Impact – Unabridged Architecture

AIA Climate Impact Survey (5/3/2022) - AIA Trust Newsletter, April/May 2022 The rapidly changing climate is on everyone’s mind, whether the impact is felt with immediacy as severe weather in one’s own locality or the unease experienced from recent climate reports and increasing events that impact every place across the globe. The message for architects is becoming clearer every day – that the profession has a responsibility to design for future climate challenges and may even be held liable if we fail to consider these risks. Client expectations are changing as they anticipate that design professionals should incorporate future climate hazards and adaptation solutions into projects. Professional liability insurance is among the strongest leverage for architects to incorporate climate action into their work. The Scalable Climate Action “Group” (SCA) of the AIA Strategic Council developed a recent AIA Trust newsletter article and survey, Climate Impact on Professional Liability, which outlined resources to help architects understand the risks and responsibilities related to climate change, and linked architects to a survey on Climate Impact on Practice. A cross-section of architects responded to the survey, with representation from different age groups, geographic locations, and firms, with 48 percent of respondents from small firms (1 – 10 people), representative of the distribution of firm size across the country. The geographic distribution was similarly varied, with 58 percent from the Midwest, South, and Southeast and the remainder from the Northwest, Southwest, and Northeast. Nearly half of the architects surveyed (48%) were aware of the potential liability of architects if they fail to design for climate change. The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report warns that human-induced climate change affects the lives of billions of people around the world, despite efforts to reduce the risks. This global consensus makes the impacts of climate change – increases in precipitation, flooding, sea level rise, drought, and temperature – more foreseeable, and makes architects more liable if they ignore the risks associated with these impacts. Over half of the respondents (52%) have considered future climate projections in their projects, factoring in solutions to extreme weather. Those architects who have not yet adopted this approach had questions about where to find reliable information at a scale that is useful at the project scale. Two primary information sources are: U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit (https://toolkit.climate.gov/#regions ) which provides regional information on hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and risk; and ASCE 7 Hazard Tool (https://asce7hazardtool.online/) a quick way to search for key design parameters for projects based on the location and risk category which links viewers to FIRM maps and other resources. Some architects who have not yet integrated climate projections into their work may have a practice such as interiors where climate data seems less relevant, even though occupant comfort or business continuity may be critical design factors. Others believe that designing to code requirements is sufficient, although current codes and regulations may lag behind the speed and severity of accelerating climate hazards. Until authorities develop new rules, architects must take the lead in addressing climate challenges. It is reassuring that over half of the architects surveyed (54%) have discussed the importance of hazard and climate risks with their clients. An increasing number of clients are asking how the designs address future climate adaptability. Clients may elect not to pursue climate change adaptation solutions for multiple reasons – budget, unfamiliarity with the proposed materials or systems, or because the potential impacts seem distant. If this is the case, the architect can limit their professional liability by using the AIA Hazard and Climate Risk Acknowledgement Form to document the client’s approach to risk. A total of 64% of the survey respondents indicated an interest in using this tool to limit their professional liability. Other options outlined in the AIA Trust webinar, Taking the Lead to Address Climate Change, include scrutinizing contract language, declining work if necessary, and carrying good professional liability insurance. Architects have a duty of care to our clients to protect them from harm and climate change has already been observed in many places and is foreseeable in others. Is the project in a location where it is in the realm of probability that it will be exposed to hazards over its service life? Are solutions available to address the vulnerabilities? What scientific findings are available? As the profession of architecture becomes more aware of climate issues, ignoring these questions may place individual architects in a position that is tough to defend if hazard damage occurs. There are precautions so imperative that disregarding them will not excuse their omission. The AIA believes that climate action is imperative to protect our planet and preserve life, and architects play an important role in developing solutions to the crisis. We can’t unknow this. Submitted by Allison Anderson, FAIA, LEED-AP, member of the AIA Committee on Climate Action and Design Excellence (CCADE), and Megan Recher, AIA, member of the AIA Resilience and Adaptation Advisory Group. ...

