|
Some Personal History
|  | My grandfather,
Robert C. Camlin,
was an architect for the Pennsylvania
Railroad. One of his great regrets was that he never became licensed as
an architect. I recall poring over his blueprints when I would visit as a
child, and intuitively understanding the passenger terminals and other
buildings they described. Thus in sixth grade I decided I wanted to
become an architect, and in 1977 graduated from Kent State University's
College of Architecture and Environmental Design. I use my middle name
in the business name in homage to my grandfather's legacy and
inspiration.
|
|
Architectural Jargon
| Architects, like many specialists, have a vocabulary all their own. We hope this regular column will aid you in the translation.
Air Entrainment
Tiny bubbles mixed into concrete or mortar to improve workability and resistance to freezing.
Casing
Decorative molding around a window or door opening.
EIFS (ee' fus)
Synthetic stucco applied to rigid insulation and reinforced with fiberglass mesh.
EPDM
Reinforced rubber sheet used for waterproofing and roofing.
Galvanic Corrosion
Electrochemical deterioration when dissimilar metals are in contact in the presence of an electrolyte, such as water.
Mezzanine
Intermediate floor between main floor levels, usually limited by Code to less than 1/3 of the floor area below.
Minimum Building Line
Required distance between a property line and a building, as required by zoning.
Muntin
Slender framing member dividing multiple panes in a window or door.
|
|
|
|
Dean Robert Camlin & Associates, Inc.
Vol. 1, No. 1 Newsletter July 2010
|
|
We hope you enjoy this, our inaugural monthly newsletter. You are receiving it due to your past or present professional relationship with our firm. Through it, we will attempt to keep you informed not only of what's happening at our firm, but in the world of architecture as we see it.
|
Project of the Month
 The Montessori School of Westminster, nestled on a hilltop setting off of Hughes Shop Road northwest of the city, is a top-quality private school containing three primary classrooms, three elementary classrooms, a middle school classroom, a library, conference room, and administrative offices. A subsequent building on the campus provides for physical education during inclement weather. Prior to the completion of its new building eight years ago the school had occupied various churches, and for several years had been divided into separate buildings miles apart. We worked with the school and with builder Robin Ford to create a 14,000-sq.ft. building of appropriate character and scale to its population and rural setting. In keeping with the Montessori philosophy, all classrooms enjoy large windows with sills placed so the children can see the exterior environment. Every classroom also has a door leading directly to the exterior, while the south-facing clerestory windows flood the central corridor with natural daylight.
|
Want To Try Designing Your Own House?
Here are some notes on house design I've written for my architectural
BIM class at Carroll Community College. Building Information Modeling
(BIM), which allows parametric design in four dimensions, has succeeded
CAD in both the architectural and engineering fields.
Planning Considerations: Never design in a vacuum. Neither
should you start with a preconceived notion of what style your house
should be. Before starting to draw walls and roofs, write your
architectural program. The program is the problem statement to which
you will return countless times to measure your design against it.
Someone once said, "Half of the solution to a problem lies in knowing
which questions to ask." As you write your building program, ask
yourself what it is you are trying to accomplish: Will your dream house
be a simple shelter in the woods, á la Thoreau? Or will it be your Taj
Mahal? Who will be using your building, and do they have special needs?
Programming: For clarity of organization, it will be helpful to
organize your program in an outline format. Start with major spaces and
list the functions to take place within each, and the features each
should contain. Add minor spaces where appropriate. Note which spaces
should be adjacent to each other, and which ones have a neutral or
negative relationship. As an example, it would probably be desirable to
separate the kitchen from any bathrooms. Toward this goal it may be
helpful to plot your spaces against each other in a matrix.
All houses should, at a minimum, contain spaces for living, eating (and
cooking), bathing and laundering, sleeping, and circulation between
them. Your program should accommodate a specific number of permanent
occupants, with space set aside for occasional visitors. Thus you could
have a single sleeping area, with visitors relegated to a common room;
or multiple separate bedrooms. The same observation can be applied to
bathrooms. Common additional spaces include an entry or foyer, work and
play rooms, equipment rooms, storage rooms, and exterior spaces. Home
offices, libraries, hobby rooms, and workshops fall in the category of
work rooms. Play rooms include family rooms, home theaters, exercise
rooms, and toy rooms. Conditioning equipment for heating and cooling
your house and its water system should be contained in its own space.
One common large storage area is the garage; each bedroom should have
storage closets for clothing. Exterior spaces include porches and
courtyards.
Your design can also contain other more exotic spaces, limited only by
your imagination. However, keep in mind that unusual spaces will bring
their own unique requirements.
(to be continued next month)
|
|
We hope you've enjoyed our newsletter. If you have comments on anything you've read here, please drop us a line. And of course, if you have a project in mind you'd like our help with, let us know that too. We'd love to hear from you! Sincerely, Dean R. Camlin, AIA, LEED® AP
|
|
|
