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| Architecture Firm Expands Its Services
In a move to diversify, Clearwater based architectural firm, Design Styles, Inc. has announced that it is continuing to grow its services into the commercial arena. “We will continue to develop the residential architectural designs that our firm is already so well known for” said Peter Fertig, AAIA, partner of Design Styles, “we have diversified our commercial architectural services to better serve the growing needs of our clients.” The firm is already in the process of designing its largest commercial project yet - $5 million corporate headquarters for the nation’s fastest-growing direct mail postcard marketing company, PostcardMania. The project consists of a 22,800 sq. ft. office for 200 employees above a two story parking garage. The exterior of the building will be an urban industrial design intended to emulate a New York style warehouse circa 1920. The interior office space has been designed as an open, colorful and high energy avant-garde world with cost efficient materials such as exposed block walls, exposed mechanical systems and stained concrete floors. “Our firm has grown significantly to where we’ve been able to expand our services” said Andy Dohmen, AIA, partner of Design Styles. “We are now able to offer our commercial clients the same quality and attention that we’ve been producing in our residential architectural designs. We pride ourselves in listening to our clients and designing creative solutions to suit their needs, ” Dohmen said. Design Styles is presently in negotiations on other commercial projects in addition to the many single and multi-family projects they already have underway. Dohmen and Fertig partnered in 1998 to form what is now known as Design Styles, Inc. Since its beginning, the firm has experienced tremendous growth in many areas including its size, services and client base. About Design Styles, Inc. Design Styles, Inc. was founded in 1998 by partners Andy Dohmen, AIA and Peter Fertig, AAIA. Today, the award-winning architectural design firm is made up of more than 20 people with a diverse combination of experiences and talents. Located in Clearwater, FL, the firm has grown to service the southeast U.S. and the Caribbean. Design Styles offers a full range of architectural services encompassing a variety of commercial and residential project types. For additional information about the services and project types that Design Styles offers, visit their website at http://www.designstylesinc.com.
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| Interior design goes green
Concerns about the environment are coming in from the cold. As a result, interior designers say they are seeing more green solutions for the great indoors than ever before. “The selection of eco-friendly products has definitely increased,'’ said Megan Middendorf, 24, interior designer at the Mansion in Des Moines. One reason for the increase - more demand. “Within the last few years, customers are just starting to ask more about what makes sense environmentally,'’ said Ted Irvine, owner of the Mansion, 2801 Ingersoll Ave. From solar-reducing woven window shades to earth-friendly polyester fabrics made from 100 percent recycled materials, to chandeliers on dimmers and wallpaper of recycled materials, designers and their customers have more options than ever to bring green into the home, Middendorf said. Fewer of those options “compromise the aesthetics of space,'’ she said. In other words, the look and design of functional and environmentally friendly pieces are growing increasingly chic. Or as Irvine puts it, “If you’re looking for re-purposed, renewable or recycled material, it’s not all about just hemp and bamboo anymore.'’ Interior designers are also talking more about volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, Middendorf said. Essentially, volatile organic compounds are organic chemical compounds that have high enough vapor pressures under normal conditions to significantly vaporize and enter the atmosphere. “You find them a lot in some paints,'’ she said. The solution is that more companies are making paints that are either low in or have zero volatile organic compounds. Applying these paints reduces the greenhouse gases that are emitted. In some instances, these paints cost more than conventional paints, but Mansion client Bobbye Scheidler of Clive said that it made sense for her to select interior paint with low VOCs. They “sounded like a good choice for our new home,'’ she said. “If we can improve indoor air quality with our paint selections, why wouldn’t we do that?” Couch has ozone-friendly foam In Middendorf’s view, one of the smartest-looking couches at the Mansion features “ozone-friendly'’ foam. She also pointed out that some of the most attractive flooring to be found is made of natural fibers, such as sisal, seagrass and mountaingrass. Also growing in popularity is cork furniture, designers say. Cork is appreciated because it comes from a bark that can be stripped off allowing new bark to grow in its place without killing or damaging the trees, according to manufacturers. Middendorf, who is relatively new to the interior design industry, said she’s happy to see the growing awareness of environmentally friendly interior design solutions in the marketplace. “We need to have a collective consciousness of the materials we are using and that they will endure beyond us,'’ she said, stressing that it makes sense for the planet if we become less of a disposable society Irvine said that the growing number of customers interested in considering environmentally friendly indoor decor has allowed interior designers to talk up high-quality solutions even if a premium price is attached. “A lot depends on what’s important to you,'’ he said, pointing out a piece of so-called heirloom furniture that may seem expensive actually goes down in cost if it is going to be functional for more than a lifetime. “I have a dining room table that my mother gave me, and we expect to it give it to our children,'’ he said. Clients seek advice Interior designers at the Mansion are also now routinely advising clients about green strategies for inside the home, he said. One customer, John McClain of Clive, said he appreciated being informed about a flooring solution of wood from wine barrels. “I was deciding between several kinds of flooring for my living room when Meghan showed me the recycled wine flooring,'’ he said. “The look was perfect, and the fact that it was recycled made it even better. Without Meghan’s interest in using green products I would have never have seen the wood floor.” As the selection of eco-friendly strategies increases, and customer-awareness grows, the prices of green solutions are at least within range of more conventional products, Irvine said. “There are certainly much more expensive selections than bamboo or cork, which are very renewable,'’ he said, adding that customers who choose materials such as bamboo or cork “are certainly not compromising quality.'’ Middendorf said the Mansion is also working with local artists who think about the environment by re-using items. In one room display, there are pieces by Iowan Frank Hansen, whose mixed-media work relies on screens and other everyday materials that otherwise would land in the trash bin. “There’s so much waste,” Hansen said. “I bring it home and make use of it.”
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