Saving a Touchstone of Black History in Gulfport, Mississippi (5/3/2022) - Preservation Magazine, Spring 2022 The Gulfport, Mississippi, community of Turkey Creek was established in 1866 by Black settlers newly emancipated from slavery, and many community residents today trace their ancestry to those founders. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, the Turkey Creek Community Historic District encompasses the former site of the Yaryan/Phoenix Naval Stores Company, which employed local workers in producing creosote by boiling pine stumps in gasoline. Community elders still recall a massive industrial explosion that killed 11 people there in 1943. Educator, historian, and Turkey Creek native Derrick Evans (shown, second from left) returned from Boston in 2003 to found the community development organization Turkey Creek Community Initiatives. After learning that a derelict house he had bought was originally the Naval Stores Company’s pay office, he collaborated with the Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain to secure $499,500 from the National Park Service’s African American Civil Rights Grant Program to restore the building. The Bay St. Louis, Mississippi–based firm Unabridged Architecture exhaustively documented the deteriorating structure, which had likely survived the 1943 blast thanks to exterior plaster fireproofing. The firm then rehabilitated the building, restoring its separate front doors (a legacy of segregation), its wood-paneled interior, and a porch likely destroyed in the accident. Completed in August of 2021, the renewed building—the only remaining structure from the company—houses the Yaryan-Phoenix Naval Stores Museum and Turkey Creek Community Initiatives. Bruce D. Snider is an architect, writer, and editor based in Belfast, Maine. https://savingplaces.org/stories/saving-a-touchstone-of-black-history-in-gulfport-mississippi#.YnF2B9rMKUk ...

World Build Podcast (5/3/2022) - World Architecture News interviews Allison Anderson, taking a deep dive into climate-ready buildings. Eugene Flotteron from CetraRuddy also guest stars. Find the podcast here: https://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/article/1754573/designing-resilient-homes-transport-withstand-hurricanes-flooding-climate-crisis ...

Fast Company (2/17/2022) - BY NATE BERG 02-17-22 When Derrick Evans paid $10,000 for a dilapidated, sinking house in Turkey Creek, Mississippi, he thought it was a modestly affordable way to help stop some of the loss in his hometown. A historically Black settlement founded in 1866 by formerly enslaved people, Turkey Creek had slowly seen its heritage watered down—by annexation into the nearby city of Gulfport, by redevelopment, and by the actual rising water and hurricanes of the Gulf Coast. For Evans, a history teacher who had left Mississippi to teach in Boston, the 2004 purchase was a small way to fight back. He didn’t realize it would set him on a two-decade crusade to preserve the architectural heritage of his community. It’s a campaign that now has a centerpiece: The house Evans bought back in 2004 has been renovated and preserved as a community history center and museum for Turkey Creek. The single-story square building, which had sunk a full foot into the soggy ground, was falling to pieces inside after being vacant for several years. Restored in conjunction with Mississippi-based firm Unabridged Architecture, the building has become a rallying point for the further preservation of the community. Evans started this preservation campaign after a disturbing visit home in 2001. The community’s historic cemetery, which held the remains of generations of Black residents, including formerly enslaved founders of the community, was being bulldozed to make way for an apartment building. It was just the latest encroachment of development since the community had been annexed by predominantly white Gulfport in 1994. Evans, a trained historian, was dismayed at the cemetery’s destruction. “Who does this? And worse, who sits here and watches it happen?” he says. “It takes two to make a thing go wrong sometimes.” So Evans decided to start making things go right. He moved back full time in 2003, around the time he bought the old house. He now owns several buildings and properties in Turkey Creek. “I’ve been on mission creep,” he says. It all ties back to the dilapidated house Evans bought for $10,000. He learned after buying it that this was no ordinary house. In the early 1900s, it was actually an office building for a naval stores plant, where local pine stumps were boiled in gasoline and turned into utility poles, railroad ties, and boat building materials. The building Evans bought was the plant paymaster’s office, built in the 1920s, where the plant’s mostly Black workers would line up every day to get paid out in company scrip. It was a rare and early site of well-paying industrial jobs open to Black workers, and many of those employed by the plant built homes and raised families in predominantly Black Turkey Creek. The building also had its own tragic history. In 1943, the naval stores plant exploded, killing 11 men, 9 of whom were Black workers. Part of the reason the paymaster’s office was still standing was its unique construction. The walls and ceilings were coated in a thin layer of cement plaster—an early form of fireproofing, according to the architects who led the restoration. “This is a tiny little building in the middle of these giant plants boiling gasoline. But it was also the paymaster’s office. So the money was in there and the records were in there,” says John Anderson of Unabridged Architecture. “They had anticipated the danger.” Evans saw an