed us to provide shelters, create distinctive architecture styles within the region, enhance cultural interests, climatic conditions, and locally available materials for socio-economic growth through materials, construction techniques, design, social, economic, and cultural impacts. Architecture will continue to impact society, but a couple of ways architects can maneuver these aspects is through: designing energy-efficient structures to change the current climate change scenario improving individual experience through space environment to impact mental health and well-being decreasing the concrete jungle aesthetic and encouraging local materials and architectural elements. References: Aman & Saxena, S. RFT|Rethinking The Future http://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com, (19 November 2020). How Does An Architect Affect The Society. https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/rtf-fresh-perspectives/a1106 how-does-an-architect-affect-the-society/. Accessed 16 July 2021. Gann, A. Study Architecture http://www.studyarchitecture.com, (14 January 2019). Why Architecture Is Important. https://studyarchitecture.com/blog/architecture-news/why-architecture-is-important/. Accessed 16 July 2021. PHD Academy, Academy. http://www.pdhacademy.com, A. P. D. H., & Author: (2017, December 28). Architects Help Shape the Health, Safety, and Welfare of Society. PDH Academy. https://pdhacademy.com/2017/10/18/architects-help-shape-health-safety-welfare-society/. Accessed 16 July 2021. 3 Likes Share Benefits of Sketching in Your Design Practice July 1, 2021 Drawing. Everyone has done it. Yet, in today's age of BIM and computer-aided design, sketching has become a lost art. We get it, sketching seems outdated, especially as computers are used daily to showcase 3D designs. It always helps to contextualize, remember to take a step back before you get to that point in the design process; sketches play an important role in design and development. If you pick up any architectural or design book from any architect, you will find hundreds of hand-drawn sketches portraying every step of the design process. So why did we ever stop? Architecture and design NEED sketching. Not only does it convey ideas, demonstrate functionality, illustrate human interaction from potential issues on a project to increased creative solutions. But most of all, during a client meeting, it is so critical to be able to pick up a black felt-tip pen and demonstrate several design options in 10 minutes instead of walking to your desk opening a program and 3D modeling everything and coming up with a basis of two options…seems costly and time-consuming. Sketching is not supposed to be just for creative artistic designers. Everyone can pick up a pen and sketch or trace what you are thinking even if it comes out as an ink stain or a very detailed sketch. There are so many benefits regarding sketching within your practice. So, let us get to the nitty-gritty about why your practice should be sketching. 1 | Visual Notetaking Need a quick way to visually explore different concepts then sketching is the solution! This is an essential step in the design process, especially while sitting in a client meeting and jotting down every idea or concern one has and how you can come up with visual solutions in an instant. As mentioned in The Role of Sketching in the Design Process by Sean Hodge, “James over at the blog Bicycle Design has this to say about sketching, “… putting ideas quickly on paper is the only way to evaluate them to see if they are worth exploring further. Computer renderings and modern CAD and modeling packages are great but thinking on paper with a good old-fashioned pencil is always the place to start.” 2 | Increased Creativity & Enhances Holistic Health How many times have your designers sat at their computer relying solely on digital tools to create 3D sketches to show a client and spend hours at their desk only coming up with two different options? Think of how many missed opportunities they encountered from not sketching. Christian Tyler and Lora Likova from The National Center of Biotechnology Information has stated, “Visual art learning is reliant on a complex system of perceptual, higher cognitive, and motor functions, thus suggesting a shared neural substrate and strong potential for cross-cognitive transfer in learning and creativity.” Everyone on the planet is a mixture of the two brains and when drawing, these both functions intertwine and allow you to sketch what you need to portray; as well as enhancing relaxation and stress relief as a form of mediation. Below is a quick snip of the different functions each side of your brain portrays when you are sketching. 3 | Expands Communication Skills Architecture relies on visual language. Think about it, a picture is worth a thousand words. You must remember, you as the designer, or the practice are conveying a story to a client that will represent the goal of the project. It is time to stop sitting in long meetings and just talking about a design and solutions without visual representation. Create design charettes and have every person in the meeting sketch out their ideas or what is being talked about. You will be surprised at how many solutions will be presented, even if half of them do not work you will be able to get past the brain fog and run through roadblocks faster and more efficiently. We believe anyone can pick up a pen and draw accurately and realistically, you just must begin to do it. Think about creative ways to get everyone to sketch in your office, from simple details to wireframes, bubble diagrams, or simple site analysis. Buy a whiteboard and roll it in during meetings to quickly sketch ideas and allow everyone to give input within the design process, not only will this allow for a creative design meeting, but it will also increase productivity and design solutions. There are multiple ways your design firm can incorporate sketching; just begin with the first step and get your designers to start sketching! Trust us when we say, sketching is a game-changer. References: Invaluable. (2019). The Science-Backed Ways that Sketch Drawing Improves Mood. In Good Taste. Retrieved: 2021 June 28. https://www.invaluable.com/blog/sketch-drawing/ Tyler, C. W., & Likova, L. T. (2012). The role of the visual arts in the enhancing the learning process. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 6, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00008 5 Likes Share Architecture in the Local Region June 15, 2021 Orange County is known for a lot of things ranging from famous surfing spots, many Fortune 500 companies, celebrity homes, being the suburban capital of California and Disneyland. But what about its architecture? We have an abundance of beautiful architecture in our region that is frequently overlooked. So here we are with this season’s architecture highlights, so you can take your own tour this weekend of these amazing places. 1 | Segerstrom Center for the Arts 600 Town Center Dr, Costa Mesa, Ca 92626 https://www.scfta.org/ This world-class performing arts venue was designed by Cesar Pelli – Pelli, Clark, Pelli and Assoc. and built in 1983-86 on a five-acre parcel of land in Costa Mesa, Ca. The design intent was to create a concert hall in an elegant and vibrant sculptural form that glows in Southern California. 2 | Crystal Cathedral 13280 Chapman Ave, Garden Grove, CA 92840 https://www.rcbo.org/ Redesigned in the late 1970s by Philip Johnson and John Burgee presented an ‘all glass church’ that encompassed everything Robert Schuller requested, “a building that was both a building and not a building, so that in a sense he could be in an enclosure, but it would be as if he were out of doors, which is where he began his ministry: so, this building was an entire shell of glass.” 3 | Pavilion and Rudolph Schindler Lovell Beach House 1242 W Oceanfront, Newport Beach, CA 92661 The Lovell Beach House was one of the first modern houses in Southern California located in Newport Beach, that became a perfect example of the California International Style. Designed by R.M. Schindler in 1926, his design intent was to develop a living space inside five free-standing concrete frames cast in the square figure eights representing Russian Constructivism. 2 Likes Share Penmanship Make It Readable! May 24, 2021 You are sitting at your desk going through emails when you open a PDF consisting of redlines from a colleague and as the page loads you notice their writing is illegible. You start trying to decipher their writing, “what does that say (squinting at the screen) shift over tow inches commuter…emytime drop velvet points?” and you sit there for a couple of minutes trying to decipher what it says and finally cave in and ask your neighbor what they see and it’s “shift over two inches towards commercial core and drop valet spaces” …. how in the world did they decipher that!? We see this more and more in our profession now that everything is being done electronically, so why is handwriting going out the window? Why are people writing illegibly knowing they too cannot understand what they just wrote? For many years, we have heard that bad penmanship is a sign of high – intelligence meaning that our pen cannot keep up with what our brain is telling us to write down. But, when you scribble on a sheet of paper giving redlines or comments and it looks like ‘chicken scratch’, just remember that this is telling your reader “I don’t find this as important as you do and I’m wasting my time”. Remember penmanship is a key element of communication. It is time to embrace picking up a pen or pencil, honing down our fine motor skills and begin writing legibly. All you must do is write on a piece of paper once a day, scribble until your heart is content, learn how to re-grip and move the pen across your paper. Just doing these basic things every day will improve your penmanship! Research shows that good handwriting improves brain activity in ways that keyboarding cannot. Penmanship etiquette is easy to uphold and maintain and keeping in mind that by slowing down and shifting the angle of your pen you can make everything that much better to read and understand. So, here is to your newfound hobby of making your writing readable again! 3 Likes Share Health Tips to Improve Your Overall Health May 5, 2021 It is said that within our profession health goes out the window, and undeniably that is the truth. It’s tough to be healthy. You believe you are doing all the right things, following doctor’s instructions, trying new vitamins, controlling your diet, trying new workouts, paying an arm and a leg for a personal trainer to tell you exactly how to eat and move, but after a while it just does not seem to cut it. Our work profession knows no boundaries. Sad thing is we learned this from the long hours in studio, the excessive caffeine intake and little sleep. But if you think about it, we changed all that out for our new routines. Which sometimes means waking up and going directly to your desk chair to check emails and start the workday; you forget to have breakfast, so you have a big lunch; for your break you get up and walk to the coffee machine and sit back down at your desk and you repeat this until the end of the workday; then you just sit in front of the television or your laptop and continue your stagnate state. And then at the end of the day you look in shock at your Fitbit and wonder why you only walked about 1,000 steps all day. And we cannot forget about our mental health. We get so immersed in our competitive nature to achieve perfect results that you notice burnout right before a huge deadline. And right away you assume it is just stress, but it’s not. So, then you begin that cycle we have mentioned above for the next week or so until you feel great, and the cycle repeats itself. Despite the roller coaster of health changes, we hope you keep these few tips in mind and consider improving your health and create maximum productivity in all aspects of your life. 1 | Eat breakfast. Even if you are in a rush, you need the nutrients to begin your day and have lasting energy. Plus, you will complete more tasks during the day. 2 | Do not go on a diet. Diets are ineffective and they rarely work long term. Instead, adopt a healthier lifestyle, focus on nourishing your body and eating vegetables and fruits during every meal. Do not deprive yourself. You can still have any type of meal in moderation! 