EHDD

Let's have a round of applause for the San Francisco Marin Food Bank Headquarters expansion project! The project was given a Special Mention in this year's Architizer A Awards in the For Good Category 👐 EHDD's design for expansion optimizes the logistical capacity with new loading docks accessed via a ring road, added warehouse staging, and high-density racking systems. The new airy, daylit offices for staff dignify the important work they do. Browse all of this year's projects ⤵ https://lnkd.in/dRRveVrF SF-Marin Food Bank #ArchitizerAwards #designexcellence #designforgood #architectureforgood #communitydesign #architecture #architectureawards

Our award-winning Juanita Beach Bathhouse has earned another badge of honor! The project was given a Special Mention in this year's Architizer A Awards in the Wood Category ✨ Conceptually, the new bathhouse reflects the history of logging and wood shingle mill history on site. The structure uses sustainable and durable materials such as Cross-Laminated Timber which contributes to the natural aesthetic of the new complex. Browse all of this year's projects ⤵ https://lnkd.in/dRRveVrF #ArchitizerAwards

We're honored that the Builder's Association selected the Sobela Ocean Aquarium as the Building Excellence Award Project of the Year by General Contractor ($25-$100 Million). Congratulations to contractor JE Dunn Construction and all members of the project team 🎉   At the Sobela Ocean Aquarium, EHDD leveraged architectural cues—such as changing light quality, spatial variation, and physical descent—to augment unique exhibit designs and engage visitor’s emotions, spark their curiosity, and build in them a passion for the ocean.   View the project ⤵ https://lnkd.in/g5PHti7A Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium #aquariumdesign #architecture #design #projectoftheyear #designexcellence

We made the list ✔ Architizer's annual "Best List" identifies the top design firms in United States based on more than a decade of data and industry knowledge. With 3 A Awards Winning projects, 3 Awards Finalists, and 8 Featured Projects, EHDD nabbed #56 on this list, and we are in good company! Check out Architizer's full list ⤵ https://lnkd.in/grESjE48 #architecture #design #architizerawards #architizer #bestarchitectureanddesignfirms

Metrics matter! Our team has recently been mulling over this amazing report by Ha/f Climate Design for the city of Toronto. Some results here are worth taking to heart: 🪨 Embodied carbon isn't just about materials! Design matters. Considering embodied carbon reductions as an exercise in material substitutions might be akin to considering energy use reductions only through systems substitutions. It's an important lever, but holistic and integrated design always wins! 😢 Some metrics obscure more than they reveal. By using "constructed floor area" instead of "gross floor area" as a denominator, buildings with large mechanical spaces can perversely have lower "per-area" embodied carbon even if they have higher absolute emissions. 😎 Metrics with a functional basis are preferable. Using "gross floor area" as the area metric gives more realistic comparisons of real impacts, is more aligned with energy use metrics (and thus whole life carbon assessment), and is a better description of the building's "functional unit" (the basis of LCA). 🛌 Even better, comparisons of housing projects can be done on a "per-unit" or "per-bedroom" basis. This approach helps to understand how carbon-efficient different housing schemes are! Beyond the amazing team at Ha/f, this report wouldn't have been possible without the support of Lisa King, MA, Shayna Stott, and the funding from The Atmospheric Fund (TAF). Many thanks to all involved!

If you use EPIC or C.Scale for low-carbon design, you're near the cutting edge of ML/AI for AEC ... and you might not even know it! Our structural estimation models use a cascade of machine learning models and classifiers to predict structural quantities in buildings, even when little data is available. By basing these estimates on real results from built buildings, we ensure that our estimates reflect the 'messiness' of real construction. These ML models seem complicated but they keep our results grounded in reality. Because real buildings are our data source, we avoid the need for arbitrary "fudge factors" which often appear in estimations based solely on engineering principles. Plots like this one make us happy. A soon-to-be-released update to C.Scale's structural estimation module show the effectiveness of our ML-driven approach. Our latest suite of models is trained on data from almost 2,000 bills of materials from real buildings and achieves a mean absolute percentage error of less than 12% and a r2 value greater than 0.90 on reserved test data—meaning that our estimates are typically within 12% of the real value and capture 95% of the variation in data not 'seen' by the model during its training. It's this predictive approach that helps our models describe carbon reduction strategies from the beginning of the design process, when data is scarce but the potential for reductions is highest. #ai #aec #datascience #architecture

Construction is underway on the University of California, Santa Cruz family housing project, a new childcare center and housing complex for students with families! This expanded facility will support students and employees by providing critical housing and childcare services.   EHDD Project Manager Ethan Ahlberg and Principal-in-Charge Duncan Ballash celebrated this milestone with colleagues at a groundbreaking ceremony last week. We are proud to be involved in this transformative project, making a positive impact for California's campus communities.    Cheers to this dedicated team!

TL;DR - EPIC and the data model behind it (C.Scale) are making it easy for all of us in the building industry to make carbon-smart decisions with confidence upfront in projects. You don't need to understand what an "ML-driven approach" really means: just know that the results are amazingly reflective of the messy reality of real buildings and not some idealized 20x20 grid with ribbon windows that you usually see in a an early "shoebox" model. Check it out for free: https://epic.ehdd.com/ Or you are an Autodesk Forma user, C.Scale's embodied carbon analysis is already in your workflow: https://lnkd.in/gdjkKYq9

EHDD, along with our design-build partners Truebeck Construction and Sonoma State University, were recognized by the DBIA Western Pacific Region for design excellence and innovation in our renovation of Stevenson Hall 🏆   This project transformed a 52-year-old Brutalist building, peeling away the original concrete walls and replacing them with an open and transparent exterior that dissolves the building’s perceived heaviness and lends brightness to the interior spaces. Today, Stevenson Hall is a truly interdisciplinary building, bringing together multiple departments in a way that encourages meaningful collaboration and synergy.   From design to construction to day-to-day use, our team sought to build a strong sense of belonging, gathering, and community. Congratulations to the entire team on this recognition!   Explore the Stevenson Hall Renovation ⤵ https://lnkd.in/gD59Gxg5 #architecture #designexcellence #innovation #dbia #dbiawpr #dbiaawards

How can architecture cultivate a close connection between natural and curated environments?   In his article for the Seattle DJC, EHDD Principal Christopher Patano uses recent projects at the Goldendale Observatory and the award-winning Bathhouse at Juanita Beach to explore how architecture can blur the boundaries between built and natural environments. Patano writes, "I set out with one clear goal when working with clients and communities on their beloved parks: to create a memorable landscape."   Read the full article ⤵ https://lnkd.in/gyHHBAiT #architecture #landscapes #environments #seattle #design