opportunity. Recognizing the significance of the paymaster’s office and several other historic buildings in the community, he launched an effort to have Turkey Creek listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After Hurricane Katrina devastated the region in 2005, the area began to receive more attention and preservation funding, including for the migratory bird stopover in Turkey Creek. “The whole region before Katrina was an undiscovered historical-cultural treasure trove that if you didn’t live there, you wouldn’t know,” Evans says. Evans’s effort to preserve the buildings was almost squashed, just as an application was being submitted to the Department of the Interior. “In February 2007, I’ll never forget it, Black History Month, the city sends a code enforcement officer to condemn five buildings [including the paymaster’s office],” Evans says. “The city wanted it torn down for understandable reasons, but also the larger reason of one less thing in Turkey Creek to have to deal with.” A last-minute volunteer effort led by Evans got the building up to code before the city could demolish it. The community was listed on the National Register later that year. And that’s when Evans’s preservation effort gathered some significant momentum. A documentary film was produced. The Daily Show visited and did a segment. The paymaster’s office qualified for historic preservation grants, and by 2015 it had been named one of the 10 most endangered places by the Mississippi Heritage Trust. Unabridged Architecture got involved to help its preservation, and the project eventually secured nearly $500,000 from the National Park Service’s Civil Rights grant fund. Restoration of the paymaster’s office got going in earnest, and an architectural fact-finding mission was launched. “We had to go in there and document what was left, and also try to really track the story of the building,” Anderson says. “It was sort of a mystery at that point.” Archival research uncovered an old photo of the naval stores plant, from before the 1943 explosion, which gave a better idea of what the building originally looked like and how it was used. “In the very corner of that photo was this building. We could see maybe 20% of it,” Anderson says. The architects could tell from the photo that the square building had at one point been moved and rotated 90 degrees. The paymaster’s window could be seen on one side. Another side had two doors a few feet apart. “I always thought that was the entrance. But it never really occurred to me until really reclaiming the space and imagining using it and having people come in and out that those are actually [separate] black and white entrances to a place of business,”… ...

Adapting Together: How the GSA is thinking about adaptation (for its vast real estate portfolio) (1/12/2022) - AIA Committee on the Environment Newsletter, January/February 2022 By Allison H. Anderson FAIA Architects are working on the front lines of community resilience and climate adaptation. Ann Kosmal, FAIA, guides the General Services Administration team charged with managing climate risks for all federal buildings. She sat down with friend and colleague Allison Anderson, FAIA, to talk about the GSA’s efforts to prepare buildings for rising climate risks. Alison Anderson: Ann, you are an architect, LEED-Accredited Professional, and certified Passive House consultant, but you also guide the GSA efforts to manage climate risks. The GSA is responsible for more than 371 million square feet of real estate for the federal government, with many locations at risk from climate hazards. How is the GSA advancing the deployment and adoption of climate-ready buildings?   Ann Kosmal: The Biden-Harris administration is taking a whole-of-government approach to climate adaptation. Many professionals in various disciplines contribute to the administration’s climate change risk management efforts. For GSA, this work starts with the agency’s policies and procedures to manage these risks in GSA’s capital investments, asset management, and compliance with the Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service (P-100). As a project moves through delivery, I support project managers across the country to determine the common understanding of the extreme weather and incremental climate-related risks for the lifetime of the building. I also develop and provide a climate profile for the project, which informs the statement of work and deliverables.   AA: How do you guide architects to design for climate conditions which vary widely across the nation? What actions should architects take on every project to improve climate change mitigation and adaptation, wherever they are? AK: For architects, look at Key Message 2 of Chapter 11 of NCA 4 on the Built Environment. On every project, architects need to be familiar with the observed and expected changes over the intended service life of the project and use forward-looking information. There are resources available such as the National Climate Assessment and the U.S.Climate Resilience Toolkit - Climate Explorer.  Once an architect takes these steps to familiarize themselves with these factors, they need to be clear about due diligence in design and determine the relevancy to their client’s personal risk appetite and tolerance, as well as their professional risk appetite and tolerance. Because architects are not working alone, this needs to be done in consultation with engineers and others.  