Specifying in a Pandemic

What's VVAS doing during the COVID-19 pandemic? We're writing specs, that's what!

Future of Specs - Bite-Sized

CSI's question of the week got me writing: What changes to specification writing do you expect in the next 10 years?

I don't know what's going to happen, but I do know what I'd like to see happen. Bite-sized specs.

Slip Resistance = Love

I wrote a slideshow in response to a call for Pecha Kucha style presentations to CSI's Specifications Practice Group. We were asked to present something we're passionate about. I'm passionate about safety, and I was working on a project with a special safety challenge - a footwashing station with a stone floor.

How could I be passionate about dynamic coefficient of friction, you ask? Take a look. It's a quick flip.

VVAS Incorporated!

Just a snapshot of the paperwork and office supplies.

Today is an anniversary for VVAS - We've been incorporated for a year, as of today!

For about six years, it had been enough challenge to run a sole proprietorship from home. But as the work has grown and I've needed more help to do it all, the business started outgrowing that little niche. I've been enjoying the SBA-supported business advice of the Marin Small Business Development Center, and a few of my fellow architectural entrepreneurs have gone before me out of sole prop status and lived to tell the tale (Boiled Architecture, Emily Borland, and EntreArchitect, to name a few). I also had in the back of my mind a 2012 CSI education session that stuck with me, given by Leslie Shiner on building a business that would allow me to retire someday. That'll probably be a couple of decades from now, but the idea was planted - I would rather grow the business than keep it to myself.

New Office!

Well, it's new to me...

But wait! There's more! The 2015 Year In Review continues with the exciting news that VVAS opened a new office in June. The home office still serves its purpose, but getting the business out of the house feels terrific!

The new office is a fourth floor room in the fantastic old Albert Building in downtown San Rafael, with north facing windows looking out on the mission's bell tower and the hills beyond. There's plenty of room for Glenda and me, with sit-stand desks, a guest station, and a little lunch table. We can't get enough of the old-fashioned hall position indicator on the elevator and the brass letter drop. It's a pretty sweet spot for an architectural specs practice. 

I miss my seven-foot commute, some days, but it's walking distance from the house (now that the knee is coming back!) and I still never hit traffic. Of course, it also means that Glenda can work even if I'm not there; that's one feature it's hard to get in a home office. There's a little more furniture to find before the office-warming party, but we're already enjoying welcoming guests for visits.

VVAS Gains a Specifier!

Glenda Lockhart

It's well past time to put a face to a name! Glenda Lockhart is a valuable addition to VVAS, and I'm thrilled to be able to share the load with her.

In December of 2014, Glenda and I decided that, sure enough, she might be a specifier. After all, she's got a vastly appropriate set of skills: she's written technical documentation for software user experience, she's been a publisher, and she's studied fire prevention. She can even read a building code! And she's the right kind of person, too: she's got boundless curiosity and cares deeply about getting things right. She is excited about making a difference by making buildings better.

So, she joined VVAS. She joined CSI. She jumped in and started learning by doing. She studied hard and passed her CDT. She's got e-SPECS all figured out. She asks great questions and makes it her business to find out the answers. And after a whole year at VVAS (plus a few weeks of my being out of the office!) I can honestly say that she keeps this place ticking.

ADA! Hooray!

A temporary accommodation

I hear from the Instagram grapevine that today is a day for celebrating 25 years of the ADA. So it's the perfect day for a quick post about my experience as a temporarily disabled architect.

Due to a ski accident this winter, I've just undergone knee surgery. I'm walking around on two crutches and my right leg is sporting a long-leg hinged and lockable knee brace. My biggest challenge is the temptation to ditch one crutch: I'm forever trying to carry something in my right hand or move a chair, but that's forbidden. (Those of you who know me are aware of how frustrating it is not to be able to carry my own full teacup!) That's all me, though. Let's talk about architecture.