The official open house welcome party for the Lofts at West Station was held last night in Roanoke. A contingent from BAM headquarters was on hand to offer expert architectural ruminations and drink a toast to the successful completion of a great project. Literally, everyone in the office contributed to the project. The first tenants moved in less than a month ago and already there are only a few units remaining. Outside, we love the new urban landscape along Salem Avenue, while inside the atrium, photographic murals and movie theater have been a big hit. Last night they were playing the latest Star Trek movie - how cool is that? Pretty cool, we think.
The Virginia Tech School of Education's new STEM Education Collaboratory celebrated its official opening last Saturday as part of a campus-wide Open House. People of all ages came out to see the space, hear some speeches and play with the myriad robots, tools, equipment and computers on display. We were super-excited to participate in the festivities, and for the chance to contribute to an innovative space on the vanguard of educational theory. For the first time under one roof, students and teachers have access to an adaptable space primed for a variety of teaching scenarios - a lab that brings together science, technology and fabrication equipment in support of an integrated approach to learning. You can design something on the touch-screen table and then step through the door and cut it out on the table saw.
Charles Steger (President of Virginia Tech), The Honorable Laura Fornash (Virginia Secretary of Education) and others had many lovely things to say about the STEM program and offered high marks for the quality of the Collaboratory environment. High fives all around!
The annual Golden Hammer Awards were announced in ceremony last week and we are pleased to report that BAM was clapped at on several different occasions. Presented by the Better Housing Coalition’s newly created Center for Neighborhood Revitalization, the awards recognize projects that make a strong contribution to the preservation and revitalization of Richmond’s historic neighborhoods.
Richmond is a city of hills, not unlike Rome or a colony of ants. For 100 years, elevated viaducts (which are like bridges, only way cooler) have crossed Shockoe Valley and connected downtown with the communities of Church, Union and Jefferson Hills. The first such structure, the Marshall Street Viaduct, opened for business in 1911 and was a trestle of steel and wood that stretched a half-mile from College Street downtown to 21st Street in the East End. Streetcars, automobiles, horse-drawn carts, pedestrians and farm animals could now travel above the fray of Broad Street without fear of the steep hills awaiting them at either end. This being Richmond, tolls were required: wheelbarrows were assessed a flat 2c fee while children under 10 were allowed to pass free of charge. There was even an elevator to the streetcar line below at 18th street.
Fast forward many decades...
Curious things are happening in Manchester. A mobile kiosk is drawing folks who live and work in the neighborhood onto the streets and asking them to do some drawings of their own. The What Do You See kiosk is designed to spark a conversation with the community and to inspire the way people see Manchester. Inside you’ll find pens and a window where you can sketch and share ideas for the historic district on view just outside. The kiosk is the collaborative effort of a group of young architects (including BAM studio-mate Amrit Singh) from around Virginia who are participating in this year’s Emerging Leaders in Architecture program sponsored by the VSAIA. Conceived, researched, designed, built and marketed by the ELA class, the structure made its debut last weekend at two sites in Old Manchester.
What Do You See will be on display again this Saturday, Oct. 15th, at the Hull Street Library from 10am – 4pm. Don’t miss this chance to engage the community, a group of talented architects and a nice piece of architecture.