AA: You worked with the Executive Office of the President to support resilience and adaptation planning. Can you tell us a little about what this work entailed? AK: I was on a 221-day detail to the Executive Office of the President (EOP). The detail was solely focused on climate adaptation and resilience to reinstate and advance federal agency climate adaptation planning and implementation, as directed by Executive Order 14008 on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad. Implementation is a key aspect of the Executive Order, as managing climate risks is a known high fiscal risk to the U.S. government. There is a dire need to advance beyond where this risk management work was prior to 2017, and part of my detail work addressed this need. This effort is about large-scale organizational adaptation. Updating agency climate adaptation plans was a necessary first step, as the existential threat from climate change remains.  Along with other EOP duties, my detail entailed ramping up agency adaptation planning and implementation up through the public roll out of agencies’ 2021 Federal Climate Adaptation Plans on October 7, 2021.  AA: You reviewed the adaptation plans for every federal agency. Do you see new opportunities for architects to participate in climate change mitigation and adaptation? AK: Climate risks are not new but because they are prioritized by the current administration, when there are capital projects, I anticipate that architects will not only have opportunities but will be asked to design climate adaptation measures into projects that they design not only for GSA but for many federal clients. I did not review the Federal Climate Adaptation Plans alone. Let’s remember that in climate adaptation, the pronouns are we, us, ours — we are all adapting together. A diligent and dedicated team selected from across the executive branch reviewed the plans. The team worked in close coordination with the agency examiners from the Office of Management and Budget to review the priority adaptation actions based on the statutory mission of the agency and their authorities.   AA: How do these adaptation plans address environmental justice? AK: I think a really good question to keep top of mind is: Resilience — for whom? The 2021 Federal Climate Adaptation Plans were the first in more than four years and there is wide variation in the ways and extent to which agencies have integrated environmental justice, depending on the agency mission. Executive Order 14008 asks agencies to make achieving environmental justice part of their missions. As a result, plans include criteria and requirements for sites, facilities, and supply chain and explain how that criteria advances equitable distribution of environmental risks and benefits, and avoids maladaptation — projects that have the unintended outcome of creating more rather than less vulnerability to climate change.  Ann Kosmal is an architect for the Office of Federal High Performance Buildings at the U.S. General Services Administration.   She is a co-author of the United States’ Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA) built environment chapter and forthcoming fifth NCA.  She is a Fellow of the AIA, a Certified Passive House Consultant, and a Certified Permaculture Designer.  Allison Anderson, FAIA, is a principal at unabridged Architecture in Bay St Louis, Mississippi. She was the 2019 chair of the AIA Resilience and Adaptation Advisory Group and serves on the Committee for Climate Action and Design Excellence (CCADE), whose charge is to advise the Board on key issues in support of AIA’s Climate Action Plan. ...

Architects + Artisans Blog (12/21/2021) - In Gulfport, Restoring an Icon of African American History Michael Welton, December 15, 2021 A small building with a checkered past in the Turkey Creek neighborhood of Gulfport, Miss. has been restored meticulously by unabridged Architects of Bay St. Louis. It started out as a paymaster’s station for the Turkey Creek Phoenix Naval Stores at the turn of the 20th century. There, in a large plant, lumber was treated to yield creosote, pine-tar resin and turpentine. The treatment itself was sketchy at best. “The manufacturer who developed the wholescale process used boiling gasoline to extract elements from the pine trees,” says John Anderson, co-founder of unabridged Architecture. “This site was in between forests where they were shipping the product out.” The plant employed a huge number of African Americans from the Turkey Creek neighborhood. “In1889 the state had established that each family there would receive a 40-acre parcel of land,” adds Allison Anderson, also a co-founder at unabridged. “They were the industrial workers for the plant.” It was a segregated operation and a symbol of systemic racism well into the 20th century. Inside the paymaster’s station, Caucasian management ruled. Outside, African Americans lined up to be paid at the paymaster’s window. Even vintage photographs of management and workers were segregated. Eventually, the inevitable occurred. “In 1943 the plant exploded, and one building, the paymaster’s office, remained intact,” she says. “It was built of wood and sheathed in concrete an inch thick, with a metal roof.” The plant closed, and the little fireproofed building designed to house all the plant’s records was moved 1,000 feet down the street and turned it into a residence. It stayed that way for decades, until it was abandoned and eventually disintegrated. “It had slumped about two feet into ground,” she says. “Plaster was falling off and there were no floors and no ceilings.” By 2015 owner/activist Derrick Evans, great-grandson of the man who moved the building in the 1940s, teamed up with the Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain. Together they wrote a grant proposal for restoring the building as a symbol of African American forest industry workers. The National Park Service awarded