3 | Move your body. Get up and move every 45 minutes and take a lap around your office or your office building if possible. Not only will it increase your step count, but it will boost your mental health and you will be clearer headed to solve any problems. Bonus: it is proven to reduce stress even during a deadline. 4 | Open those windows. Not only will it clear your space of indoor pollutants, it will boost your mental health and clear your mind. 5 | Add plants to your work environment to boost psychological effects of wellness. It is a no brainer that plants eliminate air pollutants and cleans the air, but they look great in overall appearance of a space and increases creativity while creating a longevity for a happier you. 6 | Leave your desk to eat & drink some water before your meal. It is proven that eating away from your desk and consuming water can boost your calorie burn hours after your meal. 7 | Listen to music. Need we say more, background music helps stimulate your senses and keep you at ease during the workday. 8 | Get enough sleep. Stop scrolling social media right before bed. Allow yourself to disconnect an hour before your bedtime, and if you can put your phone on silent or airplane mode the better, heck place it across the room, your mind will thank you later after getting some sleep. 9 | Eat nuts. They are delicious and nutritious, plus they are loaded in magnesium, fiber, etc. all great nutrients to boost weight loss and they are perfect brain food. 10 | Do not fear coffee. It is healthy, and there are a handful of studies that have proven its antioxidants have reduced the effects of so many illnesses. 3 Likes Share Spring into Southern California March 31, 2021 It has been a long year, and we are just getting to April. Living in Southern California (SoCal) has had its ups and downs between juggling work, family, and stay-at-home orders; it is finally nice to see that bright light at the end of the tunnel. People are beginning to get vaccinated and that means we are all one step closer to being out in the world again, and what better way to do so than to spring into a handful of socially distant attractions within SoCal. We live in an area where options are limitless to go out to explore. So, we have rounded up the top 5 places to go out to explore in one day or a weekend getaway. It’s time to get out there and soak up the sun! 1 | Getty Center Image by Grading Gardens: https://www.gradinggardens.com/the-getty-center/ Time to immerse yourself in art, architecture and beautiful gardens, the Getty Center (Los Angeles) and the Getty Villa (Pacific Palisades) do just that. Admission is free and you get to explore European art up to the 1900s set within modern architecture and gardens & Greek and Roman antiquities, truly an escape from day-to-day life of the city jungle. They will re-open mid-April 2021. 2 | Crystal Cove State Park Image by California.com: https://www.california.com/guide-crystal-cove-state-park/ If you are looking for some fun on the Pacific coastline, Crystal Cove is for you with 3.2 miles of secret coves and tide pools, hikes, horseback riding and most of all beach! This destination creates an escape for all visitors, and it is also located a mile north of Laguna Beach and a mile south of Newport Beach to continue your exploring. Parking is just $15 for the entire day. 3 | Joshua Tree National Park Image by AAA: https://mwg.aaa.com/via/national-parks/joshua-tree-national-park-guide Who says you cannot have fun out in the desert? This national park offers just that, a massive 790,636 acres area for outdoor recreation and fun. If you are looking for surreal landscapes and an escape of city life this location is for you. Joshua Tree is known for its camping, rock climbing, desert ecosystems, wildlife and beautiful night skies. Don’t forget to check out Cholla Cactus Garden, Skull Rock, and Cottonwood Spring Oasis. Park entrance fee is $25 per vehicle and allows for a stay of seven days. 4 | The Grove Image by Caruso: https://caruso.com/our-portfolio/the-grove/ We did not forget about our retail shoppers! The Grove is the one stop shop for the best retail therapy. It contains a popular range of retail stores and entertainment. Shoppers love the cool features sprinkled throughout the open-air mall, the movie palace and their infamous animated music fountain. Parking is free for the first hour, there is also an offer of $10 flat rate for first 2 hours of valet parking and validation is offered from select retailers. 5 | Griffith Observatory Image by PCMang: https://www.pcmag.com/news/7-cool-things-to-see-at-las-griffith-observatory The best place to understand and explore the cosmos and get an incredible view of Los Angeles. The Griffith Observatory is free and worth visiting! Not only does it offer the best free public telescopes and exhibits, but there is an array of hikes to get the body moving. Parking fee is $10 for the day. 3 Likes Share Older Posts HOME CONTACT NEWS CAREERS SMS ARCHITECTS, 18004 SKYPARK CIR, #200, IRVINE, CA 92614949-757-3240INFO@SMS-ARCH.COM SMS Architects. 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