The Dogrun
a place to share ideas
My wife Bekah works for a luxury tour operator . Once a year she gets sent on familiarization trips to South America. I go along for the free hotel rooms. Yes this really is every bit as ideal of a setup as it sounds. I also have a strong interest in hotel design here at Lake|Flato, and so these South America adventures are basically big happy research trips for both of us. Bekah meets with tour guides and tests out the horseback riding, and I salivate over the exposed trusses in our hotels and measure the widths of corridors when no one's looking. (Also you would not believe how hard it is...
Perkins+Will's Healthy Materials Group and Science Fellow Michael Dedeo have released new research in response to the need for architects and interior designers to develop a better understanding of flame retardants and their impact on health. The white paper, “Healthy Environments: Strategies for Avoiding Flame Retardants in the Built Environment,” identifies opportunities to design healthier buildings without compromising fire safety or code compliance. Lake|Flato is looking forward to using this helpful guide in our work.
In honor of Lake Flato’s thirtieth anniversary, the Thirty Projects x Thirty Years series has been developed to explore and celebrate the firm’s history and culture of design. Published weekly, the series will highlight one project per year, starting in 1984 and ending in 2014. The projects that have been selected will give you a snapshot of the firm’s evolution as well as provide a fun and insightful collection on then and now, and ultimately, who we are today. In 1999 Lance Armstrong and Neo from the Matrix captured the nation's attention with stories of renewal. In addition, 1999 was a...
A few months ago, we featured the 1984 Vickers Residence as part of our Thirty Projects x Thirty Years series. It is with sadness and much grief that we mourn the recent loss of this client, Callie Vickers, who passed away in Palm Desert California last week. We reflect on our sweet memories of Callie, our very first client, as a generous, kind, thoughtful, creative soul who passionately supported and endorsed our firm and our mission. Vickridge was completed in Castle Pines, Colorado in 1986. Thanks to the Vickers’ support, our firm designed three homes at the Vintage Club in Palm Desert (...
Construction has finished, the air quality has been tested, and the monitoring systems are up and running. Today, The Josey Pavilion begins its one year operation phase to prove that it generates 100% of its energy and purifies 100% of its water. If all goes as designed, next year The Josey Pavilion will join the world’s most exclusive club of high performance buildings, Certified Living Building. This is the first post of a twelve post series on the process of obtaining Living Building Status. Each month over the next year, we will be posting an update on our water and energy usage and well...
This year's class of LEED Fellows was announced last week by the U.S. Green Building Council. Lake|Flato congratulates all 48 Fellows for their exceptional contributions to the green building community as well as for their significant achievements among LEED Professionals. Way to go!
Last weekend, a team of LFers enjoyed getting their hands dirty in the great outdoors--we put a roof on a dance hall. And we have a time-lapse video to prove it (cast your vote for the carpenter)! The setting: Kickapoo Ranch, a beautiful property located a 2.5-hour drive west of San Antonio belonging to the Flato family. The mission: attach wood purlins and then corrugated metal roofing on the dance hall structure. This structure consists of a concrete slab and re-used steel oil pipe, which were fabricated and placed earlier this summer. (Note: dance hall was already tested and approved sans...
In honor of Lake Flato’s thirtieth anniversary, the Thirty Projects x Thirty Years series has been developed to explore and celebrate the firm’s history and culture of design. Published weekly, the series will highlight one project per year, starting in 1984 and ending in 2014. The projects that have been selected will give you a snapshot of the firm’s evolution as well as provide a fun and insightful collection on then and now, and ultimately, who we are today. This year, I wait in line for five hours at the bookstore for J.K. Rowling’s fourth book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The...
We are excited to announce two more additions to the Lake|Flato team: our newest intern, Jordan Tsai and marketing staff, Cecelia Smith. Cecelia is a native San Antonian who left the sunny south Texas skies to attend Syracuse University in New York. While braving the northeast winters, she earned a BA in Political Science with a Minor in Architecture. Cecelia’s favorite LF project is the Pearl Brewery because of its vibrant contribution to San Antonio’s urban life. When not coordinating the office’s social media sites, she enjoys cooking, judging debate tournaments, participating in urban...
You’d be hard pressed to find a person more thoughtful than June. A great collaborator, his design sensibilities always carried an effortlessness that I envied (it seemed to come so easy!) You couldn’t have an interaction with June on a daily basis without being encouraged and challenged. His love for his family, work, friends, etc…was always apparent, and lifted the spirit in our studio. We’re going to miss him on our team- and his next office is lucky to have him. I’m excited to see where he, Saejin, and Hugo end up next. -David Ericsson Hometown: Seoul, South Korea Years at LF: 8 months...
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