them a half-million dollars. The Land Trust served as administrator for the grant. And unabridged Architecture got to work. Theirs was no easy task. “There was only one picture of the building – and it was of the giant plant mostly and our building was out of focus in back, and hidden,” John says. “It was a simple building: square with four rooms, and it had a porch wrapped around it.” It may have been a tiny, 925-square-foot building, but much was missing. “We established the position of each board of wood,” Allison says. “We recovered everything we could and kept it intact as much as possible.” There were no windows and only one door; but because the framing had been treated with creosote, water and termite damage was minimal. “We had to speculate about the windows,” John says. “The framing was falling in and the rotting foundation was sunken.” Luckily, Derrick’s cousin was a concrete finisher with a stellar reputation in the community – and took on the project as general contractor. “It was a good grounding for him to do this wood reconstruction,” Allison says. “He had to figure out a way to lift the building out of the mud – and it was a painstaking process.” The little building’s days as paymaster’s station and residence are now officially over. Today it’s known as the Turkey Creek Phoenix Naval Stores Community Center, and it serves as an exhibition space and interpretive center for the African American forest industry workers. “Eleven people died in the explosion, and it was good and bad what going on there,” John says. It’s also a community center for the African American neighborhood. “There’s a lot of community interest in the collection of things to engage the neighborhood,” Allison says. And it’s earned the recognition it’s due. “It earned a “Best in the South” Award from the Southeast Society of Architectural Historians,” she says. That’s a big honor for a tiny building – but it’s earned every bit of it. ...

Eampact: The Black and White Beach House (12/9/2021) - Published 2021-12-02 by Revi Sagee: https://www.eampact.com/blogDetails/The-Black-and-White-Beach-House Homeowners in the U.S can build and improve their homes to be more resilient to increasing climate extremes. We aim to educate homeowners with relevant climate risks and solutions to reduce potential damage to homes and save lives. In this series of blogs, we share stories of climate-resilient homes. Not only homes that were designed to be resilient, but homes that proved their resilience by withstanding extreme weather events. The Black and White Beach House is such an example. The residential property was designed by unabridged Architecture. It was completed in 2019 and already managed to withstand Hurricane Zeta in 2020, Hurricane Ida in 2021, and smaller tropical disturbances. The project was designed primarily to address the climate risk of hurricanes and associated storm surge and flooding. The site is located along the northern Gulf of Mexico, on the waterfront. This is the location where Hurricane Katrina damaged many houses and claimed lives. The project’s site sits along a sandy coastal ridge, with the beach at the front, and a bayou in the back. Both the beach and the bayou pose a risk of flooding in the event of intense rainfall or coastal surge. In hot, humid Mississippi, another risk to keep in mind is the threat of high temperatures for prolonged periods. unabridged Architecture: “We have been building along the Gulf Coast since 1995 and have experienced the devastating effects of hurricanes on our community. In 2005 we had just completed two new projects – a 22-room retreat center and a new house. One was completely lost while the other was just slightly damaged. Both were designed to be sustainable, but it was a wake-up call that sustainability isn’t equivalent to resilience”. Allison and John Anderson, unabridged Architecture, see a growing market demand for climate adaptation. “Many of our clients come to us specifically looking for ways to reduce vulnerability, especially if they have been through a prior event. Communities, too, are looking for solutions, and since we work at many scales, we can show them how to build in multiple benefits for their residents and visitors”. Climate Resilience Strategies: To address the mentioned risks in the location of the property, unabridged Architecture incorporated the following climate adaptation strategies to minimize damage to the house and to protect its occupants: Hurricanes The metal roof includes extra hurricane clips to prevent lifting in high winds. An ice and water shield was installed beneath the roof surface. All windows are impact-resistant. The Shear Walls provide lateral bracing against wind loads. The Shear walls and tie-downs provide continuous load paths. Simpson Z-Max strapping with clips connects the wood framing. The clips have extra zinc to resist saltwater. Floods Floor elevation: the finished floor level was set above the current Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requirements. To achieve the desired floor level, the house was built on pilings on the highest ground within the site, further away from the coastal edge. Dry flooding design: to further protect the property from flooding, a landscape chain wall with a limited amount of fill was built in the front of the house to deflect waterborne debris. Along the back of the house, where the outbuildings are located, a retaining wall was used to protect from the bayou and its steep slope. Most of the landscape area is permeable, which helps absorb stormwater in extreme storms and rain events. Wood was used for the interior finish instead of Drywall. Wood can be dried after a short immersion and treated