Building Types

Just returned from a few days vacation and the pause from work gave me a chance to reflect on business (I know I shouldn't be doing that). My specialty seems to be residential green design but do you ever wonder what commissions I would like to take other than single family homes - which I love to do, by the way? Here's a brief list:

1. Mixed-use neighborhood design. Not many people know, but urban neighborhood design was my concentration in grad school. Yes, architects design whole neighborhoods too, sometimes.
2. Mid-rise condominium project on the Texas Gulf Coast. My insurance company might not be too fond of this idea.
3. Catholic or Episcopal Church.
4. Small boutique hotel or inn.

I'll give a 5% discount onany projects like these that come in the door! (Just kidding)

Current Work

Here's a little sampling of work in progress in the office. The project featured is a 3000sf house on Lake LBJ about 50 miles from Austin. The house will feature a 14'-16' tall window wall of glass and steel facing the lake, radiant heated floors and a four car garage for the owner's vintage car collection.

Construction Financing Option

HUD offers a construction financing option that one of my clients is using. It's called a HUD 203(k) loan and it works really well with inner city single-family rehabilitation projects. That's not to say that the house must be renovated, in fact the house can be raised as long as part of one exterior wall and foundation is preserved. I have found that many of my clients could use this kind of loan.

Please go to this link to see the details of the loan. The loan distinquishes itself from conventional construction loans in that it requires just 3% down (most construction loans require 20% down), it's a single-closing, and I beleive there's a minimum 1-year commitment to occupy the property.

Please view Nick Mehl Architecture for designs in the austin area.

Pre-Fab Designs

I've been working on a thought for some time now and I would welcome any comments on the appeal of it. Is there some value in offering for sale a pre-packaged design for a house - designed by an architect - so that one can avoid the need to hire an architect and work through months of design, choosing finishes and fixtures, answering questions and having meetings? Similar to how one purchases a commodity such as a car or a phone, perhaps I could apply all that I know about green building and design to work out a compact, well thought-out, energy efficient home that has a few options but would be otherwise be a completely designed house, ready for construction. I think the first house would fit on a very tight footprint, be mostly vertical and have the latest technological home advancements. My inspiration comes from the Mini Cooper or iPhone, well-crafted machines (with some flaws) that are not cheap but are sexy and attractive and clearly superior in design to what has preceded them.

Please continue visiting my website over the next couple of months to see how this thought about pre-fab homes developes.

NMA's first Kennel project!

I may be a little biased but this is the nicest kennel for dogs and cats (and people) I have ever seen. Really, the owner wanted the kennel to be similar to a house as she plans on spending a good deal of time in the kennel helping her rescued pets get used to a peaceful domestic life. More images to come...

Please visit my website for more residential modern architecture.

Thoughts from Custom Residenctial Architects Convention

Just returned from a weekend at the national CRAN (Custom Residential Architects Network) convention. I was a little disappointed in the amount of attention that was placed on architects who do ultra-expensive luxury residences. Both the early presenters and trade reps focused on +$300/sf residential design. Granted, that's where the money used to be but I felt like the new economy is here and perhaps more focus should be placed on the kind of humble work me and my peers are doing.

Part of the convention featured the AIA Homes Tour which didn't help improve my perception as every home we saw on the tour featured homes in that exact construction cost.

It wasn't until the speakers from more economically depressed regions of the country started talking about the practical concerns of running an architectural office that the convention turned relevant. In particular, speakers from SALA Architects in Minneapolis and Tekton Architecture in San Francisco brought the focus back to reality and made the weekend worthwhile.

By the way, my website has been recently updated so please check out the new residential architect projects that are featured in the portfolio pages.

Latest House Completed

I just wanted to share with all the Wanguhu Residence. Currently a regional shelter magazine is looking at publishing it but it's not definite yet. The house turned out fantastic - 2400sf, steeply sloping lot, energy efficient, tight budget, inventive detailing. I'll put the house on my website more officially in the next couple of months. If you want to see more from a residential modern architect please visit my website.