Mark Stephens Architects

Following on from Bob Borson’s Blog post that included his favourite Sharpie Pen, Scott Taylors original blog post ‘All about me’ and finally my blog post All About Me!, I went out looking for the Ultra Fine Sharpie pen (image below):

But could I find one anywhere in rural, west of Ireland? The closest I could get is the European equivalent of the Staedtler SuperFine permanent Marker (below):

Funnily enough it’s not the one that I normally use as it’s permanent and I prefer the Staedtler Pigment Liners (below), but I’m constantly losing the tops and my 8 year old loves using them (and also losing the tops).

On my next trip to London or Dublin I’ll see if I can get my hands on some Sharpies and do a ‘Top Gear’ style road test on the European vs USA pens. Not sure what the tests should be?; handling, taking curves, speed…

And before you ask, yes I have a set of Rotring pens, in all the sizes, still in an attic somewhere.

So what’s your favourite pen?

Comments welcome as always…

Well, after a bit of trial and error and false starts, I think I’ve got my paper.li working. Either click on the image below, or the widget in the right sidebar or CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CURRENT ARCHITECT MARK DAILY…

I am frequently asked, normally within a few minutes of seeing a property “Well, what do you think it’s going to look like then?”.

And it’s not that I’m being evasive, or forcing you to part with money but the answer to the question obviously comes about after some thought and consideration. Good design takes time and is the result of a careful analysis of the clients requirements, an analysis of the existing house or site and analysis of what will get through planning.

Therefore with an existing house or site, the starting point comes with the survey; That is a measured survey that shows exactly what the existing building is; and it it is only when this is done and drawn up that any design work can commence.

Below you can see a set of survey notes that I’ll be drawing up this afternoon. This measured survey (which incidentally is undertaken personally by myself) is so important that it forms an important part of the architectural education with it undertaken and marked several times during the course:

Survey notes on existing house

Probably not the most neatest of notes (and for completeness there should be diagonals horizontally and vertically,nb there is another sheet of elevation and site dimensions) but the test of whether they are any good is whether you can hand them over to someone else to draw up the survey without problem – incidentally I’ll also be personally drawing them up

Clare County Council included an image and credit of the house extension we’re currently working on in County Clare as an example to illustrate ‘Energy Conservation & Efficiency’.

Click HERE for link to Clare County Council Renewable Energy Strategy Document

nb Photo was taken a while back and is nore more complete than that shown.

Contractor: Guerin & Considine, Liscannor, County Clare

This years RIAI Simon Open Door 2012 is on the 12th and 13th May 2012.

For details CLICK HERE

The web site will be launched and bookings will be taken from the 5th March.

I have a Holy Communion on the Sunday so I’ll only be doing 2 sessions on the Saturday, so book early and I’ll contact you with the location etc…

Continuing the ‘Architect as…’ theme (here’s a more recent post on ‘Architect as Accountant’ as an example), this short post is Architect AND Client as Gymnast.

Now I’m not intending that the architect and client form a gymnastics team and do some rhythmic moves together; What I am talking about is flexibility – mental flexibility during the course of a design and construction project.

As I’ve said many times, getting something built ‘aint easy and there will be challenges en-route in EVERY construction project – even the most humblest of projects.

What is required therefore, and I’ve been careful to include both the Architect and Client is flexibility during this process. Below are a few examples:

- Flexibility at the design sketch stage to ensure you get the right design for the project and for you. You can READ HERE how the design can go disastrously wrong when this flexibility falters and the design is compromised.

- Flexibility at the Planning Stage. Now a lot of people think that planners deliberately want to put obstacles in your way. This is in fact false, all they are doing is their job, seeing how your scheme fits in with the area/county development plan for example and whether it’s a suitable development for the site. Give them a bit of slack and let’s all be a little more flexible in considering what the best design is for you and your site. I’ve posted previously about the benefits over taking your time over a design; considering all the alternatives and in my opinion the end design is frequently better when planning problems are addressed and answered with an alternative design.

