work-on-the-boards
Business Conditions at Architecture Firms Improve in July
Staff turnover causing concern as employees use strong market for new opportunities
After small declines in May and June, billings at architecture firms rebounded modestly in July, reports AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. The overall score of the AIA’s Architectural Billings Index was 51.8, where any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings. And on an optimistic note, inquiries for new projects rebounded sharply to their strongest level since January. To the debit column, however, with the strong conditions that we’ve seen at architecture firms over the past two years, staff turnover is becoming more of a concern.

Sweet Homes, D.C.: 2006 Washingtonian Residential Design Award Winners
AIA/DC and Washingtonian magazine sponsored the 2006 Washington Residential Design Awards, for which they team up annually. This past spring, the jurors selected 11 projects, designed by nine firms from across the metropolitan D.C. area. The honorees include condominiums, single-family homes, and uniquely designed structures that enhance living and recreation spaces of residences across the region.

Your Old Friend Is Getting a New Attitude
The more than 1,000 AIA members surveyed late last year indicated that AIArchitect would benefit from easier access, streamlined stories, more practice-related news and best practices articles, as well as more opportunities for active sharing of ideas among members. These features and more—podcasts, blogs, member polls—as well as a makeover of the features you’ve come to expect each week, will be coming to you soon. To transform your suggestions into action, AIArchitect will not be published for the next three weeks. Look for a freshly redesigned AIArchitect delivered to your e-mail box on September 15. And the first interactive opportunity: Take the poll and tell us how you like it.

Nine Selected in “A House for an Ecologist Ideas Competition”
A jury selected three winners and six “jury mentions” for the “A House for an Ecologist Ideas Competition,” which challenged architects and architecture students to design a live/work dwelling for an ecologist-in-residence at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on the grounds of the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, W.Va. AIA Committee on Design members, with the cooperation of AIA Committee on the Environment members, developed the competition program in conjunction with “The Architecture of Sustainability” conference held in May 2006.

Working. Walking. Water. Why?
Join us in Seattle, September 14–17, to find out.

ACSA, AIAS Sponsor Regional College + Career Path Expo
Students from around the mid-Atlantic region will converge on the University of Maryland, College Park campus on September 30 to meet with representatives of architecture school programs to learn how to start on the path to becoming an architect. The event, the second ACSA/AIAS Architecture College + Career Expo, is sponsored by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and the American Institute of Architecture Students. Admission is free for high school and college students, parents, teachers, and counselors. This year’s expo will feature representatives of 25 architecture programs from around the country, local architects, as well as workshops and seminars. For a list of colleges in attendance and registration information, visit ACSA’s Web site.

Project Watch
Chicago Youth Center Breaks Ground on Phase One of Its New Campus
Chicago-based Lawrence Hall Youth Services, a 141-year-old, not-for-profit organization that provides a critical link in the Illinois child welfare system, broke ground last month on a new 54,000-square-foot residential and treatment center on its current seven-acre site. The $17 million structure is Phase One of a long-term, $37 million, three-building campus project that will total 141,000 square feet. When complete, the three buildings will form a triangular shape surrounding a central courtyard. Phase Two will include a two-story administration building, a two-story school, and extensive recreational and green space components. Chicago-based McBride Kelley Baurer is designing the new campus, which will eventually replace the existing campus.

Your Kiplinger Connection (members only, AIA.org login required)
Energy: Major blackouts in 2008?
Taxes: Does IRS owe you back phone tax?
The economy: Profit growth down for 2007.
AIArchitect offers AIA members exclusive access to three stories a week to help them manage their practices and plan for the coming year. Nonmembers may subscribe to The Kiplinger Letter.

Need to catch up on recent editions of AIArchitect This Week?
July 21 | July 28 | August 4 | August 11

BEST PRACTICES
R/UDAT Helps Cambridge Celebrate Past; Maximize Future
Cambridge is a beautiful, historic city of 10,000 on Maryland's Eastern Shore, on the bay at the mouth of the Choptank River. It is also a relatively poor community and has been losing economic ground and population for the past 40 years or more. However, about five years ago it was “discovered,” and now the town—with an existing housing stock of some 3,800 units—faces 7,000 new housing units in the development pipeline. Cambridge called for a R/UDAT (Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team), who, after a week of touring, studying, and meeting with Cambridge’s citizens, has created 12 guiding principles that will help the Eastern Shore town develop to its full potential.

Heads Up! Honor Award for Interiors Submissions Due September 15
Just a friendly reminder that submissions for the 2006 AIA Honor Awards for Interiors submissions must be postmarked by September 15. The AIA also will continue to accept entry fees for Honor Award submissions until this date. For more information, contact Kelly Pickard, kpickard@aia.org or 202-626-7563. (Pictured is 2006 AIA Honor Award for Interior recipient Nissan Design America, Farmington Hills, Mich., by design architect Luce et Studio Architects, with executive architect Albert Kahn Associates Inc., for Nissan Design America. Photo © Paul Rivera/archphoto.)

A201: What Changes are Ahead?
Join us on September 26, 1–2:30 p.m., EDT, for a 90-minute virtual seminar on the anticipated changes to AIA Document A201-1997 General Conditions of the Contract for Construction and related documents in 2007. Learn about the revision process, pros and cons of the proposed revisions, and how the proposed changes may affect other AIA contract documents.

AIA CAREER CENTER
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