michelle kaufmann designs

Wow. I missed a few weeks of seeing Kate Hilberg’s photos on the progress of Casa Chiara, and I almost missed all the construction. This is the time when the modular construction just sings. Things move fast, and the excitement grows.

Kate (Project Manager with Urban Ventures LLC on the Casa Chiara project) takes photos weekly at the factory and on the site.  The Casa Chiara project is 8 townhouse units for an amazing group of women: The Sisters of St. Francis . This is phase 1 of the overall project of AriaDenver. .

This photo was taken on June 26. the overhead roof and ceiling are moving accross the factory and being set up top of the module.

On July 1, the formwork has been laid on the site and is getting ready for the foundation to be poured.

And on July 6 the concrete formwork is poured.

July 7, They are finalizing the formwork (and also double/triple checking to make sure everything is level for the modules).

Meanwhile, back at the factory on July 7, the first set of townhouse homes are having the drywall installed.

And on the same day, there is also insulation and sheathing being installed.

Close up of roof overhang framing, and overhead crane setting the roof down on the module.

On July 10, another unit is having the drywall finished.  One of the beauties of having construction happening inside of a building is the homes can be built from the inside out. The drywall and interior can have crews working, while at the same time other crews are working on insulation and exterior detailing. With traditional site built construction that has to deal with the potential damage of weather, rain and sun, the exterior needs to be closed in before the interior can begin. So interior and exterior crews working at the same time are more seldom.

The next week is going to be another exciting one, as the first set of modules are getting ready to be shipped out at the end of next week. Stay tuned!

Hot off the press. Here are more photos sent from Kate Hilberg, Project Manager for Urban Ventures LLC on Casa Chiara, the sisters housing complex MKD designed. This is the first phase of the overall AriaDenver project.  www.ariadenver.com

It is always so much fun going to the factory , and when you can’t be at the factory,  seeing the factory photos.  All of these photos were taken on the same day. Things are really moving along.

Here are the floors of Duplex A modules that are being roughed in for plumbing and electrical.

This photo is of the third module of Duplex A. The wall has just been built on a horizontal jig and is now being set on the module floor.

And here is the second module of Duplex A getting ready to move to the ceiling station.

Duplex C floor structure is being assembled.

The floor on Duplex C that is being lifted up onto stands so the floor utilities can begin below.

MEANWHILE… back at the site,
The site contractor is preparing the site including grading, laying caissons for the foundation.

I love that the statue of Mary remains on site during construction – overseeing.

Here is the drilling of the caissons.

Seeing the construction happening simultaneously on site as well as in the factory is where the time savings become more visible. With typical site built construction, the site work has to happen before the construction of the buildings can begin.

Stay tuned for more updates! So exciting!

It was an exciting day today on the Casa Chiara multifamily project. The Project Manager of Urban Ventures LLC, Kate Hilberg, went to the All American factory to see the installation of the first wall on the first floor frame.

The walls are made on horizontal jigs, so that way they are truly plumb, there is easier access for good detailing, and it is a safer working situation for the framers to be standing on the ground than hanging off of a ladder in the air. The wall is then lifted into place with the overhead crane and set onto the floor frame.

You can see the tracks on the factory floor, and the casters underneath the floor module. After the walls and roof is attached, the module will then move through the factory on the casters and track and head to the next station.

Casa Chiara will include 8 homes total for a group of very cool nuns (honestly, these ladies are some of the most amazing people I have met.). Some of them are 1 story and some are 2 story. The Casa Chiara project is phase 1 of the overall AriaDenver project.

Stay Tuned!

www.ariadenver.com

Last week I had the pleasure of doing an interviewed for the fabulous Design*Sponge website.  With the theme of the interview being a causual conversation over afternoon coffee, the questions ranged from how I take my cup of joe to why our offices are located in Oakland to what my Earth Day wish was for this year.  Click here if you’d like to check out the whole Q&A for yourself!

The construction contract for Phase 1 of the Colorado-based multifamily community project we’ve designed, called ariaDenver, has officially been signed! Now the fun part can begin, as construction gets underway. I am super excited about this project , as it embodies many of our core beliefs in communities in terms of sustainable design, off-site construction techniques, and diversity. Phase 1 includes 8 homes, and an additional 106 townhouse homes are planned for the following phases, with a mix of 2- and 3-stories, live/work, market rate and affordable green homes. So stay tuned in order to follow the progress of this exciting project. For more information on the project visit ariadenver.com. Keep reading to see more renderings of the soon to be community!

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Everyday there are more human beings on the planet than the day before.  In recent decades, our habit in the U.S. has been to help house our growing population by extending new developments out into the rural lands surrounding urban centers, creating an increasingly car-dependent society with an ever worsening environmental impact.  Suburban sprawl, thanks in part to the housing market collapse, is now revealing itself to be unsustainable in more ways than one.  That collapse has also put a moratorium on the advance of further sprawl, making this the perfect opportunity to understand sprawl’s inherent flaws and embrace a more sustainable approach to housing development: green communities.

In our most recent white paper, Embracing Thoughtful, Walkable Neighborhoods, we not only examine the deeply problematic nature of suburban sprawl but also explain the many benefits of the alternative offered by green communities.  Using our 10 EcoPrinciples for Communities, we delve into some of the best practices that city planners, developers, architects, and builders can employ in order to design and build green communities that ensure the health of our neighborhoods and our planet over the long-term.

Click here to download the paper today.

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