to prevent mold. The walls were designed with a gap between the siding and the wrap for moisture/water drainage to help water drain quickly and efficiently. Heat Waves A large shaded wrap-around porch reduces sun glazing indoors. Window screening on the east and west sides to prevent low sun rays from entering through into the house. Covered arcades are linking the outbuildings to create areas of shade. A 400-year old live oak tree on the site has persisted through many storms. This tree formed the central design element and unabridged Architecture worked around it. Preserving the tree protects a part of the ecosystem on-site, allowing the tree to keep sequestering carbon emissions while providing additional shading. High insulation above code requirements (see below) Climate Zone Adaptation Strategies Materials for the coastal environment: a concrete masonry chain wall foundation was finished with white marble tile. It increases durability and longevity by protecting from salt-laden winds while contributing to the aesthetics of the design. The cypress siding on the main house is traditional in Mississippi but the close grain structure has extended life against insects and water. The accessory structures are wrapped in Shou Sugi Ban by Delta Millworks. These products claim to repel insects and water due to the process of wood burning. The company’s exterior products are all sustainably sourced and certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC). All of their Accoya wood products hold Cradle to Cradle (C2C) gold certification. Building Codes: The city in which the property stands has adopted the ICC building codes. The project was designed above code for greater longevity in the following areas: Higher elevation to protect from flooding: Freeboard one foot above FEMA’s Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM). Freeboard is a safety factor usually expressed in feet above a flood level to compensate for the unknown factors that could contribute to higher flood levels than calculated. Higher insulation to maintain the indoor temperature and withstand heat/cold waves: double R-value of insulation to almost R-40 in walls, and R-60 in the roof. Voluntary Third Party Standards/Certifications: Allison and John Anderson were the first LEED Accredited Professionals in Louisiana and Mississippi. They designed the Black and White Beach House to meet FORTIFIED Gold but did not go through the process of certification. unabridged Architecture’s previous experience building FORTIFIED certified houses enlightened them on the low demand for private homes certifications in that area. Mississippi’s insurance program doesn’t provide a standardized discount for certification. Third-party certifications provide an… ...

EcoTech Park awarded AIA Mississippi Honor Citation (10/15/2021) - unabridged Architecture was awarded an Honor Citation from the American Institute of Architects, Mississippi Chapter, for EcoTech Park in Hancock County, Mississippi. The innovative master plan links economic development with environmental stewardship and illustrates a sustainable and resilient vision for the future of these industrial parks. The Master Plan, prepared for the Hancock County Port & Harbor Commission, had three goals: use GIS-based spatial analysis to identify the optimal expansion sites at Port Bienville and Stennis International Airport; establish sustainable and resilient design guidelines for site and building development; and illustrate an innovative vision for high-performance industrial parks. Consumers are demanding more sustainably sourced and processed products and corporate social responsibility efforts are increasing. However, little attention has been paid to design within the industrial zones where products are manufactured, even though they occupy large tracts which often include environmentally sensitive lands. Restoring the ecology of industrial zones establishes the conditions necessary for intensification of industrial development and this master plan expands the developable area within strict environmental limits addressing ecosystems, climate, and human health. The proposed new structures are characterized by low-carbon materials, energy and water efficiency, daylighting and views to the landscape. The project’s success positions these industrial parks as sites with innovative standards and the capacity to meet exceptional building-performance standards. The jury cited “a convincing master plan that rigorously attempts the difficult balance of economic development with environmental stewardship. The scope of this plan goes far beyond the conventional idea of architecture and the jury believed it merited recognition for its analysis of a large tract of the county’s land in a serious and thorough exploration to identify the best sites for industrial development when considering such crucial factors as native habitat, climate resilience, and sustainability.” Multiple stakeholders were consulted during the master planning process as an opportunity to share concerns about growth, improve the project guidelines, and reconnect industry to the community. Stakeholders included state regulators, cities, and county leadership as well as current tenants, public utility boards, the Citizen’s Climate Lobby, Land Trust for the Mississippi Coastal Plain, Gulf Regional Planning Commission, Hancock Chamber of Commerce, NASA John C. Stennis Space Center, and Pearl River Community College. In addition to unabridged Architecture, Master Planning consultants included NVision Solutions for GIS analysis, Compton Engineering for civil and environmental engineering, and Depiction Illustration for the aerial rendering. ...