- Flexibility at construction stage; as I’ve said above the course of a build can often be problematic; construction details need to be resolved, weather can cause delays, generally building is a difficult process. And it is at this stage that the greatest flexibility is required. It’s the architects job to work out these details, handle the delays, figure out the sums – nobody said it would be easy but just as in childbirth, all the pain is quickly forgotten when the build is finished and you’re enjoying the end result.

Comments welcome…

Sorry, I had to say something after yesterdays appalling Restoration Man. I know “if you can’t say something nice then don’t say anythin g at all”, but the program raises a lot of issues:

For those that missed it, here’s the end result from Channel 4′s web site:

Restoration Man - Caldwell Tower

Here’s also the full Channel 4 website for the excellent Restoration Man and the ‘says it like it is’ George Clarke

My favourite description was “Ziggurate caravan architecture”, anyway the points it raises:

1. You have a choice of either paying 10x a cheaper amount and getting no results or a very poor result OR paying once for what may be a slightly higher amount to employ dedicated, knowledgeable professionals to do a proper job.

2. What is it with this ‘creating a habitable dwelling’ thing, both the Martello Tower projects were effectively holiday homes. Let’s connect with nature a bit more and keep the towers in their entirety. Any form of extension on the side of Caldwell Tower would have ruined it’s impact – even a lovely glass linking/zinc roofed contemporary light, planning friendly contemporary extension would have destroyed it’s massing. It’s on top of a hill for Chrissakes!

The same goes for the other tower and wanting a glass roof over the top to give protection from the outside. I know the weather can be bad but let’s connect with nature a little bit. I can’t think of a better place to go when the weather is stormy than standing on top of that gun deck looking out to see.

So what would I have done? As far as I can see there were 2 options:

a. Keep the tower as it is and as the Heritage guy said, work around what is there and fit yourself around the existing building – it’s been there longer than you and will be around long after. That means no external work whatsoever and think imaginatively around getting the interior to work.

b. Dig underground outside and conceal it completely and have a sliding glass roof (as Grand Designs, forget which one) providing light, I wouldn’t even join this up with the tower; you go outside to get from one to other. Let’s look at this in more detail…

The great Japanese Architect Tadao Ando is a great believer in us connecting with nature, spaces are frequently connected via external courtyards – this allows you to experience the wind, sun, rain and snow and the passing of the days and seasons as you pass between rooms.

Tadao Ando Osaka House - thanks to Ronan Bekerman

That’s all, I’m not even going to mention the white plastic electrical conduit, sorry.

Yes, you read that right, I will say it again:

I will answer any #Vectorworks question or problem for $5

For full details of this service CLICK HERE

You may have seen the STOP CENSORSHIP banner in the top right corner of this blog for the last few days. I originally put it up (thanks to WordPress.com) in response to the US SOPA legislation; there is now a similar proposal in Ireland which is about to become law . And while 7 million Americans contacted their representatives to say No to SOPA in the US, Irish citizens will not get that chance because the new law in Ireland is not being voted on in the Oireachtas.

For more information and to sign the petition visit http://stopsopaireland.com/

- What is the secret of designing?

- What do you need to do to design?

The answers are easy: to design well you need to be doing a lot of it. I’ve written previously on the research that’s been undertaken on perfecting skills; apparently it takes a minimum of 10,000 hours to get good at something. So what are you waiting for, star whittling down the hours.

Next question, what do you need to do therefore to actually design…

I was reading the Sunday Times at the weekend (the Style section, no laughing please) and there was a small piece about the detective author Raymond Chandler who says the secret of writing is just sitting down and doing it. That means sitting down for a minimum of four hours with the intention of writing, no cheque writing, no reading magazines, tweeting or blogging – just trying to write. And being an architect is just the same, just sit down and force yourself to do it, it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t come straightaway-it’s the act of sitting and saying that you’re going to do it that makes it happen.

