Shabbir Kazmi, AIA, LEED AP BD+C

A glass canopy is an attractive and practical way to enhance your building entrance while also providing added curb appeal. Known as overhead glazing, an entrance glass canopy can keep the weather away and bring natural light inside the building. Here are some suggestions, if you are thinking about dressing up your building entrance with a new glass canopy.

1. Keep the design of the glass canopy simple. Integrating with address, signage or building name are excellent ways to provide  brand identity and marketing; but remember less is more when it comes to first impressions.
2. Several factors such as weight, supports, size, wind load and location affect the selection of glass and steel supports. Glass should be high-strength tempered/laminate glass and its thickness should be specified by a professional engineer.
3. Frame-less glass and minimal steel supports are attractive available design options. However, glass canopies are custom design projects.  Always seek consultation services from a professional engineer who will review shop drawings, as well as assist in finding qualified contractors who have the expertise and experience to install a glass canopy.
4. Specify proper slope for water drainage; our recommendation is 15% slope, although every situation should be carefully evaluated. 15% slope provides quick water drainage and glass should not deflect over time.
5. Consider having a patterned glass to avoid having dust and water stains.
6. Plan for gutter and downspouts. Pay close attention to ice and snow build-up and institute a maintenance program which is crucial for longer life expectancy of the canopy.

1. Best type of light is natural daylight. Availability of daylight changes across the day. Successful daylight for a building depends on site location, building facade orientation and size of openings.

2. Allowing daylight into interior spaces saves on the electricity bill and daylight provides natural healthy environment for the residents.

3. The head height of a window opening determines how far light will reach inside the building, therefore don’t obstruct existing window heads with decorative shades.

4. Paint ceilings and walls with light colors to maximize daylight reflectance inside the building.

5. Avoid large windows on South and West facades, which gets direct daylight inside the building, It will create unwanted solar heat gain and fades color on interior finishes.

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Architectural Design

Carpet on Balconies

Preparing Your Building For Hurricane Season

The lobby is the first impression of the building, it’s perceived to reflect the personality of its owners and residents. Renovating a residential building lobby can entail a steep learning curve for first-timers or seasoned managers, depending upon the complexity of the project. We present the following checklist of items to consider before embarking on a lobby renovation project.

A. Building Codes.

1. Critical pre-design efforts would be to determine local code requirements and perform a full code analysis.
2. It’s essential to define the nature of the renovation in order to identify applicable code requirements. Building codes generally differentiate between additions to existing structures and upgrades to existing spaces, which are defined as alterations.
3. Determine ADA accessibility for items such as doors and hardware, railings, ramps, and height of reception desk.

B. Aesthetics of Finishes, Lighting, and Sound.

1. The lobby is a first step into the building and a light color palette is generally preferable for walls. Dark colors tend to evoke more somber feelings.
2. Lobbies experience heavy foot traffic and the introduction of whatever the outdoors has to offer (mud, water, debris, etc.). Floor coverings should be slip-resistant, durable, and easy to maintain. Unyielding flooring materials (ceramic tile, stone, etc.) should incorporate proper control joints to help prevent cracking. Walk-off (entrance) mats should be used to help remove water and solid contaminants from shoes. If selected as an afterthought, an entrance mat can be an eyesore; therefore, they should be incorporated into the design and coordinated with lobby finishes and furnishings.
3. Double-height lobby spaces are attractive and spacious, but can exhibit undesirable sound characteristics. An excess of hard finishes can reflect too much sound and create reverberation. Area rugs and wall hangings will absorb sound and help reduce echoing.
4. Decorative wall and ceiling panels are easy ways to finish a lobby space, but they must be appropriately fire-rated and the substrate must be able to support them.
5. Lighting is essential to lobby design. Incorporating day lighting is a great way to freshen and improve the quality of lobby space; however, windows are thermally inefficient. Energy loss can be substantially reduced if windows incorporate thermal breaks (for metal windows), multi-pane glazing, inert-gas-charged interpane cavities, and low-emissivity (heat reflecting) coatings. Accent lighting on artwork and furnishings should be designed to enhance their visual appeal and optimal lighting can vary from piece to piece. What works well for an oil painting may not be desirable for a sculpture.  Lighting must be ample in areas of foot traffic, but muted lighting can be more desirable in seating areas, depending upon the intended use of the space.
6. Thermal comfort, fresh-air circulation, and humidity control are critical to any renovation project. Major changes to a space can alter thermal properties and air circulation. Heat transfer (load/loss) calculations should be performed to determine heating, ventilation, and air conditioning requirements and HVAC systems should be modified, augmented or replaced as needed.
7. Where present, security/reception desks are key elements of lobbies, which require careful planning and design. It should be welcoming and accessible, particularly with respect to ADA requirements. The countertop should be durable and easy to maintain and clean/disinfect.
8. Furniture and accent pieces should usually reflect the building at-large. Modern glass and chrome furnishings might be jarring in a Victorian-era structure. “Trendy” comes with some risk. What’s in vogue now can be considered dated or tacky in just a few years.
9. Art is entirely subjective and selecting pieces for public display can be tricky. It should be “tasteful” and devoid of subject matter that can offend (nudity, violence, religious themes, etc.).
10. Amenities such as WIFI or charging stations can be nice additions, but your lobby could become a lounge if you make it too entertaining and comfortable.

If you are planning major renovations on your property, you would probably like to see an image of the project before the work begins. With 3D rendering (or 3D modeling), a realistic image of the property can be developed so you know what the project will look like when completed.

With 3D modeling, a design professional can provide numerous rendering options to meet a client’s particular tastes and needs. For example, a client may want to see what a project façade will look like with either brick, stone, or vinyl siding and how they match with an asphalt shingle or standing-seam metal roof covering. These renderings are also effective when presenting ideas of renovations to Community Associations and City Planning Officials, often resulting in faster and more efficient approvals.

3D rendering is a rapidly growing technology and simple renderings can be made with home computers. However, complex renderings with material textures, lighting, and realistic environments require extensive training and special computers with sophisticated graphic capabilities.

Below is a step-by-step example of an “Arts and Crafts” style house rendered in 3D Max and Photoshop.

Step 1. Using 3D Max, basic geometry is modeled, perspective view is set up, and test materials for roof and siding are mapped on the model.

Step 2. Using 3D Max, natural lighting and shadows are tested on the mapped materials, with a blue sky background.

Step 3. Using Photoshop, color balance and image contrast is adjusted. Sketched landscaping features are added.

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Planning Your Next Renovation

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Road Renovation