Black and White Beach House employs climate-ready architecture (10/15/2021) - Inhabitat, October 11, 2021. By Dawn Hammon. With construction earning the unwanted title of a top-ranking dirty industry, architecture focused on energy efficiency, natural materials and durability even in the face of natural disasters is a win for the environment and the home or business owner. In consideration of the increased number of hurricanes connected to the effects of climate change in coastal communities, Unabridged Architecture developed the Black and White Beach House to address these issues. The family complex sits in an area heavily impacted by storm activity, in a historic Gulf of Mexico beach town. In fact, the previous house on the site was lost during Hurricane Katrina. In its place, Black and White Beach House has already endured two substantial hurricanes with its climate-ready design. Unabridged Architecture co-principal Allison Anderson said, "Built on the site of a home lost in Katrina, creating architecture to last requires a willingness to experiment with form and material to meet climate challenges." Developers placed the dual homes at the highest point of land, supported by a plinth to bring it above the flood zone. The move away from the water also preserved a grove of historic oak trees that have survived at least 300 years of coastal storms. The main home pays homage to traditional southern architecture with a white exterior and wraparound porch, while the next-door additional family home and outbuildings are clad in shou sugi ban, charred Accoya wood. Between the buildings, a terraced garden provides a gathering space, and crushed limestone paths connect the areas. The natural material selection provides a durable and functional walkway that naturally allows stormwater to permeate the surface. Throughout the landscape, walls are built using travertine tiles, and terraces are reinforced with steel edging. The invasive species that had taken over the lot following Hurricane Katrina were replaced with native plants that grow well with few water requirements. The native habitat is also salt-tolerant and attracts a variety of animals. Architects also addressed energy efficiency with deep overhangs, an airtight building envelope, and comprehensive insulation. As stated in a press release, Unabridged Architecture is "rooted deeply in building for the future. Their mission is to produce sustainable, resilient design, specializing in architectural responses to climate challenges. Most notably their substantial role in rebuilding Mississippi towns post-Katrina and winning a COTE "Top Ten" award for their Marine Education Center at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory project." ...

How severe weather is shaping home design (10/15/2021) - Business of Home Weekly Feature, October 13, 2021. By Haley Chouinard. The pandemic gave literal meaning to the idea that our homes are a refuge, a place to eek shelter during uncertain and unsafe times. Its a concept that designers and architects worldwide are taking more seriously than ever-not just in the event of another pandemic, but also because of climate change. On a global scale, severe weather is becoming more of an issue. Wildfires, floods, hurricanes and winter storms are getting more frequent and more devastating. Sea levels continue to rise, posing threats to coastal prope1ties around the world. A report released by the United Nations in August found that even if countries were to drastically reduce their emissions tomorrow, the total lobal temperature is likely to rise around 1.5 degree Celsius (34.7 F) within the next two decade , all but ensuring an increase in severe weather events. So, how are designers and architects-particularly those working in vulnerable regions - taking these issues into account when designing homes meant to last for generations? Coastal homes present their own challenges: Designers and architects are forced to consider the possibility of both flooding and wind damage. Allison Anderson and John Anderson, principals of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi-based unabridged Architecture, check not on]y the history of storm damage around a waterfront property but also the climate projections for the area, as the potential sea-level rise can vary widely. "We ask our clients about their expectations for service life - is it 50 years? 100 years? - and plan accordingly to maintain habitability for that period," say John Anderson. "We ask about their tolerance for risk, as well. When a hurricane is coming, will they board up and evacuate? Do they expect to return quickly after a storm? These considerations are factored into the earliest vision for the project and help us decide on the materials, forms, and orientation on the site." When it comes to addressing the potential for flooding and severe rainfall, the Andersons like to work at the intersection of architecture and landscape design. "We have limited ways to prevent flooding: Avoid the possibility by setting the house back from the water or elevating it; accommodate water by creating spaces that can flood safely and be cleaned easily after an event; or resist water through floodproofing," says Allison Anderson. They often use a combination of such features to offer client as much protection as possible. On a recent project on the Gulf Coast, unabridged Architecture elevated the house 5 feet above grade by using two terraces, a low retaining wall that deflects waves, and a chain-wall foundation to raise the house above the required base flood elevation. Inside, the interior finishes were chosen to prevent mold growth, an important consideration in a humid climate. There is no drywall, and the walls and ceilings are all wood. "Ultimately, the decisions we make today have a tremendous financial and functional impact for our clients," says John Anderson. «we do everything we can to ensure their investment is durable, resilient, and ready for the future." ...