It reminds me of a quote from a well known actress (for the record it’s Nicole Kidman ahem) who at the start of every film was petrified that the ‘part’ wasn’t going to come but she said that it always comes from somewhere. I suggest that it’s the same idea, it’s the very act of forcing yourself to do so something that makes it happen.

My guess is that this theory translates into every sphere and job and in the words of the ad: “Just Do It!”

So what are you waiting for?…

Once again, taking a lead from @bobborson brilliant blog at Life of an Architect I loved guest blogger Scott Taylor’s post so much I thought it would be interesting to copy it and then invite others to do the same. Let’s get to know each other better and as Scott says in the Post ‘It’s all about me’ there is no better way to understand someone to see what their favourite things are. So here we go…

My favourite piece of Furniture

Funnily enough I’m currently writing a series of article for URDream Home magazine on classic, iconic furniture and the Eames Chair is included in one of the later pieces. The piece I have chosen however is the classic, contemporary and iconic chaise longue by Le Corbusier; seen in every discerning self-designed architects home and unfortunately as yet not in my own!

Some say that you can only sit in the Chaise-Longue in one position, isn’t that comfortable, blah,blah,blah but just look at it! The sleek lines, the machine aesthetic translated into a piece of furniture, the almost marine like curves, the exquisite use of materials. A work of genius and gorgeousness, I want one!

My favourite Car

Now for this one you could say what eve boy would want like a Lamborghini or a Ferrari but I think you need to be reasonably practical and the car needs to be within limits. Also, for me it would need to be something that would look cool outside my house, to park-up and see it reflected in the glass. So, for this choice I would go for the Audi TT.

It’s a pure embodiment of 1990′s German engineering, with sleek lines, exciting profile and for the cost conscious the Diesel TDI vision is incredibly fuel efficient at 53.3 mpg.

My Favourite Architect

If you are a regular follower of this blog then you will have seen this architects name frequently pop-up. My choice for this is based on an architect that I would like to relate to, an architect that creates an architecture in a similar environment to my own and an architecture that I would like to aspire to. Obviously work by architects such as Frank Gehry is brilliantly but my choice for my favourite would need to be someone that reimagines a rural architecture in a contemporary style using a sumptuous choice of relevant materials. Therrefore my choice of favourite architect is Australian Architect Glenn Murcutt. And as Scott says about Carlo Scarpa, if you haven’t heard about or seen any of Glenn Murcutts work then here’s the Glenn Murcutt Wikipedia entry as a starting point.

My Favourite Movie Poster

The test of a good movie poster must be whether the artwork is a two dimensional, teasing representation of the actual film. It was going to be a toss-up between one of the James Bond posters and the cult Jane Fonda classic Barbarella. I didn’t realise until I did a bit of research that they would have been designed the same person – Robert McGinnis. For those that are interested in this form of artwork, here is a great site for posters and the work of Robert-McGinnis

My Favourite Album Cover

“Ah, the kids today don’t know they’re born”, that excitement of buying the latest vinyl album, poring over the artwork on the bus home, the excitement and care on taking the black disk from it’s sleeve and then delicately placing the needle on the outer extremity of the disk and then finding the meaning in each and every song (especially when the lyrics are included and read and reread).

This is a more difficult one. The choice needs to be personally my favourite and not one that wins the most popular contest like Sgt Pepper:

Or what about the one that started the Virgin empire?, nope:

Or what about the simple and direct punk message from The Pistols?

Or how about ones from the college years? One that actually includes a bit of Architecture?

Or one that was the soundtrack to my student clubbing days?

Nope, none of these, the favourite album cover goes back to the first ‘proper’ LP I bought (excluding classics like ‘Hits of 1971′), and it remembers that excitement and poring I speak about and it’s ELO’s Out of the Blue. Enjoy below the 2 outside images and then the double spread gatee-fold image, ahhh:

Obviously these are my favourites, but what are yours, feel free to comment below, why not set up your own blog post and let me know about it…

Images stolen shamelessly from Wikipedia- Imagine a world without the likes of Wikipedia! CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE CENSORSHIP PROTEST